Pam Hupp
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Pamela Marie Hupp (née Neumann; born 10 October 1958) is an American murderer and suspected serial killer. She is the main suspect in the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria, which lead to the wrongful conviction of her husband Russ Faria in 2013. After Russ' exoneration, Hupp murdered a mentally disabled man named Louis Gumpenberger and attempted to make it look like Russ Faria had hired him to kill her. In addition, she is suspected of murdering her mother Shirley Neumann for life insurance money in 2013. She is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Louis Gumpenberger and is awaiting trial for the murder of Betsy Faria.
Biography edit
Hupp was born Pamela Neumann in Dellwood, Missouri, in 1958. She held several jobs in the life insurance industry and was sacked twice for forging signatures. She also worked as a State Farm administrator, before quitting and claiming disability benefits in 2010. In 2011, Hupp and Betsy Faria, a friend of hers suffering from terminal cancer, held a fundraiser for another family affected by cancer; however, an investigation by Fox 2 News several years later found that the family had no knowledge of the fundraiser and received no money from it.
Murder of Betsy Faria edit
On 22 December 2011, Betsy Faria changed her $150, 000 life insurance policy so that Hupp was named as the sole beneficiary rather than her husband Russ (although Russ was named as a beneficiary in a separate $100, 000 policy). Five days later, on 27 December, Betsy underwent chemotherapy before being driven home by Hupp, the last person to see her alive. Russ was originally meant to drive her home, but Hupp had driven in first and insisted on picking her up. At 9:40 pm, Russ arrived home and found his wife dead. She had been stabbed 55 times and had a knife lodged in her neck, with a second lying on the couch.
Russ was arrested the next day. A pair of bloodstained slippers were found in his closet and a document was found on Betsy's computer in which she expressed fears her husband would kill her. Russ had also failed a lie detector test and had claimed in his 911 call that Betsy had killed herself, a claim described as "ludicrous" by first responders. However, Russ had a solid alibi; he had been out with four friends when Betsy died, and CCTV footage and receipts from places they visited backed up the alibi. Despite this Russ was charged with Betsy's murder. Prosecutor Leah Askey argued that the four friends had conspired with Russ in the murder, although none of them were ever charged. Russ was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
In January 2014, KTVI, a subsidiary of Fox News, partnered with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to investigate the Russ Faria case. They uncovered multiple inconsistencies in Hupp's story and phone records showing Hupp was in the area half an hour after she claimed to have left her, around the time she was killed. Judge Chris Mennemeyer had ruled this evidence inadmissible and had refused to allow the defence to present Hupp as an alternate suspect. It was also discovered that lead prosecutor Askey was in a relationship with lead investigator Mike Lang, and that the document allegedly written by Betsy Faria describing how she though Russ would kill her was written using a software that was not installed on Betsy's computer. Defence attorney Joel Schwartz appealed the conviction and Russ was granted a new trial at which the defence was allowed to introduce evidence implicating Hupp. Russ was acquitted and released on 7 November 2015 after serving four years.
Murder of Louis Gumpenberger edit
On 16 August 2016, Louis Gumpenberger, a physically and mentally disabled man, was shot dead by Pam Hupp at her home in O'Fallon, Missouri. $900 were found on his body alongside a note bearing instructions to abduct and murder Hupp in the same manner as Betsy Faria after forcing her to transfer $150, 000 to Russ Faria's bank account. Hupp claimed that Gumpenberger had attacked her with a knife while she sat in her SUV outside her house and demanded that he take her to a bank and retrieve the money from Betsy Faria's life insurance policy. She had then knocked the knife out of his hand and run inside, shooting Gumpenberger when he pursued her.
However, police were suspicious of Hupp's claims. Gumpenberger's mental and physical disabilities made police sceptical that he was capable of carrying out the actions Hupp accused him of. The knife allegedly dropped in Hupp's car by Gumpenberger was wedged between the seats in a similar position to how knives in Hupp's kitchen were stored, and Hupp had recently bought a similar knife which was not found in her kitchen. Several people also told police that Hupp, in the days before the murder, had approached them calling herself "Cathy" and offered them $10, 000 to simulate a break-in at her home for TV. Police suspected she had been randomly selecting people with the intent of luring them in, killing them and making it look like they had been sent to kill her by Russ Faria in order to cast suspicion off herself for the Betsy Faria murder.
Hupp was charged with the murder of Louis Gumpenberger. Upon being arrested she attempted suicide by stabbing herself in the neck with a ballpoint pen. Prosecutors declared that they would seek the death penalty due to the completely random choice of Gumpenberger as the victim. Hupp pleaded guilty in June 2019 to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to life without parole. She was later forced to pay $3 million to Gumpenberger's mother for wrongful death.
After Hupp's guilty plea, police re-opened the Betsy Faria murder case. She was officially charged with the murder of Betsy Faria on 12 July 2021. She has pleaded not guilty.
Death of Shirley Neumann edit
In addition to the murders of Betsy and Gumpenberger, Hupp is suspected to have murdered her mother Shirley Neumann in 2013 in order to claim a $10, 000 life insurance payout and a $120, 000 inheritance. Neumann, suffering from dementia and arthritis, had been dropped off at her apartment on 30 October 2013 by Hupp, who instructed her carers not to expect her for breakfast the following morning. The following day Neumann was found dead, having fallen from her balcony after the railing gave way. She had 84 micrograms of sedatives in her body, over five times the prescribed amount. Hupp had been videotaped earlier that week saying "my mom's worth half a million that I get when she dies [...] if I really wanted money, there was an easier way than trying to combat somebody that's physically stronger than me". A homicide detective who investigated the death later told KTVI that one of the bars supporting the rail appeared to have been kicked out. Despite this, the death was ruled an accident. The cause of death was later changed to "undetermined" in November 2017, but the investigation was not re-opened.