Snapped: Women Who Murder - Pamela Hupp

Episode Date: September 20, 2020

Mother found dead; another woman targeted; two mysterious crimes tied together with a shocking common ground; excessive pride proves to be the downfall of one sinful perpetrator trying to preserve their reputation.Season 26, Episode 23Originally aired: February 9, 2020See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wonder East Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. A cancer survivor's apparent suicide becomes a small town nightmare. What's going on there? I just got home from a run-tod.

They're my run-todder, sir. There was a knife sticking out of her neck. But when police respond to the emergency call, they're in for a surprise. She'd been stabbed like 50 times or 55 times. There was a lot. Nobody stabs himself 50 some odd times, especially not in their back.

Investigators soon find themselves in a race to solve the case before a killer strikes again. She's like a bite down free in the opportunity to record a sound bite for Daily. The soundblinking in my house, it'll fall. She has this, you're never gonna get me attitude. I'm not a sunlight for daybreak. There's someone blinking in my house. No, no. She has this.

You're never going to get me attitude. She pulled the trigger and continued to pull the trigger. The polygraph operator has stated that his responses were indicative of deception. The quest for the truth on masks a killer driven by the deadliest of all the seven sins. It's President that anyone could think you can get away with it. The dinner was always cocky and confident,

and I have all the answers. Well, not they always say pride comes before of all. It's two days after Christmas 2011, and most residents in Troy, Missouri are just winding down for the night. But one 9-1-1 operator is about to field a disturbing call. About 9-40 pm on December 27, 9-1-1 a disturbing call. About 9.40pm on December 27th, 9.11 gets a call. You know what I'm thinking with? My name is Russell Ferria.

Russell, what's going on there? I just got home from a run-top. And my wife, my wife, she's under the shower. She's on the phone with her husband. He's sobbing on the phone. He's kind of wailing. He's obviously very upset. It's heartbreaking. It's a man crying and wailing about finding his wife. He's panicking. The night when one operator is trying to calm him down. I need you to take a couple deep breaths

so I can see what's going on. Is she breathing at all? No, she is not breathing. No, no, no, no, no, no. Traveled her on the way. I'm OK. It'll be there shortly. I'm OK. I'm OK what's going on. Is she breathing at see as soon as they get in there, that Betsy-Fria's died.

When the first responders came, she was cold, and she was stiff to some degree. It wasn't very bloody, but the wounds were pretty grievous. There was a knife sticking out of her neck. They saw the horrific injuries and thought, how could anybody look at that and just think slashing the wrist to the side. From the very beginning, Betsy Ferria,

born Elizabeth K. Meyer, was a force of nature. Betsy was one of those people that would come in the room and light it up. She was just always high energy, exciting personality. Betsy was a really friendly, fun, loving person. She was in the insurance industry for a while. She had a DJ business on the side, tons of friends. Betsy loved being a DJ. Music was her passion. She had a DJ business on the side. Tons of friends.

That's the love being a DJ. Music was her passion. She did weddings. She did pool parties. She could get a party started anywhere she went. The same infectious energy that made her DJ business a success drew the eye of Russell Ferria. Russ came from an Italian family.

It's like a fun, nice guy. Guy you like to, you know, have a beard with. He loved that she was outgoing. He loved that she could start a party. She was busy 24-7. The girl never stopped. She had been married once before. She had two daughters from a prior relationship.

When Russ and Betsy married in early 2000, Russ became a father to Betsy's girls, Leah and Mariah. He was a good dad to those girls. He might not be their biological dad, but my God, you raised somebody from one and two or three years old. You're their dad.

And he loved them. He really did. Betsy and Russ made a great team. She would always tell me stories about how good he was to her and how he was so supportive of everything she wanted to do. And Betsy really wanted him to go back to school and then he did. You got Mr. Green, computer science, gotten a good job with the enterprise. They found this cute little house and even though it was a bit of a ways out,

Betsy just fell in love with the house. The home was an ideal fit for their family of four, but as with any marriage, not everything was perfect. They'd had some ups and downs, they'd had some fights, they'd broken up some. Betsy was torn because she started really thinking hard about making her marriage work.

