Q AND A : Establishing When and Where Denise Huber Died Is Crucial

Question: When was 23-year-old waitress Denise Huber killed after she vanished June 3, 1991, from her crippled car on the Corona del Mar freeway?

Answer: Authorities here and in Arizona’s Yavapai County are still trying to answer that question, which could determine where murder suspect John J. Famalaro will face trial. Investigators have collected samples of what appears to be blood from a Laguna Hills storage facility where Famalaro was apparently living when Huber disappeared. If the samples match Huber’s blood, it would provide the first evidence that Huber was bludgeoned to death in Orange County. Late last week, Arizona officials turned over a sample of Huber’s blood to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department crime lab for tests that might result in a match.

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Q. Is John J. Famalaro the only suspect in the murder?

A. There is no evidence that points to any accomplice, police say, but they suspect that Famalaro enlisted the help of friends or acquaintances each time he had to transport the huge Montgomery Ward freezer that contained the frozen corpse of Denise Huber, apparently for nearly three years. Authorities said they have not ruled out the possibility that others helped Famalaro conceal Huber after her disappearance on June 3, 1991.

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Q. Is Famalaro suspected of other murders?

A. After more than a week of investigation, during which police tracked down 11 women whose names, along with Huber’s, were discovered among Famalaro’s personal effects, Arizona authorities have not linked Famalaro to any other unsolved homicides, and are beginning to express doubts that they will. Detectives are still holding open the possibility that he was involved in the 1992 slaying of a Sedona, Ariz., woman shot with a .45-caliber bullet. The woman, Anne Hope, disappeared from a local highway, and officials note that Famalaro owned a .45-caliber handgun.

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Q. Was Huber alive during the nine-day period between her disappearance and the date that Famalaro took delivery of the Montgomery Ward freezer chest that became her coffin?

A. Orange County authorities are still investigating the possibility that Huber was kept alive before the freezer was purchased, and she was perhaps unconscious for a few days after she was bludgeoned in the head. So far, authorities say, an autopsy has revealed that the waitress was hit at least 12 times with a blunt object. It appears that she suffered most of the blows on the right side of her head. There was no indication that she had been sexually assaulted, but other tests had yet to be performed.

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Q. Why are the timing and location of Huber’s killing critical?

A. The timing and location of Huber’s killing could determine where Famalaro will be placed on trial for murder. Orange County authorities have said privately they would prefer that the trial be held in Arizona, because it would be easier to convict and sentence Famalaro to death under Arizona law. But if it is shown that Huber was killed in Orange County, California would have jurisdiction. Several noted that it would be difficult to prove any of the “special circumstances”--such as murder by torture or in connection with rape or kidnaping--that warrant the death penalty in California. In contrast, Arizona law permits the death penalty if the murder itself is especially heinous.

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Q. What is the status of the medical examiner’s autopsy?

A. The Yavapai County medical examiner’s office is expected to release its report on the cause and possible timing of Huber’s death sometime this week. Famalaro’s attorney has hired a private pathologist to examine Huber’s corpse on Tuesday. The body is expected to be released in time for a funeral the following Tuesday in South Dakota, where Huber’s grandfather is buried.

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Q. What happens next?

A. Unless jurisdiction passes from Arizona to California, Famalaro, who is being held without bail, is scheduled to be formally arraigned on a charge of first-degree murder in Yavapai County Superior Court next Monday, and prosecutors will have 10 days after that courtroom appearance to notify Famalaro whether they intend to seek the death penalty. If Orange County authorities think they have sufficient evidence that Huber was killed here, they can seek to have Famalaro extradited for prosecution--a process that would require further court hearings in Arizona if Famalaro elected to fight extradition.