"The Thing About Pam" Cast Side by Side With Their Real-Life Counterparts
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The upcoming NBC series "The Thing About Pam" is based on the 2011 murder of Betsy Fari, and the nearly decades-long search for her murderer. The unbelievable true story behind the series is full of rollercoaster twists and turns that no one — not even those working on the case — could have seen coming.
In 2011, Faria's husband, Russ Faria, came home after a night out with friends to find Betsy lying dead in a pool of her own blood, having been stabbed 55 times. At the time, Russ became the prime suspect based almost solely on Betsy's friend Pam Hupp's testimony and was convicted of his wife's murder. But there was more to the story — and it involved Pam Hupp.
"The Thing About Pam" follows the real events of the case and includes characters based on those actually involved. Here are the characters' real-life counterparts.
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Renée Zellweger as Pam Hupp in "The Thing About Pam"
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Pam Hupp in Real Life
Pam Hupp met Betsy Faria at the State Farm Insurance office, where the two worked in 2001. They lost contact over the years, but when Faria was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, Hupp inserted herself back into Faria's life. The two became closer than ever, and Faria ultimately signed over her $150,000 life insurance policy to Hupp due to concerns about how her own family would handle the money. Faria's father, Ken Meyer, told St. Louis Magazine, "She'd been worrying about her two teenage daughters' spending the money foolishly, and she was afraid that her husband, too, would 'piss it away.'"
On Dec. 22, 2011, just five days after she signed her policy over to Hupp, Faria was murdered. Following a botched investigation, Faria's husband, Russ, was found guilty of Faria's murder. He was later acquitted in 2015.
Hupp was eventually arrested and charged with first-degree murder in 2016 for the murder of Louis Gumperberger. She alleged that she'd shot Gumperberger in self-defense after he attempted to kidnap her to obtain "Russ's money." However, detectives would later conclude that it was an elaborate scheme by Hupp to further frame Russ Faria and divert growing suspicions around her involvement in Betsy Faria's murder.
In 2021, Hupp was charged with the first-degree murder of Faria, whom she allegedly killed in order to obtain her life insurance money. She is now serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Gumpenberger and awaiting trial for Faria's murder.
Watch Fox 2 St. Louis' coverage of the story below:
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Glenn Fleshler as Russ Faria in "The Thing About Pam"
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Russ Faria in Real Life
Betsy Faria's husband, Russ Faria, was initially convicted of her murder. Upon discovering his wife's dead body following a night out with friends, Russ called 911. Detectives immediately zeroed in on Russ as the prime suspect because he told dispatchers he believed his wife had killed herself — which didn't make sense to them, as she had 55 stab wounds. A bloody slipper of Russ's hidden in the couple's closet, as well as Hupp's testimony about Russ's "violent" temper, also made detectives suspect him, according to St. Louis Magazine.
Russ was found guilty of Faria's murder and served nearly three years in prison before he was acquitted in 2015.
Check out Russ Faria's interview with KSDK News about his experience below.
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Josh Duhamel as Joel Schwartz in "The Thing About Pam"
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Joel Schwartz in Real Life
Joel Schwartz was Russ Faria's defense lawyer during his criminal trial. Throughout the trial, Schwartz brought out several pieces of evidence that essentially cleared Faria of the crime, including several alibis and store receipts.
At the same time, Schwartz pointed the finger at Pam Hupp, whom prosecutors refused to consider as a suspect despite her being the last person to see Faria alive and the sole beneficiary of her life-insurance policy. Following Faria's conviction, Schwartz motioned for a retrial and defended Faria again, but with new evidence that further connected Hupp to the murder.
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Judy Greer as Leah Askey in "The Thing About Pam"
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Leah Askey in Real Life
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:
