The eldest son of Rob and Michelle Renner has published a heartbreaking account of learning from his sister that their parents were dead and that his troubled brother had been arrested for the murders inside their Los Angeles home.
In a personal essay published on Friday substackJake Renner, 34, described the “nightmare” of losing his parents unexpectedly last December. His younger brother Nick, 32, was arrested for double murder within 24 hours of their parents’ bodies being found inside their bedroom.
He wrote, “That night we lost more than half of our family in the most violent way imaginable. Sure, losing a parent is devastating, but nothing compares to losing them both at the same time and, on top of that, having your brother at the center of it all.”
“It’s almost impossible to process. I understand people have questions about what happened. Some of those answers will come in time. But parts of it belong only to our family, and keeping them private is the only way to preserve what remains of what was taken from us.”
The essay asks, “What do you say to a person who is living through this reality?” “The truth is that there is nothing to say.”
Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michelle, 70, were found by their daughter Romi when she visited their home on the afternoon of December 14. Police believed Nick Reiner to be the killer and tracked him down to Los Angeles and arrested him near Exposition Park that afternoon.
Renner has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. The LA County District Attorney is also pursuing a murder conviction with “special circumstances,” a designation that could make him eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
In his essay, Jake Reiner recalls being at Union Station celebrating the life of one of his recently deceased best friends when he received a call from Romy. He first said that his father was dead and then he told that his mother was also dead.
He wrote, “The 45-minute elevator ride west from downtown was unbearable. My world, as I knew it, had collapsed. I was comatose.” “The only thing I could focus on was that I needed to go to my childhood home. I needed to get to my sister. I needed to find out what the hell happened.”
They reflected on the people who helped the siblings during catastrophic events, their mother’s role as the pivot of the family, and then what was taken from them personally.
He wrote of his mother, “Whenever I was going through a tough time or had to deal with a complex issue, I drew on her brilliant perspective. I always felt like she was in my corner.” “I get my intolerance for bullies from her, and I love that. She was never afraid to tell the truth. She was also sensitive and always cared about others before thinking about herself.”
“My dad is my hero,” he said, revealing that their strong bond began with a shared love for baseball. “I loved how he would analyze my dreams or how I felt I could talk to him about anything. No topic was ever off limits.”
He also grieves for those moments which he will not be able to share with his parents in future.
“My parents won’t be at my wedding, they won’t get to hold their future grandchild, and they won’t be able to see me have the successful career I’m still pursuing,” he wrote. “It simultaneously breaks my heart and makes me angry.”
Rainer added, “The feeling of losing both parents at once can’t prepare you for this.” “It’s too devastating to comprehend. I still wake up every morning explaining to myself that, no, this is not a dream. This is really my living nightmare.”
Renner said he is reminded of his parents’ deaths every day, in meetings, in decisions that need to be made and in the paperwork that needs to be completed.
“My goal in writing this piece is to provide some insight. Not only to celebrate what I have lost, but also to celebrate what my parents meant to me,” he wrote, then concluding, “I just ask for love and compassion – the same principles by which my parents lived.”
