Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found in their bed with their throats slit and may have been asleep at the time they were killed, according to a bombshell new report. The chilling detail could be key in piecing together when the killings happened.
Investigators believe the Reiners were killed sometime between Saturday night — after their son Nick was seen behaving erratically and getting into an argument with his parents at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party — and about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, a source close to the investigation claimed to the Daily Mail. That was when their daughter, Romy, found their bodies inside the family's Los Angeles home and called 911.
Noone to Help
The couple's troubled son, Nick, 32, has since been arrested in connection with their murders. "He could have done it not long after they all went home, meaning he went there and slit their throats in the middle of the night," the source told the Daily Mail. "They were in bed when that happened."
Another report from Showbiz 411 claims that Michele, 68, was still alive when first responders arrived and later died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. According to that account, she identified her son as the person who attacked them before losing consciousness.
The Los Angeles Police Department has not confirmed any official details about where inside the home the couple was found. Still, reports suggesting they were found in bed raise a heartbreaking possibility — that, amid the horror, they may have been attacked while asleep, sparing them from realizing what was happening.
TMZ was the first to report that the 78-year-old filmmaker had been involved in a "very loud argument" with his son at Conan O'Brien's holiday party on Saturday night, after which he and his wife left the event.
One guest later told People magazine that Nick had unsettled many attendees, saying he was behaving erratically and repeatedly asking people whether they were famous.
Concerns about the Reiners' safety only surfaced the next afternoon, when a masseuse arrived at their $13.5 million Brentwood mansion around 2 p.m. and received no response at the door.
Their daughter Romy, 27, who lives across the street, then went to check on them herself and called emergency services after discovering a horrifying scene inside the home.
Timeline of Incident
The Los Angeles Fire Department said first responders were dispatched to the home around 3:30 p.m. Sunday and tried to save the couple, but were unsuccessful. Nick, one of the Reiners' three children, had been living in a guest house on the property, according to a source close to him.
"Nick had been living in their guesthouse, the same one he destroyed more than once, but it had been like a revolving door all his adult life," the source said.
"He would do meth and not sleep for days and then have outbursts, breaking things, punching walls. He was a ticking time bomb. His drug use was getting worse and his parents wanted him out," claimed the friend.
Nick then fled to a hotel, after which he was arrested. The hotel room he fled to was found soaked in blood.
He checked into the Pierside Santa Monica hotel around 4 a.m. on Sunday, using a credit card. Witnesses said he appeared "tweaked out' when he arrived, suggesting he may have been under the influence.
However, they noted there were no obvious physical signs that he had recently been involved in a violent incident.
However, when hotel staff entered the room to clean it after he checked out early Sunday, they were met with a disturbing sight, the report said. The shower was "full of blood," and bloodstains marked the bed, while the windows had been covered with bed sheets.
LAPD homicide detectives investigated the hotel room on Monday and questioned staff members as part of their investigation, according to TMZ.
Nick was later arrested and formally charged in connection with his parents' killings, as seen in intense arrest footage. He is currently being held without bail and is reportedly under suicide watch.
Nick was arrested at a Los Angeles subway station in Exposition Park, about 15 miles from his parents' Brentwood home.
Officers from the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division, assisted by U.S. Marshals, moved in and escorted him to a squad car during the arrest, according to authorities. The arrest was carried out by U.S. Marshals with support from the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division, according to the post.
