Starring an unrecognizable Renée Zellweger (“Bridget Jones’s Diary”), “The Thing About Pam” is a limited crime drama series that investigates the murder of Betsy Faria, along with its incredibly baffling aftermath. After all, even if there are no direct answers here, it is certain that this story is full of lies, greed, deceit and cruelty that go far beyond a mere crime of passion. So now, given the diabolical aspects involved, if you’re curious to know exactly how much of this six-part production is based on a true story, don’t worry; we have the details for you.
Is The Thing About Pam a True Story?
Yes, ‘The Thing About Pam’ is based on a true story. It was a frosty night on December 27, 2011—much like NBC’s original details—when Russ Faria walked through the door of 130 Sumac Drive in Troy, Missouri, only to find his wife dead. Elizabeth “Betsy” Kay Faria lay in a pool of her drying blood on the floor of their living room with not only deep cuts to her wrist, but also a kitchen knife sticking out of her neck. He had initially believed that his cancer-ridden partner had made good on past suicide claims, but that was not the case at all.
In other words, Russ’s assumption that Betsy had committed suicide during his frantic 911 call made him the prime suspect, especially with the obvious signs of struggle and the fact that she had been stabbed about 55 times. Since he was the one who discovered her remains and it was no secret that they had had problems before, detectives concluded that his emergency call was overly hysterical as he offered compensation for being the perpetrator. Russ was officially charged with manslaughter the day after his wife’s funeral, but he maintained his innocence every step of the way.
With the help of Pamela “Pam” Hupp, one of Betsy’s friends and the last person to see her alive, who said she was considering leaving Russ because of his “violent temper,” he was convicted in 2013. The most incriminating facets, however, were claims that he was angry that his name had been removed from his partner’s life insurance policy and that he allegedly once put a pillow over her head as she said, “This is what it feels like to die .” Russ had a concrete alibi as to the time window of the crime — he was at a friend’s house for game night before driving through an Arby’s — but prosecutors considered it carefully fabricated.
There were also no traces of blood on Russ or his clothing, but again, it was claimed that he could have thoroughly washed it all off before calling 911, leading to his conviction in late 2013. That’s largely because of the evidence that Pam himself contradicts during interviews, and her phone records showing she was in the vicinity of Faria’s house for about half an hour after she insisted she had left were not allowed to be presented to the jury. Thus, she could not be portrayed as an alternate suspect, despite being the sole beneficiary of one of Betsy’s life insurance policies days before the 2011 murder, on the 23rd and for $150,000.
However, that changed in 2015, when Russ faced a retrial after several appeals and was subsequently acquitted after spending four years behind bars — he may have failed a lie detector test years earlier, but the evidence stood. Over the following year, suspicions about Pam mounted, especially when she shot and killed Louis Gumpenberger in her home after staging an attack to make it look like Russ hired him to kidnap/kill her. The woman with back and memory problems was even accused of being responsible for her mother’s death in 2013 for financial gain, but investigations into this particular issue soon proved inconclusive.
Ultimately, when it was revealed that she had insisted on being deeply involved in Betsy’s life following her cancer diagnosis, Pam Hupp was charged with first degree murder in July 2021. There was also an armed charge against her, but prosecutors dropped it in early September, two months after she gave a plea from behind bars. Basically, as depicted on “The Thing About Pam,” although she is a convicted murderer because of the Louis case, at the time of writing she has not been found guilty of any wrongdoing in connection with Betsy’s murder. Some things/names in the series have been changed for dramatic purposes, but the core of it revolves around actual events.
Read more: Where was the thing about Pam filmed?
