THE HUBER MUDER CASE : Arizona Authorities Awaiting O.C. Lab Results in Huber Murder Case : Investigation: Matching of blood with sample taken from Laguna Hills storage facility could help determine which state will have jurisdiction.

Arizona investigators have put off forensic tests while they await the results of a critical blood analysis that could help establish whether 23-year-old waitress Denise Huber was killed in Orange County or in Arizona, where her body was discovered in a freezer chest.

The blood test could help settle the jurisdictional debate over which state--California or Arizona--should try John J. Famalaro, the painting contractor accused of killing Huber, who vanished three years ago from her crippled car along the Corona del Mar freeway.

On Sunday, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Mascher said the unresolved jurisdiction matter has prompted Arizona authorities to hold up forensic testing, including laboratory work needed to determine whether Huber was sexually assaulted.

Mascher said it was unreasonable and costly to conduct the tests in Arizona if the Huber murder trial is eventually shifted to Orange County. Local experts would then be expected to travel to Southern California for a trial and possibly other hearings, he said.

“It won’t hurt us if we slowly wind down on the forensics, until we determine whose jurisdiction it’s in,” Mascher said.

Arizona officials expected the blood test to be completed in an Orange County crime lab as early as today.

Lab technicians were trying to determine whether blood from Huber’s frozen body matches a substance taken from a Laguna Hills storage facility. At the time of Huber’s disappearance, Famalaro lived in the warehouse, a spacious building with wide windows that Sunday were covered with black fabric.

Famalaro’s defense attorney, Thomas K. Kelly, said Sunday that the blood testing would effectively decide the question about where the case would be prosecuted.

“If the blood in the storage facility matches that of the victim, it would be tough to make an argument to try the case in Arizona,” Kelly said.

The defense attorney said he was awaiting transcripts of Yavapai County Grand Jury proceedings to possibly challenge the Arizona murder indictment, should he determine that authorities had sufficient evidence to indicate that the death occurred in California.

“I think the prosecution has a difficult case to prove here,” Kelly said.

The Costa Mesa Police Department, which is handling the Orange County end of the murder probe, declined to comment on the blood test, referring all questions on Sunday to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department.

“We have agreed that all of the agencies involved are going to allow only Yavapai to make statements,” said Lt. Ron Smith of the Costa Mesa Police Department. “We agree with everything they say, and they have our full cooperation.”

Late last week, Dr. Richard Fukumoto, a forensic specialist for the Orange County coroner’s office, was barred from viewing Huber’s body in Arizona. He flew back to California on Friday after waiting nearly four hours for permission to examine the body. In turning down his request, Arizona officials said they had jurisdiction over the case.

Mascher predicted that the nagging question of territory will be decided by week’s end. The determining factor could be a match between Huber’s blood and evidence from the Laguna Hills storage facility.

Once investigators and prosecutors determine where the case will be tried, that state’s laboratory will make tests involving the body, a bloodstained crowbar and other objects from Famalaro’s Arizona home.

On Thursday, Arizona investigators obtained a third search warrant after Orange County detectives asked that Famalaro’s house be searched for specific evidence.

“They’ve asked for a few different things,” Mascher said, declining to elaborate. “It’s a situation like, ‘Hey, you guys may want to go back and look for this.’ Stuff that they realize may be pertinent.”

In the meantime, Mascher said local investigators will be checking the flotsam of Famalaro’s life--reading his diaries and newspaper clippings, examining his videos and audio tapes. He often saved scraps of cartoons, said Mascher.

“This guy was such a pack rat,” he said. “It’s really unbelievable what this guy has saved and collected.”

Arizona investigators continue to search for other victims, but so far they have not turned up any. Authorities still have some names of women they plan to search for. A previous hunt for 11 other women whose names turned up in Famalaro’s home revealed that all were alive and well.

“There are no other suspects, no other victims at this time,” Mascher said. “Given some of the stuff we’ve found, some of the evidence we’ve come across, (the possibility of more victims) was something that was always in the back of our heads, and we’re still looking at it.”

Mascher said he is most eager to learn the results of the forensic tests. A key mystery is what happened to Huber between the time of her disappearance and the day one week later when Famalaro purchased the freezer from Montgomery Ward.

“We have a lot of different theories we’re trying to check out,” Mascher said. “Was she kept alive? Was she killed right away? We need to look at all of that.”

Mascher said it was probably random chance that led Famalaro to Huber. There is no sign that Famalaro was stalking Huber or that he even knew her, he said.

“It’s too bad she broke down on the side of the road,” he said.

Times staff writers Doreen Carvajal, Kevin Johnson, Matt Lait and H.G. Reza contributed to this story.