Rob Reiner and His Wife Michele Formed ‘Loving’ Bond with Man Imprisoned 34 Years Ago for a Murder He Allegedly Didn’t Commit By Latoya Gayle

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner attended a stage show inspired by a prisoner who had become “like family” to them less than 36 hours before they were killed, according to a new report.

The famed director and his wife formed a connection with Nanon Williams after watching a production of Lyrics From Lockdown — inspired by his story of incarceration — in Los Angeles in 2016, according to NBC News.

Before they were murdered on Dec. 14, their emails with Williams, 51 — who has been in prison for 34 years for a murder he says he didn’t commit —  had become almost daily. 

Rob and Michele were “an integral part of my life,” Williams told the outlet. “They became a part of me,” adding that he was introduced to their children virtually.

Romy Reiner said Williams “became like family,” and her parents allegedly offered him the opportunity to live with them if he were ever released from prison, per NBC News. 

She joined her parents, their friends Billy Crystal and his wife, Janice, at a production of Lyrics From Lockdown in Los Angeles on Friday, Dec. 12. Williams’ mom, sisters, and wife, whom he married from prison, were also in the audience. 

After watching the one-man stage show about race, justice and mass incarceration in America, a small circle of advocates fighting for Williams’ exoneration reportedly then gathered by the stage to discuss the latest developments in his appeal.

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Williams was in his cell at the W.F. Ramsey Unit, a maximum-security prison about 40 miles south of Houston, when he learned of Rob and Michele’s death two days later on Sunday, Dec. 14. 

“Please, this can’t be true,” he recalls messaging Michele on his state-issued tablet, per NBC News. “Please tell me the news is lying.”

As email exchanges can take days in prison due to screening delays, Williams subsequently received three new emails from Rob and Michele in the days thereafter.

Michele referred to the Friday night stage show as “amazing” in her final message to Williams, timestamped Saturday, Dec. 13 at 8:26 p.m. EST, according to NBC News.

“We all said that we can’t wait to watch it with you,” she wrote, before signing off, “Love you, Michele.”

Williams was just 17 when he was sent to death row for murder. He reportedly witnessed his uncle’s fatal shooting at age seven and was just 11 when his father was killed over drug territory, NBC News reported. 

Having begun to buy and sell drugs in his teens, something went wrong when he was doing just that in Houston on the night of May 13, 1992, per the outlet. A 19-year-old named Adonius Collier was killed after multiple shots were fired. 

A co-defendant, Vaal Guevara, claimed that he watched then 17-year-old Williams pull the trigger, while a ballistics expert said the bullet recovered from Collier’s skull came from Williams’ .25-caliber handgun rather than Guevara’s .22 Derringer.

Guevara confessed that he shot at Collier but said he missed. Having pleaded guilty to a drug charge and testified against Williams, he went on to serve four of the 10 years he was sentenced to.

At his 1995 trial, Williams was sentenced to death. His lawyer never challenged the prosecutor’s claims that the ballistics evidence was “fail-safe” tying him to the fatal shooting.

Following a closer analysis of the evidence against Williams in the years after his conviction, in 2021, a state judge held post-conviction hearings and concluded Williams deserved a new trial.

However, the recommendation was rejected by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

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By the time Rob and Michele learned of Williams, he was no longer on death row as the U.S. Supreme Court banned executions for crimes committed by juveniles in 2005. Williams’ sentence was reduced to life without parole. 

Lyrics From Lockdown premiered at the National Black Theatre in 2013, having been created in collaboration with Bryonn Bain. Bain — a poet who appeared on a 60 Minutes segment reflecting on being arrested in New York simply for being Black — was inspired after receiving letters from Williams about his life. 

When Rob and Michele reached out to Williams after watching the production in 2016, Williams “didn’t really know” who the When Harry Met Sally director was, yet he was grateful that the couple showed genuine interest in his plight, per NBC News.

“The more they learned,” Williams told the outlet, “the more pissed off Rob became, and the more loving Michele became.”

Rob became an executive producer of Lyrics From Lockdown and the show traveled across the country, spreading awareness of Williams’ story. 

Jake Reiner said in a statement obtained by NBC News that his parents “were fierce in doing everything in their power” to help Williams get out one day. “I know wherever they are,” he continued, “they are beaming with pride for him.”

On Dec. 16, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced in a statement that Rob and Michele’s son Nick had been charged with “two counts of murder with the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, and a special allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife.”

Williams said he’s been considering “what love and compassion and understanding” Rob and Michele would have for Nick following his arrest and charges. 

“I have a responsibility to Nick,” Williams said, per NBC News. “If I ever get out of here, how could I not try to do something to help him?”