Romy Reiner and Jake Reiner testified before a grand jury that indicted their brother Nick Reiner for murdering their parents, Rob and Michele Reiner.
A representative for the Los Angeles County District Attorney confirmed to People on Wednesday that Romy, 28, and Jake, 35, gave testimony before the grand jury. The content of their testimony has not been made public.
Nick Reiner, 32, was formally indicted in July for the December 2025 stabbing murders of his parents at their $13.5 million home. The indictment, unsealed earlier this month, adds an allegation of laying in wait to previous murder allegations facing the defendant.
The allegation of laying in wait is a special circumstance that could make Reiner eligible for life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if he is convicted. Reiner has denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty. The Daily Mail contacted the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the Reiner family for comment.
Grand Jury Proceedings and Murder Charges
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced the murder charges alongside an allegation that Reiner used a dangerous and deadly weapon when he allegedly killed his 78-year-old father and 70-year-old mother.
His father, Rob Reiner, was an acclaimed Hollywood director known for films including This Is Spinal Tap. Nick Reiner had a long history of mental health and substance abuse issues and was living in a guesthouse on the grounds of his parents' property at the time of the killings.
Hours before his parents' bodies were discovered, reportedly by his sister Romy, Nick Reiner was seen having a loud argument with his father at a holiday party hosted by Conan O'Brien.
Reiner has been held in custody without bail since his arrest and is scheduled to appear in court next in September.
Lou Shapiro, a legal analyst, criminal defense attorney, and former Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender, provided analysis to The Daily Mail regarding why prosecutors chose to call Romy and Jake Reiner to testify before a grand jury.
Shapiro said: "There's a few possible reasons. One reason is because it's a highly publicized case, and the prosecution didn't want to deal with a lot of, cameras, questions and media and so forth, while conducting a preliminary hearing. So, the quiet back door approach to arrive at the same result, which would be an indictment, is to go through the grand jury proceeding."
Shapiro noted that prosecutors may also have sought to shield the victims' children from cross-examination by defense lawyers in open court. He said: "That's one reason. Another reason would be that his siblings obviously have been through immeasurable pain, anguish, and grief, and perhaps the prosecution felt that."
He continued: "They they would spare them the cross examination experience by defense attorneys because at a preliminary hearing, there's cross examination. However, at a grand jury proceeding, the defense is not in the room."
Shapiro added: "During cross examination at a prelim, the witnesses are questioned and attacked on the stand, but on indictment it’s done afterwards on paper, by way of briefs. Preliminary hearing is done by way of orally on the record, So I think that was probably one of the possible reasons as well, that they chose to do it that way."
Death Penalty Consideration and Legal Moratorium
Nathan Hochman, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, confirmed that his office is considering whether to seek capital punishment against Nick Reiner if he is convicted.
Hochman said: "This case is a death penalty-eligible case. Along those lines, we take the process in which we determine whether or not the death penalty should be sought extremely seriously. That goes through a very rigorous process."
He added: "We will be looking at all mitigating and aggravating circumstances, and we have invited defense counsel to present to us both in writing and in a pleading any arguments they would like to make in consideration going forward or not going forward with the death penalty. So that is an ongoing process."
California has not executed a death row prisoner since 2006. Governor Gavin Newsom enacted a moratorium on capital punishment in 2019, meaning Reiner is unlikely to face execution even if sentenced to death.
Jake Reiner Describes Devastating Family Loss
In an essay written in April, older brother Jake Reiner shared the grief of learning about the murders of his parents, who had been married for 36 years, and the news that his brother was charged with their slayings.
Jake described how his sister Romy broke the news to him, calling it "too devastating to comprehend." He wrote: "The only thing I could focus on was that I needed to get to my childhood home. I needed to get to my sister. I needed to figure out what the hell just happened."
Jake continued: "I was robbed of so many things that day. My parents won’t be at my wedding, they won’t get to hold their future grandchild, and they won’t get to see me have the successful career I’m still seeking. It simultaneously breaks my heart and enrages me."
He reflected on the horror of learning that his brother was the alleged perpetrator, writing: "We lost more than half of our family that night in the most violent way imaginable. Sure, any loss of a parent is devastating, but nothing compares to losing both of them at the same time and, on top of that, having your brother be at the center of it. It’s almost too impossible to process."
Describing the daily impact of the killings, Jake wrote: "Every day since then has been horrendous. Every meeting we take, every person we talk to, every tear we shed, every movement we make is connected to our parents being murdered."
He added: "When you are not living through a tragedy the specific way Romy and I are, it’s hard to wrap your head around just how horrific this has been. Because they weren’t your parents, it might be easier to move forward or even forget for a moment about what happened that day. But for us, it’s every single day."
Jake paid tribute to his parents, calling them "the center of my life." While describing his father as a Hollywood legend, he remembered his mother Michele as "the engine, the backbone, and the heart of our entire family."
Reports also indicate that Nick Reiner's siblings are no longer footing the bill for his legal defense.
