Hey y’all, it’s Julie Mattson, and this week on Pushing Up Lilies we talk about two tragic and heartbreaking deaths that shook their communities, the loss of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer. In this episode, I share what I’ve learned from these cases and why they remain so important to talk about. We’ll explore the circumstances surrounding their deaths, the signs that were missed, and how sudden loss like this can leave families and friends with more questions than answers. As a former death investigator, I walk through the facts with care, compassion, and clarity, helping you understand the science, the investigation process, and the human stories behind the headlines. Whether you’re drawn to true crime, healing stories, or just want to understand what really happens after a death, this episode offers insight, respect, and reflection. Join me as we honor these lives and learn from what they leave behind. * Listener discretion is advised.
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00:06
Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I'm your host, Julie Mattson. Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.
00:24
Do I have some stories for you? Are you ready? Welcome back to another episode of Pushing Up Lilies. I want to tell y'all that I had my retirement party yesterday. It was at the courthouse here in Denton.
00:42
My coworkers and my boss, Jen, did an amazing job of decorating the room. And I love how they integrated the cheetah, and the hot pink and all the things that I love, a little bit of bling. And we just had an amazing time.
00:57
We had wonderful food. The cake was delicious and just such a great get together with a lot of my friends from the courthouse and from local law enforcement and my coworkers and friends. And it was just amazing.
01:15
It's so sad to leave a job that you love, but I just know that I'm going to be busier. I'm going to be so much busier. And I'm excited to put more into the podcast and spend more time and start doing more presentations and just be a little more present.
01:32
Give me a little more time to do other things that I also love to do. I'll also be doing some investigations for a private pathologist. And so, I'm not out of the investigation world either. So, there's a lot going on.
01:47
And y'all all know that I'm still in school, about to take my last class starts in January. And then I have 39 weeks of clinical, y'all. And so that's basically working in a doctor's office free of charge.
02:01
So, I'll be working more and making less. Again, don't forget to have a Patreon. If you want the podcast to keep going, reach out, get on there and subscribe. If nothing else, to buy me a cup of coffee every day will help keep me going.
02:17
And I also have a subscription now on my Facebook page. So pushing up lilies on Facebook. I'm happy to say that I just reached 1,500 followers, which is great because I only had 900 last week. I posted on Facebook, and one post got me over 600 new followers and new subscribers.
02:40
As I learn more about social media, I'm getting more and more excited about the possibilities of getting more followers and getting the podcast out there. But I still definitely appreciate everyone sharing.
02:53
And also, all of the emails that I've gotten are just overwhelming. I love that people are not afraid to reach out and ask questions. Just know that if you have emailed me and I haven't responded, I received over 100 off of that one Facebook post.
03:10
So, I'm going to need a little bit of time to get back with you. There's some people that are wanting me to look into some cases. That's obviously not something that I can do super quickly. So give me a little bit of time.
03:21
I will definitely get back with you. And when you hear from someone, it will be me. I will personally respond to everybody. Just give me just a little bit of time. I am still working two jobs and going to school.
03:34
And so, in the meantime, and as I sit here recording, I'm waiting for a doctor to call me back about a patient who was found deceased this morning. Be patient with me, pretty please. And then also, I just want to say, do y'all ever, I know that we'll see something on TV sometimes that just like rubs you wrong because you're like, that's not the way we do it.
03:58
Whether you're a nurse or a doctor or a police officer or a death investigator. Last night I was watching Landman, which I love, by the way. It's filmed here in Texas, and it was in Midland where there was an accident on the show.
04:17
There was a guy that was trying to kill himself. He had the exhaust piped into the truck. Then he got hit by a semi. So anyway, long story short, in Midland, there is a medical examiner system. And on the show, the police officer tells Billy Bob Thornton that he ordered an autopsy on the guy that was in the truck.
04:40
You know what? Okay, first of all, in a medical examiner system, the cops do not order an autopsy. This is going to happen automatically if it's not a natural death, especially when it's an accident like this.
04:53
Or even if he hadn't got hit by the truck, it would still have gone to the medical examiner's office because it was a suicide. It's just like back when I worked in the ER and they would have somebody come in on the show ER and they'd be on a stretcher and they'd be doing CPR and they'd hook them up to the EKG machine and it would show asystole, which is flat line, which we all know, that means death.
