08/08/2025
The Crime Psyche, Patricia A. Grenelle, PsyD, analyzes the Pam Hupp case in chilling detail. Read the full report below. ⬇️
THE STORY OF PAM HUPP
On December 27, 2011, Betsy Faria, a cancer-stricken woman, was found dead from multiple stab wounds in Troy, MO. Russ Faria, her husband, returned home at about 9:00 pm after a gaming night with four male friends and discovered her body. Pam Hupp, a friend of Betsy’s and a house-flipper, took Betsy home from her parents’ house on that evening at about 7:00 pm. Pam Hupp then called her husband to tell him she had delivered Betsy to her home at 7:00 pm. Autopsy reports found the time of death to be around 7:00 pm. And Pam Hupp was the last person to see her alive.
Despite the physical evidence of no blood on Russ Faria, his solid alibi with friends, and a receipt from Arby’s from after his evening of gaming, Pam Hupp convinced the police and the prosecutor, who had been elected one month before, that Russ was a volatile and angry husband who was abusive to Betsy. Pam had encouraged Betsy to leave Russ because he was so unworthy and didn’t spend money wisely. When Russ arrived at his house and discovered his wife had been knifed 53 times, her wrists cut, and a knife still stuck in her neck, he called 911 and reported it. He told police she had committed su***de, which didn’t track since there was a knife still in her neck. The police decided it was an open-and-shut case of Russ killing his wife in a fit of rage.
Pam Hupp encouraged the police by stating that Russ was abusive, she lied about his car being in the driveway when she took Betsy home, and she told police Russ would play a game with Betsy in which he placed a pillow over her face so she could see what it would feel like to be dead.
Four days before Betsy’s murder, she changed her $150,000 life insurance beneficiary from her husband, Russ, to Pam Hupp, reportedly because she didn’t trust that Russ would give her daughters any money. Pam was to have established a trust fund for them; however, she didn’t do so until she was encouraged by the detectives to make it look good during the trial. Then, following the trial where Russ was found guilty of the first-degree murder of his wife, Pam reversed the trust and requested that the money be put back into her account.
During the trial, the prosecutor, Leah Askey, withheld evidence from the defense that could have cleared Russ Faria. And Detective Michael Merkel lied under oath, stating there was evidence that Russ had washed the blood off himself in the kitchen sink. Merkel was relieved of his duties and put under investigation for perjury. The prosecutor is under prosecutorial investigation for her misdeeds during the trial.
However, Russ Faria spent nearly three years in jail, falsely accused of murdering his wife. The two stepdaughters were encouraged by Pam to testify that their stepfather was angry and that their parents fought frequently, with Russ becoming violent. One of the daughters had been caught lying and using drugs at one point, and the Defense team tried to get Russ to throw her under the bus, but he refused. During the trial, the daughters heard Pam say she would not give them the trust money because they were wild, crazy, and untrustworthy. They banded together and sued her for the funds. However, during the court proceedings, there was no written documentation indicating that the money was to be given to the girls; Pam Hupp won.
Joel Schwartz, a Defense attorney from St. Louis, and his assistant served as the defense team. When Russ Faria was found guilty by a jury, Joel swore he would eventually get himself exonerated. In 2020, Lincoln County settled a lawsuit, and Russ was awarded $2 million for wrongful imprisonment. At that point, Dateline became involved and began questioning the circumstances and facts of the case. Pam Hupp refused to talk to them and never returned their calls. Despite that, the Dateline crew continued to follow the story and monitor Pam’s activities.
After Russ’s new acquittal, Pam began to lie more to the prosecutor, stating that she and Betsy had participated in physical lo******ng, and Russ got so jealous, he threatened Pam with her life.
Pam and her mother, Shirley, shared a difficult relationship. Shirley talked about how, in 1977, Pam was in high school and boy-crazy. She became pregnant and married the father of her child, but the marriage only lasted six years. Pam advises the police during an interview that if she wanted money, she could get her mother’s half of a million dollars. Her mother lived in an independent rest home where she had her own apartment. She suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease.
