The Disappearance of Denise Huber, Part 2 | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Ash and I'm Elena and this is morbid [Music] hello hello over there how are you you
know I'm doing okay I had a very nice weekends and I'm sorry to say that to you because I should not have a nice
weekend and the worst weekend of my life I had a um here we'll get mine over with
yeah yours was beautiful and I should have stayed with you I had a very nice weekend with John and the little gals we
just had fun we played board games we watched movies we played outside it was just like a very nice we did some fun
things oh and I wrote a lot which is uh it always like just feeds my soul when I
get to do that I swear are you like an author or he's like an author I still that's still wild you are I know it's
still well that's spelling even oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God uh but and I was also listening to
an audiobook that was really good whenever I could oh really listening it is um it's one that I've already like
read the hardcover of but I'm just revisiting it's Stephen King's on writing and it's him talking about like
the writing process and how about his life and how he became a writer and like his do's and don'ts and it's just like
and it's um the audiobook is um narrated by him oh that I always like which is fun
and he reminded me that I need to be a little more I say like he reminded me like we're yeah Stephen talking I'm
manifesting here I'm manifesting being friends with Stephen King I'm shaking my coffee and I'm sorry if you hear it
that's part of the manifestation process so she she shakes her coffee around sorry about it sorry it's just what [ __ ]
okay so but he he reminded me that I need I've been trying to get into routines better because I thrive in a
routine me too but like this last year has been a tough year it hasn't been a great year it's been um
how you say shitty it's been it's honestly to put it lightly it's been very shitty but it's been you know
things happens yeah and things have been like you know we've been vibing a lot better lately like everywhere and every
part of our Lives yeah reclaiming our power yeah exactly and so I've been trying to get back I fell out of a lot
of routines during all of that yeah I am no good without a routine or a deadline
I know you little Cappy over there yeah so you know Stephen Mr King if you will he reminded me that you need to be
strict on yourself when it comes to writing and you need to write every single day probably around the same time
in the right in the same place that makes sense and maybe that's what works for him
that's how you got your first book done that's the thing and I and I was doing that and I was really rolling and so I
got myself back in that routine and I was like I'm gonna do this and it feels so [ __ ] good I feel like alive well I
want to start working out more in the morning before we start so I feel like I can have my little workout time you can
have your writing time there you go we'll just meet and then record a cool episode we'll meet with beautiful
thriving Minds yes and bodies and souls my therapist told me the three most important things to like maintain a
healthy mind are getting enough sleep at night um cooking like at home like cooking for
yourself and exercising and she was like and not like going like crazy but just like 30 minutes of exercise a day like
go for a walk just [ __ ] climb some stairs I don't know so far I've got like one out of those three so I'm getting it
I don't even know if I have one out of those three right now I'm like take out sit on the couch don't do anything good
for your mind because I'm in a state of sad yeah Ash had a rough weekend yeah never fly across the country for someone
you think is your friend when they're not your friend that's all I'll say yeah don't do that yeah she could not agree
yeah I flew across the country was gonna like celebrate somebody put a whole lot
of [ __ ] into it and didn't get a whole lot of [ __ ] out of it but you know you
live you learn yeah I think the universe was just like hey maybe you don't need certain people in your life anymore
she's always she's always uh teaching she is and I feel bad maybe I just accidentally took all of your happy
weekends so I apologize for that that's okay no you know the wealth I kept thinking like
is this a decision I should make like should I do this and whenever you're second guessing yourself you always
trust your gut yeah I'm not good I'm not good at that so I'm I'm preaching something that I don't always do but I
always want to do afterwards because I always regret not listening to my tummy you and I were saying it this morning
it's like we're both kind of introverts like I've I've used to be such an extrovert but over the past couple years
I feel like I've become a little more introverted I think because I'm like happy with my home life yeah
so I was like maybe I need to like get out there and like do things and like show myself I can have fun then I was
like whoa you're like this isn't fun I am having fun just a different kind of fun yeah I came home and I was I said to
Drew I was like you're my fun oh Drew Drew's my fun too yeah he's so funny I love Drew I love it I like our little
bubble that we have like the new John drew a couple other friends out there on the outside but like you know what I
learned in like the first couple weeks of 27 keep your [ __ ] Circle small yeah you know
oh I know you know I know well you know that was our weekends I hope you guys I hope you guys had more
of a a my weekend if like a happy weekend I suppose um and you know what we're gonna get Ash
right the [ __ ] out of that shitty weekend and into a great week fantastic not with this case but like we're gonna
do it in other ways no we're gonna we're gonna do something with like the kids tomorrow that's gonna be fun that that
honestly feeds my soul I think I've just really moved on to a different part of life they will feed your soul all day
yeah I'm ready to just like hang out with your kids have my own kids just [ __ ] Vibe oh it's the best yeah it's
so much fun built-in friends they make you feel great they do make they really do this morning the hugs I got I was
like oh [ __ ] why did I leave oh [ __ ] well I guess um yeah so I hope you guys
had a great weekend and um here we go because we gotta do part two here yeah and it's
gonna get a little rough and I think this case is really really yeah I think I should tell you right off the bat it's
