(gentle music) - [Narrator] When Lindsay
Hawker finished college, she was eager to explore the world. Her adventure began in Tokyo, but no one would've predicted that Tokyo was also where it would
end, with her mutilated body found buried in a sand-filled bathtub on an apartment balcony. Bill, the head of a driving school and Julia, a policy advisor
for Transport for London had been blessed with three girls. Lindsay was the middle
daughter of the three, including her younger sister,
Louise and older sister, Lisa. They were a close-knit,
hard working family. Lindsay had just earned a biology degree from Leeds University. And she was ready to branch
out and see the world. After conducting thorough
research, she had fallen in love with the idea of teaching
English in Japan. Bill and Julia were
apprehensive to see her go. Perhaps their instincts were telling of the unimaginable events to come. Nevertheless, they let 21-year-old Lindsay start her adventure,
despite their reservations. Just before Lindsay was
set to travel to Japan, her older sister, Lisa
reminded her to be careful. "Remember Lucie Blackman," Lisa had said. It was a haunting thought, as
the story of Lucie was tragic. Also a young Brit eager to see the world, Lucie and her friend worked as hostesses at an exclusive Tokyo nightclub that was frequented by
wealthy businessmen. One such man took 21 year old
Lucie out on a private date. Sadly, that was the last
anyone ever saw of her. Even more disturbing
than her disappearance, her remains were located
seven months later. Her body had been dismembered
and buried in a shallow cave. With this warning,
Lindsay traveled to Tokyo a few months later in October of 2006, and began her job at Nova
Intercultural Institute, a reputable English language school. Lindsay settled right in
with her two flatmates who were also teachers at the school. She quickly became absorbed in her work, and she grew to love Japan. In fact, she felt even safer
there than she did in Britain. In December of 2006, a few months into
Lindsay's Tokyo adventure, her parents and younger sister Louise visited to celebrate
Lindsay's birthday with her. They explored her favorite locations and enjoyed a celebratory dinner at a sophisticated world renowned bar. And though they knew it was
a very special experience, only time would reveal how much
they would eternally cherish the memory of that night, and what would be Lindsay's last birthday. As they continually observe
Lindsay's friendliness towards strangers, her
father had an uneasy feeling. He mentioned his concern to
Lindsay, but she brushed it off. After all, she was the English teacher, and she wanted to fit in. Would Lindsay's innate trust in strangers indirectly lead to tragedy? Lindsay came to love her new job so much that she and her boyfriend
of four years, Ryan Garside, made plans to spend the
upcoming summer together. They would save funds
for their upcoming plans to travel the world. In fact, they planned
a full year of travels before they would return to Britain where Lindsay would resume studies with plans of becoming a doctor. Sadly, the plans would
never come to fruition. Everything went horribly wrong on the evening of March 25th, 2007, when Lindsay's flatmates
realized she hadn't come home since she'd left earlier that morning. It was not like Lindsay to
disappear for any period of time, let alone to spend the night away. The following day, staff at the school placed a call to Lindsay's father and alerted him that Lindsay
had missed two days of teaching without contacting the school. Something was clearly wrong. Just five days before
she was last seen alive, Lindsay was enjoying time with friends at a favorite local bar
she was known to frequent. According to the owner, a fellow Brit, Lindsay wasn't a big drinker by any means. She always headed home early. The bar was just a means to watch football in the company of friends. Like any other evening, Lindsay grabbed her bike and headed home. However, it would soon be discovered that someone had been watching Lindsay. Back at her flat and in
the company of a roommate, Lindsay heard a knock at the door. She answered and found
a young Japanese man who wished to take private
English lessons from Lindsay. And at his request, Lindsay
allowed the man inside the flat. During a somewhat strange interaction, the man drew a picture of Lindsay. And on the paper, he
included his phone number and his address on the back. At the time, no one
could have possibly known how significant that piece of
paper with the bizarre drawing would soon prove to be. Lindsay had agreed to
provide the English lessons. Still, the man gave her
a feeling of uneasiness, but she couldn't turn down the chance to make some extra money for
her upcoming travel plans. But Lindsay was smart. She would only teach him in a public place for safety purposes. On the morning of Sunday, March 25th, Lindsay left her flat and
headed to a coffee shop near the man's apartment
in the town of Yotoku. Footage chose Lindsay entering
the shop behind a man. Lindsay appears quite uncomfortable as she frequently adjusts her hair. Lindsay's frequent touching
