Former US first lady Michelle Obama has said she and her husband Barack Obama were meant to see Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife, photographer Michele Reiner, the night they were killed.
She paid tribute to the couple whom she described as the "most decent, courageous people you ever want to know" after they were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home on Sunday night.
Their son, Nick Reiner, 32, has since been arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held in custody.
Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ms Obama said: "We've known them for many, many years, and we were supposed to be seeing them that night
"Let me just say this, unlike some people, Rob and Michele Reiner are some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know.
"They are not deranged or crazed. What they have always been are passionate people in a time when there’s not a lot of courage going on.
"They were the kind of people who were ready to put their actions behind what they cared about, and they cared about their family, and they cared about this country, and they cared about fairness and equity, and that is the truth. I do know them."
Her comments come after US President Donald Trump criticised the Reiners and alleged that their deaths were politically motivated.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump suggested Rob and Michele Reiner died "reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome.
"He was known to have driven people crazy by his raging obsession of President Donald J Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before.
"May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"
Rob Reiner was known for directing some of the most-loved films of the 1980s and 1990s, including the rom-com When Harry Met Sally and fantasy The Princess Bride.
He also had acting credits, having made a name for himself playing Meathead in the 1970s TV show All In The Family, for which he won two Emmy Awards.
Source: Press Association
