The Mortgage And The Murder

Did A Stressed Out Mortgage Broker Kill His Clients?

(CBS)  The entire case against Ron really comes down to something as small as the 9mm shell casing. The only evidence that ties him to the murders is that spent shell casing that the police say they found in his garage. They say it’s a match to the casings left at the murder scene. But how reliable is that ballistic testing?

"The science is not sufficiently accurate to allow it to be admitted in a trial, that’s what we’re saying. Shell casing analysis is under attack across the country," says Riggs.

But shell casing analysis is really beside the point, according to Riggs and Natalie Bruce: they are challenging the very presence of that casing in Ron’s bag.

"So the area that you want to focus on when you’re looking at this first picture is right here in the corner of the bag," Bruce explains, looking at photographs of the bag.

"What the police do is they take a step-by-step sequence of photographs," Riggs explains. "This is the gym bag as they first found it sitting on the floor in this garage."

"Now when I just look at that bag, just looking at it from here, I don’t see any kind of shell casing," Moriarty remarks.

In fact, there is nothing in that corner until several photographs later. And then, Natalie Bruce says something dramatic happened. "The casing isn’t there. The casing isn’t there. The casing isn’t there. All of a sudden, it is there. It’s the most important thing we’ve found in a year and a half of investigation. "

Asked how the spent shell casing ended up in his bag, Ron says, "I don’t know how it got there. I did not put it there. Is it a possibility that someone put in there that could have been part of law enforcement? There is a possibility, but I’m not going to accuse."

It sounds preposterous, but even the Albuquerque police admit that a shell casing may have gone missing from the crime scene. The officer who first arrived saw five or six casings but investigators only collected four.

"Is there a possibility that the jury may think that shell casing was planted by the police?" Moriarty asks D.A. Kari Brandenberg.

"There’s that possibility," she acknowledges. "I mean, when you try cases, crazy things happen. It’s unpredictable, it’s a gamble and anything can happen."

Just as Brandenberg was preparing the case against Ron, there was a surprise development: Ron’s lawyers determined that the police search warrant was a daytime warrant, barring police from entering Ron’s house after 10 p.m.

"We believe and we believe very strongly that they did make entry into the home before 10 p.m.," Brandenberg asserts.

But Judge Pat Murdoch shocked the district attorney by ruling that the search was illegal, and that means that the shell casing found in Ron’s garage - the only physical evidence in the case - cannot be used at trial.

Brandenberg's reaction? "You’re angry. You’re disappointed."

She says that casing was "critical", and that without it they have very little to go forward.

Brandenberg is appealing the judge's decision, and for now, the murder trial is in limbo. After spending 17 months in jail, Ron was freed on bail.

Shockingly, many members of Bernadette's family, especially her sister Toni, to this day believe Renee carried out a plan to murder Greg and Bernadette. "No doubt in my mind. She may have not pulled the trigger. She may have not been the shooter, but I have no doubt she had everything to do with this," Toni says.

"My mom taught that when somebody hurts you in such a powerful way, there is no need to stick around. There’s no need to have them in your life," Renee says.

And true to her word, Renee did not stick around. After she was cleared by police, she moved out of state and cut off all contact with her entire family. "Maybe they shouldn’t have put me through hell," she says.

Ron, still charged with a double homicide, is remarkably the one who is upbeat. Divorced, Ron remarried a former high school sweetheart - a lawyer, and now works in her law office. "We’ve been blessed, we got married in February. I mean God has blessed," he says, even though he's still facing two charges of murder. "I’ve been blessed, and I can honestly say this, I would go through it again to be where I'm at right now."

"What bugs me is that he's still living a normal life. He's got a family. I don't get to have laughs with my mom, I don't have a home. I don't have somebody to go back to," Renee says.