of her hair and face could be a self soothing behavior because she might feel uneasy or nervous. She left the shop ahead of him
and got into a taxi with him. They headed back to his flat in order for the man to get money to pay Lindsay for the lesson. As they pulled up to his apartment, Lindsay asked the taxi driver to wait, as she'd be back momentarily. Tragically, it appears it
had been an elaborate trap, and she would never make it
out of that apartment alive. The taxi driver waited several minutes, then went on his way. The following day, Lindsay
was reported missing. That's when the authorities
utilized the crucial information from the strange drawing
found at Lindsay's flat. Several police officers
responded to the address, which belonged to a man
identified as Tatsuya Ichihashi. He politely answered the
door of the apartment, but then promptly fled. And then they found
her out on the balcony. It was unbelievably horrific. Lindsay had been buried in a bathtub, one hand partially protruding from the combination of sand and dirt. She was barely recognizable. Her long hair had been shaved off, her body bound and terribly
beaten, her neck broken. What kind of monster could
have done this to Lindsay? The details that would
unfold were unfathomable. Tatsuya was the prime and only suspect, yet the case was quite
puzzling on the surface. The 28 year old was an unemployed child of wealthy and successful parents who gave him a generous monthly allowance. His father was a brain surgeon
and his mother was a dentist. He didn't seem like the type of person to do something like this, or did he? A parasitic lifestyle is
a trait of a psychopath, along with having a lack of
realistic long-term goals. Psychopaths also have
a proneness to boredom, which may lead them to
crimes for the thrill of it. There had been a sign
that something was wrong when Tatsuya was 13. In school, he was assigned to write about his dreams for the future. According to a friend,
he wrote in great detail about his fantasies of spying
on girls as they dressed. A week after Lindsay was last seen alive, her father made an
appeal to those in Japan in an attempt to information. He cited the murder as a
source of shame on the nation. And it seems his appeal
was somewhat successful. A short while later, the police
released the video footage of Lindsay's last moves to TV stations. Around two weeks after Lindsay's murder, it's believed that Tatsuya
phoned his parents, only to let the line go dead
upon his father's answer. But the message was clear
that he was still alive, despite rumors supported by the media that he had taken his own life. There were countless other speculations. Some wondered if perhaps he was involved with the Japanese mafia
known as the Yakuza. It was believed that he
idolized the violent gangs, but the idea didn't seem
plausible to crime experts. What happened to Lindsay wouldn't have been worth the
consequences for the Yakuza. Others theorize that he
was able to evade capture because he was living in
Tokyo's red light district, dressing disguise as a woman. In late October of the following year, Lindsay's family received
devastating news. Tokyo Police planned to reduce
their team of 140 officers assigned to Lindsay's case. Considering Japan's geography that included mountains
and remote wilderness, they presumed Tatsuya
would never be located, but after the setback
came a major development. On November 10th, 2009, police were contacted by a ticket officer at Osaka Ferry Port stating an individual that resembled Tatsuya had
purchased a ticket for Okinawa. Police quickly approached
and questioned the man. He finally folded with three words. The search was finally over. "I am Ichihashi," he said. Bill's instincts had proven true. Tatsuya had been hiding
in plain sight all along. Evidently, he'd been
working in construction during his months at large. As a loner, he seemed to have mastered the art of blending in. But how had he evaded capture for so long? As the story would unfold, the strangest twist of all
would soon be revealed. Tatsuya had performed
plastic surgery on himself. He'd sliced off part of his lower lip using a pair of scissors, removed molds from a
cheek using a box cutter, and gone so far as to
perform a nose job on himself using a needle and thread. In addition to his DIY plastic surgery, he'd saved funds from his jobs and underwent two professional procedures that included nose jobs,
altered eyelids, cheek implants, and lip thinning treatments. Changing his appearance was
the ultimate deception in con, which are two traits of psychopathy. Ironically, the very procedures that were intended to hide his identity would lead to his capture. It was a plastic surgeon,
the second one to be precise, who set things in motion. The surgeon became suspicious of the man who wished to radically
change his appearance. Police were alerted, and a photo of his
altered face was issued. Within a matter of
days, he was apprehended at the ferry terminal in Osaka. Lindsay's family and friends were relieved the suspect had finally been arrested, but it would not be
