Leah Askey served as the head prosecutor for the original case against Russ Faria and used Pam Hupp's testimony as her main argument. Based only on Hupp's word, Askey painted Faria as a violent, abusive husband who became enraged when his wife signed over her life-insurance policy to Hupp without his knowledge.
In 2017, Askey was investigated for criminal and ethical misconduct. While the investigation did not include the mishandling of Russ Faria's trial, it was revealed that Chaney had allegedly asked witnesses to lie on the stand during the Faria trial, per KSDK St. Louis. Since the trial, Chaney has been the subject of several bar complaints and investigations regarding criminal misconduct.
The former Lincoln Country prosecutor now works at a private practice and claims that she does not regret how she handled her cases over the years, telling KSDK St. Louis, "I feel like that everything I did, I did in an effort to make sure that we were going down the right path and to ensure that we were not prosecuting somebody that shouldn't be prosecuted for a crime."
Watch Askey defend her actions in her interview with KSDK News below:
