0:00
while most of us enjoy nights out with
0:02
friends we rarely consider the negative
0:04
consequences there is always going to be
0:06
an element of risk when going out for
0:08
drinks after dark but what if one of
0:10
those nights turned out to be your last
0:14
sadly this would be the case for denise
0:16
huber when after a night out she failed
0:18
to return home
0:20
but what happened after her
0:21
disappearance and who was to blame good
0:24
morning good afternoon or good evening
0:26
folks my name is adrian and welcome back
0:28
to another video by coffee house crime
0:30
today we're looking at the case of
0:32
denise huber and as always just to let
0:34
you know that i post solved unsolved in
0:36
strange cases here weekly so if that's
0:38
your kind of thing please consider
0:40
subscribing to coffeehouse crime now
0:42
with that said let's begin today's case
0:44
go grab yourself a coffee pull up a seat
0:46
and sit back
0:47
this is the case of denise huber
Denise Huber
1:02
grab your sunscreen and your favorite
1:03
pair of flip-flops our journey today
1:06
takes a state site over to the east
1:08
coast of california
1:09
we're zeroing into an area known as
1:11
orange county and orange county's name
1:13
plays no tricks it's an area teeming
1:16
with sunny beach resorts sprawled around
1:18
two famous theme parks
1:20
with disneyland anaheim and knott's
1:22
berry farm orange county is a very
1:23
desirable place to visit for a holiday
1:25
and has plenty to do with its beautiful
1:28
weather it takes advantage of its
1:29
coastline with many harbours most of
1:32
which are backdropped by the urban
1:33
sprawl
1:34
today we're heading to newport beach and
1:36
it's here that we meet 23 year old
1:38
denise huber still classed as young
1:41
adult denise and her brother jeff still
1:43
lived at home with their parents father
1:45
dennis and mother ion huber
1:47
so i apologize in advance if the names
1:50
dennis and denise start melding together
1:52
but denise was born on the 22nd of
1:54
november 1967.
1:56
she had a positive upbringing with two
1:58
loving parents and the family engaged in
2:00
a pleasant lifestyle within the lively
2:02
beach town
2:03
this environment suited denise well in
2:05
her younger years she was described as
2:07
bubbly vibrant fun-loving and someone
2:10
you wanted to be around
2:11
denise's support from her parents
2:13
allowed her to excel in school she was
2:15
well-liked received good grades and
2:17
eventually attended the university of
2:18
california irvine to study social
2:20
science denise was outgoing and also
2:23
attractive and this didn't go unnoticed
2:25
by those around her throughout her young
2:27
life she had several boyfriends but none
2:30
of them would stick around for too long
2:31
she enjoyed going to events and parties
2:33
were never given the opportunity and
2:35
being an avid fan of the sacramento
2:37
kings she would often go to the local
2:39
basketball games now another one of the
2:41
hobbies included her supporting her
2:43
favorite bands and on the 2nd of june
2:45
1991 denise planned to see english solo
2:48
artist morrissey at the forum in
2:49
englewood
2:50
denise had always loved the alternative
2:52
rock genre that england brought to the
2:54
us so she jumped at the chance to see
2:56
morrissey play alive in the few months
2:58
prior she had recently gotten into a
3:00
relationship with her new boyfriend
3:02
steven and although the two had planned
3:04
to go together stephen was unable to
3:06
attend last minute he instead insisted
3:09
that she go with their mutual friend rob
3:10
calvert the three of them worked
3:12
together at the spaghetti factory so
3:14
they all knew each other well enough
3:16
besides it could be unsafe for an
3:18
attractive young woman to go all alone
3:20
pulling up to rob's house at around 7 30
Out for the night
3:23
p.m denise wore a short black dress
3:25
stockings and high heels
3:27
rob offered to drive but after looking
3:29
