Rob Reiner and wife Michele Singer Reiner befriended a man who was imprisoned at age 17 for a murder he says he did not commit, and spent years advocating for his release before their deaths.
In an interview with NBC News published on Monday, January 5, Nanon Williams, 51, detailed his bond with Rob, Michele and their children, after the late couple caught a performance of Byronn Bain’s one-man show Lyrics From Lockdown — partially inspired by Williams’ writing — in Los Angeles in 2016.
Moved by his words, the When Harry Met Sally… director and his wife reached out to Williams in prison and began a long-lasting friendship.
“I didn’t really know who Rob was,” Williams told NBC News, adding that over the years, the couple took interest in his case, exchanging daily emails and weekly phone calls.
“The more they learned, the more pissed off Rob became, and the more loving Michele became,” said Williams, who was convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Adonius Collier in Houston, Texas, in 1992. He was sentenced to death following a 1995 trial.
Just 17 at the time of his initial arrest, Williams spent years on death row until a 2005 law banned executions for crimes committed by juveniles. His sentence was reduced to life without parole, per NBC News.
Williams has maintained his innocence and his lawyers continue to appeal his conviction. In April 2024, the Texas Forensic Science Commission concluded that ballistics analysis used to convict Williams was inaccurate.
“He is the most intuitive person I’ve ever known,” Michele wrote in a letter supporting Williams’ request for a new trial, per NBC. “And although he says we have given him so much, he has given me so much more.”
In his own letter, Rob wrote, “I’ve led a high profile life for over fifty years. And in that time I’ve met some very impressive and influential people. But if I’m being honest, apart from my father [Carl Reiner], no one has impressed me more and been more influential to me than Nanon Williams.”
Rob and Michele weren’t the only ones to bond with Williams. He was also introduced virtually to their three children, Jake, 34, Nick, 32, and Romy, 28.
Romy told NBC News, “He became like family.”
“My parents spoke about him with such love,” she added in a statement. “He has taught me more about life and human compassion than anyone I’ve ever met.”
According to NBC News, Michele wrote an email to Williams on December 13, 2025, just hours before she and Rob were slain inside their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Rob and Michele had taken their close friend, Billy Crystal, to a performance of Lyrics From Lockdown in Los Angeles on December 12. Michele wrote that Crystal “loved it and was so moved by it.”
Michele wrote, “We all said we can’t wait to watch it with you.”
Rob and Michele were found dead inside their home on December 14, just two days after the performance. He was 78 and she was 70.
According to NBC, Williams did not receive Michele’s email to his state-issued electronic tablet until after the deaths. He also received two more emails from the couple, which they had sent before they died but were received days later due to prison screening policies.
“Please, this can’t be true. Please tell me the news is lying,” Williams reportedly wrote to Michele after learning that two people were found dead inside the Reiners’ home.
Rob and Michele’s son, Nick, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with his parents’ deaths on December 16. He has not yet entered a plea. He is expected to be arraigned on Wednesday, January 7.
Williams told NBC News, “I was judged to be a killer, a monster beyond redemption. The question I ask myself is, ‘What would they want for their son?’”
“What love and compassion and understanding would they want for him? If they would have it for me, why not him?” he added.
