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Hudson, Wisc. — (AP) A priest who is believed to have killed two funeral home workers three years ago denied involvement during a police interview and instead suggested the mafia was involved, according to police records released Wednesday.

Police first interviewed the Rev. Ryan Erickson in November 2004 about the murders of Dan O'Connell and James Ellison on Feb. 5, 2002.

Erickson, 31, denied knowing anything about the fatal shootings, though he said he heard rumors that Dan O'Connell's father was caught up with the mafia and the mafia turned on him, Erickson said, according to a 58-page transcript released Wednesday.

"In my mind, it makes the most sense," Erickson told two Hudson police detectives.

Erickson, who killed himself in December soon after a second interview with police, said he couldn't remember who told him the rumor.

Dan O'Connell's father, Tom O'Connell, called Erickson's mafia theory absurd.

"I don't know the word to describe how foolish it is," he said. "It is almost scary a priest would say it. He was a lot sicker than I thought and found out."

Police released the interview transcript two days after a judge found enough evidence that Erickson likely killed the two men and a prosecutor presented evidence to show he may have done it to keep some sexual misconduct allegations secret. No one ever was charged in the murders.

Police interviewed the priest twice - Nov. 11 and Dec. 7 last year. The department did not release a transcript of the second interview. The first interview, which took place at the rectory where Erickson lived in Hurley, lasted about two hours 15 minutes that morning.

The detectives told Erickson they wanted to interview him because he worked at the Catholic church in Hudson at the time of the murders.

Erickson told investigators the last time he talked to Dan O'Connell was on Jan. 30, 2002, when they were in a car for a funeral burial.

"He said that he wanted to go to confession sometime and that he wanted to have his house blessed," Erickson said. "And I told him, 'Oh, sure, anytime, anytime,' and well then the next week, ya know, that happened. I felt real bad."

Erickson told the detectives he learned about the murders from a church secretary that afternoon after he returned from buying some cigars.

"And so I said, 'Oh, call up there and see if they need a priest to come up there to do the last rites,"' Erickson told the detectives.

Erickson said he went to the funeral home but was told by officers he couldn't enter. Within hours of the killings, Erickson said he went to Dan O'Connell's home to counsel his widow, giving her at least one hug.

"I just wanted her to know that I was there," the priest said. "I was new at this, ya know, I never had dealt with anybody dying from a tragedy before."

Police began considering Erickson a possible suspect because he knew some details about the crime scene that police had not made public, including that O'Connell was found behind a desk.

About halfway through the interview, Erickson told the detectives, "... if I had to say what took place, I would say James was at the door and, Dan was at the desk."

Until Wednesday, documents related to a police search of Erickson's rectory remained secret. Police searched the rectory just days before he hanged himself Dec. 19 from a fire escape at St. Mary's of the Seven Dolors in Hurley.

The application for the warrant included many details that a prosecutor used Monday to convince a judge that the priest likely committed the murders and sexually abused a teenage boy several years ago.

"Ryan Erickson's whereabouts at the time of the homicides was unaccounted for," the search warrant request said. "Ryan Erickson described the crime scene with accurate information that had never been released to the public. Ryan Erickson has called residents in Hudson looking for an alibi."

In the police interview, Erickson revealed various details about his life. They included:

-The priest owned about 500 movies and liked horror flicks best. His favorite was "The Exorcist."

-He went deer hunting when he was 11 or 12 and planned to go again soon. "I don't mind shooting the animal, but I don't know if I wanna gut that deer," he told detectives.

-He described for the detectives one of his handguns, a Ruger Redhawk .44-caliber Magnum revolver. "She's like a $2 whore," he said.

-He liked Budweiser beer. "That's all I got in my refrigerator. Budweiser and that's it," he said.