Missing Girl, Man Keys in Murder Case

Authorities investigating a dismemberment slaying in Canoga Park spent Monday attempting to unravel two mysteries: the identity of the victim and the whereabouts of the suspect’s daughter, who disappeared four years ago at age 10.

An Oregon detective flew to Los Angeles on Monday to serve Karen Lee Huster with a murder warrant in the death of her daughter, Elisabeth Anne Huster, who was last seen in August 1996.

Huster, who was arrested Friday, was being held without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

Los Angeles County coroner’s officials examined the remains of a man discovered Friday in two freezers in an apartment on De Soto Avenue.

A 73-year-old man who lives in unit 222 at the Park Place apartments is missing, but coroner’s officials said they have yet to identify the remains. They said the autopsy will be completed today and they expect to reveal the victim’s name.

The suspect refused to identify herself and was booked as “Jane Doe.”

When arrested, she was suffering from what authorities said were self-inflicted stab wounds.

Los Angeles police said Huster had not yet been charged in the Canoga Park case, but she was being held on the Oregon warrant.

“She’s not going anywhere,” said Officer Jason Lee, adding that Huster would almost certainly be charged in the Canoga Park slaying.

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Authorities in Oregon and Arizona gave more details of Huster’s recent movements and legal troubles.

According to the Washington (Ore.) County Sheriff’s Office, after authorities began asking about Huster’s missing daughter in December 1996, the mother disappeared, turning up two months later in the seaside town of Newport, Ore.

Authorities seized a .22-caliber handgun from Huster’s motel room, said Rick Knapp, a Washington County senior deputy district attorney.

Defying a judge’s orders, Huster refused to tell the whereabouts of her daughter and was sentenced to prison in June 1997 for custodial interference.

She was released in February 1999, and returned to Washington County on parole, Knapp said.

Huster’s father, Thomas S. Ruggles, and brother, Thomas W. Ruggles, both of California, moved to Oregon to help her put her life back together, Knapp said.

She complied with the terms of her parole until Oct. 10, 1999, when, Knapp said, she stole a number of items from a woman she met while incarcerated, including her Social Security card, which authorities believed Huster was planning to use to establish a new identity.

Knapp, the prosecutor in the case, said he pressed to have Huster returned to prison, but in February she was given three years’ probation instead.

The Washington County district attorney’s office prepared for a possible indictment of Huster, even though there was no sign of her daughter’s body, Knapp said.

The indictment was handed down in April, but Huster disappeared again after her brother and father were served subpoenas to testify before a grand jury. Huster was living with her father at the time.

“There was no way we could have kept [the indictment] secret,” Knapp said.

On April 19, Huster showed up in Kingman, Ariz., at the home of an uncle, Richard Ruggles, according to Det. Jim McAnally of the Kingman Police Department.

She was driving her father’s Toyota Land Cruiser, McAnally said.

Richard Ruggles told police the fugitive didn’t give him any details of her plight. He either drove her downtown or to the Amtrak station--his story has changed, McAnally said--and she had not been heard from again until this month.

On Monday, Washington County Sheriff’s Det. John Stratford flew to Los Angeles to serve the murder warrant, according to Sgt. Marlene Gaskins of the Oregon agency.

Her ex-husband, Michael Huster, said she had had behavioral problems, but “We all act a little strange sometimes.”

“This is as much a surprise to me as anyone else,” Michael Huster said from his home in Pleasanton, Calif.

“She would say how awful the world is today--how it’s not good to raise kids in it. She didn’t make any specific comments about murder or suicide, but something very negative was going on inside her.”

Huster said his ex-wife attended Chatsworth High School and Cal State Northridge, but did not graduate.

She earned a certificate in graphic arts from West Valley Occupational Center in Woodland Hills.

“She was very quick to anger,” Huster said. “I couldn’t say anything without her exploding.

“I hope this whole thing answers the question about my daughter,” Huster said. “I hope she’s alive. That’s all I want to know.”

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Krikorian is a Times staff writer; Fausset is a correspondent. Times correspondent Grace E. Jang also contributed to this story.