The son of Hollywood actor and director Rob Reiner has denied stabbing his parents to death in their Los Angeles home after a new allegation of lying in wait for them.
Nick Reiner, 32, pleaded not guilty to the alleged murder of his father and mother, Rob and Michele Reiner, in the family’s home in the affluent suburb of Brentwood.
Grand jury charges unsealed on Wednesday replaced last year’s original murder case, adding what prosecutors referred to as a “special circumstance” – the accusation that he lay in wait for the couple before the fatal stabbing attack.
He was also charged with using a deadly weapon, a knife.
The bodies of Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were found at their home on 14 December. Nick Reiner was arrested the following day.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty or be jailed for life with no chance of parole. A decision about whether to seek the death penalty will be made later, prosecutors said.
Los Angeles County district attorney Nathan Hochman said it was “a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing”.