05:16
And they would start shocking them. And so in real life, you don't shock asystole, and all the nurses know that and all the medics know that and the doctors know that. But for TV, it makes it much more exciting to get out the defibrillator and just shock them.
05:32
In real life, we push meds and that's not very exciting. So anyway, it's just funny how TV doesn't accurately depict. And it's also sad that some people actually use TV to educate themselves. So anyway, I got a kick out about I ordered an autopsy and I'm like, sir, you don't order an autopsy.
05:53
That is automatically done. If you're in a medical examiner county, now, if he were the JP, yes, he would have to order it because he would have to pay for it. So anyway, it just cracked me up. That probably made no sense to y'all, but it's just funny how TV doesn't always accurately depict what really happens or what should happen.
06:16
I know if you've ever seen your job depicted on television, you've probably picked out portions of the show where this is not really what happens. It just kind of cracked me up. But anyway, this week, I want to talk a little bit about the Rob Reiner and Michelle Singer-Reiner deaths and what we know about it.
06:37
It's really a disturbing story. Rob Reiner and his wife, who was also a producer, were found dead inside their Brentwood Los Angeles home on Sunday. So, two days ago, December 14th. At the time, of course, it was reported as an apparent homicide.
06:58
The story is still unfolding, and we're not speculating at all out of respect for the victims and their family. But we're going to walk through what we know a little bit. Now, as far as background, Rob Reiner was one of the most influential figures in modern American film and television, and he rose to fame as Mike Stivick.
07:20
And I watched All in the Family. I don't know about y'all, but I absolutely loved that show. I loved the Mike Stivicks character. He later became a defining director of multiple genres, and his work included The Prince's Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery, which I absolutely love that movie, A Few Good Men, Stand By Me.
07:45
So, this guy is very, he was awesome. His films shaped pop culture across four decades. Michelle Singer-Reiner was a producer, photographer, and creative collaborator. She worked closely with Rob on several projects, and she earned an Emmy nomination for some of her documentary work.
08:09
They actually met while working on When Harry Met Sally, and they got married in 89, and then they shared three children. So outside of Hollywood, though, they were both very active in political and social advocacy, and they supported marriage equality, and they championed early childhood education initiatives.
08:31
But on Sunday afternoon, December 14th, Los Angeles Fire Department Paramedics responded to a medical call at the Reiner's home, and it was about 3.30 p.m., 3.38 to be exact. And inside they found a 78-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman deceased.
08:50
The LA Police Department arrived shortly after that, and of course, they initiated a death investigation. Apparently, a family member had gone to the home and discovered the bodies. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, and of course, the LAPD quickly classified the case as an apparent homicide.
09:08
The home and surrounding streets were sealed off. They initially didn't publicly identify the weapon, but Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton addressed the media later that evening, and they confirmed that the home belonged to Rob Reiner, that there were two deceased individuals found inside.
09:28
And the investigation, of course, was at its earliest stage at that time. And they did not initially publicly identify who the deceased were. They emphasized that they needed a search warrant to conduct a search of the property.
09:45
And, of course, they mentioned that they were going to speak with family members as part of the standard procedure. They didn't name a suspect. But Brentwood is a very quiet, high-profile residential area on the west side of L.A.
10:01
And, of course, the Reiners' home is behind shrubbery and a gated driveway. So, it's not something that's very visible. Of course, news crews arrived quickly, and a spokesperson for the Reiner family released a statement Sunday night that said that they were asking for privacy and that they were heartbroken.
10:23
Rob Reiner's daughter, Tracy, spoke briefly with NBC News after that and said that she had seen her father the day before and that the loss was shocking, and she didn't really know what to say. I mean, what do you say?
10:36
Homicide is a horrifying way to die and so sudden and unexpected. Actors like John Cusack and Kathy Bates and Stephen King and Jamie Lee Curtis, I mean, definitely he was a friend and collaborator with all of them and had changed their lives in many ways.
10:59
But anyway, their reaction was, I mean, everyone, of course, was mortified. I mean, me, I didn't even know him. And I'm on Facebook and I see it and I was like, wow. I mean, it was just kind of shocking.