And they kind of reconnected. She had told me how, my God, I'm falling in love with him all over again. They had us slightly tumultuous marriage, but they were back together really wholeheartedly. In January 2010, they're renewed faith in each other faced the ultimate test. Betsy was at my house, and she's like,

I got to go to the doctor. I said, what's wrong? Oh, I have a lump. She went and she had to have a biopsy, and then she was diagnosed. Betsy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Betsy's chemotherapy and round-the-clock care stretched rust to the breaking point.

Luckily, the couple's family and friends rallied around them. Betsy and Russ were especially grateful to Betsy's friend and coworker, Pam Hub. Pam grew up in Delwood, which is a sort of inner ring suburb of St. Louis. She went to writtenittner High School, and she started dating senior year, a really cute smart boy who was athletic

and who was just wonderful. Right after graduation, Pam and her beau received life-changing news. Net summer, Pam found out she was pregnant. So when all her friends went off to college, Pam was home, straining beats for a new baby. Pam and her high school sweetheart married soon after. They had a little apartment.

And eventually Pam got a job, waitressing. Later, Pam went to work for an insurance agency and Betsy was in that office. From the moment Pam and Betsy met, the two co-workers hid it off. Pam and Betsy were pretty close when they worked together. And then when Betsy got cancer, they think Pam kind of became more of a presence in her life.

Betsy was really bubbly. Pam was breezy and confident, and she would listen to other people's problems. She always liked to think of herself as able to figure people out. Pam went to chemo with Betsy. I knew she went to tennis occasionally with Betsy. My very first impression was like, oh, she's super nice, and what a great friend to have. After months of treatment, Betsy's doctor determined her cancer was in remission. Russ and Betsy booked a cruise to celebrate together. Russ was over the topic excited that she was in remission.

He couldn't wait to go in the celebratory cruise. But in October 2011, just a month before setting sail, more bad news came. After she was in remission, they did a scan, and that's how they found that she had it back in other parts of her body. And then got redognosed. According to doctors, Betsy now had only three to five more years left to live. I told her to slow down one time, and then I realized, no, don't slow down. If this is, if you're going out, go out with the bang.

One of Betsy's dreams was to swim with the dolphins, and we talked about it a lot. She was very excited. Tragically, only a month after Betsy's dream trip, her husband Russ is reporting her gruesome death to police as a suicide. Someone coming home sees their wife laying on the floor, wrists have been cut. I suppose someone could believe that that's what had happened. Officers transport Russ to the Lincoln County Sheriff's

headquarters and call for backup at the scene. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department did what's called a major case squad call it. You get a couple dozen police officers from all the departments in the area. But they saturate the case. Coming up, a logical suspect emerges. If you have the rage killing, traditionally,

that would be the husband. And an alibi comes into question. Why are you making all of these stops? Why do you have all these receipts? After Russ Faria reported his wife Betsy's death as a suicide, responding officers now question, if her wounds were self-inflicted. The EMT and the fire department officials are saying that she'd been dead for some time. They think it's been a couple hours. It seemed that rigor had set in,

and the blood looked like it had dried and set up. Crime scene tax search the rest of the house for evidence. They find some blood on the light switch in the master bedroom. They find a pair of slippers in the closet of the master bedroom with some blood on them. There was no evidence that that the home had been broken into. There's no splinter door jam or, you know, missing valuables. A cross-town at the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, detective sit down with Russ Faria, who walks them through his wife Betsy's last hours.

who walks them through his wife, Betsy's last hours. He says Betsy had chemotherapy down like St. Louis and your Betsy's mother's house she'd stayed there the night before. Do you know what time, Betsy's chemo appointment was yesterday? Not sure about the exact time, but it wasn't the afternoon. Russ tells detectives he worked from home all day before leaving around 5 p.m. for a weekly gathering with friends. He had game night at his buddy's house clear across town, like, I don't know, 20, 30 minutes away.

