Nick Reiner is in a dark place. Alone in many ways, yet not entirely.
While the rest of his family navigates the sheer horror of having their parents murdered, one figure remains steady. His aunt. Annie Reiner, the sister of the slain director Rob Reiner, is still standing with him. According to Page Six, she has not abandoned ship.
“She has remained in his corner.”
It means a lot to Nick. A lot.
The others? Not so much. Jake Reiner, 35, his sister Romy, 28 and the eldest child Tracy, 62 have kept their distance from the nephew facing life behind bars. Jake poured out his grief in an April post.
“We lost more than half of our family… in the most violent way imaginable.”
It is devastating. Losing one parent is hard. Losing both to a stabbing by their son is almost too impossible to process. Every day has been horrendous for Jake and Romy. No surprise there.
But what about Nick?
He isn’t doing well. At all.
Housed at the Twin Towers Correctional facility in downtown Los Angeles since charges were filed, Nick has deteriorated. Rapidly. The Daily Mail reported that family insiders are shocked by his appearance.
He doesn’t look like himself. No one would recognize him if they saw him walking down the street. His hair is super short, almost bald, cut tight to keep bugs away. He is gaunt. Skinny from intense medication. His eyes sunken deep into his skull.
It’s solitary confinement. It eats people alive.
Jake and Romy worry now. Despite the tragedy, they fear for his physical collapse. His heart could weaken under the constant strain. There is a real fear that he will never be sane. That he could die there.
Wait, sanity is already up for debate.
Nick is the only suspect in the brutal slaying of director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer at their Brentwood home. December 14. Cold blood. He is stuck in jail without bail. The hearing isn’t until September 15.
If he is convicted?
Life without parole. Or death.
The door slams shut on either outcome. Annie is watching from the outside. The rest are grieving the dead. Nick is fighting to survive the living part of his sentence.
Is any of it salvageable?
Probably not. But we’ll find out. Eventually.
