Jon Rappoport

Dec 17, 2025

∙ Paid

 

—I’m writing this on Monday afternoon, December 15. By the time you read this, some new facts or allegations may have surfaced.

Sympathy for the plight of a son? Yes, OK. Sympathy for the whole family? Sure. But…

According to reports, he slashed his parents’ throats.

—Famously troubled son of the Reiners. Now 32. Long drug history. Lived on the streets for a time.

There’s enough material there for a hundred television specials, biographies, and so on. I’m not interested in hand-wringing, endless tears, or using the murders to analyze “what went wrong in America.” Part of what went wrong is: people don’t want to face crime as crime. They want to find out “why” so badly. They want to tell us what it all MEANS.

I want to say: He shot the storekeeper eight times. He strangled his brother. He threw his roommate off the roof. He slashed the throats of his father and mother.

And if a “why” is available, sure, I want to highlight that, too. For example, the killer shot the man who tortured him.

I am somewhat interested in the $4 million bail being set for Nick. Seems quite insane. He walks, he destroys the ankle bracelet, and goes on another murderous rampage, maybe against other members of his family.

Nick’s high-priced lawyers may try to argue insanity—Nick didn’t really know right from wrong or what he was doing when he killed his parents. Therefore, commit him to a psychiatric hospital for treatment, and then, when he’s better, he walks.

What??

In California, there is no second bite at the apple. A jury says he’s guilty of the crime but was insane at the time, orders him to a psychiatric hospital…and when he’s sane again, he’s free.

Justice. Uh-huh.

The point that never gets talked about enough in these cases is the killer’s PSYCHIATRIC HISTORY. And there are good reasons for that: