Judge limits TV quotes in murder trial

ALBUQUERUQE (KRQE) - What the suspect in two murders told CBS News got a lot of attention Friday in an Albuquerque courtroom.

Ronald Santiago, a former mortgage loan processor, is accused of murdering John and Bernadette Ohlemacher in their Albuquerque home in 2005.    

Prosecutors headed to court Friday, asking a judge to admit the entire interview as evidence.

“The Ohlemachers were shot and killed with a 9 mm Ruger, according to the police.  And you had owned one,” "48 Hours Mystery" reporter Erin Moriarty asked Santiago during the interview.

“I owned one,” Santiago responded during the 2008 broadcast. “But I got rid of it a year before this even took place.”

The former Countrywide Financial employee had done some work on a refinancing application the Ohlemachers submitted.

Prosecutors believe Santiago was trying to rip them off and killed them to keep them from talking.

In a motion filed by prosecutors, they claim some of what Santiago told TV show producers contradicts what he told criminal investigators.

They want to use more than just the sound bites that aired; they want to use the entire transcript from the interview.

The defense says that's fine, but why not use the whole show, which includes an interview with the Ohlemachers' daughter where she declared Santiago is innocent?

“We think everything that went to "48 Hours" should be admitted with all of the witnesses other than what has been previously ruled inadmissible by Judge Murdoch,” Santiago’s attorney Joseph Riggs said.

“We are asking for the defendant’s admissions, not Renee Ohlemacher’s,” argued prosecutor Sue Callaway. “We intend to call her as a witness.

"As far as anyone else that appeared on that show, if they’re going to appear as a witness, there’s no need for that information to come in. They’re going to be on the stand and testify, and that’s hearsay.”

The judge sided with the prosecutors only allowing Santiago's interview that aired on “48 Hours.”

Santiago's trial is expected to start this summer.