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-defence 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: