Rob Reiner’s rotten apple son Nick was “declining” before he allegedly hacked his dad and mom Michele to death, according to a report — as the iconic filmmaker said earlier this year that Nick had been clean for the past six years.
The suspected killer, who has been public about his past drug abuse, never gave an indication he was violent, even if he had a history of being “self-destructive in many ways,” a source close to the family told People.
“If they thought he was violent, things would have been very different,” the source reportedly claimed.
Nick Reiner is facing murder charges for the grisly stabbing death of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner at the Los Angeles area home Sunday. REUTERS
“At the worst of it, it hadn’t been like this. I don’t think anyone could have ever seen anything like this coming. Nick was declining lately but he had been really bad before.”
Nick, 32, was hit with first-degree murder charges by Los Angeles prosecutors Tuesday after he allegedly stabbed “The Princess Bride” director, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, to death early Sunday morning.
The source also told People the couple “felt enormous guilt for so long that they couldn’t help Nick get his life together.”
Rob Reiner, who directed a series of acclaimed films in the 1980s and 1990s, hadn’t been shy about his son’s battle with drug addiction and the pair’s complicated relationship.
He told NPR in a September interview that Nick was “in a really good place.”
“He’s been great … hasn’t been doing drugs for over six years,” said Reiner, who has New York roots, growing up in Westchester County’s New Rochelle.
He also talked about his relationship with his middle child while acknowledging making mistakes as he tried to help him.
Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were both killed over the weekend. @michelereiner/Instagram
“I was never, ever too busy,” Reiner told NPR.
“I mean, if anything, I was the other way, you know, I was more hands-on and trying to do whatever I thought I could do to help. I’m sure I made mistakes and, you know, I’ve talked about that with him since.”
The two worked on a movie, “Being Charlie” which is about an 18-year-old addict son of a movie star running for Congress. It was inspired by Nick’s battle with drug abuse and co-written by Nick and a friend.
Rob claimed at the time Nick was the “heart and soul of the film.”
The murder suspect was arrested Sunday night. LAPD Gang and Narcotics
A longtime neighbor previously claimed to The Post that this was “not the first time their son has been violent without elaborating, while a security guard who patrolled the ritzy neighborhood said he “never saw any violence” with Nick.
In a 2018 interview, Nick admitted he once trashed his parents’ guest home during a meth-fueled outburst.
“Everything in the guest house got wrecked,” he said. “I literally punched the TV.”
Nick briefly appeared in court with a blank stare Wednesday, but his arraignment is set for early January.