Nick Reiner 'rapidly deteriorating' in prison hellhole: Family insider reveals his grotesque new look and creepy 'babbling'... as grief-stricken siblings are haunted by new fear

By HEIDI PARKER, US DEPUTY SHOWBUSINESS EDITOR Published: 16:27, 15 July 2026 | Updated: 16:30, 15 July 2026 When Nick Reiner was last seen in February in a Los Angeles courtroom, he looked unrecognizable. Sporting a buzzcut and a brown gown worn by inmates in 'mental observation housing,' the 32-year-old appeared gaunt as he stared wide-eyed after pleading not guilty to the murder of his parents Rob and Michele Reiner. Five months on, and life in solitary confinement - spent locked in a 7ft-by-10ft cell - inside the mental health unit at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles has taken a toll. 'Nick no longer looks like Nick,' a source close to the Reiner family told the Daily Mail. 'He is rapidly deteriorating. No one would recognize him. He is almost bald because they have to keep his hair super short to keep the bugs out, and he is super skinny because of the intense medication he is on. His eyes are very sunken in.' Reiner, who has been housed at the correctional facility since December, is said to have deteriorated cognitively too. 'Nick has not been well for many years, but before jail some of his personality could be recognized. Not now. He is like a babbling child, totally out of it,' the source said. 'It's so bad his lawyers have a hard time talking to him.' They added that Reiner's siblings, brother Jake, 35, and sister Romy, 28, 'worry that he will never be sane again and that he could possibly die as his heart could weaken from the constant strain.' Life in solitary confinement inside the mental health unit at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility has taken a toll on Nick Reiner, a source has told the Daily Mail The 32-year-old is said to be unrecognizable, skinny and with 'very sunken' eyes. A far cry from healthier times in 2013 The Daily Mail has reached out to Nick's representative for comment.  The Twin Towers, which has separate facilities for male and female inmates, is a far cry from the privileged life of luxury Reiner's parents afforded him. It was scrutinized by senators in 2023 for its 'appalling' conditions after a number of inmates were found shackled to tables, sleeping on urine-soaked floors and sitting in their own feces. A former inmate who was inside the jail in 2024 previously opened up about the horrendous conditions inside, claiming inmates 'constantly scream night and day - they don't shut up. There is no mute button.' 'The noise really gets to you, it rocks your nervous system because it's weird, like howling and all the profanity and sick sex talk,' they told the Daily Mail. 'It's not good.' They also claimed that the cold temperature inside the jail only exacerbates the situation. 'It's really cold in there at all times, you are always cold, it's not a good feeling, especially in the winter,' they said. 'It's not like you can crank up the thermostat or ask for a down comforter or cashmere throw. And it's dark - you don't see much sunlight.' Reiner made a court appearance on murder charges for the killing of his parents Rob and Michele Reiner, in Los Angeles in April. The Daily Mail reported at the time he looked 'confused.' He has pled not guilty Reiner has spent the last seven months in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles after he was arrested back in December 2025 The 32-year-old now lives in a 7ft-by-10ft cell Aside from Reiner's medication and schizophrenia, he is said to be struggling from a lack of human interaction. 'Because of his mental health condition, Nick cannot mix with other inmates, which means he is alone all the time with his own dark thoughts,' our source said. 'It is extremely unhealthy.' Inmates held in long-term solitary confinement have been known to develop psychosis, hallucinations, cognitive decay and severe depression. 'Nick definitely has a cognitive decline,' the source claimed. 'He is not all there. He doesn't know what year it is or who is the president of the United States. He cannot process reality or focus.' The only people he is said to interact with are his lawyers, therapists, psychiatrists and social workers. 'It's a horrible place because it's overcrowded, super loud, and far from comfortable,' the source said. 'Visitors don't want to go there. But often there is no point: the inmates don't even recognize their family members most of the time.' Reiner was arrested on December 14, 2025, when the bodies of his filmmaker father Rob, 79, who directed When Harry Met Sally, and his mother, photographer Michele, 70, were discovered at their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Their death certificates stated they died within 'minutes' of receiving 'multiple sharp force injuries' with a 'knife, by another.' Reiner, second from left, dining with his siblings Jake and Romy as well as his parents in Las Vegas in 2024, a year before the killings Reiner has been incarcerated ever since. He pled not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in February. He will remain in jail without bail. A hearing is scheduled for September 15. If convicted as charged, he could face life in prison without parole, or the death penalty, although California does not typically carry out capital punishment. Reiner had been diagnosed with schizophrenia several years before the killings and reportedly had his medication changed or adjusted at some point before the brutal incident. He had been open about his struggle with substance abuse, revealing he was just 15 when he began spending years in and out of rehab and addiction treatment centers after using drugs including methamphetamine and heroin. His addiction had even left him homeless at times. 'I am a spoiled, white, rich kid from a Hollywood family,' he told NPR in 2016. 'But I think it's even more of a testament to how powerful drugs can be that you don't care about any of that stuff.' His personal struggles and relationship with his father inspired their 2016 film Being Charlie, which centers around the drug-addicted son of a former actor running for governor. His siblings stopped paying for his defense earlier this year and now Reiner is demanding access to his $1.5 million trust fund (the Reiner family pictured in 2014) Reiner, who is represented by public defender Kimberly Greene, has had a hard time funding his legal team as his siblings stopped paying for his defense earlier this year.  In June, he demanded access to a $1.5 million trust fund set up by his parents, court documents show. A 136-page petition filed in Los Angeles said Reiner should have begun receiving the money two years ago, and his inability to access it left him unable to pay the attorney who had originally represented him after his arrest over the December stabbing of his mother and father. The filing alleges that Reiner's initial lawyer - celebrity attorney Alan Jackson - was 'forced to withdraw' after less than a month because of insufficient funding. Jackson claimed in a declaration supporting the petition that Reiner's siblings 'agreed verbally to act as third-party payors' for their brother's defense, but was later informed that 'none of the anticipated third-party funding would be provided.' The trust was one of three set up for the Reiner children with 'unambiguous instructions' as part of an estate plan established in 1993. According to the petition, Reiner should have received half of the money when he turned 30, with the other half available to him five years later. The petition says Reiner's inability to access the trust money meant he could not pay his legal fees. 'Nick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths,' the petition said. 'But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue in this trust litigation.'