Criminologist Kathleen Heide says the U.S. has about 250 parent killings a year, mostly by adults. She outlines four offender profiles but says it is impossible to tell from outside whether the 2025 killings of Rob and Michele Reiner fit the rage profile.
Heide's four profiles include offenders reacting to severe, typically ongoing abuse; people with severe mental illness, usually with a history of psychotic symptoms; offenders with antisocial motives, such as seeking money or removing an obstacle; and people whose rage stems from the past. Rage cases may involve past abuse that is no longer ongoing and can be fueled by alcohol or drugs.
Heide says parricide accounts for about 2% of U.S. homicides; about 15% of those cases involve female killers, and double parricides make up about 8% of parricides. Nick Reiner is due to stand trial over the 2025 killings of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner; he will not face the death penalty.
