Nick Reiner‘s aunt Martine Singer has opened up about where she stands with her nephew as he stands accused of murdering his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.
“I’m functioning,” Martine told Los Angeles’ ABC7 News in an interview that aired on Friday, October 2. “I went back to work in January, as best I could. But it’s always there. It’s always in my mind and in my heart.”
Martine — who runs one of Southern California’s biggest children’s nonprofit organizations — is the younger sister of the late Michele, who was allegedly killed along with her husband Rob by their son, Nick, 33, on December 14, 2025.
Nick had reportedly had a public argument with his father at Conan O’Brien‘s Christmas party on the night before the killings. He was ultimately apprehended near the campus of UCLA on December 14.
The accused killer has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, with prosecutors confirming they will not pursue the death penalty.
Speaking to ABC7’s Marc Brown, Martine recalled learning from a relative last December that her sister Michele had been murdered.
“She said, ‘Something terrible’s happened and you need to go over there.’ It was probably the longest car ride of my life,” she said.
Martine confirmed that she has not had any contact with nephew Nick since he was imprisoned in L.A.’s Twin Towers Correctional Facility in December, pending a criminal trial.
Asked if she had anything to say to Nick, Martine paused before replying, “I appreciate the question. I’m not sure I can answer that.”
Martine did say that she constantly struggles to think of her sister and brother-in-law in the past tense following their deaths.
“They were a force field, they really were,” she said. “They were magnetic. They were charismatic. They were funny and loud and boisterous. The world seems very empty without them.”
Nick’s brother, Jake Reiner, shared similar feelings of loss during his own recent interview with ABC7.
“It’s been eight months. It feels like eight years at the same time, and it also feels like eight minutes,” Jake, 35, told ABC7’s Mark Cota-Robles in a segment that aired on August 27. “Every moment that I wake up, I’m reminded of my reality.”
Jake offered a poignant assessment of how he and sister Romy Reiner were functioning with the loss of their parents and their brother’s imprisonment.
“I mean [Nick is] in jail so, you know it’s — it’s like I physically lost my parents and then Nick was arrested and it’s like, now it’s just me and Romy,” he said.
Nick will be back in court on October 23 for a probate hearing as he continues his fight for access to a family trust to help pay for his legal expenses.
