Jerry O'Connell Breaks Down in Tears While Reflecting on Tragic Murders of Rob and Michele Reiner

Jerry O’Connell broke down in tears while reflecting on the tragic murders of Rob and Michele Reiner during an emotional CBS special. The actor, 51, gained fame as a preteen when Rob cast him in the iconic 1986 film Stand By Me.

“Everything I have in my life is because I was in Stand by Me. Everything,” Jerry explained on Rob Reiner: Scenes From a Life, which aired Sunday, December 21.

The actor shared a poignant memory of Rob reaching out to him long after the film’s release.

“Rob Reiner heard I was in L.A., and he took me out to lunch, man,” he recalled, struggling to hold back tears. “He didn’t have to do that, you know what I’m saying? It was months after the movie came out. He was a busy man. And he took a 12-year-old me out to lunch just to be like, ‘Thanks so much, what a great movie.’”

Jerry covered his eyes with his hands, emphasizing how much that act of kindness meant. “It’s just stuff that kids need to hear, you know?” he stressed.

Mandy Patinkin, who starred alongside Rob in The Princess Bride, also expressed heartbreak over the shocking news.

Upon learning that the director and his wife had been brutally stabbed to death, Mandy could only think to use the word “inconceivable” — a famously repeated phrase from their film.

“I heard this news at about 11-something [last] Sunday night. I was in bed. I was in shock. I didn’t sleep at all. I just kept wailing and crying. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to process it. I still don’t know how to process it, and I’m not looking for how to process it,” the actor, 73, said.

Reflecting on his time with Rob, Mandy recounted how the director invited him and the cast to L.A. to see the first cut of the film. “We’re sitting there in this screening room, and the film was over, and I said, ‘I never dreamed I would get to be in something like this,’” he shared, his voice shaking. “He made that dream for me.”

Mandy credited Rob with fostering his growth as a person. “One time, he said to me, ‘I just wish you could get out of your own way.’ And I haven’t been able to achieve that to this day, but I won’t quit trying,” he said. “He cared about my nature. He showed it to me over and over again.”

Kathy Bates, who won an Academy Award for her performance in Rob’s 1990 horror classic Misery, also shed tears on air while praising the late Hollywood legend. She remembered his warmth and excitement, revealing how he proudly shouted, “She was the best!” after her Oscar win in 1991. “Hearing that was so wonderful because I wanted to be the best for him,” she said.

On December 17, Rob, 78, and Michele were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. The LA County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that the couple died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” ruling their deaths a homicide.

Their troubled son, Nick Reiner, has since been arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, with a special circumstance of multiple murders.

The 32-year-old, who reportedly suffered from schizophrenia and battled drug addiction, is currently in solitary confinement at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, facing a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole or possibly the death penalty. He is expected to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.