Defendant Gives Conflicting Versions of Couple’s Slaying

One of the men on trial in the death of an elderly Clairemont couple said in a taped interview played in court Tuesday that another man was solely responsible for the brutal slayings.

However, Randall Clark Wall contradicted himself in a second taped interview when he said he himself bludgeoned the couple while John Richard Rosenquist was in another part of the house.

Wall, 23, and Rosenquist, 28, are accused of murdering John Oren and his wife, Katherine, on March 1. Wall, whose ex-girlfriend is the Orens’ granddaughter, had lived with the couple for a short time. They are also charged with burglary and robbery.

In the first interview with authorities--recorded after Wall and Rosenquist were arrested in San Francisco on suspicion of committing another murder there, of which they were later cleared--Wall said he watched Rosenquist beat John Oren, 84, and then Katherine Oren, 73, with a metal pipe.

As more than two hours of tapes were played in San Diego Municipal Court on the second day of a preliminary hearing for the two men, Rosenquist sat near his co-defendant and appeared to be on the verge of tears.

At one point, Wall claimed that Rosenquist pressured him into helping him with the murders even though he initially refused to participate.

“I told him I didn’t want to do it,” Wall said on one of the tapes. “He threatened if I didn’t do it, he’d do me, he’d kill me.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Przytulski is expected to present tape recordings of Rosenquist admitting his role in the murders during today’s proceedings.