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Legally Brunette: The Murder of Rob and Michele Reiner · Legally Brunette

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hi, guys, Welcome to a new episode of Legally Brunette.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I will be your host Emily Simpson with Shane Today
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: we're going to go, well, this is very breaking news.
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  Speaker 1: So last night I was scrolling Instagram and I saw,
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  Speaker 1: like a breaking news, Rob Reiner has been murdered along
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  Speaker 1: with his wife, and I knew the name Rob Reiner immediately.
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  Speaker 1: Did you you know who that is?
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  Speaker 2: Right? No? I didn't know really offhand.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so I knew that I knew immediately that he
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  Speaker 1: had been in Hollywood, that he was a big name
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  Speaker 1: in Hollywood, but he was more of a behind the
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  Speaker 1: scenes kind of guy in Hollywood. So on Sunday, December fourteenth,
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  Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a medical emergency
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  Speaker 1: at three point thirty eight pm and found Rob Reiner
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  Speaker 1: and his wife Michelle Reiner dead. A family member who
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  Speaker 1: was allegedly their daughter, romy went to the house and
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  Speaker 1: discovered them. Police said they were investigating the case as
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  Speaker 1: an apparent homicide. Senior law enforcement sources told ABC News
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  Speaker 1: the victims were stabbed to death in their Brentwood residence.
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  Speaker 1: I actually just read recently because they just keep refreshing
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  Speaker 1: and looking up articles because more information just keeps coming
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  Speaker 1: out every few minutes. Honestly, that there's I read that
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  Speaker 1: their throats were slashed. Okay, So the official cause of
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  Speaker 1: death was will be determined by the LA Coroner's office,
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  Speaker 1: which has not been provided yet. Rob Reiner is an
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  Speaker 1: award winning director, producer, actor, and political activists whose career
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  Speaker 1: includes some of Hollywood's most beloved films. From his nineteen
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  Speaker 1: eighty four directorial debut, This is spinal Tap. I have
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: no idea what that is.
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  Speaker 2: If you have a final tap, you don't know what
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  Speaker 2: that is.
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  Speaker 1: No, I have no idea what is that.
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  Speaker 2: It's a big it's got a big cult falling. It's
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  Speaker 2: about a band.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, it's about a band.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's it's kind of a style.
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  Speaker 1: I thought it it was like a spinal tap.
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  Speaker 2: That was a documentary on some medical procedures.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, I had no idea that the spinal tap is
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  Speaker 1: the name of the band. Y Okay, I didn't know that.
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  Speaker 1: He also did Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When
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  Speaker 1: Harry met Sally, Misery, and a Few Good Men. So
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  Speaker 1: those are all huge blockbuster movies. He and his wife, Michelle,
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  Speaker 1: have been married since nineteen eighty nine and they share
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  Speaker 1: three children together, Nick, Jake, and Romy and Nick is
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  Speaker 1: thirty two years old, who is allegedly the killer. So
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  Speaker 1: what do we know so far? Their son and let's
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  Speaker 1: talk about the son and his involvement in this. According
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  Speaker 1: to multiple sources who have spoken with family members, Rob
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  Speaker 1: and Michelle were killed by their thirty two year old
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  Speaker 1: son Nick. Okay, here's my question. This is what And
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  Speaker 1: obviously there's not a lot of details at this point.
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  Speaker 1: It just happened yesterday. I guess my question based upon
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  Speaker 1: just all the true crime that we do and all
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  Speaker 1: the stories that we talk about. Do you first of all,
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  Speaker 1: this reminds me of Menendez because you're talking about a
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  Speaker 1: wealthy Hollywood family. They live in Brentwood, the Menindez lived in. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's parasite. I'm so you're talking about a son that
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  Speaker 1: killed their parents and his dead though, were sons that
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  Speaker 1: killed their parents in Beverly Hills stops turning.
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  Speaker 2: You just put all those pieces together. It's yeah, yes,
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  Speaker 2: the son killed the parents, that's the story. But it's
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  Speaker 2: steps there. We don't know that there was abuse, or
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  Speaker 2: I didn't.
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  Speaker 1: Say there was. I'm saying that there is a parallel between.
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  Speaker 1: It is parricide. That is the actual name of when
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  Speaker 1: children kill their parents.
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  Speaker 2: What's it called When the child kills the.
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  Speaker 1: Father, patricide, and when they kill the mother, it's called matricide.
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  Speaker 1: And the overall umbrella of killing your parents is called parricide.
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  Speaker 1: And parriside makes up about one percent of all homicides
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  Speaker 1: in the United States, just one percent, which, since we
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  Speaker 1: have children, makes me feel slightly slightly better about the whole.
