Just over two months since he allegedly murdered his parents, Nick Reiner has appeared in court for his arraignment. As he entered a plea of “not guilty” his body language and facial expressions seemed to suggest he was somewhat elated as what appeared to be a sinister smile spread across his face.
The 32-year-old was charged with the murder of his father, film director and actor, Rob Reiner, and his mother, Michele Singer Reiner, back in December of last year. This week Nick arrived in court with a shaved head and a somewhat paranoid look on his face at times. According to body language expert Susan Constantine who spoke to Page Six, he also seemed to smile during his appearance.
“There is a really interesting smirk where his head goes down and then he smiles,” Constantine observed, claiming that Nick was “trying to conceal his emotions” by tilting his head down. According to her, this subtle smirk is “a form of leakage” known as “duper’s delight.”
According to body language experts, Duper’s delight is when a person gets a thrill from lying, the smile is a clear indication of that rush they supposedly feel when getting away with it. Duper’s delight manifests as a “sinister smile” that “leaks out at the most inappropriate moments,” and in Nick’s case was noticeable during his court appearance.
Why was Nick Reiner supposedly smiling?
Constantine speculates that Nick is likely feeling “enjoyment” in that moment but at the same time doesn’t want to expose his emotions to onlookers. She claims the creepy smile was an “unconscious smirk” due to him enjoying the moment but once he became aware that he was smirking he tried to hide it.
Does his smiling indicate guilt or that he was lying? Constantine doesn’t say, but either way it’s rather ominous. Basing opinions on something as shaky as body language is not recommended as it really can’t tell us anything with 100% accuracy.
However, Constantine does point out other subtle tells regarding his body language though. She speculates that the “pulsating” in his jawlines along with the lines in his forehead indicate that there is “a lot of tenseness,” which may indicate that he is stressed, “His forehead shows a lot of worry,” while his eyes show high levels of paranoia and fear.
Cleary Nick Reiner is feeling a lot of emotions right now and for good reason, he is the primary suspect in his parents deaths. Shortly after his arrest he was also put on suicide watch, he was even seen wearing a suicide prevention smock, although he hasn’t been wearing one in recent appearances.
Nick is expected to be back in court April 29th.
Published: Feb 24, 2026 09:42 am