What dateline episode is about pam hupp

ST. LOUIS — Here’s the thing about Pam… the story’s not quite over just yet.

Days after an NBC miniseries on the case wrapped up, a new Dateline episode will focus on the latest Pam Hupp updates. It’ll be hosted by Keith Morrison.

“The Thing About Pam” miniseries is based on Morrison’s wildly popular podcast of the same name, which is based on a true crime story that happened in the St. Louis area.

5 On Your Side has extensively covered the case – and all of its bizarre updates – throughout the years. We have a look at the real story behind NBC’s dramatized version on our website here.

Dateline’s episode Friday will take a similar look, with the episode called “The Real Thing About Pam.” It’ll feature new interviews, including with Leah Askey, the former Lincoln County prosecutor who charged Betsy Faria’s husband with her murder. Faria was wrongfully convicted and later had his conviction overturned after spending three years in prison.

Dateline shared a preview of Friday’s episode with 5 On Your Side. In it, Morrison presses Askey about her decision to prosecute Faria instead of Hupp.

“I was elected to do a job. And I did my job. And a jury convicted (Russ),” she said.

Hupp is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Louis Gumpenberger, which happened several years after Betsy Faria was killed. Hupp entered an Alford plea in the case. Prosecutors said she set up Gumpenberger and then shot him to death in a plot to claim Russ Faria had sent him to kidnap her.

Morrison asked Askey whether Gumpenberger would still be alive if she had concentrated on prosecuting Hupp instead of Russ Faria in the beginning. Askey defended her decisions.

“I don't have any culpability in anything to do with Louis Gumpenberger. It is a terrible tragedy,” she said.

Askey added that his murder made her think Hupp was “capable of more” than she would have “given her credit for,” NBC said in a news release. However, she believes Hupp wasn’t involved in Betsy Faria’s murder.

“It made me think, that's a terrible tragedy, and she obviously lost her marbles. Like, she snapped… She's definitely gone off the deep end,” Askey said of Hupp.

Hupp was charged with Betsy Faria’s murder in July 2021. She has pleaded not guilty.

Friday’s new Dateline episode airs at 8 p.m. Central Time. on 5 On Your Side.

Apparently, NBC thinks its viewers just can’t get enough of the true-crime story involving Pam Hupp, who was been accused of murdering her close friend, Betsy Faria. Its series, “Dateline,” devoted several episodes to the case, and the “Dateline” podcast, “The Thing About Pam,” inspired the recently concluded miniseries, “The Thing About Pam,” which starred Renée Zellweger in a performance in which the Oscar-winning actor was transformed to resemble the real Hupp.

Now, Friday’s “Dateline” returns with yet another exploration into the case. “The Real Thing About Pam,” the sixth “Dateline” episode devoted to the real-life story, promises to include new interviews, including a conversation between correspondent Keith Morrison (who narrated the Zellweger series) and Leah Askey, the prosecutor (played by Judy Greer in the TV series) who helped drive the wrongful conviction of Betsy Faria’s husband, Russ Faria.

The story began with the murder of Betsy Faria, who was found stabbed multiple times in her home in Troy, Missouri, in 2011. Shortly before Faria was killed, her life insurance policy was changed to make Hupp the beneficiary, meaning Hupp came into $150,000 once Faria died.

Faria’s widower, Russ, was convicted of the murder, and Hupp contributed to making the husband look culpable when she testified at his 2013 trial. But following an appeal and a second trial, Russ Faria’s conviction was overturned and he was acquitted, in 2015.

As the TV series dramatized, in 2016, Hupp posed as a “Dateline” producer to lure a man named Louis Gumpenberger into a scheme in which Hupp shot and killed him. Hupp claimed the man had invaded her home, and she allegedly implied he had been sent by Russ Faria to kill Hupp.

In 2019, Hupp was convicted for Gumpenberger’s murder and is now serving a life sentence in a Missouri state prison. She has also been charged with Betsy Faria’s murder, and has pleaded not guilty. Hupp has been been suspected of involvement in the death of her mother, Shirley Neumann.

In the two-hour “Dateline” episode, “The Real Thing About Pam,” Morrison interviews Leah Askey, who resists the suggestion that her earlier prosecution of Russ Faria, and failure to pursue charges against Hupp contributed to the death of Louis Gumpenberg.

Here’s an excerpt NBC News provided from Morrison’s interview with Askey, when the correspondent asks if Askey’s mind has been charged following the murder of Gumpenberg:

LEAH ASKEY: “No, it made me think, that’s a terrible tragedy and she obviously lost her marbles. Like, she snapped...She’s definitely gone off the deep end.”

KEITH MORRISON:” I think that probably a lot of people would agree that there’s some stuff about Pam which is not entirely normal. But the fact that she would kill that person and try to frame the man who was acquitted of the murder of his wife, that must have made you change your mind about this case.”

LEAH ASKEY: “It definitely made me think, you know, wow, she’s capable of more than I would’ve given her credit for.”

KEITH MORRISON: “There are some people who even to this day say that you have blood on your hands, that Louis Gumpenberger would be alive today had you concentrated on Pam Hupp and not on Russ Faria.”

LEAH ASKEY: “I don’t have any culpability in anything to do with Louis Gumpenberger. It is a terrible tragedy. But I was elected to do a job. And I did my job. And a jury convicted him. One has nothing to do with the other. It was never my job to seek out a suspect. And so, I couldn’t have done anything more than what I did, other than not prosecute, which I would’ve not prosecuted, had I not believed that the person we were prosecuting was correct at the time.”

“Dateline NBC” airs “The Real Thing About Pam” at 9 p.m. Friday, April 15 on NBC. The miniseries, “The Thing About Pam” is streaming on Peacock, and can also be streamed on fubo TV, which offers a free trial.

-- Kristi Turnquist

503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

NBC's miniseries The Thing About Pam aired its chilling finale on April 12—but it looks like the revelations surrounding the crimes of Pam Hupp (played by Renée Zellweger on the show) are far from over.

On Friday, April 15, Deadline is airing a brand new, two-hour special episode called "The Real Thing About Pam." It will recap the actual events depicted in the dramatized miniseries. However, it's also a continuation of Deadline's original investigation (which began in 2016) and the hit podcast, The Thing About Pam, which inspired the show. As we now know, each delve into the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria, her husband Russ Faria's false conviction and eventual retrial, and Hupp's involvement in it all. Hupp is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Louis Gumpenberger. In 2021, she was charged with Betsy's murder and is awaiting trial. She's pled not guilty.

In "The Real Thing About Pam," Keith Morrison will interview the real-life Russ (played by Glenn Fleshler) and his lawyer Joel Schwartz (played by Josh Duhamel). The journalist is also set to speak with Faria's daughter, Mariah Day (played by Gideon Adlon) and Leah Chaney née Askey (played by Judy Greer), the prosecuting attorney for both of Russ' murder trials. This marks the first time both women have ever spoken to Morrison. 

In a preview of the special, Morrison asks Chaney if she felt responsible for Gumperberger's murder, seeing as she wrongfully prosecuted Russ and not Hupp. "I don't have any culpability in anything to do with Louis Gumpenberger. It is a terrible tragedy. But I was elected to do a job. And I did my job. And a jury convicted [Russ]," she said. 

However, she did have thoughts on Hupp. "It made me think, that's a terrible tragedy, and she obviously lost her marbles," Chaney said. "Like, she snapped...She's definitely gone off the deep end."

 "The Real Thing About Pam" airs Friday, April 15 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

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