Cold Storage

by Don Lasseter

On July 13, 1994, in a suburb of Prescott Arizona, police found the nude, handcuffed corpse of Denise Huber--a woman who'd been missing for three years--stuffed in a freezer in 37-year-old John Famalaro's truck. Inside Famalaro's home were Denise's personal belongings, along with "trophies" of other female prey. Now, from the crime to the manhunt, from the trail to its aftermath, here is the story.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Horror

400 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Don Lasseter has written five true crime books for Pinnacle plus 16 magazine articles that were reprinted in Pinnacle's anthology books about murders. In addition to being a crime writer, Mr. Lasseter is a WWII historian who frequently lectures on the subject in schools, at service clubs, and for veteran's groups. He accompanies his talks with slide packages titled "WWII, Then and Now", consisting of photos he took while actually retracing most major battles in Western Europe and in the South Pacific. Taking black and white combat photos with him, Mr. Lasseter laboriously searched for the exact spots on which the photographers stood and shot the same scenes as they look today. He accumulated over 1500 such pictures associated with various battles including the Normandy invasion, Battle of the Bulge, crossing the Rhine, taking Berlin, and other major engagements.

A native Californian, Mr. Lasseter resides in Orange County. He has served as guest lecturer in criminology classes at California State University, Fullerton. Hollywood history is Mr. Lasseter's third major interest. His personal library includes an extensive collection of movie books, and he takes pride in being able to name hundreds of old character actors whose faces are often seen in classic films. One day, Lasseter says, he will write books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the golden era of film production and the people involved.

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the way this book was written, it was like it was a personal account of what happened by someone who knew the family very well. My only criticism is that the trial section went on way too long. For me personally I am all about the who , why , what, how and when it happened not the trial. Everyone is different but I am not a fan of trials (only short versions).

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Lasseter really outdid himself with this one. He collected a staggering amount of information from who-knows-how-many primary sources and put it all together into a very readable, well-organized TC book that never gets confusing, repetitive or wild-eyed. For instance, he doesn't make the elementary mistake of telling you everything about the crime, then making you read all the same details for a second time during the trial. He never indulges in shoot-from-the-hip psychoanalysis and never tries to tell the reader what to believe about the evidence. This is also (I hope) a very unusual case worthy of the reader's attention. I highly recommend this one.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written account of an interesting (albeit horrific) case. I appreciate how the author treated the victim's family with compassion and sensitivity.

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank You For Another Great Read

This is the 3rd book in a row I’ve read by this author, which is pretty amazing on 2 counts - Number one being that when I was reading the first book I happened to buy, in the early pages I found it a little dry & over the top. Everyone was just amazing and always had the best qualities imaginable, no one was ordinary or boring & for awhile I didn’t think I’d finish the book.

However page by page I did start to get into the storyline and feel empathy for those damaged by the consequences of brutal crime. I actually enjoyed it so much that I immediately went back to Amazon and bought more of this authors books, and I can say that overall I’ve come to very much enjoy this authors true crime writing style, and that I especially like how the telling of the crime is followed through in as much as possible from before, then to during of the crime, and then some of the chase to find out what happened and finally it’s carried out into the courtroom to its natural conclusion. I know some TC readers can either love or hate books like this, but I’m firmly in the love camp.

Now I mentioned above their is 2 counts of why it’s amazing I’m still reading this authors work, and the 2nd count is down to the abysmal proofreading of all of the books so far, but especially in this book, there’s no spelling mistakes (nor should there be these days) but there are words put in the wrong places, or obviously the wrong word added to the book example ‘white’ instead of ‘while’ . And this happens frequently, over and over and over. The worst case is having the mother of the murder victims name put into the resume of the murderer ! That one shocked me so much I actually contacted the publishers and informed them. Then a little later on the wording has the father giving evidence in the courtroom and describing his murdered daughter as an ‘it’ when she was born, when naturally he would of said ‘she’

Whoever proofreads for this publisher should be fired, they ruin what are enjoyable and thoughtful novels about a very sensitive subject, and if a casual reader such as myself can pick up these errors over & over I just can’t see how they miss them all.

These are still great books, and I totally recommend them if you love true crime.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don Lasseter is a good writer who, obviously does through research. A heinous murder (aren't they all?) committed by a totally demented repent-less monster, John Famalaro.

The only "downside" to this book is that sometimes Lasseter comes down with a case of word diarrhea which is a way of saying he has a tendency to go on & on & on about certain elements in the book which is totally unnecessary. In this instance, he would bore the reader with 10, 12 or more pages of writing about some character's family history.........sometimes going back to great grandfather's and when he immigrated to the America and so on and so forth. (Who Cares??) This doesn't add anything to the story line of the book. And in the case of the killer - I believe he must have devoted at least 50 or more pages about Famalaro's dysfunctional upbringing............but hardly anything about the beautiful (inside and out) young woman whom was mercilessly murdered, whose life was tragically stolen from her at a young age. Oh, don't misunderstand, Lasseter was obviously affected by this tragedy, the loss of a young woman's life and the terrible effects this had on the family but why belabor the killer's life? Btw- This monster, John Famalaro is still alive, sitting on death row in San Quentin prison. Knowing the libel mentality on California, he will never be wiped of the face of the world..........which he damn well should be!

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I was disappointed to learn the disgusting P.O.S. perpetrator John Famalaro still lingers on death row.This is a complete overview, including wrong leads, fruitless flyering, and courtroom testimony, before concluding with the deserved (IMHO) death penalty. This is a class story that feels like a parable of parental concern for single daughters. A young woman coming home from a concert breaks down on the highway after 2 a.m. and later her degraded corpse the result of a violent death is found frozen in a freezer.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don Lasseter is a god-tier true crime writer, and the Denise Huber murder is one ghastly yarn to spin. It will stay with me for a long time in the imagination, dark and perverse. Highly recommended but only if you have the appetite for it. Included pictures I hadn't seen online.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read.

How someone can do this to another person is unbelievable. I feel so sorry the victim parents. What he put them through is unimaginable. The entire time I was reading this book, I close my eyes and prayed for the parents. May they daughter Denise be resting in peace.

[Mike Massaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tragic story

Why do awful things happen to such good people. A very good true crime book spoilt only in a minor way by typos or words dropped into sentences making no sense (kindle version). These did not detract from this tragic and heart rendering book. Easily 4.5 stars.

[Donna Humble · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book. It has a lot of information about the crime as well as personal information about the victim, her family, the killer, and his family.

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This case was featured on Forensic Files. Nicole Dollanganger wrote a song about it called Have You Seen Me. Truly heartbreaking.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched but needs a proofread like crazy.

[Kathleen Bacheller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took awhile to get thru some parts

I found this to be an interesting look at the court system. A little slow at times with the background but very well done.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-documented, horrific true crime account, but book needs an edit for punctuation, typos, etc. The mistakes were a distraction.

[Tasha Diekan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The most boring book I've ever read.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly interesting true crime book but a lot more background info on every character than necessary imo.
I just wish we could've heard the killer's words, but not a peep.

[Jay Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's fucking silly to give someone the death penalty and then keep them alive for decades

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. I liked that he put so much focus on the victim for the opening section of the book. The section on the killer was interesting, although I found myself getting a bit mixed up between him and his brother.
It just didn't grip me like other True Crime books I've read.

[Jennifer Waldera · Rating 3 out of 5]

* SPOILERS* Denise Huber was young, beautiful and had a full life ahead of her until she met evil on the side of the road one night. Denise went missing and was never heard from again until a man called about his neighbor who has a moving truck in his driveway and was always running something in the back of it. That something happened to be a freezer with Ms. Huber's frozen body inside.

[Diana Brewster · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a detailed account of the case of Denise Huber. She vanished in California in 1991, three years later she was found preserved in ice inside of a stolen rental vehicle kept by her killer John Famularo.

[brenda belg parlaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it!!!

[Rhonda Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written enough for the major details to be remembered without being so detailed as to be overwhelming. Follows the news and events well

[Misty Dellinger]

finished this one last night. Good book, felt bad for the family because it took 3 years to find a body and another 3 years before they were able to go to court. And then...the last 2 sentences had me crying like a baby before bed. The trial was a little long winded but very good book and paid close attention to details about the case.

[Echo Tooker]

Good Read

Enjoyed this book. I picked it as it was close to where I lived, and I kind of remember hearing about it