until early July of 2011, nearly two years after his capture that he would stand trial. At trial, Lindsay's parents
and sisters listened as Tatsuya described the
horrors Lindsay endured during her last hours in that apartment. She'd followed him from
the taxi to his front door, and waited as he grabbed her
payment for the English lesson inside his home. But then he told how he'd punched her and dragged her into his flat. He confessed to assaulting Lindsay. However, he did not admit to
intentionally killing her. He claimed it was an accident. He panicked and
inadvertently suffocated her when she screamed out for help, out of fear someone might hear her. It seems unlikely that Tatsuya
would've allowed Lindsay to leave after assaulting her, as she would easily be
able to identify him and even provide his
address to authorities. He may have been downplaying her murder in an attempt to receive
a lesser sentence. Lindsay's family requested
the convicted murderer be punished at the maximum
penalty allowed by Japanese law. Japan does have the death penalty, which is execution by hanging. It's generally reserved for only the most heinous of criminals. And unlike in the US, it's
extremely rare in Japan to be sentenced to death
for only killing one person. The sentence came just days
after the verdict was reached. Nearly four and a half years
after Lindsay's murder, Tatsuya was sentenced to life behind bars. Some red flags to look out for 'em. The first warning sign was that Tatsuya showed up uninvited to Lindsay's door, which suggests that he may
have followed her home. The drawing Tatsuya did of Lindsay could be interpreted as
flattering or charming, but it seems like a strange thing to do the first time they met. But since there isn't
anything overtly sinister about a drawing, Lindsay may have brushed
this odd event off. Lindsay allegedly felt
somewhat apprehensive about providing lessons to Tatsuya. However, she decided to
meet with him anyway, as she may have felt there was no logical
justification for refusing. She took precautions, such as
meeting him in a public place, but he then convinced her
to go to his apartment. Although she may not have
felt entirely comfortable with this, it's possible
that she justified to herself that she could still take safety measures such as public transportation, and then just waiting in his doorway for him to get the money. How to avoid similar situations. If someone is pressuring
you to meet at their home or in another private place
when you don't feel comfortable, do not give in to their demands. Tatsuya manipulated
Lindsay into going with him in order to get money he owed him. If you are in a similar situation, remember that no amount of
money is worth putting yourself in a potentially dangerous situation. It can be difficult to
justify making a decision based on something as small
as having a bad feeling about someone. However, it's important
to always trust your gut. Ashley Freeman was
celebrating her 16th birthday with her best friend Lauria Bible. Though the night started with pizza then a slumber party at
Ashley's family farm, it ended in tragedy with a fire that destroyed the Freeman's home. When the flames were finally extinguished, there was no sign of either girl. Ashley and Lauria enjoyed a
festive start to their evening on December 29th, 1999. After dinner out, they
continued the celebration at the Freeman farm along
with Ashley's parents, Kathy and Danny. And the very early morning
hours of the following day, a call came into the Welch
Oklahoma Fire Department. Firefighters arrived at
approximately 5:30 AM, shortly after the call came in, to find the Freeman mobile home completely engulfed in flames. Inside, the remains of Kathy were located. But where was Danny, and
where were the girls? The following day, one of the
questions would be answered in the most horrific of ways. The scorched body of Danny
was discovered in the debris. Sadly, it was Lauria's
parents, Jay and Lorene who found the charred remains that police hadn't been able
to locate the previous day, but the girls were still
nowhere to be found. Lauria's car was parked out
front, the keys and ignition, but how had they disappeared
without so much as a trace? A search party gathered and
combed through the premises over the two days that followed. Among the findings was an
insurance verification card, but the name on the card wasn't familiar. Lauria's purse was also found
amongst the ash and debris that had once been a home. Autopsies of Danny and
Kathy were performed by the Oklahoma medical examiner's office. The findings were unsettling. Each had suffered an
execution style gunshot wound to the head. The state fire marshall
later inspected the site and concluded that it had
been deliberately set, no surprise there. Authorities soon inferred the killings had been drug related, according to multiple accounts. Danny was associated
with the drug community. Over the following years, police continued to investigate leads, but each proved to be a dead end. Then in 2005, there was a
