It’s been 25 days since the stunning deaths of beloved director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele, and now new information has come out about the mental health struggles and potential defense strategies of his 32-year-old son, Nick, who is charged with their murders.
A January 8 TMZ report says the outlet was told by insiders that Nick suffered a “mental breakdown” in the weeks leading up to the murders which was tied to an abrupt change in his psychiatric medications.
New TMZ Documentary Delves Into Nick Reiner’s Medication Struggles
GettyThe outlet says their new documentary, “TMZ Investigates: The Reiner Murders: What Really Happened,” which airs tomorrow, January 9 at 8 p.m. on FOX, explains Nick was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 2020. The Cleveland Clinic says the condition “affects the way you think, act, perceive reality and express emotions.” The institute lists hallucinations, delusions, abnormal behaviors, disorganized thoughts and speech, and mania among the possible symptoms.
According to the new report, TMZ’s sources say Nick was “stable” on his medications until they were suddenly changed, and the change “sent Nick into a spiral.” Rob and Michele Reiner reportedly became alarmed at seeing Nick become “agitated, erratic, and increasingly dangerous,” but didn’t know what to do.
TMZ says their sources went on to say that despite Nick experiencing a “complete break from reality,” doctors never attempted to hospitalize the former screenwriter while attempting to adjust his mediations and stabilize him.
The report says Nick will have to prove he “didn’t understand the nature and quality of his act” to prevail on an insanity defense, per California law.
Nick Reiner Was Previously Sent to Notorious ‘Extreme Wilderness’ Program in Utah
GettyReiner said in a 2016 appearance on the podcast “Dopey” that when he was 16, his parents sent him to a wilderness therapy program located in Utah’s backcountry called Second Nature. On its official website, the program, which has been open for over 27 years, calls itself “a trusted leader in nature-based therapy known for clinical excellence, heartfelt care, and a deep belief in the power of the outdoors to heal and transform.”
However, the official website of the nonprofit Unsilenced, which says it exits to fight institutional child abuse, contains a large number of documented complaints and reports of abuse against the facility, as well as several lawsuits.
During the podcast appearance, Nick also touched on why he believed his rehab stints weren’t effective. “There’s always an element of people working against the system, and those are the people I gravitated to for years. Or, I was the person having people gravitate towards me, who were just actively planning their next relapse,” he said. He went on, “The seed of heroin was planted the first time I was ever in rehab, and I got it from a guy I met in rehab like three years down the line.” However, he admitted his parents were scared and “there’s no easy answer.”
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