gonna get a little a little tough to listen to but there is you know this case involves sexual assault it involves
a very gruesome attack and this guy's just a dick and okay you just start before I start asking questions okay
okay okay okay okay all right so in case you are just coming here we are on part two of the murder
the kidnapping and murder of Denise Huber um when we last left you police investigators had found that um chest
freezer yes in John fomalaro's rented rider truck that he had stolen yup and had kept for for months and months many
many many months and they were like oh yeah that is missing yes and when they had opened the freezer they'd found a
body inside they were fairly certain that this was the body of missing Denise Huber
so that is where we left you we're going to move right on to where the investigation began okay so the body was
transported to the medical examiner's office and that's where at first an external examination was conducted this
was done by Dr Ann Buck uh buckholtz who was the medical examiner at the time Denise's head had been wrapped in three
white kitchen garbage bags oh my God it's gruesome when they removed all of those garbage bags you could see that
her entire head had been covered in Gray tape quote from the mouth to the upper eyelids Jesus now Dr buckholtz noted
that the head had many external injuries to it the skull was what she wrote what
they referred to as basically shattered yeah wow uh horrifically there was also noted to be a number of curved and
oval-shaped lacerations and through these lacerations brain tissue was visible oh my God that's how bad this
was there were also fragments of the white plastic bags that were embedded in these
fractures in the skull which indicated that the bags had been put over Denise's head before the injuries were inflicted
what because they had gone into the wounds oh they ended up reconstructing her skull
and they showed that there was at least 31 separate injuries to her skull holy [ __ ] 31 separate injuries this guy's a
monster and Dr buckholtz noted that there was probably many more than the 31 because there was fractions fractures on
top of fractures what it was a frenzied horrific horrifically brutal assault and I think
you said last time that he didn't even know her yeah now the cause of death was determined to
be blunt force trauma to the head I would think um there would have been a lot of
bleeding when this happened and the thing is outside of this there didn't appear to be a lot of evidence of trauma
anywhere else on the body okay it seemed like it was very focused on her head which is horrifying
um at first there didn't seem to be evidence of sexual assault and they were hoping that there wasn't
um what they said was although Dr buckhold stated that a sexual assault can occur without trauma to the vaginal
region they didn't see any initially so they had to allow Denise's body to basically thaw out before they could do
all the tests they needed to because remember she's been frozen for years at this point so when that time came they
did do additional swabs they took and when they came back the and this is really graphic I'm sorry the anal swabs
were positive for the presence of some degraded semen oh my so she was raped yeah now the medical examiner also took
prints from the body and they submitted them for processing they came back two days later indicating that the body was
that of missing Newport Beach woman Denise Huber so it was officially confirmed right they were pretty sure
right off the bat but the discovery came back as so heartbreaking and shocking for
Denise's family her friends lone Huber her mother told reporters it's not the answer we wanted but at least we got it
because remember they've been going through years for this exactly of absolutely nothing no leads they didn't
even get a chance to run down anything like and hit a brick wall they had nothing it was just brick wall after
brick wall right off the bat right just like random tips coming in that were going nowhere yeah so obviously this is
not what they want to hear this is not the outcome they're looking for of course you're always hoping your
daughter or son or child is going to be found alive but they were trying to prepare themselves for the worst and at
least now they know at least now they know that she is not out there still waiting to be found when she can be laid
to rest yeah now Costa Mesa detectives were also very very dismayed by this news Sergeant Jerry Holloway said this
may be the end to one of this Department's biggest frustrations ever I would think because again it's not like
this was one of those things where they just had lead after lead and they didn't
pan out they got nothing so this is for it to end this way is like a slap in the
face like it really is it's just like all of It Came Crashing Down at once the discovery of Denise's body may have
brought the search to a very very tragic conclusion but it did open up a whole new part of the case because everyone
involved wanted to know who the [ __ ] is this guy who did this to her who is this man and
how did she wind up nearly 400 miles away right from where she was last seen like what happened here that's exactly
all of my questions yeah Sergeant Holloway told reporters we could not link him to the investigation before
today like so strange to me and investigators in Arizona luckily obtained a search
warrant and they'd begun digging through farmallaro's house and Dewey which had uh belonged to his father until his
death okay so the search of his home was pretty tough and pretty intense because
it was covered in trash and clutter by the time they were done they had collected over a hundred thousand items
from the home what the [ __ ] yep and many of them were crucial to the investigation like in the garage they
discovered two boxes labeled Christmas in those boxes they found several black garbage bags like the one Denise's body
had been wrapped in several of Denise's belongings personal belongings were in boxes labeled
Christmas her wallet her checkbook her car keys her purse her lipstick her ID everything she had on her
several of the items appeared to be Blood Stained as well another box had the clothing she had been wearing the
night she disappeared in it her jacket her dress her underwear her high heels the dress appeared to have been toured
around torn around the left shoulder and the shoes had quote severe scrapes on the back of both heels as if she was