major development in the case. Authorities had zeroed in on a man by the name of Jeremy Jones. The 41 year old was a convicted killer located on death row in Alabama. Coincidentally, records
showed that Jones was arrested in the early morning hours
of December 30th, 1999, the day of the fire. Complaints included public drunkenness and drug paraphernalia possession. The arrest occurred just 18 miles from the location of the Freeman home. Were authorities on the
brink of solving the case? Then it happened, Jones confessed to killing
Kathy and Danny Freeman, and setting their home ablaze. The deadly confrontation
had been the result of an attempt to collect on a drug debt. He said that he hadn't expected to find anyone else at the home, and the girls had taken him by surprise. He then took the girls to
Galena, Kansas, shot them, and threw their bodies into
an abandoned mine shaft. Finally, this case was on
its way to being solved, but there was one thing
missing, the girls' bodies. Soon after the confession, authorities coordinated a
search of the mind shaft. Unfortunately, the
search was unsuccessful. There was still no trace
of the missing girls. Then, Jones recanted his confession, and authorities were once
again back at square one. It may seem surprising
that someone would confess to a crime they didn't commit, but it's possible that
Jeremy made up the story so he could be in the spotlight. He was apparently already on death row. So he may have felt like he
could gain some attention while having nothing to lose. Then he may have enjoyed
pulling the rug out from under the police by recanting. When 2009 rolled around,
ten years had elapsed, and the case still remained unsolved. In hopes of inspiring anyone with knowledge of the
case to come forward, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation offered up to $10,000 in
reward for information that would lead to an
arrest and conviction in the killings of
Danny and Kathy Freeman. Still, no luck, and
the case remained cold. Then very unexpectedly, an intriguing development
occurred at the beginning of 2017. There was a new sheriff in town, and he had come across a box that contained vital information. Authorities kept the items confidential, but a member of the Oklahoma
State Bureau of Investigation divulged that the findings
were extremely valuable, and the information
provided a definite course and potentially solving the case. Everything was about to come out, and the details of the events of the night of the trailer fire, and the days that followed
were sure to disturb even the most seasoned of detectives. Potential witnesses
that had been uncovered were tracked down and interviewed, and a tangled tale of
evil began to unwind. Remember the insurance ID card
that was found at the scene of the Freeman's fire ravaged trailer? Well, the owner was located, and she provided valuable
pieces of information that jumpstarted the case. At the time of the Freeman murders and disappearances of the girls,
she had been the girlfriend of a man by the name of Phil Welch. Phil happened to live less
than a mile from the Freeman's at time of the murders. A few months later, she claimed he'd been abusive toward her. She'd left her little old sedan behind and ended the relationship. Right after the first woman left Phil, another took her place. This woman would prove to provide groundbreaking information, and others would soon give accounts that paralleled those that she gave. During her interview,
she told of conversation she'd overheard between
Phil and two other men. She identified the others as David Pennington
and Ronnie Dean Busick. She said that they talked
about the people killed in Welch Oklahoma over a drug debt. She'd heard the girls had been
taken and eventually killed, and that Pennington and Busick had set the Freeman trailer a blaze. What she said next was shockingly evil. Phil had nailed a poster to his wall that featured a $50,000
reward for information in the disappearances
of Ashley and Lauria. The poster was a souvenir or reminder of what he'd done, and he was proud it, but the poster wasn't the worst of it. She said Phil had polaroid photos kept in a leather briefcase,
and the images were horrifying. No question about it. The woman stated, "The girls in the photos matched
the images on the poster." In the pictures, their hands were tied, and their mouths gagged. Leads that had rolled in around that time tied another woman to the case. She had lived with David and she had also overheard
disturbing conversations. In fact, she stated that she heard him talking about the girls all the time. David told her the girls
were at the bottom of a pit, and he threatened to throw her in too if she told anyone what she'd heard. And the little car Phil's first
girlfriend had left behind when she moved out of his place, she claimed that Phil
had been using the car at the time of the killing. And that could explain why the first girlfriend's
insurance card was found nearby. And then there was the third man, Ronnie. He'd been here talking
