Kriti Mehrotra
The one genre that has always been the most fascinating, especially with its ability to garner natural curiosity owing to the extraordinarily diabolical matters covered, is, of course, true crime. Thus, it’s no surprise that almost every platform has a myriad of productions that delve into the dark side of human nature to profile how one can reach extremes for little to no reason at all. That’s exactly what NBC’s ‘The Thing About Pam,’ revolving around the brutal 2011 homicide of Betsy Faria, examines as well, so now, let’s find out everything there’s to know about it, shall we?
How Did Betsy Faria Die?
Elizabeth “Betsy” Kay Meyer Faria was leading a relatively ordinary life at 130 Sumac Drive in the small yet serene town of Troy, Missouri, when her entire world turned upside down. The State Farm Insurance worker was sadly diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, which had metastasized to her liver and turned terminal by 2011, driving her loved ones to relish every moment they had with her. However, they could’ve never imagined that the 42-year-old would lose her life not from her severe ailment but from a heinous crime that shook the entire nation to its core.
On December 27, 2011, Russ Faria, Betsy’s husband of over a decade, returned home from a game night at a friend’s place, only to find her lying in a pool of blood on their living room floor. Her wrists had been slashed to the bone, and a kitchen knife was lodged into her neck, making him believe that she’d followed through on the suicidal thoughts she’d had before due to cancer. Yet, the truth is she had been stabbed to death, attacked in such an atrocious manner that she endured about 55 deep wounds across her body, most of which were actually post-mortem.
Who Killed Betsy Faria?
Because of Russ’ initial claims that his wife had killed herself despite the clear evidence exhibiting otherwise, along with their past marital troubles, he became the prime suspect from the get-go. Even his hysterical state was doubted by the officials when they first arrived at the scene, which only grew once he failed a polygraph as well, leading to his indictment on the day after Betsy’s funeral. Russ had a concrete alibi, yet claims of him being abusive towards Betsy (made by her friend Pam) and their home giving off the impression of domestic violence didn’t help his case.
Russ was thus convicted and sentenced for first-degree murder as well as armed criminal action in November 2013, just for him to land a retrial and be acquitted for good two years later. That’s when it came to light that a lot of information was withheld during his first trial and that Pamela “Pam” Hupp, the last person to see Betsy alive, could’ve been deeply involved. After all, not only was she named the sole beneficiary of her friend’s $150,000 life insurance policy four days before the homicide, but she’d also contradicted herself quite often during police interviews.
As if that wasn’t enough to raise suspicions, Pam had insisted on driving Betsy home from her mother’s place following chemotherapy that day despite her already having transportation arranged. Moreover, she’d texted her friend “home” about half an hour after she claimed to have dropped her off, but cellphone records indicate that she’d been in the vicinity of Betsy’s house the entire time. The fact that she recently suggested that they were involved in a sexual relationship and that she was the star witness against Russ also incriminated her to a certain extent.
Therefore, in July 2021, Pam was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection to Betsy’s death, only for the latter count to be dismissed in September. The prosecutors now believe that she killed her victim as she slept on the sofa in greed before removing her socks, using the same to spread the blood around to indicate domestic violence, and then placing them back on her feet. Since Pam has pleaded not guilty and will soon stand trial, they have also clarified that they will seek the death penalty because of the “heinousness and depravity” of the offense.
Read More: Where is Pam Hupp Now? Is She In Jail?