dragged perhaps and the tip of one heel had been broken off now also in the box with Denise's
clothing was a blood-stained hammer a blood-stained pair of men's jeans a blood-stained sweatshirt dried
blood-soaked rags and a pair of surgical gloves turned inside out who the [ __ ] is
this guy and the fact that he kept all of that like he even kept the surgical gloves I was just gonna say even the
gloves like just took them off how you would normally like inside out and through the Meta Box and like just kept
that in his house for it it's been three years yeah he had kept it like he had kept these for years at this point that
is so disturbing and a third box was found in the garage as well and these contained the empty box for the
handcuffs that were used to secure Denise's hands behind her back he kept the box so he kept like I think you had
said it last time he kept like multiple multiples so many items to look back at it it also had a blood-stained nail
puller which if you look that up what more more bloody Rags a roll of duct tape and white plastic garbage bags like
the ones that were wrapped around Denise's head when you say nail polar you mean like like construction nail
puller what was it it's like a giant like crowbar looking thing with like a slit knit to like yank the nails out oh
my God it sounds like he used many things to kill her with he's a [ __ ] He's this man he's a [ __ ] monster
seriously this is another unfortunate instance where a guy named John is a [ __ ] bag damn it now inside the house
they found more of what they needed to tie him to Denise and her body in the house they found the receipt for the
freezer which showed that it had been purchased in June 10th 1991 which was a week after Denise had disappeared wow
they also found the Handcuff keys inside a desk drawer and what is even more horrific is the fact that they found a
ton of issues of the Orange County Reg sister which was a newspaper and it all of them had featured stories about
Denise's disappearance they also found a videotape of the episode of Inside Edition that featured
a segment of Denise's disappearance he taped it and this one had like um a whole segment about the search that
had gone undergone to find her like with her family on it her parents upset [ __ ] animal had the [ __ ] had taped it
on a videotape and had saved articles about her disappearance what happened to this man to like like what like this
isn't one of those things where you're like oh like you know like he needs of course he needs to be locked away but
like this seemed like it was like a snap or something like that you know what I mean like nothing's ever you know
validating it but like you're like wow this is just one of those instances where someone like lost it right
he saved everything and then had a videotape where he could watch her family and friends and the investigators
missing her and trying to find her what an articles about The Disappearance with quotes from her parents with quotes
from her family and friends like this is so disturbing he's a [ __ ] demon truly
and just found her by happenstance yeah and so upsetting back in Costa Mesa investigators began digging into his
history and they started paying particular attention to his life around the time that Denise disappeared in 1991
and that year he was working as a commercial painter and had been living and working out of a warehouse space in
Laguna Beach California okay so of course they went straight to that warehouse space yeah crime scene
technicians found evidence of blood spatter on the wall and floor in the corner of the warehouse so he did this
in his place of work when technicians removed the piece of drywall of that police and Pace in the
like wood framing yeah they found a huge blood stain behind the wall that was described as quote a thick deep maroon
color oh my God and nobody had ever discovered in the corner in a corner of this Warehouse in Laguna Beach
California and nobody ever saw that and reported it like because like because this stain was behind the drywall oh
that's a thing they ripped out the drywall now his defense lawyer Larry Katz maintained that his client was innocent
and called the case against him entirely circumstantial herb all of her belongings her her body
everything yep was in his possession what is circumstantial about him having a dead body on his property yeah
why he told reporters I have every confidence in my client's innocence somebody should have said look me in the
eyes and say that yeah look at me in the eyes are you kidding me yeah and yeah it's and he he also said that
um famularo was quote appropriately depressed about the situation oh yeah he's like super bummed that this
happened yep but he also insisted that his client not speak to anyone which I bet pretty bold
um I'm shocked by that like and just hearing this man be like and I I understand that's his job I get it
but it is shocking to hear all of that evidence include she was found there on his
property the receipt for the freezer that she was found in was found there then the box for the handcuffs that are
on her body currently when they found her is in his house and I'm sorry circumstantial about like that's why I'm
like demon being found in her body did he look up the definition of circumstantial like a little confused
that with a case like as Gnar like the way that she was found wouldn't you go for your like insanity at the very least
truly rather than circumstantial but I think honestly you couldn't go for Insanity because it would be hard
because of that taped Inside Edition thing all the newspapers like that shows that he he didn't find what he did wrong
he liked it he sat there and watched he sat there and watched her family cry about it oh my God on a videotape but
I'm like circumstantial is not the way to go oh my God truly like there's no way to go here now I suppose we have to
tell you about John fomalaro well I just want to know what what the [ __ ] [ __ ] he
is so he was born June 10th 1957 in Long Island New York so he bought the freezer
on his birthday what the [ __ ] it gets more and more horrifying the more you go into it yeah
what and killed her a week before her birthday his birthday and then went on his birthday purchased the freezer and
that was his birthday that is unreal yeah he was the youngest of three children his parents were in and Angela
from alaro According to John we always have to take their thing his mother was quote the dominant force in the family
