WILLMAR -- A rural Paynesville man indicted for first-degree murder for allegedly killing Timothy Richard Larson, 43, of Albertville, in Kandiyohi County still has not secured the services of a lawyer to represent him.
Delbert Huber, 81, and his niece, Cherry DeMarais, told District Judge Michael J. Thompson on Tuesday that they have a lawyer selected.
However, DeMarais, who holds Huber's power of attorney, is still working on securing a loan to hire legal counsel.
"We are working on a bank loan," DeMarais told the judge. "As soon as it goes through, we will have our attorney."
After the hearing, DeMarais said the attorney is Brad Kluver. Kluver attended the hearing, but did not speak during the proceedings.
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Tuesday's hearing marked the fourth time -- in five hearings -- that Delbert Huber has told district court judges that he and his power of attorney were still working on obtaining legal representation. Delbert Huber was again wheeled into the hearing in a wheelchair pushed by a corrections officer.
Huber and his son, Timothy John Huber, 45, were indicted by a Kandiyohi County grand jury on Nov. 17 on first-degree premeditated murder charges. They also face second-degree intentional and unintentional murder charges for the Oct. 8 shooting death of Larson.
DeMarais said that the loan paperwork had been sent for a signature to her aunt in South Dakota, who shares power of attorney for Delbert Huber. DeMarais also said that the loan was not preapproved, but that they were hopeful the bank would approve the note.
Judge Thompson told DeMarais that she should let him know as soon as possible if the loan is not approved. Thompson also cancelled a Dec. 5 hearing and set Delbert Huber's next hearing for Dec. 22. He noted that a date for the omnibus hearing would be set at that time.
The omnibus hearing is a pretrial hearing to consider what evidence will be admissible at trial and other related matters.
"We need to get him an attorney as soon as possible; this is a very serious matter," Thompson said. The judge also reviewed that Huber's application for a public defender was denied because he owns property, 96 acres of land in Stearns County with a taxable value of more than $300,000.
Both Hubers have been in custody in the Kandiyohi County Jail, the father on $5 million bail and the son on $1 million bail.
Timothy Huber's next hearing is Tuesday and an omnibus hearing is set for Dec. 16. He is represented by public defender Carter Greiner.
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The Kandiyohi County Attorney's Office is prosecuting the case with County Attorney Jenna Fischer and Assistant County Attorney Dain Olson assigned to both cases.
According to court records, Delbert Huber is accused of shooting Larson with a 303 British Enfield rifle during a confrontation over the fact that Larson ordered the Hubers and their farm equipment off farm property owned by Larson's father. Larson was unarmed and was allegedly shot by Delbert Huber while Timothy Huber fed the cattle and chickens at Norman Larson's farm.
According to the complaints against them, the Hubers left Larson's body at the farm along 44th Street Northeast and did not report the killing to law enforcement until more than 12 hours later.