at his car she insisted they go in her
3:31
car instead
3:33
on the way to the concert the pair
3:34
stopped at a liquor store bought some
3:36
vodka and orange juice and mixed the two
3:38
over ice a cocktail that is commonly
3:40
known as a screwdriver the two of them
3:43
arrived at the forum club in englewood
3:44
at around 8pm where they then sat back
3:47
in denise's car and conversed over a
3:49
couple of mixed drinks a few shots later
3:51
and they were ready to get the night
3:53
going there is nothing eventful to
3:55
report about the concert a few more
3:57
drinks were had the two enjoyed the
3:59
night and the gig ended at around 11 30
4:01
p.m
4:02
however saying that they were not quite
4:04
ready to end the night just yet denise
4:07
drove them to a bar on long island where
4:09
they had a couple of beers before
4:10
leaving the bar at around 1 30 am
4:13
with work the next day they decided to
4:15
call it a night and after safely
4:17
arriving at rob's house at around 2am
4:19
denise bid farewell to her friend as she
4:21
set off for her own home
4:23
however and unfortunately as the saying
4:26
often goes around here very little did
4:28
rob know that this would be the last
4:30
time he would see denise alive
4:39
june the 3rd
4:40
1991 dennis and ione woke up to another
4:43
typical work day assuming denise was
4:46
asleep in her bedroom they didn't bother
4:48
to check in on her but her parents began
4:50
to notice when she failed to get up for
4:52
work
4:53
heading over to her bedroom they found
4:55
it empty with everything left the same
4:57
way it was the night before
4:59
now denise was a 23 year old woman and
5:02
not a teenager so although she lived
5:04
with her parents she had free reign to
5:06
come and go as she pleased however
5:08
saying that she was a very sensible
5:10
graduate who held down two jobs and it
5:12
was very unlike her to not return home
5:14
when she had work the following day with
5:16
it being a monday the pair went off to
5:18
work expecting to see denise later on
5:20
that afternoon but after returning home
5:22
several hours later she was still
5:24
nowhere to be found with their concerns
5:26
growing they called her workplace a few
5:28
of her close friends and even the local
5:30
police departments but still nothing
5:33
came up they therefore made the decision
5:35
to report her as missing
5:37
just in case she had heard from their
June 3rd 1991
5:39
daughter the hubers called denise's best
5:41
friend tammy brown but unfortunately no
5:43
dice
5:44
she too was wondering where denise was
5:47
tammy made several phone calls to mutual
5:49
friends and this included rob who was at
5:52
the time the last known person to see
5:54
her to try and find any sign of denise
5:57
tammy drove around the area and on her
5:59
way to the huber household there it was
6:02
she spotted denise's car parked on the
6:04
side of the corona del mar freeway a
6:06
short distance away from her home in
6:08
newport beach but why was her car here
6:11
tammy immediately called denise's
6:13
parents where she waited for them to
6:15
arrive before checking the car as she
6:17
was too scared to do so alone
6:19
with the car's flat rear tyres and the
6:21
hazard lights ominously flickering by
6:23
the vehicle was left in an abnormal
6:25
state
6:26
the trio would find nothing inside
6:28
however and there was no sign of denise
6:31
with the keys to her car still missing
6:33
it appeared that perhaps denise had left
6:35
to go and get help needless to say but
6:38
in the year 1991 mobile phones were not
6:40
yet common but denise's car was close to
6:43
several payphones a motel and a walkway
6:45
leading into town
6:47
this of course was not a comforting fact
6:49
the search for denise began as the sun
6:51
rose the following day it truly was a
6:54
county-wide effort with police family
6:56
friends and the public all being
6:58
involved in the operation posters were
7:00
put up across local towns and cities tv
7:03
appeals were aired and billboards raised