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  Speaker 1: That is very true. So in a twenty sixteen interview
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  Speaker 1: with People, Nick spoke about his years long struggle with
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  Speaker 1: drug addiction, which began in his early teens and eventually
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  Speaker 1: left him living on the streets. He said he cycled
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  Speaker 1: in and out of rehab beginning around age fifteen, but
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  Speaker 1: as his addiction escalated, he drifted farther from home and
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  Speaker 1: spent significant stretches homeless and multiple states. I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: assume that he was homeless at multiple times, because I
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  Speaker 1: would I would assume that his parents said, if you
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  Speaker 1: don't get sober, you can't live here anymore, and so
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  Speaker 1: he spent probably maybe he.
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  Speaker 2: Didn't want to live there, Maybe he wanted to go
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  Speaker 2: to friend's house where he could drink, where he was crashing,
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  Speaker 2: where he was.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if he was with friends. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: it said he was homeless, and he claimed he was
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  Speaker 1: homeless in lots of different states, Maine, in Arizona and
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  Speaker 1: all these different places. So I think, I think. And
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  Speaker 1: it said by eighteen he'd been.
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  Speaker 2: In read I read that at fifteen he went to
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  Speaker 2: rehab for the first time.
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  Speaker 1: Right, and then I think by eighteen he'd been in
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  Speaker 1: like nine different rehabs.
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  Speaker 2: So that's I'm saying, go back to school, and like,
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  Speaker 2: what do you do over the summer?
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  Speaker 1: Was rehabit?
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  Speaker 2: Yea?
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  Speaker 1: So to me it looks as if maybe his parents
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  Speaker 1: had gotten to the point where they were like you
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  Speaker 1: just if you're not sober and you're not well, you
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  Speaker 1: can't be here. And then these are these bouts of homelessness.
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  Speaker 1: I just like to speculate on things. Also, I keep thinking,
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  Speaker 1: was he at the home and there was something that
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  Speaker 1: broke out, like there was some kind of fight that
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  Speaker 1: ensued and he reached for a knife and he stabbed them,
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  Speaker 1: or was this calculated, premeditated murder where he drove to
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  Speaker 1: their house and he you know, liked the Menindas.
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  Speaker 2: How did they like zero in on the sun.
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  Speaker 1: I did read that someone said that they saw a
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  Speaker 1: man outside of the house. They didn't identify him as
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  Speaker 1: a son, but he had a white tesla and they
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  Speaker 1: said that he wouldn't talk to press, and he got
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  Speaker 1: in the car and he left. I don't know if
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  Speaker 1: that was him. I don't know. But and the daughter
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  Speaker 1: found the bodies and called nine to one one. So
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if he was in the house near
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  Speaker 1: the house Brentwood.
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  Speaker 2: Have you driven in Brentwood. Everyone's got video cameras in
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  Speaker 2: their house. Yeah, it could have been. They quickly looked
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  Speaker 2: at that and found that, you know.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe or maybe the sister said, if you know, when
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  Speaker 1: she found the parents dead, she said, it was my
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  Speaker 1: brother Nick, go find maybe. So I don't know, that's
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  Speaker 1: to be determined. In a twenty sixteen interview with People,
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  Speaker 1: Nick spoke about his year's long struggle with drug addiction,
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  Speaker 1: which began in his early teens and eventually left him
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  Speaker 1: living on the streets. He said he cycled in and
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  Speaker 1: out of rehab beginning around age fifteen, but as his
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  Speaker 1: addiction escalated, he drifted farther from home and spent significant
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  Speaker 1: stretches of time homeless in multiple states. Nick told people
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  Speaker 1: that the chaotic period of addiction, including nights and sometimes
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  Speaker 1: weeks sleeping outside, later became the basis for a semi
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  Speaker 1: autobiographical film called Being Charlie that he co wrote and
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  Speaker 1: his dad, Rob Reiner, was the producer. You know, when
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  Speaker 1: kids are addicted to drugs and then they have long
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  Speaker 1: periods of homelessness. I think sometimes people are parents or
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  Speaker 1: other parents are judgmental of the parents, saying maybe you
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't kick them out. But I don't know what it's
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  Speaker 1: like to have a child that's a drug addict, And
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  Speaker 1: like we've talked about and all the interventions I've watched,
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  Speaker 1: it is so harmful and tragic for everybody in the family,
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  Speaker 1: the parents and the siblings and everyone. And I think
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  Speaker 1: sometimes parents are left to say you have to leave,
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  Speaker 1: you can't be here anymore because it has.
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  Speaker 2: Such or or or we're not gonna allow alcohol in
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  Speaker 2: our house, and then they end up leaving.