11:12
Early Monday morning, jail records actually showed that Rob Runner's son, Nick, was taken into custody, arrested on suspicion of murder. Bail was listed at $4 million. Of course, initially, police declined to name a suspect, but an arrest on suspicion does not equal guilt, but they are still investigating.
11:34
And I don't want to get into the political part of what the news media is saying about the case. But anyway, they have not named additional suspects. They left behind a legacy shaped by creativity, advocacy, and family.
11:52
As new facts emerge, they matter. And just remember that speculation does not matter. We're going to continue to follow updates and report those responsibly. I will say in homicide cases that the first hour drives the entire case.
12:16
Investigators are going to focus really on four different priorities. And first of those is scene safety and control, especially in a high-profile case like this. They're going to lock down the entry and the exit points.
12:29
They're going to start a scene log, who comes in, who goes out. They're going to document every person who enters, and they're trying to basically protect that scene from contamination. So that's a very, very, very important part of it.
12:44
Medical assessment, of course, once the paramedics are going to confirm the death, you know, I don't know that they always really do a great job of noting obvious injuries. In a case like this, they're not really going to manipulate the body a whole lot.
13:01
Those are actually things that we do when we come in. EMS definitely supports a full investigation, but they don't do their own. And then also an initial walkthrough, and this is something that the police and detectives are going to do.
13:16
A careful walkthrough looking for threats, victims, but they do not touch what they do not need to touch. And then they're going to decide at that point the level of response. They're always going to call the medical examiner when someone dies at home.
13:34
But if they see consistency with violence or suspicious circumstances, they're going to call out their homicide division. And more specialized units, they're going to call out their crime scene for evidence collection.
13:48
And of course, they do have to call the medical examiner's office. And in cases where there's not a medical examiner, they have to call the Justice of the Peace. So, there's not really chaos. It's more the opposite.
14:03
The best scenes are slow and methodical. And so, documentation is evidence. It happens before collection. There's always photo documentation. The overall photos are going to show the entire scene, but then mid-range photos are going to show relationships between items.
14:22
And then close-up photos are going to show detail. A lot of teams will do a slow narrated video walkthrough. If that happens, it happens before I get there. I'll kind of let them do their thing and then I come later.
14:37
But it kind of captures layout and context if that's done. Some offices will sketch, kind of preserving orientation and location. Of course, notes on temperature, lighting, open doors, open windows, anything moved by first responders.
14:57
The one thing to remember as an investigator is if your documentation is poor, the defense is going to attack it later if it goes to court. Investigators are going to swab likely contact points, not on the body, but at the scene.
15:17
Trace evidence in a case of homicides is going to be left on the body. We are going to manipulate the body as little as possible. And we are going to wrap the body in what we call a trace sheet to kind of keep everything intact and on the body as much as we can.
15:35
Because if you just put a body in a body bag, I mean, everything's going to fly everywhere. You'd have to do trace on the inside of the body bag. So, we try to like keep it a little more put together.
15:45
Anyway, the police are responsible for the scene. We're responsible for the body. So, in our county, anyway, all the trace evidence that might be on the body goes with the body. And the trace team, who are experts in collecting that evidence, are going to be the ones to remove it.
16:03
Now, the police are going to look for handprints and fingerprints and use their powders and chemicals and alternate light sources to collect those. Digital evidence goes to the police, phones, computers, cameras, doorbells, alarm systems, videos.
16:22
This is kind of going to lock down timelines when it comes to when someone entered the home, when someone left, messages, text messages, calls, locations, all those things. The autopsy is actually where the body goes, as we all know, to determine cause and manner of death.
16:41
That can include, and of course, all the injuries are going to be documented, bruising, abrasions, defensive wounds that often appear on hands and forearms, ligature marks, patterned injuries. They're going to sometimes, but not always, examine organs and tissues and look for bleeding and fractures, any kind of internal trauma.
17:03
When they test for toxicology, they're going to test blood, urine, and sometimes vitreous fluid from the eyes, which is horrifying to see them take a huge needle in your eye. I just, I can't. Anyway, basically, we try to build a timeline.