while his father was pretty passive and tolerated her demands and verbal abuse which could absolutely be true but this
is just coming from him a year after John was born the family moved from Long Island to Santa Ana because his father
had been sent to establish a manufacturing plant in Garden Grove California the children which included his brother
Warren and sister Marion were really really close to their father they had a very loving relationship by all accounts
they really got along okay their relationship with their mother was a different story according to them they
said it was a very erratic it was a very tense relationship not a good one not a
loving one according to all the children including his siblings she was very the mother was very
difficult very confrontational and she was very controlling she was also a devout Catholic with which in and of
itself I'm not saying is a bad trait but she was because of that she was very and
she was like very devout so she was very preoccupied with saving their souls okay and would use that as justification
for abusing them physically and emotionally um and that's that's the bad part of
that kind of devoutness yeah um and the children also said that they got isolated a lot from you know from other
children really like they didn't get to play with other children a lot they were
isolated from kids at church but then those who knew them around this time said that the children seemed very
focused and very well behaved which I say sure I'm sure they were very focused and very well behaved they had an
abusive Mother exactly they were usually those kind of kids are trying to keep it
together so they don't get hurt exactly now apparently the outside of the home looked very neat and clean and tidy no
one would have ever thought that something was going on inside totally different story according to the
children the inside was cluttered trash food magazines everything newspapers just things stacked everywhere and they
acknowledged that this was also something that their maternal grandmother had done so it seemed like
this was just something that came down the family line mental illness kind of thing they also said that Anne was their
mother was very paranoid like very paranoid and she also had this like obsessive like kind of Doomsday thing
where she thought they had to like hoard things because like the end was coming now
When the Children became adolescents she also got very preoccupied with sex oh no
I had a feeling it was out of there and there wasn't very productive or very healthy discussions about sex in that
household um she even bathed them person personally into their pre-teen years oh
um she was a little strange with her behavior for bedtime according to the children
and years later Warren fomalaro want the brother would be convicted of sexually assaulting three children and serve a
sentence in a facility for mentally disordered sex offenders so something was going on absolutely in that house
that's really sad that did not help them become healthy adults now as a teen and
young adult John famularo developed a lot of unhealthy coping skills um he liked everything to be very
symmetrical and it was like an obsessive kind of like everything needs to be symmetrical and he would also go into
bursts of energy and hyperactivity and then depression so he seemed like he had unhealthy coping skills because he was
not diagnosed with whatever was clearly going on here like I'm not going to diagnose him I don't know but there's
clearly something going on that should have been diagnosed and treated so that he could form healthy coping skills and
he didn't get that oh this is a lot so he got when he was like you know in his teen years and stuff he was bullied a
lot because of these kind of things right and he would get in trouble a lot at school because of that so after
graduating from high school he attended a Catholic liberal arts college and now that he was away from his mother it did
seem like he was getting better at his social skills makes sense starting to you know I think that she was really
keeping him at that level unfortunately he did find College to not be super easy
or tolerable for him retweet and after enrolling in and dropping out of several schools and classes he just stopped
before completing it now as an adult there seemed like there was like two sides of him yeah like John fomalaro
like people knew two different things on one hand friends remember him being very
funny an intelligent guy very very polite is what he was described as but then other people saw him as very
secretive a little manipulative he could be like too too Charming like a smooth talker kind of thing like a snake oil
salesman kind of vibe yeah so it seems like he had two very distinct sides of himself that he would show at any given
moment whatever helped him at the time he has a Gemini yeah there you go now there was also a dark side to his
personality that investigators found while interviewing his former girlfriends oh no because according to
one former girlfriend um I'm not going to say her name no she and John had taken a trip to New York
City in 1987 and they were like play fighting one morning like as couples do like just ooh you know yeah
um but then John took it like too far and he stripped her of her clothes and handcuffed her to a window in the hotel
room then left her there for several hours alone handcuffed when he came back later he was laughing
being like this is hilarious like thought this was a funny game and she was like clearly terrified and
traumatized that is so insane I guess after they left this trip and went back to California they immediately broke up
she was like bye yeah they did reconcile in 1991. which is the year that Denise went missing but they they didn't
reconcile as a couple they just like knocked it out yeah and they became they like remained friends after he moved to
Arizona in 1992 okay but court records indicate that John also took photographs of her during this whole thing she said
she doesn't remember this at all because she was so traumatized that I think she
just blocked it out yeah like PTSD but in another incident that occurred in March of 1989 John was dating another
woman and according to court records she stopped by his house one afternoon just
to visit and she tried to leave his house once the visit was over and John quote pushed her onto the bed causing
her back shoulder and head to hit a bookcase when she was down he forced her hands above her head and handcuffed her