Pam visits her mother, who again threatens to remove her as beneficiary of her life insurance policy. Pam mixes her a drink, and a few days later, Shirley is found dead, having fallen through the broken balcony posts from her room. Joel Schwartz is interviewed on Dateline, and Pam’s reputation begins to falter. Shirley’s autopsy report states there were fourteen times the normal dose of Ambien in her body.
In 2003, Pam and Mark moved from Naples, FL, where Pam’s possible involvement in money laundering had occurred, back to Missouri. However, the situation had become more volatile, and Pam was losing money because people heard her name and identified it with the murder of Betsy Faria.
At this point, Pam goes out to a trailer park and tries to recruit a patsy to serve as her alibi for the murder of Betsy. She enlists the help of a woman whom she offers $1,000 to do a sound bite for her on Dateline if she will accompany her to Pam’s house. The woman becomes suspicious and backs out.
Pam sees another individual, Lewis Gumpenburger, whom she does not know is physically and mentally handicapped, and enlists his services. She wants him to say the words “Do you want me to do to you what we did to Russ’s wife?” Because of his disability, he has difficulty with the phrase, but Pam goes ahead with the plan, takes him to her house, and has him stand on a piece of carpeting she’d arranged for a bloody murder. She dials 911 and tells the operator someone is breaking into her house. She tells Lewis to say the phrase, which he cannot remember exactly; however, she screams, “Get out of my house,” and shoots him six times while still connected to 911. She had planted a note on Lewis to make it appear that Russ Faria had instructed him to do this. Russ was in FL and was called back, but was cleared of any wrongdoing. Pam was arrested for the murder of Lewis Gumpenburger.
Mike Wood ran for DA against Leah Askey and won the election. His first order of business was to rework the Faria case, and on July 21, he brought charges against Pam Hupp for Betsy’s murder. The death of Pam’s mother is still unsolved and has been reopened for review along with the Faria case.
Mark Hupp remarried in Las Vegas. Russ Faria never spoke with his step-daughters again. He is engaged to be married.
Do YOU think Pam Hupp acted alone?
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Crime Psyche, Patricia A. Grenelle, PsyD, analyzes the Pam Hupp case in chilling detail. Read the full report below. ⬇️
THE STORY OF PAM HUPP
On December 27, 2011, Betsy Faria, a cancer-stricken woman, was found dead from multiple stab wounds in Troy, MO. Russ Faria, her husband, returned home at about 9:00 pm after a gaming night with four male friends and discovered her body. Pam Hupp, a friend of Betsy’s and a house-flipper, took Betsy home from her parents’ house on that evening at about 7:00 pm. Pam Hupp then called her husband to tell him she had delivered Betsy to her home at 7:00 pm. Autopsy reports found the time of death to be around 7:00 pm. And Pam Hupp was the last person to see her alive.
Despite the physical evidence of no blood on Russ Faria, his solid alibi with friends, and a receipt from Arby’s from after his evening of gaming, Pam Hupp convinced the police and the prosecutor, who had been elected one month before, that Russ was a volatile and angry husband who was abusive to Betsy. Pam had encouraged Betsy to leave Russ because he was so unworthy and didn’t spend money wisely. When Russ arrived at his house and discovered his wife had been knifed 53 times, her wrists cut, and a knife still stuck in her neck, he called 911 and reported it. He told police she had committed su***de, which didn’t track since there was a knife still in her neck. The police decided it was an open-and-shut case of Russ killing his wife in a fit of rage.
Pam Hupp encouraged the police by stating that Russ was abusive, she lied about his car being in the driveway when she took Betsy home, and she told police Russ would play a game with Betsy in which he placed a pillow over her face so she could see what it would feel like to be dead.
Four days before Betsy’s murder, she changed her $150,000 life insurance beneficiary from her husband, Russ, to Pam Hupp, reportedly because she didn’t trust that Russ would give her daughters any money. Pam was to have established a trust fund for them; however, she didn’t do so until she was encouraged by the detectives to make it look good during the trial. Then, following the trial where Russ was found guilty of the first-degree murder of his wife, Pam reversed the trust and requested that the money be put back into her account.