Even without a trial, police say the case is solved. But the family believes the true killer may still be out there. Randy remains determined to make good on the promise he made to his brother: "I made a promise to him standing beside his casket that I would do everything in my power to bring somebody to justice, to see that somebody paid for this crime, that somebody did jail (time). And I feel like there are a lot of questions that have not been answered."

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Still searching for answers, members of the Ohlemacher family filed a civil suit, charging that Renee and Ronald Santiago were involved together in a plot to kill the Ohlemachers. There is no evidence to support that allegation.

[lti07]

pcreversed,

Please contact me at [e-mail] as soon as possible.

Larry

[bajajohn1]

Ron sold his gun to a guy named Robert. He says he did not know the guy. Bull. When one sells a gun, he knows to whom it was sold.

Bernadette, on the other hand, sure did get a lot of male attention. What was up with that?

[gold_standard]

What about the finger prints and shoe print by the ladder? They don't match Ron, so we should be looking for someone who does match. Why not check finger prints of other men mentioned in the article? Why such a glaring hole in the investigation?

[asyongs]

If initial reaction determines the culpability of the suspecs, no holliwood stars can be convicted. Even 'expert shrinks' have very low batting average when predicting people's behavior.

I have a strong feeling that this case revolves around this bottom line- if the bullet shell indeed match that of the murder weapon, then either the police officers are lying and guilty of frame up, or the broker is guilty.

I tend to think that the broker has something to hide. He vividly remembers the day of murder, yet no recollection as to whom he sold his weapon. Come on, that's simply absurd.

[capegal67]

I believe that the daughter killed her mother and father for money. She is a cold and calculating cookie. She does not want to visit her parents graves because she might run into her relatives, well that should speak of itself. I mean if your mom and dad were gone, you certainly would want some blood relatives in your life, unless they are all kookie. I don't think the mortgage broker did this crime at all. I looked at the bag and surely did not see any bullet there until later in the pics. What kind of eyes do you have that you could see that bullet before that?? It could I suppose have been hidden, but this crys of a setup if you ask me. What motive would the mortgage broker have for committing this crime???? None. I mean he is a pretty heavy guy, picture him going in this home and not making any noise. The daughter is a cold fish. I never saw any compassion very much from her, attitude not good, like so what is her attitude. I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her. Those are my views, I think she murdered her parents.

[sch7777]

This what i think, Renee Ohlemacher had an affair with a ALBUQUERQUE cop and he planted the shell casing in order to clear her and frame the mortgage broker. This case is a crock of pooo. Thier daughter killed them. The dog not barking, Renee Ohlemacher calling the wrong number so it wouldn't be recorded, like all 911 calls are. That's because she was calling her cop lover to set the stage to frame the mortgage broker. And if i could see the court case files or watch the 48 hour program over and over i would still come to my belief i have now. Renee Ohlemacher killed her mother and father for the money, while she was having an affair with a cop. Come on people put it together.

[YCantWeAllGetAlong]

You've got to love "break line". I mean, who proofreads these stories, toddlers?

[formrusmcsgt]

Sounds like Bernadette had no shortage of male friends.

Could be she cut one off?

Looks like we'll never know......

[rsmik]

The dog barking or not doesn't mean much. My dog barked at everyone she saw who came in, went out, or walked near my house. But when burglars broke in, my dog hid under the bed and never made a sound.

[mightisright]

48 Hours left a lot to be desired with this one. Look at the pictures of the bag that contain the shell casing. You can clearly see the shell casing under a blue pen in the two proceeding pictures. It is pretty obvious that things are shifting around in the bag, but the shell is right there. Good grief.

Second. How about some details about where, when and how he met the guy he traded guns with? Did he meet him at a gun show? did he have a booth? Ad in the paper? Did he call the guy? Did a friend set the deal up? why did he keep useless bullets around? Where are the new bullets for the gun he owns now? Have the serial numbers been run on the traded gun to see whose name came back?

All in all. This whole ordeal is a cluster. But I believe that guy is straight lying about the gun and the gun shell.