Huber Funeral May Be Delayed Again

An Arizona medical examiner’s refusal to allow an Orange County pathologist to examine Denise Huber’s body until the issue of jurisdiction over the murder investigation is resolved may force the victim’s family to postpone her funeral yet again, authorities said Tuesday.

Law enforcement officials in Orange County said they may have to keep Huber’s body longer than expected because they have been prohibited from conducting their own tests and autopsy.

Orange County Assistant Dist. Atty. John Conley said county officials “will do everything possible to expedite” the release of Huber’s body in time for Tuesday’s funeral in South Dakota. “But we can’t guarantee it.”

The funeral had been scheduled for Saturday.

Conley said the medical examiner’s office in Phoenix was not being “very cooperative.”

Yavapai County Counsel Thomas B. Lindberg said late Tuesday that Arizona officials expect to release the body to the family Thursday. Lindberg, however, said he did not know whether Orange County authorities would want to examine the body at that point.

Last week, Orange County pathologist Richard Fukumoto flew to Phoenix to examine the body. He was turned away by the Maricopa County medical examiner, Dr. Philip E. Keen, because California did not have jurisdiction over the case. Fukumoto flew back without making the examination.

“We want them to be able to do all the tests they need, but why do they have to hold it up? Can’t they think of something other than their own egos?” Denise Huber’s mother, Ione Huber, asked Tuesday, after officials told her they might delay the release of her daughter’s body.

“Why can’t (Orange County officials) be doing those tests right now? I’m very upset,” she said.

Ione Huber said she was concerned that her daughter’s funeral arrangements will have to be scuttled for a second time.

“We thought this date was safe. A lot of people have plans,” she said, adding that Arizona officials “are telling us nothing.”

Prosecutors from Orange County and Arizona Tuesday continued to discuss who will have jurisdiction over the trial of John J. Famalaro, who is accused of bludgeoning Denise Huber, stuffing her nude and handcuffed body into a freezer and transporting it from California to Arizona in a stolen moving truck.

Huber’s body was discovered two weeks ago in the truck outside Famalaro’s home in Prescott. Huber, of Newport Beach, was 23 when she disappeared June 3, 1991.

Conley said he was hopeful that the jurisdictional issue will be resolved this week.

“If we are going to prosecute in Orange County, it would be desirable to have our own expert examine the body,” Conley said. “We have great sympathy for the family, but we’re not sure how soon we’ll have an answer on jurisdiction.”

Orange County officials said they feel it is critical that Fukumoto examine the body before the burial. Fukumoto is a forensic pathologist who has performed thousands of autopsies and routinely testifies during murder trials in Orange County courts.

Given the seriousness of the case and any possible complications caused by the freezing of the body, they want to be cautious and have Fukumoto examine the body as well.

Orange County officials say they are also concerned that they did not get to review the body before a pathologist hired by the defense, who examined it Tuesday in Phoenix.

“There are certain observations that can only be made during the first autopsy, and basically we will now have to take (the Maricopa County medical examiner’s) word for that,” a law enforcement source said.

Orange County officials are not pleased they will have the third view of the body.

“If we are third in line, the water has been muddied, medically speaking,” the source said.