to the bed frame then he removed her closing clothing against her wishes forcibly and
indicated his intent to rape her it was only after she had started screaming as loud as she could and saying that she
was going to report him that he released the handcuffs and let her leave but when
he when she left he called her a [ __ ] and said you're the one that brought this on oh yeah because that's how that
works yeah so he's a [ __ ] foul abuse he's an animal apparently later when they had talked about this because they
broke up but they had talked about it and I guess he'd said to her that she just obviously didn't know mature sex
games I don't think you know what being a human is no now in late 1992 John moved
to Arizona to help his mom because which like whoa because she was caring for his
ailing father okay and remember he did have a good relationship with his father right and he actually kept living in the
house with his mother after his father died for his health in those kind of relationships those parent-child
relationships when they are like that sometimes they just cling continue you know what I mean like the person will
continue it exactly now that is John fomalaro wow what a story yeah and on July 20th 1994 after
he had been arrested John fomalaro appeared before judge for the first time um at the hearing authorities testified
that the extent of Denise's wounds were just unmentionable and they called the repeated blows to the Head heinous and
depraved and they said all of this means that it warrants the death penalty agreed which would automatically
disqualify him from receiving bail now his defense attorney Larry Katz there he argued that the evidence was
entirely circumstancial and since he had no History of Violence uh what he was not a Flight Risk
I disagree the judge was like no the judge was like yeah um did you read this case yeah he was like did you just walk
in here like just wake up come in here not knowing anything like did you talk to someone but he was denied bail and
returned back to jail thankfully so his bail hearing began a series of hearings and delays that dragged this case on for
several years before it even reached the criminal trial phase so in late August famularo waved
extradition and was transported from Arizona to Orange County California and he was then put in the Orange County
Jail to await his arraignment okay on September 26 1994 he appeared before an Orange County grand jury it was during
this hearing that the prosecution announced the attachment of special circumstances to the murder trial right
they said that Denise Huber's death occurred during her kidnapping which would make him eligible for the death
penalty in total he was indicted on one charge of kidnapping one charge of murder with special circumstances and
one count of sodomy now he was no longer being represented by Larry Katz at this
point I wonder why because Larry was like oh this isn't circumstantial at all and I have to go and now we had a public
defender named Leonard gumlia and he acknowledged that the case was uh complicated a little bit particularly
because of the semen found in Denise Huber's body right but he maintained the position that it was completely
circumstantial which I'm a little confused about y'all he said anybody who thinks they know
what happened that night is only guessing I don't know I don't know I think all the evidence points to your client he
said there's no evidence of any trauma that something forcible happened there may be something consensual happening
some of the questions remain unanswered and you can read the physical evidence in many ways there's no evidence that
any trauma happened like I'm sorry I know he's doing his job I get it but like is he though because there is
evidence trauma what the [ __ ] like it's just hard to hear that's just hard to hear somebody say that like
something along the lines of like this was a frenzy killing and then like yeah I mean you got it the rest of forever he
just had because it's just like oof because you're really sticking with that yeah I don't I don't I don't think this
is the way to come at it I don't think this was the way to come at it no I don't know what the right way to come
out it is I'll say that but this isn't it now he stayed the defense attorney stayed very vague in terms of what they
said here but they were definitely laying the groundwork for a defense where Denise went with John famularo
willingly and consented to sex yeah which is a bold move to take like her car was found
abandoned on the side of the road you guys like I don't know if you remember that this is one of those where I think
you should just like you should just go at it and be like yeah he did it but let's try to minimize this right a
little bit if that's what you're you know because that's their job but this this and this is the problem with
this defense that they were laying groundwork for because it's like how does it explain the exceeding leaved
violent death that she suffered right how are you telling me and just the fact that her car was abandoned she clearly
didn't go anywhere willingly exactly that's the thing it undermines the kidnapping and sexual assault charges
that and this is the thing like we're sitting here looking at it from this point of view being like what the [ __ ]
but they're doing it because if they do somehow plant a seed like that in somebody in the jury's Minds then it
undermines the sexual assault and kidnapping charges that you need for those special circumstances to elevate
it to a death penalty so they're trying to remove it from that wild now Orange County Superior Court Judge Catholic
Kathleen O'Leary set the trial date for October 2nd 1995. so she was missing in 1991. yeah
um so the prosecution in defense had a lot of time to prepare but complicating matters for both sides
were the introduction of DNA evidence which at this point was pretty new it was a pretty new science as far as you
know the public knew yes and by April of 1995 the defense petitioned the court for a delay
they noted the extraordinary amount of evidence seemed from famularo's home in Arizona which I'm like circumstantial
evidence you mean is that what you're you're noting is you need to go through the circumstantial evidence okie dokie
he said we have to go through 65 boxes of documents and he said he documented his whole life
so judge O'Leary approved the request and set the new trial date for April 29 1996.
