Nick Reiner expected to enter plea in stabbing deaths of parents Rob and Michele Reiner
Nick Reiner attends AOL Build Speaker Series at AOL Studios In New York on May 4, 2016 in New York City. (Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic)
(LOS ANGELES) — Nick Reiner is expected to appear at an arraignment on Wednesday to enter a plea in the murders of his parents, renowned director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner.
The 32-year-old faces two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders.
Nick Reiner made a brief first court appearance on Dec. 17 and waived the right to a speedy arraignment.
Since his last appearance, sources told ABC News that law enforcement and defense attorneys have been working to piece together Nick Reiner’s psychiatric and substance abuse history. Legal experts say California law allows defense attorneys to signal as early as Wednesday’s hearing whether they will seek to use mental health in their defense.
Nick Reiner has a documented history of addiction and substance abuse treatment, and friends have told investigators that his mental health had been deteriorating prior to the murders.
He could enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday, though that could also come later.
Under California law, a jury can find a defendant not guilty by reason of insanity, which would result in confinement to a state psychiatric hospital rather than prison. That process can begin at arraignment but is not required to.
To pursue this defense, attorneys must demonstrate that the accused suffered from a mental illness prior to developing an addiction. A mental illness caused solely by addiction does not meet the legal standard.
Nick Reiner’s defense attorney Alan Jackson issued a statement last month, reading: “We ask that during this process, you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed … not with jumping to conclusions, but with restraint and with dignity and with the respect that this system and this process deserves and that the family deserves.”
Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on Dec. 14.
The night before the murders, Nick Reiner — who had been open about battling drug addiction since he was a teenager, and had been living on his parents’ property — got into an argument with Rob Reiner at a holiday party, and was seen acting strangely, sources told ABC News.
Nick Reiner was taken into custody in downtown Los Angeles hours after the bodies were discovered.
Rob and Michele Reiners’ other children, Jake and Romy Reiner, said in a statement last month, “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing.”
“The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends,” they said.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life,” Jake and Romy Reiner said. “We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”
Savannah Guthrie and mother Nancy Guthrie on Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
(TUCSON, Ariz.) — ABC News has confirmed that law enforcement will imminently release an image of a potential suspect in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie.
Guthrie was taken from her home in Tucson, Arizona, on Sunday, Feb. 1, according to authorities. A Monday ransom deadline by persons claiming to be Guthrie’s abductors passed as the search for her continues.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. William N. McCasland (U.S. Air Force)
(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) — The search is intensifying for a missing retired Air Force general weeks after he mysteriously disappeared in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Retired Maj. Gen. William N. “Neil” McCasland, 68, was last seen at his Albuquerque home on Feb. 27, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.
At 10 a.m. that day, a repairman was at McCasland’s home and interacted with him, Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said at a news conference on Monday. At 11:10 a.m., McCasland’s wife left the house for a medical appointment, and when she returned home at 12:04 p.m., he wasn’t there, the sheriff said. She reported him missing at 3:07 p.m., the sheriff said.
McCasland “did state that he was experiencing a mental fog” and was looking into it, Allen said.
“That was his statement about what he was experiencing, that was cited as reasons for stepping down from some groups that he was working with,” Lt. Kyle Woods added.
“There’s no indication … that Mr. McCasland was disoriented, confused,” Woods continued. “Arguably, he would still be the most intelligent person in the room.”
There have been no confirmed videos or sightings showing McCasland’s direction of travel, Allen said.
His phone was left behind at the house, which is out of the norm, authorities said.
Everyone in the area has been interviewed, Woods said, adding, “we have absolutely nothing that would suggest anything nefarious has occurred.”
Hundreds of homes in the area were canvassed as authorities looked for surveillance footage, the sheriff said, and drones, helicopters and canines have been used in the search.
A gray U.S. Air Force sweatshirt was found about 1.25 miles east of McCasland’s house, but family and friends have not confirmed that the sweatshirt is associated with McCasland, Allen said. No blood was detected in the initial processing, the sheriff added.
McCasland held a number of “space research, acquisition and operations roles within the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office” while enlisted, according to the Air Force. The roles included director-level positions at the Pentagon, as well as commanding the Phillips Research Site of Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, and the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, according to the Air Force.
Still unaccounted for is McCasland’s wallet, a .38 caliber revolver and leather holster, and a red backpack, the sheriff said.
The sheriff asked residents to check their surveillance videos, with the priority focused on Feb. 27 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Tips can be submitted at 505-468-7070, the sheriff said.
President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One on March 13, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Trump is traveling to Florida to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Several developments came out of Washington, D.C., regarding the war with Iran over the weekend as strikes continue across the Middle East and economic impacts are beginning to be felt domestically.
President Donald Trump and administration officials continued to comment on the timeline of the war, the possibility of a deal with Iran, securing the Strait of Hormuz and the release of oil reserves.
The administration has maintained that the U.S. is decimating Iranian forces and degrading their capabilities, but Iran continues to strike.
On Saturday, Trump said on social media, “We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability,” and said the U.S. “will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE.”
Still, the administration has yet to comment on the deployment of Marines to the region, which was announced on Friday, and what their mission could entail.
Trump also faced backlash over the weekend after an affiliated political action committee sent a fundraising email, featuring a photo from the dignified transfer of the first six U.S. service members killed in the Iran war, while offering contributors access to “private national security briefings.”
ABC News has compiled a list of some of the latest developments as the war stretches into its third week.
Timeline
Questions continue to swirl about how long Trump wants the United States to be engaged in this war.
