Nick Reiner case in probate court as accused killer looks to access trust fund for defense
Nick Reiner appears with Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene during his arraignment in Los Angeles County Superior Court on February 23, 2026 in Los Angeles. (Chris Torres/Pool/Getty Images)
(LOS ANGELES) — The fight over Nick Reiner’s trust fund is expected to play out Monday in probate court in Los Angeles, with the 32-year-old looking to access money from the fund for his defense.
Nick Reiner is accused of fatally stabbing his parents, renowned director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner, in the family’s home in December.
An indictment unsealed last week charges Nick Reiner with two counts of murder with the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of lying in wait, according to prosecutors. He also faces a special allegation that he used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife. The 32-year-old pleaded not guilty and has been appointed a public defender.
Nick Reiner is now looking to access more than $500,000 he says he’s owed from a trust fund, saying he wants to use that money for his legal defense.
A financial steward for the trust fund argues that a piece of California law known as the “slayer statute” prevents a person from receiving trust fund money from a person they intentionally killed.
The steward said Nick Reiner is innocent until proven guilty, and if he’s found not guilty, he would get the money. However, if the funds were given to Nick Reiner now and he were later found guilty, there would be no way of getting the money back.
Nick Reiner remains held on no bond and is next due in court on Sept. 15 for a pretrial hearing. No trial date has been set.
Turner Enterprises CEO Ted Turner address the Newsmaker Luncheon on renewable and alternative energy at the National Press Club April 19, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Ted Turner, the television and media mogul who launched CNN — the first 24-hour cable news network — and a roster of successful TV and entertainment brands, died on Wednesday, according to the network. He was 87.
“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement,” according to a statement from Mark Thompson, the chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide. “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and our world.”
“On behalf of the Turner family, it is with great sadness that we announce the passing of philanthropist, environmentalist and cable pioneer Ted Turner who died peacefully today at age 87, surrounded by his family,” a statement from Turner Enterprises said.
The company added, “He charmed people he met with his warmth and general lack of conceit, despite his many successes and celebrity – an attribute made apparent in his response to anyone who addressed him as “Mr. Turner” – he’d always reply, “Call me Ted!”
A private family service is planned and a public memorial will be held at a later date, Turner Enterprises said.
Turner announced in 2018 he was battling the progressive brain disorder Lewy body dementia, acknowledging issues with his memory.
Born in Cincinnati, Robert Edward Turner III was raised in Savannah, Georgia. He attended Brown University briefly before leaving the university and joining the U.S. Coastal Guard Reserve during the Vietnam War.
Turner began his career as an executive at his father’s advertising business, Turner Advertising Company. Following the death of his father, he became president and chief executive of the company and turned the firm into a global enterprise.
He entered the television business in the early 1970’s when he acquired an Atlanta UHF station, WJRJ, and renamed it WTCG. The station originated the “superstation” concept, transmitting via satellite to cable systems across the country. Later renamed TBS, the station became a precedent for the modern basic cable station.
On June 1, 1980, Turner Broadcasting System launched CNN, the first 24-hour cable news network. In his launch speech at the network’s Atlanta headquarters in June 1980, he expressed hope that CNN’s national and international coverage would “bring together in brotherhood and kindness and friendship and in peace the people of this nation and this world.”
CNN quickly made its mark covering major news events such as the 1982 Lebanon War and the 1986 Challenger explosion as they happened.
A chain of successful cable television brands followed for Turner, including CNN International, Cartoon Network, TNT and Turner Classic Movies. Turner Broadcasting later acquired the film studios Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema.
Turner’s company also expanded into sports starting in the late 1970s, acquiring the MLB’s Atlanta Braves and the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks won three division titles under the company’s ownership. The Braves won the 1995 World Series.
In 1988, Turner ventured into the professional wrestling business, purchasing Jim Crockett Promotions and renaming it as World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The company served as the main competitor to Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation (WWF) over the next decade. WCW was purchased by McMahon’s company in 2001.
In October 1996, Turner Broadcasting merged with Time Warner Inc., and in 2001, Time Warner merged with AOL to create AOL Time Warner.
Turner also made his mark as a philanthropist. In 1990, he founded Turner Foundation which supports efforts for improving air and water quality, developing initiatives to protect the climate and maintaining wildlife habitat protection, among other initiatives. The Turner Foundation says it has given more than $380 million to hundreds of organizations since its founding.
In 1997, Turner announced a historic pledge of up to $1 billion to the United Nations and the following year, he created the United Nations Foundation (UNF). The organization supports the goals and objectives of the United Nations to promote “a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.”
Speaking to ABC’s “This Week” in 2012, he described his interest in supporting U.N. efforts.
“Everybody needs help sometime, no matter how rich and powerful you are,” he said. “I did not know for sure when I started that it was going to work…there were a lot of things that weren’t getting done, that are getting done now, done a lot more quickly.”
He added, “Saving the world is a hard job.”
Turner also launched the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a think tank he co-chaired with former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia that seeks to reduce “nuclear and biological threats imperiling humanity.”
He was the recipient of numerous awards, including Time Magazine’s 1991 “Man of the Year,” the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Lifetime Achievement Award, the Audubon Medal from the Audubon Society, and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Communication. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004.
Turner was married three times, including to actress Jane Fonda from 1991 to 2001. He is survived by five children, fourteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
More than a dozen thieves stole more than 250 cars and a million dollars’ worth of auto parts throughout the Bronx, according to the NYPD and the Bronx district attorney’s office. (Bronx DA/NYPD)
(NEW YORK) — An alleged group of car thieves who worked fast and furious at night to steal over 250 cars and auto parts in the Bronx were arrested and charged Friday, investigators said.
The Bronx District Attorney’s office indicted 16 alleged members of the Trinitarios street gang in a nearly 1,000-count indictment with grand larceny, auto stripping, and other offenses. Nine of the 16 were arrested as of Friday morning, according to the DA’s office.
The suspects would allegedly lift the target car and use power tools to remove all four tires and rims off within minutes, according to the NYPD and DA.
“These defendants allegedly worked as fast as a racetrack pit crew in the dead of night, stealing cars, tires and rims and catalytic converters worth more than $1 million on the black market,” Bronx DA Darcel Clark said.
Many of the thefts, as many as six per night, were caught on video showing a three-person crew exiting a stolen car, fully masked, with gloves, a car jack and milk crates, investigators said.
“All across the Bronx, people heading to work or school in the morning found their cars propped on crates, or an empty parking space, leaving them stranded and financially strained, the DA said.
The suspects allegedly used public parking garages throughout the Bronx to store the stolen vehicles before and after the thefts, which occurred between midnight and 5 a.m., according to the police.
Other defendants bought the stolen catalytic converters and then sold them on the black market, the indictment said. In one defendant’s home, police said they found a suitcase with $116,000 in cash.
Attorney information for the suspects was not immediately available.
The mother of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman whose body was found hanging from a tree on Aug. 3 in Jackson, Mississippi, told ABC News on Sunday afternoon that her daughter’s death has “just devastated” her family. (Photo courtesy of Christy Spivey)
(WASHINGTON) — The mother of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old woman whose body was found hanging from a tree on Aug. 3 in Jackson, Mississippi, told ABC News on Sunday afternoon that her daughter’s death has “just devastated” her family.
“This has just devastated us,” Fortune’s mother, Christy Spivey, said. “Tasia was strong-minded, she was full of laughs and love, she had faith in God. … She had so little and gave so much.”
Spivey said that she last saw her daughter, who is a mother of four, on July 26 after she traveled from Mississippi, where she has lived for over a decade, to Kentucky for a family reunion.
When asked about Fortune’s state of mind the last time she saw her, Spivey said, “She was better than I had seen her in a long time. She was at peace.” Asked if her daughter could have died by suicide, Spivey said, “She did not do this to herself. I know my daughter and she did not do this to herself.”
A spokesperson for the Jackson Police Department (JPD) confirmed to ABC News on Saturday night that police are investigating Fortune’s death and confirmed that the Hinds County Coroner’s Office identified Fortune.
Asked about the status of the investigation and if any persons of interest have been interviewed, the spokesperson did not provide further comment.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting an autopsy to determine Fortune’s cause and manner of death, a spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.
Jackson City Council member Kenneth Stokes sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger, asking for help in investigating this case, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.
“We are in dire need of the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the death of an unidentified female discovered hanging in the backyard of an abandoned house on the Road of Remembrance in Jackson, Mississippi,” the letter says.
The woman has since been identified as Fortune.
ABC News reached out to Stokes for further comment. Asked if his office is investigating this case, Kruger did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Police are asking anyone with information about the case to call Crime Stoppers at 601-355-TIPS.
