Pam Hupp defender argues for evidence in Betsy Faria murder

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – Pam Hupp did not attend the latest hearing Thursday at the St. Charles County Courthouse, but her public defender put up no less of a fight for DNA evidence in the case.

Hupp remained in her Chillicothe prison cell, where she has been since convicted for the murder of Louis Gumpenberger. She currently faces a murder charge for the 2011 stabbing death of Betsy Faria.

It’s a case only FOX 2 has covered from the beginning, after Betsy Faria was found dead in December 2011 in her Lincoln County home. Betsy’s then husband, Russ, was wrongfully convicted in the murder and eventually exonerated after a second trial, along with dozens of FOX 2 reports raising questions about Betsy’s friend Pam Hupp.

Hupp’s cell phone records placed her near the scene of the crime. She also benefitted from a $150,000 life insurance policy signed into her name days before the murder.

Hupp escaped scrutiny from law enforcement until she lured a man with disabilities and shot him to death in her O’Fallon, Missouri, home in 2016.

In 2021, Hupp was charged with Betsy Faria’s murder.

Three years later, her defense attorneys say they need DNA evidence in order to fight the case. It should be noted that DNA evidence has never been linked to Hupp by prosecutors.

According to a probable cause statement, blood evidence on socks at the crime scene, the handle of a steak knife in the victim’s neck, as well as bloody slippers and a light switch, all reportedly come back to Betsy Faria. Prosecutors allege Hupp staged the scene using Faria’s socks to plant blood in various places of the home.

Prosecutors in court Thursday added that they’re not keeping anything from the defense but rather the crime lab is still working on compiling everything.

Hupp’s attorney repeatedly emphasized the reported DNA findings of an unknown male in many parts of the murder scene, which he said, “tends to negate the guilt of Pam Hupp.”

Judge Chris McDonough ordered all DNA-related evidence to be turned over within 30 days and the findings of an out-of-state private lab to be handed over in 60 days.

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