Renee Ohlemacher

CBS 48 Hours profiled the case of Gary and Bernadette Ohlemacher this past Saturday. Renee Ohlemacher’s parents, Gary and Bernadette, were murdered in August of 2005. Police initially focused on Renee, but she was eventually cleared, and now the police are eyeballing the Ohlemacher’s mortgage broker, Ron Santiago. You can watch the full show online:

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Read moreWhen I watch Renee speak, I am immediately struck by a variety of oddities in a very short period of time. It does not bode well for Renee.

1. The first thing I notice right off the bat is that Renee is nervous, but that could be because it is the beginning of the interview, so I don’t put too much weight on that. Right after that, however, I find it odd how she refers to her mother as “…such a cool lady”. Her choice of words are distant and removed. If she said these words with other warm comments, I would discard the comment, but she doesn’t. This is the extent of her warm feelings. It makes a strong statement.

   Renee also said about her mom”She loved my dad.” Notice how she is removed from this equation? She doesn’t say anything personal or affectionate toward her mom, or how her mom was affectionate towards her. This is a glimpse how Renee really feels about her parents.

2. Renee then says “My parents were probably the greatest parents ever.”

   This struck me immediately. An alarm bell blared in my head. The word “probably” here is what I coined a “hedge word”. When people say things that they don’t mean, yet try to sound convincing, it is not uncommon for them to slip up — perhaps even subconsciously–and add a hedge word.

   Are Renee’s parents kind of, sort of the best parents ever? She either believes it, or she doesn’t. It’s a half-baked statement, if you want my opinion.

3. “So many things stay in my mind from that morning,” says Renee.

   Watch when she says this–watch her expression. She doesn’t shed a tear, or look sad as she supposedly thinks back to that horrible day. What does she do? She does what I would call a snicker. She starts to laugh, but then suppresses it. It’s not a microexpression or anything fleeting–it’s very obvious, and flat out haunting.

   Think about a horrible time in your life. Now tell the story and snicker, geuninely. Can you do it? If you really felt horrible, scared, violated, or a victim in a vulnerable situation, I can be confident the one thing you would not do is snicker or laugh. When we remember painful memories, we remember the painful emotions, too. Emotions actually drive many of our memories.

4. Renee says “My mom was getting ready for work. I heard my mom scream. Dad yelled ‘What are you doing?'”

   Several things are interesting about this. First, it suggest that Renee was actually awake before the gunshots went off, and she was awake enough to be listening to her parents — to know her mom was getting ready for work.

   Isn’t that in contradiction to her saying that she woke-up to her mom’s screams? 48 Hours reports “Renee, 20 years old back in 2005, says she was sleeping when she was awakened by her mother’s screams.”

   If you get startled in your sleep from a scream, are you going realize miraculously that your mom was already up and getting ready for work? Why doesn’t she talk about being disoriented and frightened after waking up to haunting screams?

5. Second, I find Greg Ohlemacher’s question “What are you doing?” odd. If the Ohlemacher’s were murdered by a stranger, would they respond like this? What if they knew the person but the person entered the house uninvited, do you think Greg Ohlemacher would respond with a simple “What are you doing?” If that person shot his wife, do you think he would say “What are you doing?”? What Renee is saying here doesn’t make sense to me.

   Also notice how Renee doesn’t recollect her dad saying “What are you doing?” in a panicked tone? You would think she would have felt his dire state in his voice and reflected those emotions in her recollection. It’s strangely missing.

6. “Gunshots just went off,” says Renee. Notice the words “just”? Watch her expression again. When she says “gunshots”, there is a brief smile, or happy emotion that fleets across her face.

   How come she is getting these emotions? It appears like classic duper’s delight to me. It makes absolutely no sense no matter how you slice it unless you plug this into the equation. Renee’s emotions are very inconsistent with the message she is trying to give us. Her words are not matching her emotions at all. There are gaping contradictions.

7. Renee says “It was just one thing after another happened and then, before you know it, there’s silence. My dog went silent. Everything went silent.”

   Just one thing after another? Is there more than Renee is sharing with us? What else did she hear? What were these “things”?

   I am also perplexed by the words ‘before you know it.” Usually people bearing witness to a horrific nightmare don’t say ‘before you know it’. Time usually stands still or moves painfully slow. Is Renee telling us time went really quickly for her during this nightmare? What does that tell us?

8. Renee talks about what she was going to do now that she heard the gun shots. She says “Grab my cell phone, went to my closest.” She also doesn’t use pronouns which can be a hot spot to deception. Also notice how she says “grab” instead of “grabbed”? People usually remember things in past tense. They don’t talk in present tense (grab) and past tense (went) when recollecting a memory. They stay in past tense consistently.

   People who are deceptive, however, who didn’t actually do what they say often confuse the two. This is notable and unusual.

   This is 8 notable points in 1:34 seconds into the show

9. I find Renee’s word choices on the 911 call interesting too. First she says totally emotionless, “I just dialed 911.” “Please God…cannot be happening.”

   She ‘just” called 911? Notice, too, the lack of pronoun usage again? It’s another red flag to add to the pile.

10. The fact that Renee did not call 911 immediately is also a red flag for me. If you think there is an intruder, a robber, a burglar, or a stranger in your house killing your parents, wouldn’t you fear for your own life? How come Renee did not have fear the killer or killers might come get her?
11. If you thought someone was in the house to kill your family, would you really risk pushing seven digits instead of three digits to get help — if you feared for your safety? Dialing any phone in a silent house can be loud and noticable. It could easily lure a killer or killers into your room or a closet–especially if they are looking for you. How come Renee was so sure the killer or killers were gone and not looking for her or downstairs robbing the house?
12. Notice she didn’t whisper on the 911 call, or keep her voice super low out of fear? Why not? Renee appears to have felt totally secure to sit in her closet and dial other people and talk without a whisper — even when she did finally call 911. It speaks volumes.
13. Why did Renee call her mom’s co-worker before she called 911? Were they in cohoots or something? It definitely raises my eyebrows. Renee’s mom had talked to Mike Allen 23 times in the month leading up to her death, as well as the night before. Why was Renee calling him? Mike Allen according to 48 Hours also showed up at the crime scene “very quickly”. It’s interesting to say the least.
14. Renee continues “My dad was just lying on the floor. My mom was in her bath towel.”

    Is Renee recollecting this as a memory? Her behavior seems to support this. It’s part of her story of that morning yet a few minutes later she tells us the police escorted her out of the house, she asked if her parents were okay, and then she found out about her parents being deceased. See #18. Does that make any sense? Did Renee see them dead before she was told they were dead? Has she admitted to this?

    Notice here that she acts like she is crying, but there are no tears?

15. “I felt like that morning was the end of my life.” Notice the smirk again?

    That’s all in the first 1:58 seconds into 48 Hours.

16. The fact that Renee’s entire family stands as one in suspicion of Renee I think also speaks volumes. Their recollection her behavior is indeed perplexing. For Renee to be waving hi to friends and to be texting during the service clearly shows a woman without boundaries. And for her to be out BMW shopping shows she wasn’t too upset about her mother’s death, or worried about coping without them.
17. Erin Moriarty asks, “Why not 911?” and Renee says, “Yeah…ah…because I thought that you could get through faster or something, for some reason. I didn’t know what to do. I was in a world of shock.”

    Does this make any sense? It’s total nonsense.

    Clearly, by Renee’s behavior here, we can see this question took her by surprise. She didn’t seem prepared to answer Moriarty’s question which is a red flag. She seems to be thinking as she speaks. When people are honest, they don’t have to be prepared. They don’t have to think. They just speak from the heart.

18. Erin Moriarty asks “When did you realize your parents were dead?” Renee says “Well they escorted me out of the house and they went upstairs. I asked one of the cops, are they okay? Are they fine?”

    Did they escort her out of the closet? If so, this brings up two points. Why does Renee have this memory of her parents gunned down in number 14 above if she was escorted out of the closet by the cops? If she saw a picture later or went into the house later, why isn’t that part of her memory and story she is telling us? Why isn’t it in chronological order? People when they recollect things usually tell them in logical order.

    Second, this is proof that Renee had total disregard for her parents life. If she didn’t know they were dead or injured at this point, how could she not summons help on the spot and express urgency on the 911 call? Hearing gunshots doesn’t mean her parents had died yet – even if they were hit with bullets. It’s like she gave up–which normal people don’t do. Normal people hang on to every shred of hope — even against all odds that maybe, if they get help, the people will survive–regardless of what happened. But Renee seems to have held no hope.

    Had Renee told us she found her parents dead bodies, and needed time to cope, perhaps it would make more sense, but I don’t believe this is the story. Correct me if I am wrong.

19. I also find it inconsistent how Renee says that she was shocked about Ron Santiago being named a suspect. 48 Hours writes “It does sound a little far fetched, even to Renee. ” She made some comments supporting disbelief as well.

    Yet at the end of the show she changes her tune and says “”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.” Why does Renee now believe he is guilty? What suddenly changed her mind? It’s rather inconsistent and perplexing.

    Also notice when she says the last sentence she acts like she is crying again, but there are no tears.

I’m going to stop here. Do I think Renee killed her parents? I cannot say. Could she have let someone else in the house that morning, perhaps telling her parents that she was going to do something with someone else, and that person pulled the trigger? It’s entirely plausible, but if you want my opinion, Renee knows a lot more than she is telling us. I don’t trust a word out her mouth.