Nick Reiner, who is in Los Angeles County jail in connection with the alleged murder of his parents, filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, director Michelle Reiner, has reportedly been “rapidly deteriorating” during his months-long stay. A source close to the Reiner family told the Daily Mail that Nick “no longer looks like Nick” and is so changed that “no one would recognize him.”
According to the report, Reiner’s hair has been kept very short to prevent the spread of “bugs,” and he is described as “super skinny” due to intense medication. His appearance is further altered by sunken eyes. He has been held at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, a jail described as the “world’s largest jail as well as the nation’s largest mental health facility,” for approximately five months. He has spent this time in solitary confinement within the jail’s mental health unit, in a cell measuring seven feet by ten feet.
The prolonged period in jail is said to have weakened Reiner both mentally and physically. The source indicated that Reiner had pre-existing mental health concerns, evidenced by his appearance in court last year wearing a suicide vest. Before his incarceration, he was described as “babbling” and “totally out of it,” with his lawyers finding it difficult to communicate with him. His siblings, Jake and Romy Reiner, are reportedly concerned that he may never recover his sanity and could suffer a fatal heart condition due to the strain.
A former inmate familiar with the Twin Towers Correctional Facility described the conditions as jarring, citing constant noise including “howling and all the profanity and sick sex talk.”
In his most recent court appearance in April, Reiner appeared to have lost weight and seemed aware of the proceedings. His next court date is scheduled for September 15.