Rob Reiner and Michele Singer are believed to have been dead for hours by the time daughter Romy found their remains Sunday, and quickly called her father’s best friend, Billy Crystal, hours before her brother Nick was taken into custody for the double murder.
The bodies of the Oscar nominee, 78, and 68-year-old photographer appeared to have already been in rigor mortis by the time Los Angeles authorities responded to their Brentwood home at around 3:40 p.m. local time Sunday, TMZ reports.
After calling authorities, 28-year-old Romy — younger sister to Jake, 34, and accused murderer Nick, 32 — phoned 77-year-old family friend Crystal, who starred in Reiner’s “When Harry Met Sally.”
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Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner in 2007 (left) and on September 9 (right). (Getty)
Crystal, whose friendship with the late filmmaker dates back to a 1975 “All in the Family” role, “looked like he was about to cry,” a neighbor told KABC. Larry David also arrived at Reiner’s home Sunday night.
In 2021, Crystal told “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” that Reiner “is my dearest friend” and that he “had a whole separate, wonderful relationship” with the latter’s late father, Carl Reiner.
Prior to “When Harry Met Sally,” Crystal appeared in Reiner’s “This Is Spinal Tap” and “The Princess Bride.” He also appeared at the Sept. 9 premiere of “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” where Reiner and Singer were photographed with their three kids, including 34-year-old son Jake.
Reiner and Nick — who’s been in and out of rehab since adolescence and experienced periods of homelessness, had a “very loud argument.” at Conan O’Brien’s holiday party the night before Reiner and Singer were fatally stabbed.
Nick, who is being held without bail, was charged Tuesday with two counts of first degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders. If convicted, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, which the district attorney did not rule out.