New twist in double-murder case

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) -  There's a new twist in the case of Ronald Santiago, the loan processor charged with murdering his clients, John and Bernadette Ohlemacher in 2005.

News 13 has obtained court records that show Santiago's attorneys got a court order for Santiago's cell phone records in 2006, a year after the murders, then got them sealed by Judge Pat Murdoch.  An order prosecutors say they just learned of.

Santiago is accused of shooting the Ohlemachers inside their home on Dover street northwest in August of 2005. The alleged motive is money. Prosecutors believe Santiago was trying to defraud the Ohlemachers and killed them to cover up the crime.

District attorney Kari Brandenburg says her office just learned of the order to seal Santiago's cell phone records.  The new judge on the case granted a motion to unseal the records and has now ordered Verizon to produce the records for the state as well.

Brandenburg says she doesn't know yet how important those records are to the case and says it's unusual for something like this to be sealed.

Santiago's attorney, Joseph Riggs, says they're not trying to hide anything and it's their right to seal records unless they plan to use them at trial.  Riggs also told News 13 that the prosecution has these records (the result of a search warrant) but just didn't realize it.

While the state works to get their hands on the records, they are also looking into more allegations that Judge Murdoch, who has since resigned from the bench after a prostitution scandal, had a personal relationship with Santiago.  Brandenburg confirms that they are looking into whether Murdoch knew Santiago before his arrest because Santiago had handled his mortgage loan.

Riggs says this issue was already addressed when Murdoch was on the case and he assured everyone he hadn't ever met Santiago prior, and there was no conflict of interest.

Ronald Santiago is scheduled to go on trial for the murders in June. Brandenburg does not believe this extra issues will delay the case.