A startling revelation has emerged from the case of Nick Reiner, the troubled son of acclaimed filmmaker Rob Reiner. Court documents and sources close to the family reveal that the 30-year-old was placed under a strict mental health conservatorship five years before he was arrested and charged with the brutal murders of his parents, Rob and Michele, in December 2025.
The discovery underscores the devastating trajectory of a young man battling severe mental illness whilst living in his parents’ home, raising troubling questions about what might have been missed. Licensed fiduciary Steven Baer was appointed as Nick’s conservator in 2020, according to reporting from the New York Times, with the conservatorship formally ending in 2021.
The legal arrangement—known as an L.P.S. conservatorship, established under California law—is reserved for individuals deemed ‘gravely disabled’ due to serious mental illness. It is an extraordinarily rare status that requires extensive medical evaluation and judicial approval.
‘Mental illness is an epidemic that is widely misunderstood, and this is a horrible tragedy,’ Baer told the outlet, though legal confidentiality laws prevented him from discussing the specifics of Nick’s case or the reasons his conservatorship was terminated.
The Severity of the L.P.S. Conservatorship
The sheer gravity of being placed under an L.P.S. conservatorship cannot be understated. Attorney Lee Blumen, an expert in California mental health law, explained to the Times: ‘You have to be pretty severe to be placed on a mental health conservatorship in California. Of all the people who come into this system, a very small group of people actually get placed on conservatorship.’ The process itself is deliberately rigorous.
Following an involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation, patients are thoroughly evaluated by officials from the Los Angeles County Office of the Public Guardian before their case reaches a judge. Most conservatorships last for one year, after which renewal must be sought through the courts. In Nick’s case, the conservatorship was not renewed when it expired in 2021—a decision shrouded in the same legal confidentiality that characterises all such arrangements.
Deteriorating Mental State in the Months Before the Murders
What remains deeply disturbing is what occurred in the years following the conservatorship’s termination. Nick had endured a decades-long battle with drug abuse and mental illness dating back to his teenage years.
He underwent at least 18 separate stints in rehabilitation starting at age 15, each unsuccessful in breaking the cycle of addiction and psychological decline. At the time of the murders on 14 December 2025, Nick was being treated for schizophrenia.
Sources familiar with his medical history told the Times that he had received multiple diagnoses throughout his life, including both schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. More alarmingly, in the weeks leading up to his parents’ deaths, his condition appears to have deteriorated sharply.
His medication was changed approximately one month before the killings—a shift made necessary because he had begun experiencing significant side effects from his existing treatment.
The Reiners grew increasingly anxious about their son’s wellbeing. Desperate to keep him safe, they brought him along to Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party on the evening of 13 December 2025, fearing what might happen if he remained alone.
Yet their concerns proved tragically justified. Party guests described being ‘freaked out’ by Nick’s erratic and antisocial behaviour.
Rob was overheard having a ‘loud argument’ with his son that alarmed other attendees. Before leaving the party, Rob confided in close friends: ‘I’m afraid of my son. I think my own son can hurt me.’
Nick had previously lived in his parents’ guest house, which he infamously trashed during a drug-fuelled rage in 2018. He was still residing there when arrested.
Rob and Michele were discovered dead in their home the following afternoon by their daughter, Romy. Nick was apprehended hours later and charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances.
High-profile defence attorney Alan Jackson initially took on the case but abruptly withdrew on 7 January, hinting that he may have been pursuing an insanity defence. Jackson declared to reporters: ‘What we’ve learned, and you can take this to the bank, is that pursuant to the laws of this state, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder.’ L.A. County Public Defender Kimberly Greene now leads his defence.
Originally published on IBTimes UK