He leaves his home in Troy. He gets gas near home. He gets cigarettes kind of midway down the way. He gets dog food. He gets tea. He goes to his friend's house. Do you know your friends often have pretty forms? We go over there on Tuesday nights, and usually we play games or watch movies,

and hang out. Betsy went to her chemo session with her family friend, and then Betsy went back to her mom's where she normally stayed after chemo. Russ said Betsy texted to him that Pam hopped and insisted on taking her home that night. He didn't have to pick her up. Russ says he stayed at his friend Michael's house

until about 9 p.m. He then leaves this gang night, makes a couple stops on the way home. Once he gets to the house, comes in, sees what, at the time, he believes his wife has committed suicide. He's interviewed for hours. And at some point during that conversation,

they start talking about what not to suicide. He thinks she'd be capable of committing suicide. I don't know. I mean, you know, like to say that, but she's talked about it before. Russ explains that Betsy had long struggled with depression. He was very well aware of the depression. Unfortunately, a couple times, Betsy had tried to hurt herself and Russ wanted to get her help.

He wanted to make sure that she was OK all the time. She had talked about suicide before. Russ cancer isn't easy, getting a diagnosis that his spread is not easy. When he comes home, what he sees is her with a giant car on her arm. He says, my wife killed herself. If this comes back, it is not a suicide.

What do you think happened? Any ideas? I ignore you. The hangout, and you probably know this as well, as I do, is it's not typical for someone that's going to commence to a side to do it by the way that she done it. I would think so. And that's what concerns us.

Detectives conclude the interview hoping the autopsy results will provide them with much needed insights. The next day, the medical examiner confirms what police already suspect. She'd been stabbed, like 50 times or 55 times. It was a lot. Nobody stabs himself 50 so mod times, especially not in their bag. There were 55 stab wounds, but most of them were concealed by her clothes. The medical examiners said that her heart

stopped beating fairly early in that process. Evidence showed that a lot of the stab wounds were post-mortem. The number of times that Betsy was stabbed led the police to believe that this was a crime that was fueled by rage. The assumption that any investigator would make is that if you have a rage killing, traditionally, that would be the husband. Obviously, that's the first person you would want to look to.

To complete their picture of Betsy's last day, investigators visit the Ophalen-Mazuri home of Pam Hup, Betsy's friend and caregiver. The officers arrive to interview Pam, and they are talking to her for some time. I was asking Pam all kinds of questions about where were you with Betsy. Betsy was undergoing regular chemo treatments,

and they left her feeling very weak. She usually would try to get a ride to those. Betsy had her chemo treatment. She goes back to her mom's house and then Pam drives her back to her house outside of Troy. Pam says when she left Betsy's house, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then, investigators ask Pam about Betsy and Russ's marriage.

Pam told the detectives that there was some conflict in the relationship between Betsy and Ross. Investigators ask Pam if she thinks Russ would hurt Betsy. Pam started out saying, oh, you know, it couldn't be Russ, it couldn't be Russ, and then she thinks, oh, well, that one time he did this. She told the detectives that Betsy woke up with a pillow over her face, and it was Russ,

and Russ said something like, you know, I wanted you to know what it felt like to die. My brain started moving towards Russ a little bit. The parts of me thinking Russ did it was the way it was done and the fact that I thought... I thought that he came home early and did it. After the interview with Pam, investigators look at everything in a new light, beginning with Russ' 911 call. When he calls 911 and says, my wife committed suicide, and they look and they see someone who's been stabbed 55 times, it was only natural that they'd say, hold on a second. Please departments, they thought that I

one call was fake. It was forced. And so I listened to it, it's heartbreaking. It's, there's nothing about it that strikes one as forced or faked. Next, investigators put Russ's alibi under scrutiny. And they talked to his friends who were there at Game Night. The police were all like, why are you making all of these stops? Why do you have all these receipts? The police were like,

why are you making all of these stops? Why do you have all these receipts? The police were like, why are you making all of these stops? Why do you have all these receipts? The police were like, why are you making all of these stops? Why do you have all these receipts? The police were like, why are you making all of these stops?

