There’s no denying that murders are the most perplexing offenses that are sadly common, but the 2011 still-ongoing case of Elizabeth “Betsy” Faria has truly crossed all boundaries. After all, as explored in “The Thing About Pam,” her husband was initially arrested, tried, convicted, and then acquitted in the case, thus exposing an alleged scheme of greed with Pamela “Pam” Hupp. So now, if you want to know more about the latter, with the necessary details about her background, crimes, alleged lies and current status, we’ve got you covered.
Who is Pam Hupp?
Born on October 10, 1958, the third of four children of Victor (a union worker) and Shirley Neumann (a schoolteacher), Pamela Neumann Hupp was raised in a Catholic household in Dellwood, Missouri. She mostly did what was expected of her, while still having fun, only to marry her high school sweetheart shortly after graduation and then welcome a daughter into their lives. However, the union lasted only six years, after which Pam switched to Mark Hupp, with whom she not only lived in Florida before settling in O’Fallon, Missouri in 2001, but also shares a son.
Back in her home state, Pam threw houses aside while working as an administrator for State Farm Insurance, where she first encountered Elizabeth “Betsy” Faria. The duo became very friendly over time, but it wasn’t until their breast cancer diagnosis in 2010 that they got significantly closer, with Pam usually driving her back and forth for chemotherapy. She also did on about December 27, 2011, but this time she took Betsy home from her mother’s house (without being asked) and became the last person to see her alive.
The most surprising aspect here, however, is that just four days earlier, Betsy had replaced her husband, Russ, to name Pam as the sole beneficiary of her $150,000 life insurance policy. Initially, she claimed it was left to her so she could set up a trust for Betsy’s two daughters, but later changed her story to claim her boyfriend wanted her to keep the money for herself. As if that wasn’t enough to raise eyebrows, less than a year after Russ was acquitted, she was arrested for the death of a mentally and physically disabled man in her home.
Where is Pam Hupp now?
Around noon on August 16, 2016, Pamela Hupp shot Louis Gumpenberger five times, claiming she did so in self-defense after he chased her to her home, holding a knife to her throat. He was allegedly instructed by Russ to kidnap her, drive her to the bank to get his money back, and then kill her — a story investigators didn’t believe. They even thought that Pam faked the incident to get away from the doubts already swirling around her, so she was arrested a week later and charged with murder and armed criminal action.
That same day, August 23, Pam asked to use the laundry room after being booked, where she used a ballpoint pen to stab her neck and wrists in an apparent suicide attempt. Her actions were considered a clear sign of guilt by officials, leading to her being set at $2 million bail, with prosecutors later clarifying that she would seek the death penalty. To prevent that, Pam maintained her innocence by entering an Alford guilty plea before her trial could begin and so in August 2019 she was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
The case brought a new look at Shirley Neumann’s death in 2013, highlighting the possibility that Pam could be responsible for her mother’s fall from the third-floor balcony that killed her. That’s because Shirley, who suffered from dementia and arthritis, had eight times the usual dose of a sedative in her body, but the studies proved inconclusive.
Then, in July 2021, after further investigation, Pam was charged with armed criminal action and first degree murder in connection with the murder of Betsy, the first of which was dismissed in September. That’s why Pam, aged 63, is awaiting trial today while incarcerated at the Women’s Only Chillicothe Correctional Center in Livingston County, Missouri.
Read more: Where is Russ Faria now?
