Already announced details of how Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were killed have now been sealed by the LA County Medical Examiner under a court order sought by the LAPD.
The department wants to keep its findings sealed and away from the eyes of the “media and the public” as they try to make substantial progress before a potentially decisive court hearing next week.
Halting “the public release of any investigative information, notes, reports, or photos” of the Reiners’ death, the judge-approved order went into effect on December 29.
The order specifically notes that the Medical Examiner can only provide findings to the “assigned investigators.”
The Reiners’ youngest son Nick was arrested on December 14, hours after their daughter Romy discovered the couple’s maimed bodies.
Under suicide watch behind bars in downtown LA, the 32-year-old could face the death penalty after being charged with two counts of first-degree murder with “special circumstances” on December 16 by the LA County District Attorney.
Noting “the causes of death of Mr and Mrs Reiner have already been made public,” the LAPD said today “the order was sought only to ensure detectives from Robbery-Homicide Division learned of important information surrounding their deaths before the media and the public.”
Aware of the optics in this extremely high-profile matter that has shaken and saddened the Hollywood community this holiday season, the cops added: “the order was not sought to undermine transparency.”
While not unprecedented, sealing such records like the Reiners after they have been out there already for a couple of weeks is a rare development.
Still, even in a creative community, the cop shop and DA’s office used to spotlight crimes and cases, the tragedy of the Reiners’ deaths has hit intensely, garnering global attention and an almost universal outpouring of sorrow.
The Reiners’ official cause of death was revealed on December 17 to be from “multiple sharp force injuries” three days before. Five days after the long-married couple’s remains were cremated, the Medical Examiner put out death certificates on both the elder Reiners, listing their demise as a “homicide” from “knife, by another.”
That’s all scrubbed from the Medical Examiner’s online portal and elsewhere now.
“On December 24 at 10:30 a.m., the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner (Department) received a court order, initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), to place a security hold on Medical Examiner case numbers 2025-19480 and 2025-19481, Robert and Michele Reiner,” the Medical Examiner’s office said late Monday. “While the cause and manner of death were previously released on these cases, due to the court order, the information is no longer available. No other case information or records, including the Medical Examiner report, can be released or posted on the website until further notice.
“The Department understands the public’s interest in these cases and remains committed to transparency when possible. Information will be made available once the court order is lifted.”
The successful Christmas Eve sealing ask from the police comes as the investigation into the death of the 78-year-old A Few Good Men director and 68-year-old the photographer deepens with more details emerging of what actually occurred in the couple’s Brentwood home on the first night of Hanukkah.
In part, law enforcement sources say, the sealing was sought to allow police an uninterrupted examination of the facts and timelines before a scheduled January 7 hearing for Nick Reiner.
Police are still trying to determine the sequence of events that led to what they believe were attacks by Nick Reiner on his parents in their home’s master bedroom earlier on December 14.
Very publicly having struggled with addiction and the consequences of the disease for years, Nick Reiner had been living in the guesthouse on his parents’ property for several weeks before their death.
The context of how the apparently quick stabbings occurred could prove essential to both the Alan Jackson-led defense and the prosecution – especially in terms of whether the younger Reiner was aware or not what he was doing, as alleged.
Simultaneously and with great sensitivity, DA Nathan Hochman‘s office is trying to set a face-to-face meeting with the grieving Reiner family.
As the DA said in the week before Christmas, he and his team want to sit down with the family, especially siblings Romy, her brother Jake and the adopted Tracy, to hear their perspective on whether prosecutors should seek life in prison without parole for Nick Reiner or the death penalty.
The death penalty is rare in California but still permitted in such “special circumstances” as what the younger Reiner has been charged with.
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