Michele Reiner Emailed Death Row Inmate Hours Before Her Death

Nanon Williams -- a death row inmate who was befriended by Rob and Michele Reiner -- received an uplifting email from Michele hours before she was killed ... only he didn't get it until days after her death, according to a new report.

Williams told NBC News he learned about the Reiners' murders while skimming news stories on his state-issued tablet at the W.F. Ramsey Unit -- a maximum-security prison about 40 miles south of Houston, Texas -- and immediately messaged Michele, "Please tell me the news is lying."

Locked up since he was 17, Williams has spent his adult life behind bars after being charged with a murder he says he didn't commit. He reportedly became like family to the Reiners over the last decade after they saw a live performance of "Lyrics From Lockdown" -- a spoken-word multimedia performance based partially on Williams' writings.

The couple reportedly began exchanging emails with Williams nearly every day, but in prison, emails can take hours -- sometimes days -- to get through the screening process before inmates can read them.

Days after Rob and Michele's deaths, NBC says Williams received three new emails from the slain couple.

Michele's last email was sent after re-seeing "Lyrics From Lockdown" with Billy Crystal.

In her message, Michele gushed about how moved Billy was by the performance, calling the show "amazing."

She wrote, "We all said that we can't wait to watch it with you."