John Joseph Famalaro

As authorities began digging up the basement of John Joseph Famalaro's home Sunday, his neighbors in the Prescott Country Club community described the murder suspect as a troubled loner who took pains to avoid contact with them. Famalaro, 37, was arrested Wednesday after a tip about a stolen moving truck turned up the frozen body of Denise A. Huber, 23 of Newport Beach, who disappeared without a trace in June, 1991.

John Joseph Famalaro, one of Orange County's most notorious murderers, was sentenced to death Friday by a Superior Court judge who spoke of the terror that his victim, Denise Huber, must have felt during the final moments of her life. "Just imagine what was going through her mind," Judge John J.

John Joseph Famalaro, one of Orange County's most notorious murderers, was sentenced to death Friday by a Superior Court judge who spoke of the terror that his victim, Denise Huber, must have felt during the final moments of her life. "Just imagine what was going through her mind," Judge John J.

John Joseph Famalaro, one of Orange County's most notorious murderers, was sentenced to death Friday by a Superior Court judge who spoke of the terror that his victim, Denise Huber, must have felt during the final moments of her life. "Just imagine what was going through her mind," Judge John J.

Denise A. Huber's family said Monday that they have received tremendous emotional and moral support from people throughout Orange County in the days since her body was found in Arizona. "We have received a lot of calls," said Denise Huber's mother, Ione Huber. "It's been amazing." The recent discovery of their daughter's body and the subsequent media attention continues to take their toll on her and her husband, Dennis. "I'm really drained," she said. "We've been taking calls all day.

The death penalty trial of former Lake Forest house painter John Joseph Famalaro will be as much about his secretive life and unusual behavior as it is about his guilt or innocence in one of the most sensational murders in Orange County history.

Hundreds of people joined Saturday in bidding farewell to Denise Anette Huber, the ever-smiling young waitress who disappeared three years ago and was recently found bludgeoned to death in a freezer.

When Denise A. Huber's body was found Wednesday, few could blame Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ron Smith for his emotional reaction. For the past three years, the Huber case has been an almost constant companion for Smith and half a dozen other members of the Costa Mesa Police Department assigned to it officially--and consumed by it privately. "I can tell you one thing," Smith said, standing outside the home of murder suspect John Joseph Famalaro, "this thing, this case, has gnawed at me.

Hundreds of potential jurors in the murder trial of John Joseph Famalaro answered written questionnaires Monday regarding their attitudes about the death penalty, but oral questioning was postponed until next week. Just before Monday's court session, a defense attorney learned of her sister's death, prompting the delay. The jury pool, which began two weeks ago with more than 1,200, has been whittled down to fewer than 250.

Building their case against murder suspect John Joseph Famalaro, Arizona and Costa Mesa authorities have recovered clothing believed to have been worn by Denise Huber the night she vanished from Orange County three years ago. The articles of clothing, a black mini-skirt and other articles, were discovered in a box inside Famalaro's cluttered Prescott Country Club home.

Citing community "anger" and "hatred of the defendant," attorneys for John J. Famalaro have asked an Orange County judge to grant a new trial for the man convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering Newport Beach resident Denise Huber.

As he mulls a run for state attorney general, Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi's agreement this week to accept $30 million from Merrill Lynch in lieu of seeking a criminal indictment against the company could cut both ways, political observers say. The payment could be used to showcase Capizzi to voters as a can-do prosecutor who elicited a substantial sum from a company accused by the county of responsibility in its 1994 bankruptcy.

John Joseph Famalaro should die for kidnapping, sodomizing and killing 23-year-old Denise Anette Huber before hiding her nude body in a freezer for three years, a jury recommended Wednesday in one of Orange County's most notorious murder cases. Famalaro showed no reaction to the death penalty verdict reached by the jury of nine women and three men.

John Joseph Famalaro should die for kidnapping, sodomizing and killing 23-year-old Denise Anette Huber and then hiding her nude body in a freezer for three years, a jury recommended Wednesday in one of Orange County's most notorious murder cases. Famalaro showed no reaction to the death penalty verdict reached by the jury of nine women and three men. Some of the jurors wept as their unanimous verdict was read after a day and a half of deliberations.

One of Orange County's most notorious murder cases ended Wednesday when a jury decided John J. Famalaro should die for the kidnap-rape-murder of Denise Huber six years ago. The key events in the case: 1991 June 3: Huber's abandoned Honda Accord is found just off the Corona del Mar Freeway in Costa Mesa, less than three miles from her home. 1994 January-February: Famalaro rents 24-foot truck from Ryder Truck Rental in San Clemente; it is reported missing when he fails to return it.

Even though it was his 71-year-old mother whom defense attorneys largely blamed for John J. Famalaro's troubles, the defendant faithfully wrote letters to her during his murder trial, discussing testimony in the case and apologizing for what he was putting her through. "I hope you are doing alright (sic)," Famalaro wrote in a letter, dated during the month of May, that his mother showed The Times. "I am sorry that you are put in your current position."

John Joseph Famalaro, one of Orange County's most notorious murderers, was sentenced to death Friday by a Superior Court judge who spoke of the terror that his victim, Denise Huber, must have felt during the final moments of her life. "Just imagine what was going through her mind," Judge John J.

When Denise Annette Huber's nude and handcuffed body was discovered tucked inside a freezer on a summer day in 1994, it solved the baffling mystery of what happened to the stranded Newport Beach motorist who disappeared three years earlier. Now, as John Joseph Famalaro's long-awaited murder trial is set to begin today with jury selection in Orange County Superior Court, many of the painful and troubling questions that still surround the bizarre case might finally be answered.

The father of murder victim Denise Huber only hopes he lives long enough to watch John J. Famalaro be executed, and he worries the long death penalty appeal process might keep that from happening. "I'd like to witness it," said 58-year-old Dennis Huber, who attended each day of the trial with his wife, Ione. "It's not that I'd like to see somebody die; that's not the point. It's just that I think it would be the ultimate step. I want to live to see it."

After deciding that John J. Famalaro should be executed for killing Denise Huber, the jury of nine women and three men wiped away tears, joined hands and prayed for his soul. "We prayed that when he does get the death penalty, maybe he would find his own way," said Pat Hamilton, 44, of Buena Park. Hamilton and the other jurors took five hours to convict Famalaro but agonized longer over how he should be punished. After deliberating for 1 1/2 days, they recommended that he be executed.