Rob Reiner and spouse Michele Singer Reiner befriended a person who was imprisoned at age 17 for a homicide he says he didn’t commit, and spent years advocating for his launch earlier than their deaths.
In an interview with NBC Information printed on Monday, January 5, Nanon Williams, 51, detailed his bond with Rob, Michele and their kids, after the late couple caught a efficiency of Byronn Bain’s one-man present Lyrics From Lockdown — partially impressed by Williams’ writing — in Los Angeles in 2016.
Moved by his phrases, the When Harry Met Sally… director and his spouse reached out to Williams in jail and commenced a long-lasting friendship.
“I didn’t actually know who Rob was,” Williams informed NBC Information, including that over time, the couple took curiosity in his case, exchanging every day emails and weekly telephone calls.
“The extra they realized, the extra pissed off Rob turned, and the extra loving Michele turned,” mentioned Williams, who was convicted of the homicide of 19-year-old Adonius Collier in Houston, Texas, in 1992. He was sentenced to demise following a 1995 trial.
Simply 17 on the time of his preliminary arrest, Williams spent years on demise row till a 2005 legislation banned executions for crimes dedicated by juveniles. His sentence was lowered to life with out parole, per NBC Information.
Williams has maintained his innocence and his attorneys proceed to enchantment his conviction. In April 2024, the Texas Forensic Science Fee concluded that ballistics evaluation used to convict Williams was inaccurate.
“He’s probably the most intuitive individual I’ve ever recognized,” Michele wrote in a letter supporting Williams’ request for a brand new trial, per NBC. “And though he says we’ve got given him a lot, he has given me a lot extra.”
In his personal letter, Rob wrote, “I’ve led a excessive profile life for over fifty years. And in that point I’ve met some very spectacular and influential individuals. But when I’m being trustworthy, other than my father [Carl Reiner], nobody has impressed me extra and been extra influential to me than Nanon Williams.”
Rob and Michele weren’t the one ones to bond with Williams. He was additionally launched nearly to their three kids, Jake, 34, Nick, 32, and Romy, 28.
Romy informed NBC Information, “He turned like household.”
“My dad and mom spoke about him with such love,” she added in a press release. “He has taught me extra about life and human compassion than anybody I’ve ever met.”
In line with NBC Information, Michele wrote an electronic mail to Williams on December 13, 2025, simply hours earlier than she and Rob had been slain inside their dwelling within the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Rob and Michele had taken their shut buddy, Billy Crystal, to a efficiency of Lyrics From Lockdown in Los Angeles on December 12. Michele wrote that Crystal “cherished it and was so moved by it.”
Michele wrote, “All of us mentioned we are able to’t wait to look at it with you.”
Rob and Michele had been discovered useless inside their dwelling on December 14, simply two days after the efficiency. He was 78 and he or she was 70.
In line with NBC, Williams didn’t obtain Michele’s electronic mail to his state-issued digital pill till after the deaths. He additionally acquired two extra emails from the couple, which that they had despatched earlier than they died however had been acquired days later as a result of jail screening insurance policies.
“Please, this will’t be true. Please inform me the information is mendacity,” Williams reportedly wrote to Michele after studying that two individuals had been discovered useless contained in the Reiners’ dwelling.
Rob and Michele’s son, Nick, was charged with two counts of first-degree homicide in connection along with his dad and mom’ deaths on December 16. He has not but entered a plea. He’s anticipated to be arraigned on Wednesday, January 7.
Williams informed NBC Information, “I used to be judged to be a killer, a monster past redemption. The query I ask myself is, ‘What would they need for his or her son?’”
“What love and compassion and understanding would they need for him? If they might have it for me, why not him?” he added.