Why do you have all these receipts? On December 28, 2011, Lincoln County detectives bring Russ Faria in for a second interview and ask him, point blank, if he killed his wife. He's shocked that they're saying this to him. He's just keeps saying no, I did. When he's being questioned by the police, he's asked if he wants to take a polygraph, and he says, yes.

They took him in after an extended period of interrogation, and took him for a polygraph. The polygraph operator stated that Russ' responses were indicative of deception. At some point, he's told he felt the poly, and Russ is arrested. The polygraph operator stated that Russ' responses were indicative of deception. At some point, he's told you he failed the poly, and Russ is arrested. Coming up, will the testimony of a single witness

decide Russ' furious fate? They claim they saw a trail of blood and evidence of cleaned up blood on only one drawer with housework. Only thrusts new with things where that well. And an insurance payout shakes up the entire case. She said that's my money. This is Kate Winkler Dawson inviting you to the brand new season of my True Crime Talkshow. That's right, it's season 3 of Tenfold More Wicked Presents Wicked Words.

I'm a True Crime historian and author and you might have heard my other podcasts on exactly right. Tenfold More Wicked and Barried Bones. On each new episode of Wicked Words, I interview other journalists, podcasters, and authors about the fascinating behind-the-scenes stories from their investigations in the world of True Crime, many of which have never been shared before. So join me in a new special guest each week for new episodes of Wicked Words, as we dive deep into the stories behind the stories. Wicked Words Season 3 is available now on exactly right, with new episodes every Monday.

Follow 10 Fold More Wicked Presents Wicked Words Wherever You Get Your Podcasts. You can listen early and ad-free on the Amazon Music or One Dreadp. Lingen County detectives investigating Betsy Ferria's murder have arrested her husband, Russ. A growing pile of evidence and a failed polygraph test have convinced police that Russ stabbed his wife to death over 50 times. Missouri law says you can be held for 24 hours before they charge you. They don't charge them within that 24 hours, they release them.

Russ's failed polygraph is damning, but it's not proof. Obviously, polygraphs aren't able to be presented at as evidence in court. The prosecutor's eyes, they need more evidence. Evidence initially taken from Betsy and Russ' home had tested inconclusive. There was a pair of Russ' slippers that had blood on it, and there was also blood on a light switch.

If you test for DNA on a light switch, you're gonna find DNA from every person who's touched it. There is no like bloody fingerprint on the knife or anything like that leading back to a certain person. The search for definitive proof brings investigators back to the crime scene. Lincoln County Sheriff's Department gets a warrant to go search the house to look for evidence of blood

that's been cleaned up. There was some evidence brought out with a kind of illumin all type of compound. They saw it glowing when it was applied, and this was days after the crime. They saw a trail of blood and evidence of cleaned up blood on only one drawer with towels work. And so the change of reasoning went, only someone who knew exactly where the towels were could have gotten the towel and cleaned that up, without leaving evidence of blood elsewhere,

only Russ knew where things were that well, therefore must have been Russ. The New Blood Evidence Convinces a Lincoln County Grand Jury. On January 4, 2012, Russ is indicted. Russ was arrested for our first green murder, In January 4, 2012, Russ is indicted. Russ was arrested for our first green murder, and his bail was set at $250,000, which he could not make. When Russ' trial begins more than a year later,

on November 18, 2013, his attorneys believe they have a good chance of an acquittal. We have a very strong alibi. This man, when he was arrested, said that he stopped for gas, stopped for cigarettes, stopped for dog food, stopped for tea. Every single one of those things is documented and backed up. He says he went to a house with four friends. Every one of them says he was there.