17:19
Police are going to interview family members, but I do that too. We kind of all need to do that. I don't report what the police tell me. I really need to hear it from the person because we all know stories get changed.
17:31
A lot of times I'll get a report from a nurse, and it's changed four times or it's been passed down in report by five different nurses and it's fluctuated slightly from the initial report. Anyway, the son and Rob Reiner were actually at a party the night before, and many people heard them arguing.
17:57
And that was at a holiday party the night before the deaths. And the person who told police that have asked not to be named, they didn't speak to the Reiners at the party, but they said that they couldn't tell what the argument was about, but that Nick and Rob were arguing at the party.
18:18
Now, Nick, who is 32, was arrested on Sunday night. He's being held again in the LA County jail. They did finally release that they had been stabbed. Nick has had problems with drug abuse and bouts of homelessness.
18:36
I guess there was a movie called Being Charlie that was loosely inspired by Nick's early life. But of course, because of his history, the police really focused pretty much immediately on him. But anyway, the story is they were at Conan O'Brien's holiday party when Nick alarmed the guests with his behavior.
19:01
And there was a shouting match between Rob and Nick. Rob apparently told Nick that his behavior was inappropriate. And I believe that the people at the party were very aware of Nick's history of drug abuse because the family discussed it openly.
19:19
Several people at the party reported strange behavior, that Nick's behavior was strange, that he looked anxious and uncomfortable. He was actually arrested Sunday night, though. So, I'm anxious to see how this unfolds.
19:37
I have heard that the weapon was a knife. I have also heard that their throats were slit. It was supposed to be a pretty horrifying scene. I haven't really heard details on exactly what all has been found at the scene, but I am going to continue to follow that and keep you updated.
19:56
The autopsies have already been done. We'll probably be able to find those online. You know how those seem to be put online nowadays where it used to kind of be hidden. Anyway, the story is horrifying.
20:09
And, you know, this is not the first time that I have heard stories of people whose children have struggled with mental illness. And they do everything they can to help them. They do everything they can to keep them safe.
20:27
And even though they themselves don't feel safe with this family member in the home, no, their focus is not on themselves. Their focus is on caring for the family member. And I'm sure in this case, you know, he had bouts of homelessness.
20:42
We want to do everything we can for our kids. It's really sad. And I have friends who have kids with mental illness, and they have to lock their bedroom door at night because they actually do fear for their lives.
20:56
And it's scary. I mean, we've had cases here in the Denton area where, you know, a man was killed by his grandson and he was giving him a place to live and helping keep him off the streets. And mental illness is just, it's devastating and it's so hard when things like this happen.
21:16
You hate it because you know they did so much to advocate and also to take care of their own son. So I'm going to keep you updated and posted on this story as news is released. And I've got to go to work.
21:33
This has been a busy morning already. I've already gotten one death call, and my coworker calls me wanting to know if I want donuts and there's never going to be a no to that. So yes, I want donuts and I am stopping at Sonic to get drinks like I always do.
21:48
And that's just how my day starts. If I don't have my Sonic vanilla diet, Dr. Pepper, the day will not be good. There's absolutely no way if the day does not start out good that it is going to finish well.
22:02
That's just something that has to take place. So anyway, I am just overwhelmed by the love that I've received reporting my retirement and just the outpouring of acceptance that I have received for the podcast.
22:22
And I'm super excited. I think that y'all saw that I'm in talks with Crime Cruise to be on Crime Cruise. I plan to be on the Women in Podcasting Cruise to help with that. And then also be an exhibitor at Beyond the Crumb, possibly a speaker.
22:40
We're working on that. So, I don't know 100% yet, but I love to be a part of these events and retirement is going to allow me to do that. So, I hope that y'all have an amazing day. And I'm going to keep up with this story and keep you abreast of the latest information as it's released.
22:58
I don't want to report a lot of hearsay because that's all it's going to be right now. So have a great day and I will talk to you soon. Bye, y'all. Thank you so much for joining me today on Pushing Up Lilies.
23:12
If you like this podcast and would like to share with others, please do me a quick favor and leave a review on Apple Podcast. This helps to make the podcast more visible to the public. Thanks again for spending your time with me and be sure to visit me at pushinguplies.com for merchandise and past episodes.