the trial would be delayed for another full year as the defense entered motion after motion after motion asking for all
this time to review additional evidence interview Witnesses the defense needed way more time because they knew they had
a [ __ ] case yeah so Denise and lone Hume or excuse me Dennis and load of Huber Dennis and
loner are her parents they waited more than three years to even learn what happened to Denise and then hear that
yeah and then they waited even more time to see him even begin to face Justice finally on April 21st 1997. oh my God
jury selection began six years yes in Orange County Superior Court um and it was the people of the State of
California versus John fomalaro Denise's former boyfriend Stephen the one who couldn't go to the concert that night
told the LA Times everyone I know still wants to know what's happening in the case but unfortunately Denise's friends
and family would just have to wait several more weeks for the trial to even begin because once again the the defense
held it up with objections to certain jury members and they said there was a death in the family why are you just
trying to keep this ongoing let this family rest man so you don't have a good case send them to jail at the end now
after a long and very tense jury selection the trial finally started on May 8th 1997. in his opening statement
Deputy district attorney Christopher Evans laid out the state's case against John fomalaro telling the jury how
Denise had Denise had been pulled from her car by him then sexually assaulted and brutally brutally and gruesomely
killed he told the jury Denise did not go easily and then he detailed the extent of her injuries and assault and
according because she fought back yeah absolutely now according to the district attorney famularo had gone out of his
way to purchase a freezer and steal a rider truck in order to keep Huber's body and he said keep it as quote a
perverse trophy to remind himself of the success he had that night and it's true
you've gone out of his way to keep this stuff and like he just would go in there
and like look that's the thing it's like what did you what were you doing right like oh it's Unthinkable it really is it
is now anticipating the defense's argument that Denise went willingly with John fomalaro Evans made sure to remind
the jury that Huber's car had broken down thank you in a well-lit area surrounded by several options for
assistance and just a short walk from her parents house oh no under those circumstances it makes absolutely zero
sense that she would instead of going to get help in these several Avenues laid out to her she would get in a car with a
sketchy guy no who would have definitely immediately driven her in the wrong direction exactly like it wouldn't have
happened no no it's so sad that her car broke down that close to home that's the
thing it's like if her car hadn't broken down it's like oh now among the first Witnesses called by
the prosecution was Rob Calvert who was the friend she went to the concert with [Music]
um he testified the events of the evening and he included the fact that they did they definitely had several
drinks over the course of the evening but he was like it wasn't a big deal yeah under cross-examination
Leonard gumlia the defense attorney honed in on that fact but it definitely backfired on him because following his
cross-examination of Calvert he had to make it clear that he didn't mean to imply quote that Huber was drunk but to
suggest that she had drunk enough to not want to summon help from authorities and
to take a little more risk than you might otherwise do in that situation oh so uh victim blaming so it's like that
wasn't a good look on your part oh and it's like okay so she's not allowed a grown woman of age is not allowed to
drink at a concert right and if she does so then she just like you know what do you think happened of course she was
going to get brutally assaulted and murdered and kidnapped no it's not interesting how these things like don't
really get brought up unless it's like FEMA female exactly are you going to do that with a guy if this was the other
way around right no the defense's line of questioning was definitely aimed at supporting their Ultimate Defense which
was she went willingly and they hadn't presented that to the jury yet because they were trying to lead up to it and
kind of lay groundwork to get that and the jury to get the jury thinking they came up with it kind of thing so they
thought they were doing that but it kept backfiring I was gonna say this is a hot
mess on there so yeah it just kept making them look shitty to be honest and they had no proof of it right now how do
you even prove that no and again it doesn't make sense that you would go willingly with some strange guy and it's
not like John fomalaro looked like a wholesome guy that you wanted to get in the car with like he just didn't really
so the prosecution rested its case on May 14th and the defense requested that the judge drop the kidnapping charge
what they said quote I understand that she ended up in a place she didn't want to be and ended up in a condition she
didn't want to be in but there's no evidence that she got there forcefully uh I'm sorry did you see her shoes yeah
her drag marks thank you because the prosecution strongly objected they argued that they believed Denise was
blindfolded which they said had a ton of implication and Judge John Ryan agreed with Evans
saying there are too many reasonable inferences to show kidnapping and they were trying to argue that those scuff
marks came from something else they weren't from being dragged are you kidding me yeah or he literally
literally broke yeah on May 19th the defense tried to change the tactic now and the defense didn't
deny that famularo had killed Denise Huber instead they were arguing that because she was a little intoxicated she
made a poor decision to not seek help from authorities and got in the car that with the stranger so now she's trying to
say they're trying to say okay she did get willingly in that car but she was drunk that's why so now they're
trying to back something okay initially I was saying that she got in there willingly like weren't
mentioning the drunk thing just she wanted to get in the car with him and consented to sex yep and now they're
saying well no no she's drunk so she made a dumb decision that's what now they're trying to be like wow what a
dumb decision that was and also even if it was the case and it was like a silly Choice yeah it shouldn't result in you
getting murdered and speaking on those scuffs and things to her shoes right the defense said that the shoes Denise was
wearing that night had the scuffs on them hadn't happened when she was dragged as the prosecution was trying to
oh when did they have a wildly claim they said it happened when Denise was quote walking up and down the freeway
embankment where the car was found oh she was dragging her dragging her heels right that makes a lot of sense which I
want to be like okay did anyone in that courtroom go can you show me physically how you do that yeah would that happen
just show me put on a pair of heels yeah show me how you Scuff the back of your heels because that's the thing I love to
me how that happens so the jury deliberated for just five hours before returning a verdict of guilty on
the charges of first-degree murder good also kidnapping yeah and also sodomy yeah Dennis Huber told reporters after
the verdict it's a step in Justice the man who did that is that much closer to meeting his Justice the death penalty
good so her parents wanted it and although the verdict came as a relief to a lot of people Deputy district attorney
Christopher Evans was quick to remind everyone this is not a case of Great Law Enforcement cracking a crime it was a
