Victim’s Parents to Testify in Famalaro Trial

SANTA ANA — The parents of murder victim Denise Huber will take the stand today as the penalty phase of John J. Famalaro’s trial begins in Orange County Superior Court.

Dennis and Ione Huber are expected to testify about the effect the murder of their only daughter has had on their lives.

The couple has attended each day of the trial and wept last Thursday when Famalaro was convicted of murdering the 23-year-old Newport Beach woman in 1991.

The Hubers had conducted a well-publicized search to find their daughter who disappeared while on her way home from a rock concert. Her body was discovered in 1994 inside of a locked freezer stored in a Ryder rental truck parked in front of Famalaro’s Arizona home, ending a three-year mystery.

Before the trial, the defense attorneys tried unsuccessfully to prevent testimony from Huber’s parents during the penalty phase. They contended that the murder was committed in 1991, before “victim impact” testimony was allowed in such trials.

The jury took about five hours to convict the 39-year-old Famalaro last week of first-degree murder and special circumstance allegations of kidnapping and sodomy which make him eligible for the death penalty.

The prosecution is expected to present its entire case Thursday, with the defense likely to begin their case next week.

On Wednesday, Deputy Public Defender Denise Gragg attempted to bar the media from attending a portion of the trial’s penalty phase but her motion was denied by Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan.

Gragg would not comment on the specifics of her motion, which was made in a closed courtroom. She also would not say whether Famalaro would testify on his own behalf during this stage of the proceedings, expected to last about three weeks.