During the trial, the prosecutor, Leah Askey, withheld evidence from the defense that could have cleared Russ Faria. And Detective Michael Merkel lied under oath, stating there was evidence that Russ had washed the blood off himself in the kitchen sink. Merkel was relieved of his duties and put under investigation for perjury. The prosecutor is under prosecutorial investigation for her misdeeds during the trial.
However, Russ Faria spent nearly three years in jail, falsely accused of murdering his wife. The two stepdaughters were encouraged by Pam to testify that their stepfather was angry and that their parents fought frequently, with Russ becoming violent. One of the daughters had been caught lying and using drugs at one point, and the Defense team tried to get Russ to throw her under the bus, but he refused. During the trial, the daughters heard Pam say she would not give them the trust money because they were wild, crazy, and untrustworthy. They banded together and sued her for the funds. However, during the court proceedings, there was no written documentation indicating that the money was to be given to the girls; Pam Hupp won.
Joel Schwartz, a Defense attorney from St. Louis, and his assistant served as the defense team. When Russ Faria was found guilty by a jury, Joel swore he would eventually get himself exonerated. In 2020, Lincoln County settled a lawsuit, and Russ was awarded $2 million for wrongful imprisonment. At that point, Dateline became involved and began questioning the circumstances and facts of the case. Pam Hupp refused to talk to them and never returned their calls. Despite that, the Dateline crew continued to follow the story and monitor Pam’s activities.
After Russ’s new acquittal, Pam began to lie more to the prosecutor, stating that she and Betsy had participated in physical lo******ng, and Russ got so jealous, he threatened Pam with her life.
Pam and her mother, Shirley, shared a difficult relationship. Shirley talked about how, in 1977, Pam was in high school and boy-crazy. She became pregnant and married the father of her child, but the marriage only lasted six years. Pam advises the police during an interview that if she wanted money, she could get her mother’s half of a million dollars. Her mother lived in an independent rest home where she had her own apartment. She suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease.
Pam visits her mother, who again threatens to remove her as beneficiary of her life insurance policy. Pam mixes her a drink, and a few days later, Shirley is found dead, having fallen through the broken balcony posts from her room. Joel Schwartz is interviewed on Dateline, and Pam’s reputation begins to falter. Shirley’s autopsy report states there were fourteen times the normal dose of Ambien in her body.
In 2003, Pam and Mark moved from Naples, FL, where Pam’s possible involvement in money laundering had occurred, back to Missouri. However, the situation had become more volatile, and Pam was losing money because people heard her name and identified it with the murder of Betsy Faria.
At this point, Pam goes out to a trailer park and tries to recruit a patsy to serve as her alibi for the murder of Betsy. She enlists the help of a woman whom she offers $1,000 to do a sound bite for her on Dateline if she will accompany her to Pam’s house. The woman becomes suspicious and backs out.
Pam sees another individual, Lewis Gumpenburger, whom she does not know is physically and mentally handicapped, and enlists his services. She wants him to say the words “Do you want me to do to you what we did to Russ’s wife?” Because of his disability, he has difficulty with the phrase, but Pam goes ahead with the plan, takes him to her house, and has him stand on a piece of carpeting she’d arranged for a bloody murder. She dials 911 and tells the operator someone is breaking into her house. She tells Lewis to say the phrase, which he cannot remember exactly; however, she screams, “Get out of my house,” and shoots him six times while still connected to 911. She had planted a note on Lewis to make it appear that Russ Faria had instructed him to do this. Russ was in FL and was called back, but was cleared of any wrongdoing. Pam was arrested for the murder of Lewis Gumpenburger.
Mike Wood ran for DA against Leah Askey and won the election. His first order of business was to rework the Faria case, and on July 21, he brought charges against Pam Hupp for Betsy’s murder. The death of Pam’s mother is still unsolved and has been reopened for review along with the Faria case.
Mark Hupp remarried in Las Vegas. Russ Faria never spoke with his step-daughters again. He is engaged to be married.
Do YOU think Pam Hupp acted alone?
Tap ❤️ if you want more profiles like this.
Follow us for expert analysis of the darkest crimes.
Trace evidence is a biweekly column. Next post will be August 22.
Photos courtesy of NBC News