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  Speaker 1: And that's the reason, right, Like, if you're going to
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  Speaker 1: live here, you can't do drugs, and I'm not going
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  Speaker 1: to support your drug habit and I'm not going to
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  Speaker 1: give you money for drugs. So then they end up
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  Speaker 1: becoming homeless. But I think I just think we have to.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know. I just think it's unfair to judge
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  Speaker 1: parents when they're.
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  Speaker 2: Doing I shouldn't judge anyone or the child that's addicted.
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  Speaker 1: No what I'm saying. A lot of times when there's
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  Speaker 1: a child who is an addict and then they end
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  Speaker 1: up homeless because the parents drew a hard line and
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  Speaker 1: said you're no longer welcome here. That's a very difficult
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  Speaker 1: place as a parent to be in, and that's a hard,
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  Speaker 1: hard decision to make. So Rob Reiner was the producer
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  Speaker 1: on this film of his son's semi autobiographical film, which
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  Speaker 1: was a drama based on his family struggles while son
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  Speaker 1: Nick was addicted to hard drugs and rotating in and
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  Speaker 1: out of rehabs and homelessness. It was very, very hard
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  Speaker 1: going through at the first time with these painful and
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  Speaker 1: difficult highs and lows, Reiner told The Times back in
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  Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, and then making the movie dredged it all
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  Speaker 1: up again. Speaking at the Tiff premiere of Being Charlie
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  Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen, Rob said that the character Charlie resents
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  Speaker 1: his parents for their harsh treatment amid his addictions as
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  Speaker 1: they send him away from mandatory stints and rehab, which
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  Speaker 1: closely follows how he and his wife treated Nick per
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  Speaker 1: the Los Angeles times. When Nick would tell us that
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  Speaker 1: it wasn't working for him, we woul and listen. We
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  Speaker 1: were desperate, and because the people had diplomas on their wall,
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  Speaker 1: we listened to them when we should have been listening
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  Speaker 1: to our son. Michelle added, this is the mother. We
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  Speaker 1: were so influenced by these people. They would tell us
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  Speaker 1: he's a liar and he was trying to manipulate us,
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  Speaker 1: and we believe them. Well, you know, they're probably right.
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  Speaker 1: He probably was a liar, and he was probably trying
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  Speaker 1: to manipulate that.
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, drugs. Yeah, you're not going to be.
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  Speaker 1: A stand up, you know, ethical drugs exactly, all right.
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  Speaker 1: So the response from Hollywood has been astounding. So a
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  Speaker 1: neighbor told ABC News that actors Billy Crystal and Larry
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  Speaker 1: David were seen at the house after police had arrived.
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  Speaker 1: Billy looked like he was about to cry. This is
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  Speaker 1: what the neighborhood said. There are two houses that the
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  Speaker 1: Reiner family owns across the street from each other. So
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  Speaker 1: Rob and his wife Michelle live in one and then
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  Speaker 1: their daughter, Romy and her kids live across the street
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  Speaker 1: in the other. This is according to the neighbor. An
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  Speaker 1: extensive list of celebrities and politicians have spoken out about
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  Speaker 1: the loss of Rob and Michelle include Barack and Michelle Obama,
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  Speaker 1: California governor Gavin Newsom, actor Ben Stiller, actress Kathy Bates
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  Speaker 1: who was in and actor John Cusack, to name just
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  Speaker 1: a few. Reiner was an outspoken supporter of the Democratic Party,
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  Speaker 1: championing same sex marriage, early childhood education, and the careers
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  Speaker 1: of various presidential candidates. He helped overturn Proposition eight, which
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: was California's short lived ban on gay marriage, and took
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: on the tobacco industry in the state, where he was
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: mentioned at times as a potential candidate for governor. However,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: he never officially ran for office, all right, and I
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  Speaker 1: think this was his very last interview that he did.
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  Speaker 1: He did an interview with Piers Morgan and the topic
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: was Charlie Kirk's death. He claimed that he found the
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: assassination horrific and said there was no justification for it,
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  Speaker 1: no matter what your political beliefs are. He also talked
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: about the power of forgiveness after the assassination, calling Erica
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  Speaker 1: Kirk's words admirable.
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  Speaker 2: So sayah, despite his his position yeah on life and
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  Speaker 2: people's rights, he still found it to be horrific. And
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  Speaker 2: then here now he is having been killed by you son.
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  Speaker 1: So the LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said, investigators need
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  Speaker 1: to get a search warrant to conduct a full crime
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  Speaker 1: scene investigation at Rob Reiner's home. We're waiting for the
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: legal process to move forward. We have to obtain a
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: search warrant for the residents. Once that is complied with,
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  Speaker 1: we will be conducting a full crime scene investigation on
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  Speaker 1: the interior and exterior of the residence and the surrounding neighborhood.
