Death row inmate reveals email he received from Michele Reiner night before she and Rob were killed
A death row inmate received a heartbreaking email from Michele Reiner just hours before she and her Hollywood legend husband, Rob, were allegedly killed by their own son, the inmate revealed.
Rob and Michele Reiner had attended a Los Angeles theater on December 12 to see Lyrics from Lockdown, a one-man show about injustice and mass incarceration in the U.S. legal system, based on the life and writings of Nanon Williams.
Williams, who has been in prison for more than three decades and sentenced to death for a murder he says he did not commit, formed an unlikely bond with the couple over the years. The Reiners had become “an integral part of my life” through their regular communication, Williams told NBC News in an interview from his Texas prison last week.
But on December 14, Williams was devastated when he opened his state-issued tablet to read the shocking news: Rob and Michele Reiner had been found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home, and their son, Nick, had been charged with the killings. He immediately wrote a desperate email to Michele, whom he considered a mother figure: “Please, this can’t be true. Please tell me the news is lying,” he wrote.
Because emails from inmates can be delayed while screened by prison security, Williams only received a message from Michele dated 8:36 p.m. on December 13. In it, she raved about the show, which had also been attended by Williams’ mother, siblings, and his wife, Tera, whom he married while in prison.
The email also mentioned the Reiners’ close friends Billy Crystal and his wife, as well as their daughter, Romy Reiner. Michele wrote: “We all said that we can’t wait to watch it with you. And your whole family was there, it was great. I loved your mother. She is so beautiful, and I told her she must have done something right because you turned out so well.” She ended the note warmly: “Hope you’re doing well. Love you, Michele.”
Tragically, the couple was found dead the following day.
The Reiners, known for their social justice advocacy, first saw Lyrics from Lockdown in 2016 and were immediately moved by Williams’ story and fight for freedom.
Williams was charged with murder at age 17 in 1992 and sentenced to death in 1995 for the killing of 19-year-old Adonius Collier in Houston. His conviction relied heavily on ballistic evidence that initially attributed the fatal shot to him rather than co-defendant Vaal Guevara, who had testified against Williams in exchange for a lighter plea deal. Over time, the evidence began to unravel, and even the ballistic expert admitted the initial findings were incorrect. Prosecutors later acknowledged that Guevara had been evasive and untruthful on the stand, NBC News reported.
“The more [the Reiners] learned, the more pissed off Rob became, and the more loving Michele became,” Williams said.
Once he was issued a tablet in 2021, Williams’ correspondence with the Reiners became more frequent. Michele would check in on him, share stories from her family, and maintain a constant source of support. Williams described her as “my heart.” Through Zoom calls, he even met the Reiners’ children — Jack, Romy, and Nick — and said he felt nothing but love from the family.
“My parents spoke about him with such love,” Romy Reiner said in a statement to NBC News. “He has taught me more about life and human compassion than anyone I’ve ever met.”
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