about the Freeman murders and the missing girls. Ronnie told an acquaintance about how the girls had
been assaulted and tortured in a trailer and pitcher, and
kept alive for several days. Ronnie named Phil as the shooter, and said that he and
David set the trailer fire after Phil left with the
girls in the little old car. It may seem unfathomable that the two women
connected to Phil and David had all of this information for years, but never reported it. However, they may have been
afraid for their own lives, as they knew what the men were capable of. It's a also possible that
the women may have thought they would get in trouble
for not going forward sooner. With this information, investigators believed it
was time to go directly to the men at the center of the rumors, Phil, David, and Ronnie. However, there was a big problem, well, two big problems to be exact. Phil had died in 2007, and
David had died in 2015. That left just one. Things were about to get
really bad for old Ronnie. In late April of 2018, Ronnie was arrested on
four counts of murder, kidnapping and arson. He was seen as more of an
accessory than the mastermind, and he pleaded guilty
to being an accessory to first degree murder
in mid-July of 2020. Ronnie had an option to have
his proposed sentence reduced if he were to lead authorities to the remains of Ashley and Lauria. The deal was that his 15 year
sentence, 10 years in prison, and the remaining five years suspended would be reduced to five years behind bars if the remains of Ashley and Lauria were successfully recovered, but there would be no such luck for Ronnie or the girls' families, as
Ronnie was unable or unwilling to provide the location. On August 31st, Ronnie
received the 15 year sentence. Lauria's mother, Lorene stated that she would not stop searching until the girls were brought her home. And there's still a shred of hope that the girls remains will be recovered. (phone rings) - [Operator 1] 911, what is
the location of your emergency? (Russell panting) Okay. Hello? - [Russell] Hello? - [Operator 1] Yes, I need you
to take a couple deep breaths so I can see what's going on. - [Russell] My name is Russell Faria. - [Operator 1] Russell,
what's going on there? - [Russell] I just got
home from a friend's house, and my wife killed herself. She's on the floor. - [Operator 1] Okay, Russell,
I need you to calm down honey. Okay? We're gonna get somebody
on the way there, okay? (Russell crying) - [Narrator] The frantic
911 call you just heard was made by Russell Faria just moments after he returned home to discover his wife, Betsy's body. Betsy had been given months to live when her breast cancer
spread to her liver, but it wasn't the cancer that killed her. Betsy and her husband, Russell were married on January 21st, 2000. They lived in Troy, Missouri. Her sister described her
as positive and upbeat, a shining light. And as a couple, Betsy and
Russ seemed to be doing well considering her illness,
a friend of Betsy's even described Russ as a
loving and doting husband, but all of that would be
thrown into questions soon. At first, Betsy's cancer
had gone into remission, and the couple planned a cruise
for their family and friends as a celebration of life
in November of 2011. Unfortunately, just one month
before they were set to leave, they got the worst news imaginable. Betsy's cancer had spread to
her liver and worse than that, she only had a few more months to live. Still, they went ahead with the cruise and cherished their time together, but things were about to
take a drastic turn south and no one could have predicted how twisted things would get. It was a typical day on
December 27th of 2011. Betsy attended morning chemotherapy with an old family friend, Bobby Juan, and Russ was going to pick
her up later that night at her mother's after his
weekly game night with friends. To Betsy's surprise, her
close friend, Pam Hupp showed up at treatment and
offered to take Betsy home, even though the round trip for
Pam would take a full hour. The ladies had met 10 years earlier through their work in insurance sales. Betsy accepted the generous offer. Little did she know this
would be her last trip home. Pam dropped Betsy off
at home around 7:00 PM. Pam placed a call to her husband Mark Hupp a few minutes later to let him know she was about to leave Betsy's
house and would soon be home. He didn't answer. So Pam
left a short message. Betsy chimed in with a
quick Merry Christmas and happy new year. The call ended, and Pam departed Betsy's
house, headed for her own. Meanwhile, Russ's evening
had been uneventful. His five friends had called
it a night around nine, and Russ left and stopped off at an Arby's for a couple sandwiches. But Russ's life was
about to change forever. He arrived home expecting to
find Betsy asleep on the couch, but instead he discovered her
lying on the living room floor near their couch, covered in blood. Russ frantically placed
his 911 call at 9:40. (Russel cries) - [Operator 1] What did
she do? Do you know? - [Russell] She has a knife in her neck and she stabbed her arms. (Russell crying) - [Operator 1] Okay.