7:06
however all of these efforts
7:07
unfortunately led to nothing
7:09
police dogs would detect ascent from the
7:11
vehicle but then lost it 25 meters down
7:14
the freeway otherwise no sign of denise
7:17
was found anywhere and her car
7:19
haphazardly left behind revealed no
7:21
clues as to where she could have gone
7:24
as the days turned into weeks and
7:26
eventually into months both dennis and
7:28
ion grieved the missing daughter
7:30
with the minds played with speculation
7:32
and horror the hardest part to her
7:34
disappearance was not knowing what
7:36
exactly happened to denise and this
7:39
story of the girl next door who had
7:41
suddenly vanished while on a night out
7:42
gripped the hearts and minds of orange
7:44
county and people afar although everyone
7:47
was aware of it the case of denise huber
7:50
would sadly turn cold and as the case
7:52
hit the three-year mark both dennis and
7:54
ione would wonder if they would ever
7:56
find out what happened to their daughter
7:58
that would be until a seemingly random
8:00
encounter would blow the case wide open
8:05
the date was july the 13th 1994
8:08
in an area just outside of prescott in
8:10
arizona elaine court and her partner
8:12
jack were heading to a home of a local
8:14
man to purchase some paint
8:16
they had previously met this man at a
8:18
local daily market
8:19
he asked the pair to come by and pick up
8:21
some fresh tins from his home which was
8:23
found on cochise drive in dewey arizona
8:26
the man's name is john familaro
8:29
born in long island new york in 1957 he
8:32
and his family moved to orange county
8:34
when he was still very young
8:36
john was described as quiet and awkward
8:38
but despite this shy facade he often
8:41
misbehaved during school had difficulty
8:43
learning due to antisocial behavior and
8:46
didn't care for those around him and
8:48
this was probably due to the way he was
8:50
raised although angelo was a kind and
8:52
caring parent his mother anne was the
8:55
total opposite she was extremely strict
8:58
and often used her religion to scare her
9:00
children into obedience in fact anne was
9:03
so controlling that she wouldn't allow
9:04
jon or her siblings to see their friends
John Famalaro
9:06
after school and when they were
9:08
teenagers they were forbidden to date or
9:10
be in relationships
9:12
i won't go into it but anne insisted on
9:15
watching her children herself even into
9:17
their teenage years
9:18
and apparently this brought along some
9:21
rather disgusting encounters between her
9:23
and her children john and his siblings
9:25
were also prohibited from speaking to
9:27
each other unless given permission
9:29
they were all banned from talking about
9:31
politics and religion and were only
9:33
allowed to sit in specific seats in the
9:35
living and dining room
9:37
john's abnormal childhood is likely a
9:39
direct reflection of his mother's
9:41
hostile and compulsive behaviors and
9:43
eventually this would later make its way
9:45
into his adult life too
9:47
after moving out of the family home in
9:49
his late teens john made several
9:51
attempts to put himself into a
9:53
professional career however every time
9:55
he did this he would fail following in
9:58
his brother's footsteps who by the way
10:00
was fired for sexual misconduct jon
10:02
first tried to become a chiropractor
10:04
but he dropped out before finishing his
10:06
course
10:07
after that he tried to fulfill his dream
10:08
of becoming a police officer but he
10:10
failed training a total of four times
10:12
and gave up after that ultimately jon
10:15
settled on the more straightforward path
10:17
of house painting
10:18
and with this job being both public and
10:20
close proximity he managed to spark up
10:22
multiple relationships with women this
10:24
man was a strange and potentially
10:26
dangerous individual but at least in
10:29
this moment of time he had never been
10:30
arrested or in trouble with the law
From paint cans to discovery.