This was a man we truly believed to be innocent who had been wrongfully accused. Russ' alibi becomes the prosecution's first target. The state argued that they weren't credible witnesses. That they were either a part of it or covered it up. The prosecution's theory was that Mr. Faria had left from his gang night, made these multiple stops that were irregular for him.

And then once he got home, murdered his wife, cleaned himself up, staged the scene, and then contacted 911. Seasoned courtroom observers and friends agree the state's case seems flimsy at best. All they had was a bunch of circumstantial nothing. Then the prosecution's secret weapon takes the stand. Pam Huff was a major witness.

She talked about the relationship. She talked about the insurance. Pam tells them that that she had a couple of life insurance policies and that she was really concerned that Russ would blow the money. The change of life insurance form was signed four days before the death. Betsy signed over the insurance from Russ to Pam.

One of their theories to explain a possible motive for Russ would be that Betsy had told him, hey, I changed this in policy out of your name, and he got mad. Pam testified that he had held the pillow over Betsy's face and said this is how it feels to die. No one was ever able to validate the supposed pillow incident. In the aftermath of Pam's testimony, the case is turned over to the jury on November 21, 2013.

The jury was out for four hours at the end of it. They returned guilty records. The verdict troubles many of Betsy's supporters, including her two daughters. Leah and Mariah both, I think, questioned if he did it the whole time. And they told me that. I'm like, oh, my God, I feel like they put the wrong person in prison.

Occasionally, you'll have cases where sometimes they're nagging questions. It just felt like something was off. You couldn't explain it. I was at a level of shock. This is not how the system is supposed to work. I couldn't see how anyone could possibly think that this case had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

In the month's following Russ's conviction, Betsy's daughters, Mariah and Leah, become increasingly frustrated with their mother's friend, Pam Hub. Pam Hub had said that $100,000 had been put into a trust fund for the girls. She told me all they had to do was ask. They asked, and she didn't turn the money over.

She set up a revulpable trust, and she canceled it as soon as that was all over in trial. She never planned to give that money to the girls. Betsy's daughters were appalled and immediately filed suit for that money. During the civil trial, Pam said that Betsy wanted her to have the money, and she could do whatever she wanted to with it.

That was a complete reversal from what she had testified to at Russ's trial. Pam says that the only reason she put the money into a trust for the daughters was because she'd been asked to by the prosecutors. And she said, that's my money. Under oath, Pam shows the same swagger as she did as star witness in Russ's murder trial. Pam's very arrogant, in my opinion.

It came out during the life insurance trial. She has this, you're never gonna get me, attitude. The verdict only bolsters Pam's confidence. The judges ultimately decided that Pam's name was the only name on the life insurance policy and the money was hers. Despite the judgment, Russ's defense team seizes on an opportunity.

The civil case against Pam brought out the evidence that she'd only set up the trust for the girls to get the prosecution off her back. We asked the court of appeals to grant us a new trial based on new evidence, and they did. June 2015, the judge orders a new trial. And after three and a half years behind bars, Russ is released.

The judge also reduced the bond, and that bomb was posted Russ was released from jail at that point. Russ' 2013 conviction failed to rule out and alternate suspect. Pam helps the last person to see Betsy for real life. She was the recipient of insurance money and was never looked into, was never really thoroughly investigated as a suspect. On November 2nd, 2015, Russ' retrial begins. This time, Russ' defense team files for a bench trial.

A sole presiding judge will decide Russ's fate. And to go into the second trial, the prosecution appears to have realized that Pam's stories are too contradictory. That her credibility is shot. So maybe I'll like not to bring her to these dams. Russ's attorneys relentlessly attack the state's physical evidence. There was blood on top of the slippers and on the bottom of the slippers. What there wasn't anywhere in the house was a bloody footprint.