He spent the bulk of last week assuring Americans it would be over soon, hoping to ease market concerns, saying Iran is beaten. But on his way out of Washington Friday night, he refused to comment on how long it would continue. “As long as necessary,” Trump said.
On Sunday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, “I think that this conflict will certainly come to an end in the next few weeks. Could be sooner than that, but the conflict will come to the end in the next few weeks.”
In an interview with NBC, Wright also acknowledged, “Americans are feeling it [economic pain] right now and will feel it for a few more weeks.” But, he said, in the end, we will have removed the greatest threat to global energy supplies.
Securing the Strait
Officials, including Wright, also struggled over the weekend to explain the plans they had executed in anticipation that Iran would shut down the vital oil shipping lane in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Saturday, Trump called on other countries that depend on that commerce to help secure the strait, naming “China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others.” He also suggested he’s received commitments from some of them, but from whom remains unknown. Democrats, critical of Trump, said last week that this is something that should have been coordinated at the outset.
Later Saturday, President Trump told NBC that he’d secured cooperation. “They’ve not only committed, but they think it’s a great idea,” but he didn’t say which country or countries he was referring to.
And, in that same interview, he said, “We believe we’ll be joined by other countries,” drawing into question whether he actually secured commitments.
ABC News has asked the White House to clarify, and they have not responded.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said of the strait on Friday, “We have been dealing with it, and don’t need to worry about it.”
But, so far, there have been no escorts, and requests from shipping companies have reportedly been denied.
Pressed on whether Trump has actual commitments from others to help, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said during an interview with CNN, “I’ll leave those conversations to him,” referring to the president.
Wright told ABC News that more work needs to be done before the strait can open and escorts can occur. “Right now, our focus is destroying their military capabilities, including those that are used specifically to threaten the straits. But we need to finish those tasks first, and you will see the straits open again in the not-too-distant future.”
He also did not specify which countries would help.
Trump spoke with the leaders of the U.K. and Canada on Sunday, but there was no mention of any commitment from the foreign leaders.
Trump, meanwhile, has been warning Iran that further disruptions in the strait could result in devastating strikes on the country’s oil infrastructure. He said he’s so far held back during those strikes on Kharg Island, but on Friday warned he would “reconsider” if Iran interfered with the Strait of Hormuz.
On Saturday, he told NBC, “We may hit it a few more times just for fun.”
A deal?
Many experts in Washington believe ultimately, there needs to be another nuclear deal in order for this war to end.
Trump said over the weekend he’s not ready “because the terms aren’t good enough yet.”
“Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” Trump reportedly told NBC.
And in a post to his social media platform, he said Iran “wants a deal,” but not one he would accept.
He also raised questions about whether the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is alive or not. On Friday, the State Department announced a $10 million reward for information on key Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders, including Khamenei.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS on Sunday, “We don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us, and that was for the second time.”
But, in what some interpret as a more positive diplomatic development, Aragachi said Iran has not yet attempted to retrieve its 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from “underneath the rubble” of those nuclear sites bombed by the U.S. last June.
If, he said, that material is to be recovered, it would be done under the “supervision of the agency,” a reference to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Earlier Saturday, Reuters reported that Trump had rejected efforts from Middle East allies to begin diplomatic ceasefire negotiations. The White House had not responded to ABC’s requests for comment about the report.
“Nothing is on the table right now. Everything depends on the future,” Araghchi said.
Marines deployed
On Friday, Trump ordered 2,200 Marines aboard three U.S. Navy amphibious ships to the Middle East, two officials confirmed to ABC News.
Trump has yet to comment on this decision, and why it’s necessary if the war, in his words, is “won.”
The Marines are part of a Marine Expeditionary Unit, which means that they are capable of conducting land, amphibious and aviation missions.
It also means there are more than just 2,220 Marines headed there. There are between 2,000 and 2,500 Sailors also on board those ships, providing support.
In all, approximately 5,000 Marines and Sailors are headed to the region.
The Pentagon has not acknowledged the deployment and has not offered any guidance on its mission.
Nevertheless, they are already underway and will take a minimum of 10 days to get there.
Backlash to campaign using photo of war dead
Trump drew backlash from his critics over the weekend after it was confirmed an affiliated political action committee sent a new fundraising email featuring an official White House photo from the dignified transfer of the first six U.S. service members killed in the Iran war, while also offering contributors access to “private national security briefings.”
In the photo, Trump can be seen saluting a flag-draped transfer case containing the remains of one of the six fallen soldiers.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on CNN, “If the president is willing to raise campaign funds over the bodies of America’s war dead, he is unfit to be the commander in chief.”
The White House and Never Surrender Inc. have not responded to ABC News’ requests for comment.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said he “didn’t see” the email. “I didn’t see it. I mean, somebody puts it up. We have a lot of people working for us, but there’s nobody that’s better to the military than me,” Trump said.
The Pentagon identified the six service members killed when a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on Thursday.
Three of the Air Force airmen were assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing, MacDill Air Force Base in Florida: Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Alabama; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington; and Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky
The other three airmen were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio: Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Indiana; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio
The crash, which involved another KC-135 tanker, is still under investigation.
Oil reserves
Oil reserves from emergency stockpiles will start flowing immediately to Asia but won’t be available to the U.S. and Europe until the end of March, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a new press release Sunday.
Importantly, the IEA did not specify exactly how much oil would start flowing per day — a metric oil analysts are watching to understand what the immediate impact might be on prices. Oil prices have so far not been tamed by the announcement that countries, including the U.S., are tapping their strategic reserves.
The IEA announced the biggest-ever release of oil from reserves — 400 million barrels — from its 32 member countries last week. That includes 172 million barrels from the U.S.