10:33
that would all change shortly after he
10:35
met elaine and jack although jon
10:37
remained calm at the open-air market he
10:39
appeared to be uncomfortable with them
10:41
near his home
10:42
john rummaged through the paint cans and
10:44
ushered the couple off the driveway as
10:46
if he were in a rush
10:48
he told them he had moved to arizona
10:49
about six months prior but this
10:51
statement was odd as his home was packed
10:54
with junk boxes and debris
10:56
they also noted that there were hundreds
10:58
of paint cans littering his garden
11:00
the most significant item on the
11:02
property was a rental truck but if he
11:04
had moved here only six months prior
11:06
then why did he need it
11:08
after collecting the paint from john the
11:10
family returned to the car where below
11:13
the dashboard elaine wrote down his
11:14
number plate the plate was californian
11:17
and not even registered to their home
11:19
state
11:20
believing the truck had been stolen
11:22
elaine reported it to the police
11:24
authorities ran this plate through the
11:25
registry and lo and behold it was
11:28
reported missing six months prior with a
11:30
search warrant in hand they then
11:32
attended the familaro residence and as
11:34
they began to inspect the property they
11:36
noticed a cord running from the truck
11:38
into his home approaching the truck with
11:40
bolt cutters they gained entry through
11:42
the back door paint cans cardboard boxes
11:45
and plastic bags filled the container
11:47
and nestled amongst all the junk was a
11:49
freezer at least they could now guess
11:51
why there was a power cord connected to
11:53
the truck but believing the freezer
11:55
would contain drugs they called in the
11:56
narcotics team
11:58
authorities opened the freezer door
12:00
however they were unprepared for what
12:02
they would find
12:03
peering in they could see a pile of
12:05
plastic bags and reaching out from an
12:08
opening was a human hand
12:11
removing the top layer of plastic bags
12:13
revealed the frozen body of a young
12:14
woman she was lying in a semi-fetal
12:17
position with handcuffed hands behind
12:19
her back her face was covered in duct
12:21
tape from her eyes down to her mouth to
12:24
add to this she was also entirely naked
12:27
her skull was shattered so much so that
12:29
shards of it had left holes in some of
12:31
the bags that encased her
12:33
shocked officers then resealed the
12:35
freezer to preserve the body for a
12:37
proper autopsy
12:38
john watched the gruesome discovery
12:40
unfold from his window and of course he
12:42
was arrested immediately the man was
12:45
emotionless he said almost nothing
12:47
throughout his arrest only ending his
12:49
silence to ask for a lawyer the body was
12:51
later examined by forensics where they
12:53
had to use a hairdryer to thaw certain
12:55
body parts for examination this was
12:57
necessary to obtain more accurate
12:59
results for things such as fingerprints
13:01
the fingerprints from the body were
13:03
found to match a californian driver's
13:05
license and sadly it was of denise huber
13:12
it would take days for officers to
13:14
search jon's overly hoarded house he
13:16
clearly had a problem throwing anything
13:18
away
13:19
and fortunately this included vital
13:21
evidence
Evidence and events.
13:23
they eventually found various suspicious
13:24
items and many of denise's belongings in
13:27
a box labelled christmas they found her
13:30
shoes purse makeup and keys
13:33
the box also contained the outfit that
13:34
she wore the night she disappeared which
13:36
had been torn down one side
13:38
in another box authorities found
13:40
matching duct tape blood stained rags
13:43
men's clothing a nail puller and finally
13:46
a blood stained hammer dna analysis
13:48
would later confirm that the blood was
13:50
denise's
13:52
even throughout his questioning john
13:53
never actually disclosed what happened
13:55
to denise but with the way her car had
13:57
been left denise's body and the evidence
14:00
found in the house it all painted a
14:02
relatively clear picture of the night's
14:04
events
14:05
there was no actual sign of a struggle
14:07
at the site of the car but denise's
14:09
shoes were scuffed and damaged as if
14:11
they had been dragged along the floor it
14:13
is therefore possible that denise had
14:14
been lured away from the car
14:16
inside john's home police uncovered two
14:19
fake police uniforms which john may have
14:21
used to create a false sense of security
14:23
with denise either way jon had somehow
14:25
managed to get denise into his car he
14:28
then handcuffed her and drove her to her
14:29
warehouse where he was both working and
14:31
living at the time due to the shipping
14:33
labels found on the boxes inside his
14:35
house police knew of this location and
14:37
after obtaining a search warrant to
14:39
inspect the warehouse they found a deep
14:41
brown stain behind the new dry wall
14:43
sadly again upon testing it turned out
14:46
to be denise's blood
14:48
while at the warehouse john covered
14:50
denise's face in duct tape and then
14:51
plastic bags where he then proceeded to
14:54
sexually assault her and once he was
14:56
finished he violently struck her with
14:58
the hammer and nail puller
15:00
forensics could confirm that he had
15:02
struck her head a minimum of 30 times
15:04
leaving her skull in many pieces
15:06
jon would then leave denise's body out
15:08
in the open for three whole days we know
15:10
this because the receipt for when he
15:12
bought the freezer on june 6th was found
15:14
in his house
15:16
with thanks to john's horning tendencies
15:18
he had made it very easy for police to
15:20
create a relatively accurate theory on
15:21
what occurred in june of 1991.