fluke it fell into their hands he almost got away with it it's true and unfortunately that is 100 true yeah he
almost got away with it and he would have done this again there's not a doubt in my personal mind it was honestly
because of Elaine and her husband that Elaine trusted her gut and wrote down the information she was a bad bee
without Elaine this was never never been caught yeah he could have kept on living
that way and other people could have fallen victim so it's it's really upsetting when you think about it that
this was a complete fluke absolutely it's also I can't imagine being one of those ex-girlfriends and being like how
close you were seriously especially yeah one of them it was like a couple weeks before he murdered yes like like had
he's like I don't I don't even want to say snapped because that's not what happened yeah but had he decided right
to open up that part of him that was clearly there it's very upsetting now John fomalaro
returned to court in late May for the sentencing phase um over two weeks friends and family got
to testify on the impact of Denise's murder on their lives with him in the room um at times I guess the jury and several
members of the Court were in tears I bet with all these testimonials it was a really emotional
um emotional sentencing phase you would think so and the defense called several character witnesses to testify on
famularo's behalf including his mother yeah told the court that her son had truly and she was actually right here
she said her son had truly never received the help he needed yeah which yeah 100
after several more delays famularo finally came back into court on September 5th 1997. now remember the
sending sentencing phase was two weeks in May and this was in September Judge John Ryan sentenced him to death
he said just imagine what was going through her mind yeah and judge Ryan said that the brutality the crime was
the reason that he was imposing the death penalty he said nothing he couldn't think of something that matched
the brutality of this I can't either now as you know it's a death penalty case so
his verdict was set for automatic appeal and the first appeal was heard in 2007.
oh wow and it argued that the publicity surrounding the case in Orange County basically ensured that he wasn't going
to receive a fair trial it said both that the court aired on denying the change of uh venue motion I.E that at
the time of the motion it was reasonably likely that a fair trial could not be had and that the error was prejudicial
I.E that is reasonable it is reasonably likely that a fair trial was not in fact
had police the appeal motion also argued that the outcome of the case case was very influenced by the media coverage in
which I can't believe this in which quote Denise Huber had been portrayed in a very favorable light while fomalaro
had been portrayed in negative terms that's probably because nobody ever found a dead body on Denise's property
and they found a dead body in multiple other horrific horrific heinous things on that man's property yeah I'd say
that's why probably most likely it's I love that it's like oh yeah they portrayed Denise in a favorable light
and it's like no maybe she was just an awesome person yeah pieces of [ __ ] she was clearly maybe that was it like I
don't think they were like taking out giant black marks on her record like she was a good person exactly she was a
decent human being with her friend that night yeah and she was close to her family she was a good friend people
liked her she liked animals like she was okay like [ __ ] you like what John famular is a piece of [ __ ] and a woman
being who has abused and like traumatized several women so okay maybe that's why if that's the media
influencing people then like I don't understand this apparently nor do I yeah now ultimately the appeals court
rejected both of these things and upheld the lower Court's original verdict and sentence of death
in 2006 a United States District Court Judge ruled that California's capital punishment laws were unconstitutional
since then all death row sentences have remained in place but are essentially sitting in like a Purgatory here yeah
like a limbo they're on indefinite hold basically including John famularis he remains on death row in San Quentin
prison and he will likely stay there for the rest of his life for Denise's parents Dennis and lone
whatever happens to John fomalaro from this point they don't give a [ __ ] at this point I don't blame it Dennis told
a reporter from the Los Angeles Times in 2006 it's done it's done I feel there's
nothing more that can be done it's up to the state to do something with them now
they're basically like [ __ ] you guys yeah and they said after more than 30 years which wow the pain of losing their
daughter is with them daily it doesn't go away it doesn't dull nothing makes it better but they have managed to find at
least some peace Dennis said the wound never heals you just learn how to deal with it and it doesn't hurt quite as
much as it did at first oh but that what is the horrific case of the kidnapping and murder an assault of Denise Huber
that's a tragic tragic case and just so brutal John fomalaro is a I it's hard to even describe him I don't
think he I don't think there's words on this planet that could possibly because there's no remorse either There's No
Remorse there's no never apologize apology there's no real thing like he didn't give any insight as to right like he
just stumbled upon her yeah and like what he just drove by her and that was it you have to wonder if he'd killed
before that right because that is like I mean maybe who knows some people do just
do something like this that's the thing like you want to say like there's no way
that this can be his first because it's so brutal brutal but like that happens it does sometimes they start like this
but it's just and it's it's the trophies yeah and the amount of trophies that he kept it's
another girl's blood stains yeah he kept the boxes for the handcuffs I mean like
them Christmas everything everything yeah he's a sick [ __ ] yeah he truly is this is a a doozy yeah it's awful but
wow I I mean it sounds like at least her family was able to find peace in the closure of it but obviously nothing
takes away and honestly they had to sit in that courtroom and hear what happened and look at this
piece of [ __ ] that stole their daughter away I know I hope nothing but the best
for them going forward I know they seem like very kind very sweet yeah like a really good family like I really hope
that yeah at least some good things happen to them after this that they could enjoy
like um I don't know how you would ever be able to again but because they have truly been through gone through
something that none of us can even fathom conjure up in our head at least here in this room yeah
oh my well I feel like we've had a lot of back to back like very very brutal cases so I'm working on a haunted case
right we need that yeah we need that's you know spooky season is upon us um I was like to me sure to me it's a
problem it's only a few months that's what I mean I can smell it oh so bring me the spooky cases spooky scary
skeletons and pumpkins and other [ __ ] I know the [ __ ] oh that's the song but
yeah but yeah my my haunting has like some murder in it which is like very tragic but it's mostly spookyukyuki
I like it so hope you keep listening and hope you keep it weird you're not so weird that you don't tune in next week
for something haunted in the light bye bye [Music] thank you

In Part 2, we talk through the killer’s background and troubling history with women in his life. We also go through Denise’s horrific injuries, as well as the investigation and trial that followed. Thank you to the stupendous David White for research assistance.