It appeared as though the blood may have been dipped on the slippers and then placed somewhere. And for the first time, a new suspect's name is read into the record. We were allowed to introduce the evidence that someone else committed the crime. And so we were introducing evidence that we felt suggested that Pam had been the one to do it. That Pam had been the last person to see Betsy alive.

That Pam had gotten the life insurance policy, that the life insurance policy had been changed as before the murder. After a four-day trial, Judge Stephen Omer retires to consider his verdict. The judge was out for about two hours. And when he came back, he read a statement. And he stated that the investigation, unfortunately,

raised more questions than answered. Because freedom is not guilty. To us, it was always clear he was not guilty. I was super happy for him, but it made me sick, because now the real killer is still out there. Coming up, a familiar voice cries out for help. There's someone blunting in my house. Help! Help! and a strange encounter helps investigators tie up some loose ends.

Should I get a car? No, I'll admit that. It's gotta be connected. Might mean it doesn't strike twice. In November of 2015, Russ Ferria's second trial fully exonerated him in the murder of his wife, Betsy. We managed to get the wrongful condition overturned. We think that's the end of it. Nine months later, on August 16, 2016, emergency dispatchers in Ophalin, Missouri receive an urgent call. Now I'm a one-washed air emergency.

Hey, hello. The someone's left in my house. Help! What's your name? I'm turning the spam. The caller What's your name? I'm in spam. The caller is none other than Pam Huff. This batch officer's trying to get some more detail. Then you hear the voice of a male.

What will you be doing here? What will they do through us? No, I'm not getting in the car with you. Go, switch it. We couldn't really understand what the communication between the two of them was all about. Then you hear some commotion. She continues to repeat herself. Help. Help! Help! really understand what the communication between me two of them was all about. Then you hear some commotion.

She continues to repeat herself, help. Help! Help! Man, can you hear me? Help! A few seconds later, you hear five gunshots. What's the after-the-door-add? The commotion stops.

A few seconds later, you hear the smoke detectors go off. Are you there? Yes, are you there? Where are you at? I'm looking for a computer in my house. Move back into your house. I don't know. I'm here.

I'm here. Help! Moments later, Ophalen Police arrived at the home of Pam Hup. Most of us were familiar with the name Pam Hup from another case in the area. Pam directs the officers inside where they find a man lying dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

The uniformed officers established an initial crime scene, protected the scene. I first made contact with her. The medics were checking her out and making sure she was OK. We asked her if she'd be willing to come up to the station, and she agreed to come with us. While Pam's transported to the station,

investigators processed the scene. The body was found just outside her bedroom door in hallway. They searched his body. He was wearing some shorts. Inside one of his pockets, they found a Ziploc bag, and inside the Ziploc bag contained a note, $900 in cash, and a ballpoint pen. The note said, more or less, go to Pam's house,

get Russ's money, take Pam back to Woodpile behind Russ's house. Was this a murder for hire gone bizarrely wrong? Nothing on the body reveals the would-be hitman's name. There was no identification on him, no phone. That just added to the confusion. It had no idea how this person ended up in her home and how he did a dead. Ophalin detectives turned to their only witness, Pam Hup.

We went in the interview room and just started working Ophalin detectives turn to their only witness, Pam Hup. We went in the interview room and just started working through the details of what occurred. The story was basically that she had just come home from running some errands, and she saw a car pull up around the corner and pulling right behind her, slam on the brakes, a male jumped out of the car, jumped inside her car, held her at knife point.

He was talking about how they need to go to get Russ's money, and she described how he had looking over her shoulder, and she took that opportunity to knock the knife out of his hand with her arm, and then she got out of the car and ran into the house. She called 911. He pursues her, she retreats into her bedroom, grabs a handgun, and ends up shooting. She continued to pull the trigger until it just stopped firing. Detectives ask Pam if she knows what motivated his attack.

She told us that the money that he was talking about was likely this life insurance money was paid out on behalf of another incident. The guy was saying we're going to the bank to get Russ's money. She did admit that she believed it was probably Russ Faria. I think everybody had this moment of, you've got to be kidding me.

