Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Pamela Hupp

Pamela Marie Hupp (née Neumann;born October 10, 1958) is an American woman who in 2016 murderedLouis Gumpenberger in her home in O'Fallon, Missouri, a crime forwhich she is serving a life sentence. The O'Fallon Police Departmentbelieve Hupp murdered Gumpenberger as part of a plot to implicateRuss Faria in the 2011 murder of his wife, Betsy Faria, a crime forwhich he was convicted in 2013, in part due to testimony from Hupp,and subsequently exonerated in 2015 after evidence implicating Huppas the perpetrator of the murder was permitted to be submitted. Themurder of Betsy Faria has never been solved; the investigation wasreopened in June 2019. Hupp has also been investigated in connectionwith the 2013 death of her mother, Shirley Neumann, which wasoriginally judged to be an accident before being changed to"undetermined" in November 2017.

The Betsy Faria murder and theconviction of Russ Faria was extensively reported upon by the localSt. Louis station Fox 2 KTVI, with reporter Chris Hayes attendingevery day of Russ Faria's first trial and producing more than half adozen television reports before national media picked up on thestory. The murder went on to be featured in five Dateline NBCepisodes airing from 2014 to 2019, with NBC News Studios announcingplans for a scripted television series based on the case.

Early life

Born on October 10, 1958, Neumann grewup in Dellwood, Missouri, attending Riverview Gardens High School.Hupp held several jobs in the life insurance industry; on twooccasions, she was fired for forging signatures. In 2001, Hupp andher husband began living in O'Fallon, Missouri, where she worked asan administrator for State Farm, as well as flipping houses as a sideventure. By 2010, Hupp had stopped working and was claimingdisability benefits for back, leg, and neck pain.

In 2011, Hupp and Betsy Fariareportedly collected money for a family impacted by cancer. Thoughnever investigated by police, it was later found in a report by Fox 2News that the family did not know about the collection. Fox 2 Newsreporter Chris Hayes took his findings in 2014 to Lincoln Countyauthorities, but they did no further investigation. There was noevidence to suggest Betsy Faria knew the fundraiser was questionable,with her friends reporting Betsy saying she was excited to be helpinga struggling family, even though she herself was dying. Betsy'sfriend Kathleen Meyer told Fox 2 News, "this was going to bea legacy for her to leave, something like this behind in her memory."

Criminal accusations and convictions

Investigation into the murder ofBetsy Faria

Death of Betsy Faria

Elizabeth "Betsy" KayFaria (1969–2011) was a coworker of Pam Hupp at State Farm. Shelived in Troy, Missouri, with her husband, Russell "Russ"Scott Faria, and two daughters from a previous relationship. In2010, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In October 2011, shelearned that the cancer had metastasized to her liver and wasterminal.

On December 22, 2011, unbeknownst toher family, Betsy Faria changed the sole beneficiary of her $150,000State Farm life insurance policy from her husband to Hupp. Hupporiginally claimed that Betsy Faria had asked her to give the moneyto her daughters when they were older, before later claiming thatBetsy Faria had wanted her to keep the money for herself. BetsyFaria's daughters launched a legal challenge against Hupp and herhusband to attempt to claim the life insurance policy in 2014; it wasdismissed in 2016, despite Hupp admitting that she had lied aboutwhat she intended to do with the life insurance proceeds Prosecutorsspeculated that her husband had been angered by her actions, givinghim a motive for her murder. Russ Faria remained the beneficiary ona separate $100,000 policy.