A new documentary about the murders of Rob and Michele Reiner contains some shocking new claims about the couple’s son and alleged murderer, Nick Reiner.
Nick is currently behind bars awaiting trial. He was set to be arraigned on Wednesday, but the hearing was postponed when his attorney abruptly withdrew from the case.
The 32-year-old suspect is due back in court on February 23.
He’s now being represented by a public defender named Kimberly Greene, but that’s likely to change before the start of the trial.
We don’t know what sort of strategy the defense team might employ, but many predict that Nick’s lawyers will argue that he’s not guilty by reason of insanity.
And the documentary that’s set to premiere tonight claims that that might be an effective argument, as Nick is currently baffled by the fact that he’s behind bars.
According to the TMZ-produced project, Nick is aware that he killed his parents.
But he believes he had every right to do so, and he thinks that the people who put him in prison are engaged in a “conspiracy” against him.
Nick has battled mental illness and substance abuse issues, but sources tell TMZ that his condition took a dramatic turn for the worse about one month before the murders.
We now know that Reiner was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, and in the months before his parents were killed, his doctors switched up his meds.
The change turned out to be disastrous, sources tell TMZ, and Nick’s condition deteriorated rapidly.
Sources claim the new medication caused Nick to suffer “a complete break from reality.”
Insiders say Nick’s doctors further failed him by not placing him on a psychiatric hold while they tried to figure out the combination of meds that would stabilize him.
The defense would be fighting an uphill battle, as the insanity defense is notoriously difficult to argue.
But the fact that Nick was a victim of medical malpractice might mean that he has a case.
TMZ notes that California is different from many other states, in that “a defendant does not have to show he didn’t know the difference between right and wrong to use the insanity defense, only that he didn’t understand the nature and quality of his act.”
TMZ Investigates The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened airs Friday night on Fox.