It's gotta be connected. Lightning doesn't strike twice. Eventually, she told Detective Mountain that her husband had brought her a lawyer, and we never kind of went back at her because they wanted to go, so she left. Back at the crime scene, police take the next step towards unraveling the mystery.

Our county crime scene unit rolled us fingerprints, and we were able to get a positive identification on who this was and it would be a Louis Gumpenberger. 33-year-old Louis Gumpenberger was a father who lived in the Ophalen, Missouri area most of his life. He was loving, caring. Louis was always attached to me. Louis was always a mama's boy, always. He was very funny.

He would do anything to get a laugh out of you. By 2006, Louis and his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Shannon had two children together, a daughter and a son. Whenever I first found out I was pregnant and let him know, he was in disbelief. But it did not take long for him to be absolutely excited. He just wanted to be a father. The Lewis and Shannon ended things romantically.

The two remained friends and co-parents. It was very, very interested in being a part of the kid's lives no matter what was going on with our relationship. But now, investigators are trying to figure out what led him to the home of Pam Hupp. We were trying to figure out where he lived. We were trying to make notification to his family,

obviously before this hit the news. The following day, police learned that Lewis' family is already worried about him. We got notification that Lewis' mother had just reported him missing. Once we had that information, we contacted Lewis's mother. A short while later, detectives arrive at the home of Margaret Birch.

There's a police officer. He goes, excuse me, are you Mrs. Birch? I don't know, I'm like, yeah. And he said, my son's name. I says, yes, I says, that's my son. And I got excited. I'm like, oh, that's quick. I said, did, I said, that's my son. And I got excited. I'm like, oh, that's quick. I said, did you find my son?

I can't remember if they told me he was dead or killed. I think it's because of the shock. Detectives tactfully question Louis's mother about her son's death. Detectives tell her the circumstances, and that's when the story begins to unravel. My son, Louis, there's no way in hell. He could break into anyone's house.

He can't even use his right side. He can barely hold a spoon. She told us he is in a car accident years ago. He had a traumatic brain injury. He was not physically capable of pulling off what Pam Hup said that he did. She was not the victim of an intruder. She is now the suspect.

As investigators plot their next move, they're contacted by counterparts in the neighboring county. We got big break number two and that was we got a call from the St. Charles County police officer. The officer tells O'Fallon detectives that they need to interview a local woman named Carol Alfred about an incident that took place the previous week. She agrees to come back to our station and give us a good, long, extended interview. Carol tells police she was sitting on her porch

when a passing vehicle slowed down and unrolled the window. Black S.U.E. comes right by and a blind lady to short hair, she does my hair and sideway pies. The woman pulls into her driveway. She introduces herself as a producer for Dateline NBC. She's like a black dog for you in the opportunity to record a sound bite for Dateline for $1,000 cash. Should I grab a car? No one would let that.

She gets in the car and they're driving to presumably to the location where they're going to do this re-enactment. She got cold feet and didn't feel quite comfortable with it. I said, crap, I said, I forgot my shoes that I wanted to get. And then she said, no, we don't need your shoes. I was like, lady, I left my door and locked it. I got a little locked by door. The supposed producer waited outside in her SUV.

You sit in my driveway. I wanted to make sure I got her license, but her vehicle fully on my security campus because I was in the kitchen. When Carol re because I need almost a minute to get in. When Carol re-emerged, she tried to bow out. Like, I'm sorry, I really can't help me. My son just called me.

She wanes out of the car a little bit. And she's talking to me. She says, you have cameras in the jerks her head back in the car. I said, y'all, I have a knife and I have a knife. And I'm one unique, Lily. I didn't walk to my house. And she didn't waste no time leaving.