Okay, come down, honey. Is she breathing at all? - No.
- She is not breathing? - [Russell] No, (indistinct). (Russel crying)
No! Help, help! - [Narrator] The terror and
raw motion in Russ's voice are gut wrenching as he tells the operator that his wife appeared to
have taken her own life. His mind may have jumped to the conclusion that Betsy took her own life because of her cancer prognosis. It's not uncommon for people
diagnosed with terminal illness to consider taking their own lives. But when the sheriff's
deputy arrived at the scene less than 10 minutes later, it was obvious that something far more
sinister had occurred. She had been stabbed repeatedly, her arms nearly severed,
wrists slashed to the bone, the knife still protruding from her neck. Russ was escorted outside. An autopsy would reveal that 55 stab wounds covered her body. This is clear evidence of overkill, and is an indication that the victim most likely knew the perpetrator. Around 11:00 PM, a little over an hour after the sheriff's deputy
arrived on the scene, he drove Russ to the Lincoln
County Sheriff's Office for questioning. It was routine procedure. Russ was the spouse of
the deceased after all. But soon the tone changed, and the questioning turned
into an interrogation that would last nearly 11 hours. A search of the Faria house uncovered blood on the couple's
bedroom light switch plate, and on a pair of Russ's
slippers in the closet. Russ's game night friends were interviewed while he was interrogated, and they agreed with
the timeline of events Russ had provided, but
investigators weren't sure if they'd agreed on the night's events, because they'd crafted
a conspiratorial story, or if it was simply an accurate timeline. At about 6:40 the next morning, two detectives arrived to
interview Betsy's friend, Pam. She proved to be very
helpful to the investigation. Four days prior to Betsy's stabbing, Betsy had changed the beneficiary on a $150,000 life insurance
policy from Russ to Pam. According to Pam, Russ
and Betsy's daughters couldn't be trusted to handle the funds. So Pam agreed to manage
funds for Betsy's daughters. Pam also claimed Betsy had told her that Russ was physically abusive. The doting husband was
starting to sound more like a heartless bully. Russ was released after
being in police custody for nearly 24 hours, but his
freedom was only temporary. He was arrested on January 4th, 2012, the day after Betsy's funeral, on charges of first degree
murder and armed criminal action. For the following 22 months, Russ sat in prison awaiting trial, which finally began in
late November of 2013. Jurors listened as the prosecution built quite a case against Russ. They proposed that Russ
had been driven by rage when he discovered life policy paperwork that had been left on the kitchen counter. As well, prosecution suggested that Russ had left his
phone at his friend's place during game night, made
the 30 minute commute back to the Faria home, murdered Betsy, and then a loyal friend from the group delivered his phone along
with an Arby's receipt later that night, in an effort
to mislead investigators. When the 911 call was played for the jury, prosecution also argued
that Russ's emotions were over the top and insincere, saying he was faking his reaction to Betsy's brutalized body. And then there were the slippers. The blood on Russ's slippers
found in the bedroom closet was damning, no doubt about it. When Pam was called to testify as witness for the prosecution,
she reinforced the argument that the Faria marriage
wasn't the happy one it appeared to be, not happy at all. And as beneficiary of the $150,000, Hupp testified that she had
set up a trust for the girls in the amount out of $100,000. As for the other $50,000, Betsy
asked that it be set aside to help a friend's daughter,
a 12 year old child whose mother had recently died of cancer. The jury deliberated for about four hours. And it was no surprise that Russ was found guilty
of the heinous crime. A month later, Russ received
a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. End of story, right? Not at all. After the dust settled from
the conclusion of the trial, some of the questions about Betsy's murder were anything but answered. It turns out that the jury had not been permitted to hear facts that Russ's attorney Joel Schwartz was certain would've changed
the outcome of the trial. Because of this, Russ
was granted a retrial on June 5th, 2015. In fact, the presiding judge went so far as to describe the original
trial as rather disturbing. Just two weeks prior to the retrial, a shocking bombshell was dropped. A forensic expert found a
document on a Faria computer. It seemed to be an email
Pam had mentioned to police a few years earlier, and it detailed Betsy's
fears concerning Russ. In the email, she wrote
that she felt he was going to harm her, and mentioned an incident where Russ allegedly held
a pillow over her face. She asked Pam if she
would serve as beneficiary to Betsy's life policy, so Pam could handle funds
for Betsy's daughters. With this new evidence, the retrial was going to
be a challenging battle. November 2nd, 2015 arrived,
and the trial commenced. Once again, the prosecution painted Russ as the abusive husband, and
Betsy, the fearful victim. The defense stated that it appeared Betsy had been dead for some time
when Russ discovered her body. And testimony of a paramedic
supported the claim, saying that she was cold
and stiff to the touch upon his arrival at the scene. However, Russ's lawyer also introduced a new potential suspect, and it was none other than,
you guessed it, Pam Hupp. She was the last to see Betsy after all. Some peculiar things about
Pam were about to emerge. There were inconsistencies in Pam's previous accounts of the evening. Initially, she'd stated she
hadn't gone inside Betsy's home. On another occasion, she said she'd stuck around
at Betsy's for 20 minutes. At trial, she testified
she was back home by 7:27. Phone records showed that she
had called Betsy at that time. But why, and why didn't
Betsy answer the call? Most importantly is indicated
by cell phone records, why was Pam still within
three miles of Betsy's home when she placed the call? Perhaps the strangest
most unbelievable twist was a police officer's testimony that during the previous summer, Pam had described her and
Betsy as, get this, lovers. According to Pam, they'd been engaged in a secret romantic
relationship for 10 years. And boy, had Russ been
angry when he'd found out? Then the document found
on the Faria computer was introduced, not a great
development for Russ, or was it? The defense expert
testified that the letter had been planted five days
before Betsy was murdered. It was the only document on the computer with an unknown author, and it had been created in
a Word processing program the computer didn't
even have, interesting. So if Betsy hadn't written
the email, who had? Russ's bloody slippers
were also addressed, but a CSI who had investigated the scene testified that the slippers looked like they'd been dipped in blood, not worn through a bloody path. On top of this, cell phone records, receipts and even merchant footage backed up Russ's account of the evening as he ran errands and
grabbed his Arby's meal. On November 6th, 2015, the
judge decided the case. This time, Russ was acquitted, but a very important
question still remained. If Russ hadn't killed Betsy, who had? Russ's lawyer literally couldn't rest. He was losing sleep over the murder, despite his client's acquittal. Prosecuting attorney,
Askey had no intention of pursuing any other suspect,
but Schwartz's gut told him that someone else was going to die, an ominous prediction that
would soon prove true. In what seemed to be a
completely unrelated event, on August 16th, 2016, Pam was
in her car in her driveway when a strange man confronted her. She jumped out of the car
and rushed into her home, but the man followed her inside. - [Operator 2] 911, what's your emergency? - [Pam] Hey, hello, there's
someone breaking into my house, help, help!
- What's the address you're at? - [Pam] Help! - [Man] (indistinct). - [Pam] I didn't enter the
car with you, no, get away. Get out, get out, get out! (gunshots) - [Narrator] Then, five shots rang out. Pam's flat tone in this
clip is somewhat strange. She doesn't appear to be
expressing much emotion despite the situation. It almost sounds as if
she's reading from a script. This type of scenario should trigger a fight or flight response, which is the body's way of coping with extreme stress or danger, and is usually expressed by
yelling, screaming, or crying, all of which is the opposite of Pam. Pam told police about how the intruder had tried to kidnap her
to get Russ's money, and yelled that he was going to kill her. That's when she'd located her revolver, pointed and shot him. Following the questioning,
Pam was released, but in time, the truth would be exposed, and in a way no one could have imagined. About a week later, St.