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  Speaker 1: A source who has knowledge of the investigation but was
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: not authorized to speak publicly, confirm that there was no
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  Speaker 1: sign of forced entry into the home.
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  Speaker 2: Did he say that publicly.
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  Speaker 1: He said publicly, but not confirmed. So well, because he's
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: commenting on something that the police will confirm or deny
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: later at some point after they conduct a thorough investigation.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: I do have questions. My question is, again, like we
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: talked about, do you think that he was just at
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: the home visiting and then something happened, and it was
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  Speaker 1: a heated the moment type of like, I don't know
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  Speaker 1: how that happens, but you're mad, maybe screaming at each other,
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  Speaker 1: you reach over, you grab a knife. But my other
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  Speaker 1: question is is he's one person. He's thirty two years old.
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  Speaker 1: His parents are I believe Rob Eriner seventy and his
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  Speaker 1: mother's sixty eight. They look like they're in good shape.
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  Speaker 2: I woe.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I've seen lots of photos, because there's
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  Speaker 1: lots of family photos that have been popping up in
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  Speaker 1: recent photos. They look healthy, they look like they're in shape.
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  Speaker 1: I don't. I can't picture how you go for one
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  Speaker 1: person with a knife and the other person is subdued somehow,
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  Speaker 1: unless they're in separate rooms. Everything I know because I
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: need to visualize it, and I can't when there's two people, I.
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  Speaker 2: Don't know because we don't know if they're in the
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: same room or separate rooms. Right one was asleep, right exactly.
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  Speaker 1: But so there'll be lots lots more details that come out,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: so we will update you on those as information comes out,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: and we will keep you updated. So that's all we
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: know right now with the Roberre in your case.
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  Speaker 2: All we know is they're dead and the sun is
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: in custody.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Yes on form. First of all, his bail says a lot.
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  Speaker 2: I think you're gonna do more speculating. You say you
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: like speculating, So what do you think happened?
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  Speaker 1: I did well, I said. My speculating is guessing motive.
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  Speaker 2: Motive?
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  Speaker 1: Oh well, I don't. I don't know if I feel
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  Speaker 1: like the motive is okay. When you think about Menandez,
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  Speaker 1: A lot of people thought the motive was was wealth based.
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  Speaker 1: That you know, they wanted to get rid of their parents,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: so they inherit money. Obviously, Rob Reiner is.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: Well way spend it in jail. What are these people thinking.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, but I'm saying that's people kill for
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: money all the time. We just did the the case
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: of the Carmen. They're thinking they're going to get away
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: with it. But I don't think. My gut reaction is
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: not that this case is financially motivated. Because he's had
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: such a history of mental illness and he's been in
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: a out of rehab not just mental illness, but drug
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: drug abuse, severe drug abuse, hardcore drug abuse, and homelessness.
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  Speaker 1: This to me feels more like a like a mental
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: illness or he was high on drugs type of situation,
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  Speaker 1: not a I'm going to get rid of my parents
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  Speaker 1: so I can inherit their estate.
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  Speaker 2: Right and direct the next movie and take over right, right.
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  Speaker 1: So I so I don't think that is the motive.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: But again my question is was it a heat of
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: the moment type of situation or was it premeditated and
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: he drove to their home and had a plan of attack.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: But you know, when you murder with a knife, that
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: is very personal.
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  Speaker 2: That's it's very violent. It's you just pushed a button
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: and they died, right, You had to.
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: Literally you and and to cut their throats, like you
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: are as close to the person as the next one
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: as you can physically get.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: And then go to the next one exactly.
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  Speaker 1: Also, I think TMZ first reported on it that the
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: night before the murder that they had all been at
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: a Christmas party at Conan O'Brien's house.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: With children too.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: Yes, I believe Nick was there and the parents were there,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: and allegedly there was a fight like a screaming match
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: that broke out between the parents and Nick Conan's house. Yeah,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: this was TMZ reporting, So I don't know I'm just saying,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: it's not The New York Times, it's tmzest journalists. So
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: allegedly they got in a fight the night before. I
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: don't know, maybe that has something to do with what
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: happened the next day.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: It's on Instagram.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: It's not right until until it makes into my reels.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Then it is official. So anyway, that's what we know
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: so far on the Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle case.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: We will keep you updated on that. Information keeps coming
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: out just rapidly or rapidly, so I we'll most definitely
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: be talking about this on our next episode. So they
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: more and we will speculate more. Absolutely so, thanks for listening.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: We appreciate you guys. MHM