Hours before police tape sealed off the Reiners’ Los Angeles home, they had been standing under Christmas lights, trying to manage a son spiraling in public. Witnesses say Nick roamed Conan O’Brien’s party “freaking everyone out,” demanding to know who was famous, until the confrontation with his father finally erupted and the couple quietly left. By Sunday afternoon, their daughter Romy would be the one to find them slain.

Nick, long open about his battles with addiction and homelessness, is now jailed without bail, accused of murdering the parents who had spent years trying to save him. Rob Reiner, who gave the world Stand By Me, The Princess Bride and A Few Good Men, leaves behind a legacy of storytelling—and a family shattered by a final, unbearable plot twist no one could rewrite.