Grim new details about Michele and Rob Reiner’s murders is coming to light.
Their son, Nick Reiner, is the primary suspect. Police have already taken him into custody.
The couple’s daughter, Romy, is the one who found her parents, their home turned into a crime scene.
New details are coming to light about the state of the Reiners and the first statements to police when they arrived on the scene.
Daughter Romy first discovered parents Rob and Michele Reiner dead in their home
TMZ reports that Rob and Michele Reiner had been dead for hours before their daughter, Romy, discovered them in their home on Sunday.
According to the tabloid’s law enforcement sources, police arrived at the Brentwood, Los Angeles residence around 3:40 PM.
At this time, both Rob and Michele’s bodies were in a state of rigor mortis.
Rigor mortis is, as the name suggests, is a state of rigidity that follows death. It is the fourth stage of death, brought about by chemical changes in the muscles.
Barring unusual circumstances, this stage helps investigators to determine a timeline of a victim’s death.
In this case, the Reiners being in a state of rigor mortis helped authorites to conclude that the couple had been murdered hours before Romy’s arrival.
The peak of rigor mortis takes place approximately 13 hours after death, but TMZ‘s report did not specify.
Rigor mortis itself generally lasts about 8 hours or less at room temperature.
Likely, we will have to wait for the medical examiner’s full report to know a more precise time of death.
However, we know several things about the horrifying discovery that Romy made.
Here is the timeline, starting just before the 9-1-1 call
On Sunday, December 14, Romy Reiner arrived at her parents’ house to find both Rob and Michele dead.
Given the state of their bodies, the knife wounds were obvious and obviously fatal. She immediately called police.
Romy’s next call was to longtime family friend Billy Crystal. A friend of hers also joined her, seemingly for emotional support.
Authorities arrived and interviewed Romy at the scene.
This is when Romy first indicated that her older brother, Nick Reiner, was likely a person of interest in the case.
According to TMZ‘s report, Romy told officers that Nick was “dangerous.”
She also told them that he was living at the house, but was not there when she arrived.
The apparent implication was that she believed that Nick had fled the scene, though it seems unlikely that she used those exact words.
TMZ‘s report on the state of the scene describes “bodies butchered” with the murder looking like the deed of a “mad man.”
As we saw clearly just three months ago, neck injuries can cause a tremendous amount of rapid blood loss. The horror would be difficult to imagine for most, and much harder for Romy to witness.
Nick is in custody
About six hours after Romy’s grim discovery, authorities located Nick Reiner and arrested him on suspicion of murder.
Given the state of the late Rob and Michele Reiner’s remains and Romy’s statements to police, they are remanding Nick — holding him without bail.
He is also on suicide watch, out of apparent fear that he may be unstable or in an altered state of consciousness.
Millions are grieving the late director for his indelible impact upon popular culture as well as his activism that improved countless lives in his home state of California and beyond.
But this terrible act has destroyed a family. In more ways than one.