Charles County prosecutors and investigators announced
that further investigation had led them to develop their own theory. It went something like this. Pam needed to divert
attention from herself, as it was known the Betsy's
case was being reinvestigated. She tried to make it look
like she'd been attacked by an assassin sent by Russ, then shot the man in self defense. And Joel's prediction of another casualty had sadly proven correct. Pam was finally arrested. Footage shows Pam being questioned, then grabbing a pen and
tucking it into her clothing behind her back. She requests a trip to the restroom, suddenly chaos erupts
at the police station. - [Officer] There's a female officer here who's going to escort you
to the bathroom, okay? - [Male Officer] Hey!
We need a medic here! Pam, Pam, Pam! - [Narrator] Pam has
attempted to take her life by inflicting injuries
to her neck and wrists using the pen she'd hidden. Authorities believed Pam's
bizarre attempt to take her life was an indication of her guilt in the killing of the alleged intruder. He was identified as 33
year old Louis Gumpenberger, who was mentally and physically disabled due to a horrific car crash in 2005. It definitely didn't do Pam any favors when cell phone records indicated a ping near the home Louis shared
with his mother and son, just 45 minutes before
she placed the 911 call. The call seemed like nothing more than a terrible
performance on Pam's part. And how had Louis made the 13
mile commute to Pam's home? He rarely left his apartment with the exception of brief
walks with his mother. Furthermore, in Louis's
pocket were nine $100 bills. It just so happened that four of the bills were sequential to a $100
bill located in Pam's dresser. An unlikely coincidence, don't you think? A strange note was
discovered in Louis' pocket. It seemed to be a pitiful
attempt to incriminate him, but it was quite obviously planted. Then a chilling piece
of information surfaced. Louis wasn't the only person Pam had allegedly tried
to lure into her vehicle. Six days before his death,
a police report was filed by a woman who'd been approached by a Dateline producer at her
home in St. Charles County. The offer was enticing. She would be paid $1,000 by the producer for simply reenacting a
911 call for the show. But her instincts told her
something wasn't quite right. She'd made the mistake
of getting into the car, and quickly told the woman
to take her back home. The woman did, and her home
security camera captured footage of the 2016 Acadia and the license plate. The vehicle was found to
belong to, yes, Pam Hupp. On August 12th, 2019, Pam was
sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of
parole for the killing of Louis. The death penalty was taken off the table when Pam entered an Alford plea. An Alford plea is where there
is strong evidence of guilt, but a defendant doesn't have
to actually admit to the crime in order to plead guilty
and accept a plea bargain. This is often done in an attempt to avoid the worst possible
sentence for the crime. In July of 2021, yet
another outrageous twist in this strange tale occurred. At long last, Pam was formally charged with first degree murder,
and the death of Betsy Faria. Perhaps after all of the
years since Betsy's death, justice could be on the
horizon for family and friends of the woman whose life was cut short. That's how this story ends for now. But before we go, I'll leave you with one
more intriguing tidbit. Pam's mother, 77 year old Shirley Neumann, died about two years after
Betsy's murder in 2013, years before Pam was arrested. But the cause of death
was anything but natural. She fell from her apartment
balcony, three floors up. Apparently, she had a large
amount of Ambien in her system. The cause of death was ruled undetermined. It's alleged that Pam was the last person to see Shirley alive. Was it simply an accident,
or something more sinister? Perhaps we'll never know. Here are some red flags from this case. For one, it was a red flag that Betsy changed her life
insurance beneficiary to Pam, only of few days before she died. The fact that Pam changed
her story several times about whether she went
inside the house or not should have set off some alarm bells. The phone call that
she made to her husband as she was leaving in which Betsy can be
heard in the background could have been a very strategic move to provide proof that Betsy was alive when Pam allegedly left. Pam's very range 911 call
before shooting Louis. It's possible that she
was overly confident, thinking her story would be believed so she didn't need to put in much effort to convincing the dispatcher. How to avoid similar situations. One big takeaway from
this case is to remember that money can affect
people in different ways, and greed can be a very dangerous thing. If someone is trying to
persuade you to make changes about who will inherit your money, or about increasing the
amount of your life insurance, do not make any rush decisions, even if this person
makes convincing points.
