A higher court agreed and in 2015, Faria was released from prison and exonerated at a second trial later that year. He went on to sue the disgraced police and prosecutors and ‘was awarded millions of dollars’.
There was really only one suspect: Pam Hupp.
‘They jumped to conclusions, and they wouldn’t take all the steps necessary to get to the truth, they didn’t even give Russ a polygraph … and when their narrative began falling apart they doubled down. They were prejudging from the start,’ Schwartz said, adding that the prosecutor was politically ambitious.
And Hupp was not content to rest on her murderous laurels: In 2016, she accepted an Alford plea (the accused admits there is enough evidence to convict) in the brutal murder of disabled man Louis Gumpenberger.
She even tried to frame Russ Faria for the murder by leaving his phone number. It didn’t work, and she was sentenced to life in prison.
One friend of Hupp’s said: ‘When it comes to money, she short-circuits.’
Hupp was also a suspect in the 2013 death of her mother, Shirley Neumann. She has now been charged with capital murder in the death of Betsy Faria and the prosecution is asking for the death penalty.
‘The court needs to be fair … there was no offer of proof and the judge refused to allow me cross-examine Pam,’ Schwartz said
‘I still can’t get over this.’ Toronto Sun online article 13th March 2022, ‘Miscarriage of Justice in Missouri: The Thing About Pam’
Pam Hupp: On the outside she looks like your typical middle-class Karen, but in reality she’s much worse than that: cold blooded, cutthroat, calculating … This is a woman you don’t want to be alone with. True Crime Recaps: The Notorious Pam Hupp, Youtube 26.31, 2022
At 9.40 Russ came home and found his wife with a knife from their kitchen still stuck in her neck. His first thought – she killed herself. But autopsy reports would later show she’d been stabbed at least 55 times. ibid.
It’s all about the insurance money. Four days earlier, Betsy changed the beneficiary of her 150,000 life insurance policy from her husband to Pam. ibid.
Less than a month later Russ was arrested … She [Pam] was the star witness against Russ. ibid.
This murder trial was turning into a soap opera. ibid.
Phone records put Russ nowhere near the scene of the crime. ibid.
HUSSLE, NIPSEY murder: The Mysterious Murder of Nipsey Hussle TV
Nipsey Hussle is a Grammy-winning rapper from the streets of LA. He was loved by his community. But on 31st March 1999 he died in that community. The Mysterious Murder of Nipsey Hussle, BBC 2020
The killing didn’t make any sense: who would want Nipsey dead? This story would take me to the extremes of conspiracy and to the complicated codes of these streets. ibid.
He clocked 1.8 billion music streams in one year. ibid.
HUTCHINSON, ARTHUR: When Life Means Life TV - Mail online - The Killer in My Family TV - Britain’s Most Evil Killers TV - Forensics: Catching a Killer TV -
The man guilty of a wedding-day massacre. A man with a disturbing past. A fugitive who would become the most wanted man in Britain. And would taunt police with a series of bizarre letters and phone calls. When Life Means Life, CI 2013
The young girl had survived a terrifying ordeal ... She told police that after slaughtering three victims the murder had calmly drunk from a bottle of champagne and helped himself to food in the fridge. ibid.
A bid by a triple killer to win release from prison under a human rights ruling was last night greeted with outrage by his victims.
Arthur Hutchinson was sentenced to a whole-life tariff after stabbing a bride’s parents and brother to death on her wedding night and raping a teenage guest.
But the 73-year-old has become the first Briton to launch a bid for freedom after European Court of Human Rights judges last month decided that ‘life-means-life’ sentences are unlawful. Mail online article 21st August 2013
In 1983 Arthur Hutchinson became Britain’s most wanted man for killing three members of the same family on what was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives … Hutchinson had been on the run having faced charges for rape and burglary. The Killer in My Family s2e4: Arthur Hutchinson, Quest Red 2020
‘He attacked one of his siblings with a pair of scissors when he was very young.’ ibid. old boy
Arthur Hutchinson is now 78 years old and is serving life in prison with no hope of ever being released. ibid.
23rd October 1983: The killer was 42-year-old Arthur Hutchinson, a violent killer and rapist, who was on the run from the police. After murdering Basil and Richard [Laitner], he made his way to mother Avril’s bedroom where he stabbed her repeatedly. The killer then made his way to 18-year-old Nicola’s bedroom: he raped the teenager multiple times before going on the run once again. Britain’s Most Evil Killers s4e4, Arthur Hutchinson
The brazen killer who had a history of violent and sexual offences even taunted the police while on the run and gave himself the nickname The Fox. ibid.
‘Right from the word go he was an outsider, he was excluded, he was marginalised even within his own family.’ ibid. Professor Yardley
‘He was in a coma for three days; he had quite a significant injury to his head.’ ibid.
Police forces across the whole of the north of England were searching for the triple murderer who called himself The Fox. ibid.
A brutal massacre following a family wedding leaves three dead and communities living in fear. A sadistic killer who taunted the police and vowed he would never be caught. And the vital forensic evidence that would tie the triple murderer to the scene of the crime. Forensics: Catching a Killer III: Murder at the Wedding
Sheffield: three victims had been viciously stabbed to death while a fourth had been subjected to a sustained sexual assault. ibid.
Experts were quickly able to obtain a clear impression of the cheese … The blood grouping could be determined … The man’s name was Arthur Hutchinson … ‘The weight of forensic evidence is what ultimately trapped Hutchinson.’ ibid.
HUTCHINSON, PAUL: Forensics: Catching a Killer TV - A Killer’s Mistake TV -
A young woman’s murderer eludes capture for decades. But it’s a case detectives refuse to let lie. And a revolutionary forensic technique allows them to finally trace the killer. Forensics: Catching a Killer V: A Killer in the Family, Sky 2021
Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, 30 October 1983: The disappearance of sixteen-year-old trainee hairdresser Colette Aram … Colette’s body was found just over three kilometres from her home … She’d been sexually assaulted and strangled. ibid.
A nationwide hunt was launched to find the mysterious man in the red [Ford] Fiesta. ibid.
A new test had been developed that would prove a game-changer: it was called Low Copy Number Testing … ‘It could target smaller amounts of DNA’. ibid. rozzer’s technician
‘There were no matching subject records on the national DNA database.’ ibid.
Familial DNA allows investigators to identify close relatives of a potential offender, which in turn could lead them to their subject. ibid.
Paul Hutchinson’s demeanour during questioning aroused suspicions … ‘A full match.’ ibid.