Test Suggests Huber Blood Match in O.C. : Investigation: More definitive DNA analyses of samples from the Laguna Hills site are now underway.

Preliminary tests show that blood from a suspected murder site in Orange County could match samples taken from the victim, Denise Huber, and authorities said Monday that they have begun sophisticated DNA tests to establish more definitive results.

Linking the blood found in a Laguna Hills storage facility to Huber is crucial in determining whether the 23-year-old Newport Beach woman was killed there. A match would almost surely mean transfering the prosecution of suspect John J. Famalaro from Arizona to Orange County.

Huber’s nude and handcuffed body was found two weeks ago in a freezer inside a stolen moving truck at Famalaro’s home here. Since the grim discovery, authorities have been building a case against the former Orange County man and trying to decide where he will be tried.

“Right now the evidence indicates that the truck came from California. The freezer was purchased in California and brought from California to Arizona,” Yavapai County Atty. Thomas B. Lindberg said. “The freezer was kept plugged in while it was in the truck. Is that enough to push the case back to California?

“I don’t know. A blood match would make a stronger case for California jurisdiction.”

An official familiar with the investigation said preliminary tests of the Orange County storage locker blood sample are “within a range” that is compatible with Huber’s blood type.

More definitive testing, including DNA analysis, is expected to be completed later this week.

All of the blood testing is being done in Orange County, where samples obtained from the storage facility are being compared with others taken from Huber’s body.

Should the blood from the storage facility be positively identified as Huber’s, the findings would support the long-held theory of law enforcement officials that Huber most likely died shortly after her disappearance June 3, 1991.

Famalaro rented a storage locker in Laguna Hills, where authorities suspect Huber was bludgeoned to death, possibly with a crowbar. Famalaro apparently lived in the storage locker at that time.

Forensic technicians found the bloodstains in the storage facility last week.

“It makes sense that she died (in Orange County), as much as I would like to have jurisdiction over there,” said Denise Huber’s father, Dennis. The Hubers believe that Famalaro is more likely to receive a death sentence in Arizona courts if he is convicted.

Arizona and Orange County authorities were expected to meet today to further discuss jurisdiction. Meanwhile, Costa Mesa investigators were to return to Famalaro’s home on the Prescott Country Club in Dewey to search for additional evidence.

Orange County Assistant Dist. Atty. John Conley said jurisdiction might be decided “by the end of the week at the earliest.”

Both Lindberg and defense attorney Thomas K. Kelly have said a blood match would almost surely send the case to California for trial.

Laurie Berra, spokeswoman for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department, said local officials are unconcerned with where Famalaro should be tried.

“We just want to see justice for the (Huber) family,” Berra said. “I don’t want to see Denise get lost in all of this. I don’t want the victim to be forgotten, as happens so many times.”

On Monday, Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Raymond W. Weaver was advised by the defense that Dr. Heinz Karnitschnig will perform his medical examination of Huber’s body today. The defense pathologist will require at least two hours.

Huber’s parents have agreed to the arrangement, Lindberg told the court, because “they did not want to hinder any judicial process, harm any potential aspects of the case or prevent the judicial system from acting properly.” The family is planning to bury Denise Huber’s body next Tuesday in South Dakota.

Famalaro is expected to be arraigned Monday, but Kelly said his client would not appear at the hearing “because I do not want to subject him to the stress of media coverage.” Kelly will enter the plea.

The arraignment, however, could be moot if law enforcement officials determine through DNA testing that Huber’s blood was splattered in the storage facility.

“Hopefully, by the end of the week we will know the whole genetic printing (of the blood samples),” said Yavapai Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Mascher.

Usually, DNA testing is a lengthy and time-consuming process, however, Mascher said Orange County investigators are hustling the testing through their laboratory.

“DNA takes some time, but they want to put it out as quickly as they can,” Mascher said. “We’re not rushing things. There’s still a lot things we have to do.”

Mascher said he spent all of Monday itemizing evidence seized in three searches of Famalaro’s home.

“I’ve itemized evidence . . . what has to go to the lab for analysis and what has to be retained (at sheriff’s headquarters),” Mascher said. “On this end, we have a lot of evidentiary items in the case.”

Mascher, the lead investigator in the case, said it did not matter to him where Famalaro is tried. If necessary, he said he could appear in a California courtroom to testify just as easily as in Yavapai County.