It's just crazy. when I walked to my house and she didn't waste no time leaving. It's just crazy. MUSIC Carol eagerly hands her home security recording over to police. Our guys were able to look at the video, and the camera was positioned such that the video picked up the license plate. And the license plate came back to a company

that was owned by Pam Huff and her husband. You can visibly see Pam Huff's face. So it's clear that was her. Coming up, a cornered suspect commits a final act of desperation. She reached over by his notebook, and she took a pen. She stepped a pen away inside her clothing so that it was concealed.

And a killer's arrogance is exposed. She has the ego to believe that she could pull this off and start to finish, and we wouldn't find out. The Police Police Police Police Police Police Police Police Police

Police Police Police Police Police Police Police Police

Police Police Police Police Police Police Police Police Police Police Police have a sworn statement from Carol Alford describing an unusual kidnapping attempt by Pamela Hub. All the evidence indicates that she was just trolling

St. Charles County, looking for somebody that was gullible enough to get in her car. Just six days later, Pam shot and killed Louis Gumpenberger, a disabled man she claimed attacked her. When we began the piece together and said, OK, this is how Mr. Gumpenberger ended up in her home. He was a part of a script. He was somebody that she approached just like she approached this first person,

and she did it with the incentive of cash. If she used the same rules on Louis, who didn't figure it out, like, that way he did, that explains how she got him there. It's pretty clear that she murdered this guy. It's pretty clear that somehow she convinced them to get in her car and drive with her all the way to her house.

A thread connecting both murder cases is the audacity behind them. It's a surprise to me that anyone could think you could get away with it, but that's a pain. Kaki and Confident and a little combative. Paywall Hub has the ego to believe that she can hold off or start to finish, and we wouldn't find out. On August 23rd, 2016, police arrive at Pam's home. They arrest her early in the morning.

It goes fine. It goes flawlessly. She doesn't fight. She doesn't run. She gets brought back to one of our interview rooms. Two detectives went in there to talk to her. She was Miranda. She wanted to speak to her attorney. So when we attempted to find her attorney, they stepped out. She reached over and she took a pen.

She stepped the pen away inside her clothing so that it was concealed. This is on to the man. I'm sorry. Can I go pee? Yeah, let me know. We'll have a female officer escort over here. She was escorted to the bathroom and officers stood outside. She went into the bathroom and used that ballpoint pen

to stab herself. On both sides of the neck and her wrists, multiple, multiple times. Moments later, the escorting officer finds Pam covered in blood, arriving paramedics successfully stabilize her. Her trying to kill herself, in my opinion, is not the act of an innocent person.

Lewis Gumpenberger's murder, the state says, was a deliberate act intended to frame Russ Faria. The St. Charles County DA will seek the death penalty. The acquittal of Russ Faria, in my mind, is the reason that she went to kill Lewis Gumpenberger. That that was the moment that she knew I've got to do something. I've got to cover this up. St. Charles prosecutors described it as sloppy.

At the 11th hour in June 2019, Pam Hub agrees to an Alfred plea deal that will save her life. So an Alfred plea, it's a special type of plea, in which a person does not admit they committed the crime. But the person admits that the state's evidence would be enough to convict them. She's sitting in the witness chair at her plea hearing, and she knows she's gonna spend the rest of her life in prison.

She's sort of just bantering with the judge. She's sort of a smug in her answers with the judge. I don't think Pam Huff was able to admit any type of guilt in open court because of her arrogance, because of her narcissism. Well, not they always say pride becomes before or fall. On August 12, 2019, Pam Huff is sentenced to life without parole for the murder of Lewis Gumpenberger.

As much as it's important that we finally get to take some time and share who Lewis was and celebrate his life, it's also just as important that nobody forgets that whoever killed Betsy Furea, hasn't been charged. Obviously, the community sentiment is that Pam Hubb is who the killer is. We can't come in making that assumption. We want to make sure that it's a thorough investigation

that's done by the book. Betsy was my greatest friend who, if somebody was going to go out of this world with the biggest mystery and the biggest bang, it was going to be her. For more information on SNAP, go to oxygen.com.