15:24
john was clearly a sick and twisted man
15:27
during their search authorities would
15:28
find snippets from newspapers and
15:30
articles about denise including a
15:32
missing person's poster a vhs tape was
15:34
also found in the house which contained
15:37
an emotional appeal from her parents
15:38
dennis and iron huber
15:41
following all of this evidence a rather
15:43
strong case was built against john
15:45
however it would take authorities three
15:47
whole years to compile all of it
15:48
properly but as all of us know good
15:50
things come to those who wait and
15:53
finally on may 8th 1997 john stood trial
15:56
for the kidnapping sodomy and first
15:58
degree murder of denise huber there was
Legal proceedings, aftermath
16:00
actually so much evidence against his
16:02
charge of murder that jon's defense team
16:04
simply didn't try to challenge it
16:06
instead they focused on his other
16:08
charges his defence team argued that
16:10
denise was not kidnapped as there was no
16:12
evidence or sign of struggle at the
16:14
crime scene
16:15
and to add to this they could not prove
16:17
that jon had caused damage to her shoes
16:19
they also argued that the freezing and
16:21
thawing process could have interfered
16:23
with autopsy results and therefore
16:25
discredit accusations that he had
16:26
sexually assaulted her
16:28
however this was not a good enough
16:30
defense and after weeks of deliberation
16:33
jon was found guilty on all three
16:35
charges he was therefore sentenced to
16:37
the most severe punishment the law would
16:39
allow the death penalty
16:41
to this day he is still on death row
16:44
as for dennis and ione they finally had
16:47
some form of justice for their daughter
16:49
but the trial would create fresh wounds
16:50
too
16:51
they had already grieved for their
16:53
daughter when she disappeared and again
16:55
when she was discovered and now with all
16:57
the fresh evidence in front of them they
16:59
would have to process all of these new
17:01
facts and begin the healing process all
17:03
over again
17:05
crimes like this affect local
17:06
communities heavily and for orange
17:08
county in particular they really grieved
17:10
for the loss of denise huber
17:12
disappearances hang in the air for a
17:14
very long time and nobody knew what
17:16
exactly happened to her for more than
17:18
three long years
17:20
denise had the rest of her life ahead of
17:22
her and at the age of 23 she was ready
17:25
to begin her independent adult life
17:27
she had dreams of visiting england in
17:29
the summer before settling down and
17:31
focusing on her career
17:33
in all this time that she has lost she
17:35
could have become a wife a mother and
17:37
even a grandmother
17:39
and as these stories go that life was
17:42
callously taken away by an ice-hearted
17:44
killer
Outro
17:46
and that just about wraps up today's
17:48
case but thank you so much folks for
17:50
watching another video today by coffee
17:52
house crime if you found this video
17:54
interesting or you learned something new
17:56
then please remember to like the video
17:57
and subscribe if you haven't yet and as
17:59
always please share your thoughts in the
18:01
comment section down below i'll see you
18:03
again real soon for another video folks
18:05
but until our moments arrives please
18:07
remember to look after each other and
18:08
stay safe
18:09
thank you and goodbye
18:12
[Music]
18:21
you