SANTA ANA — John J. Famalaro was quickly convicted Thursday of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering Denise Huber, whose nude and handcuffed body he stored in a freezer for three years, a crime that became one of the most publicized missing person cases in Orange County history.
Famalaro, 39, stared straight ahead and showed no emotion as a court clerk read the verdict it took the jury just five hours to reach. The panel of nine women and three men must next decide whether the former house painter should be executed.
After the jury had left the courtroom, the victim's parents, who had conducted a three-year effort to find out what happened to their daughter, wept silently for several minutes and hugged each other tightly.
"Justice is finally here," an emotional 57-year-old Dennis Huber said. "We've waited for this day for a long time."
The Hubers, surrounded by weeping friends and family, said the swiftness of the verdict didn't surprise them.
"The truth came out," a relieved Dennis Huber said. "It's a tremendous help. It's not going to bring Denise back, it's not closure."
"But we're glad justice has been served," added Ione Huber, 53.
The couple, married 33 years, attended each day of the trial, sitting in the front row only a short distance from where the defendant was seated. Ione Huber testified on the first day and tried to look at Famalaro, who gazed straight ahead to avoid her stare.
The Hubers said they plan to attend each day of the trial's penalty phase, which begins next Thursday. Both said the only "justice" would be seeing Famalaro sentenced to death.
"I think the jurors are smart enough to make that decision," Dennis Huber said.
Denise Huber, 23, disappeared June 3, 1991, after she got a flat tire on the Corona del Mar Freeway while on her way home from a rock concert at the Forum in Inglewood. She was less than three miles from home.
Her frozen body was found in a freezer that had been stored inside a Ryder moving truck parked in the driveway of Famalaro's home in Dewey, Ariz. A woman buying paint from Famalaro thought the truck's presence was suspicious and alerted authorities. When investigators discovered the truck was stolen, they looked inside expecting to find drugs.
Instead they discovered Huber's body.
"This is not a case of great law enforcement cracking a crime," the prosecutor said during closing arguments said. "It was a fluke. It fell into their hands. He almost got away with it."
