Trial expected in spring for Timothy Huber in murder case

WILLMAR — The jury trial in the murder case against Timothy John Huber, 46, of Paynesville, is expected to last three weeks and will likely be scheduled for April or May.

Kandiyohi County Attorney Jenna Fischer also said this afternoon that attorneys expect a full week of jury selection. Huber faces first- and second-degree murder charges for the October 2011 shooting death of Timothy Richard Larson in northern Kandiyohi County.

Carter Greiner, Huber’s public defense attorney, declined to comment on whether or not he will seek a change of venue in the case.

The attorneys met in chambers with District Judge Donald M. Spilseth for about 45 minutes this afternoon, with no action taken on the record in the Kandiyohi County District Court.

Fischer also noted that a trial management conference would be scheduled for March 22.

Huber and his father, Delbert, were both indicted on first-degree murder charges, along with second-degree murder, in the case.

The elder Huber, 82, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in August. He was sentenced in September to 367 months in prison, the maximum allowed sentence for second-degree murder. As part of a plea agreement, the first-degree indictment was dismissed.

Timothy Huber faces the possibility of spending life in prison, if he is convicted of first-degree murder. He has been held in the Kandiyohi County Jail on $1 million bail since the day of the shooting.

According to the state Department of Corrections website, the elder Huber is in the Minnesota Corrections Facility at Faribault.

Larson, 43, of Albertville, was killed Oct. 8, 2011, on his father’s rural Belgrade property after a confrontation with the Hubers that apparently stemmed in part from the Hubers’ farm equipment being parked at the Larson farm.