References

Associated Press. 1994. No bail for suspect in bizarre slaying. Arizona Daily Sun, July 21: 10. Cekola, Anna. 1997. For Hubers, relief at a step in justice, anticipation of next one. Los Angeles Times, May 23: A24. Dobruck, Jeremiah. 2016. The wound that never heals. Los Angeles Times, July 1. Gomez, James. 1991. Banner used in search for woman. Los Angeles Times, July 3: 129. —. 1991. Denise Huber probably dead, investigator says. Los Angeles Times, October 10: 214. —. 1991. Hope keeps a search alive. Los Angeles Times, June 27: 224. Gomez, James, and Eric Lichtblau. 1991. Was missing woman victim of foul play. Los Angeles Times, June 6: 227. Hernandez, Greg. 1997. Famalaro defense charges witness is biased. Los Angeles Times, February 22:309. —. 1997. Famalaro defense rests after trying to refute special circumstances. Los Angeles Times, May21: B4. —. 1997. Famalaro judge unswayed by argument denying kidnapping. Los Angeles Times, May 15: B3. —. 1997. Famalaro jury told that the victim had drinks. Los Angeles Times, May 20: B1. —. 1997. Famalaro quickly convicted in Huber sex murder case. Los Angeles Times, May 23: 1. —. 1997. Killer who froze body sentenced to die. Los Angeles Times, September 6: A24. —. 1997. Prosecutor describes stranded motorist’s last hours. Los Angeles Times, May 9: A3. —. 1997. Unraveling mysteries of Huber case. Los Angeles Times, April 21: 53. Ko, Mimi. 1992. Daughter is gone, then cancer hits. Los Angeles Times, November 7: 220. Lasseter, Don. 1998. Cold Storage: A Killer with a Heart of Ice. New York, NY: Pinnacle Books. Lindsbaum, Mark. 1991. Impasse in search from woman doesn’t shake faith. Los Angeles Times, September 8: 408. Los Angeles Times. 1991. Abandoned car on freeway spurs search for Newport Beach woman. Los Angeles Times, June 5: 107. Pinsky, Mark. 1995. Famalaro trial delayed until next April. Los Angeles Times, April 11: 136. Reza, H.G., and Tammy Hyunjoo Kresta. 1994. Body is identified as Denise Huber. Los Angeles Times, July 17: 137. Tabor, Gail. 1994. Parents’ search ends. Arizona Republic, July 18: 1. The People vs. John Famalaro. 2011. S064306 (Supreme Court of California, July 7). The People vs. John Famalaro. 2007. S064306 (Supreme Court of the State of California, April 11). Villa, Judy, and David Schwartz. 1994. Police fear other victims in home where freezer held woman’s corpse. Arizona Republic, July 18: 1. Wilgoren, Jodi. 1994. Famalaro faces sex charges in Huber slaying. Los Angeles Times, September 30:136. Yokoi, Iris. 1992. Family of missing woman still hopeful. Los Angeles Times, June 3: 102.

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Brief Summary

Denise Huber's kidnapping and murder by John Famularo reveals shocking evidence and a lengthy trial for justice.

Key points

A Weekend of Reflection. Ash and Elena discuss their weekends, revealing personal struggles and routines.
The Discovery of Denise Huber. Investigators confirm the identity of a body found in a freezer, bringing heartbreak to the family.
A Disturbing Collection. Items found in the suspect's home reveal chilling evidence linked to Denise's disappearance.
John Famularo's Troubled Childhood. John Famularo's upbringing was marked by an abusive mother and a tense family dynamic.
The Dark Side of John Famularo. John's relationships reveal a troubling pattern of manipulation and abuse.
The Gruesome Details of Denise's Murder. The prosecution detailed the heinous nature of Denise's murder, calling it depraved.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's been a tough year, honestly to put it lightly, it's been very shitty.

Elena reflects on the challenges of the past year.

2:21WatchJul 11, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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