The Thing About Pam

Pretty sure y’all know how I feel about true crime podcasts, so I thought I’d share one of my favorites with you. My friend Denise told me about it a while back, and it did not disappoint. It started with a murder, as most of them do, but by the final episode, my jaw was in my lap. Stories like this prove that the truth is often stranger than fiction.

The story began a few years back in Northern Missouri, which I’m starting to think is a hotbed for crime. Not only that, but real murderers tend to get away with a lot before being caught, since the police pin whatever happened on one suspect and fashion an investigation around their accused criminal without evidence or an alternative option. I could be totally off-base in my assumption, since the cases in which the correct person is for their crimes probably don’t get the same media attention as the others. Still, in the case of Betsy Faria’s murder, the police were convinced from the beginning that her husband, Russ, killed her despite lack of evidence or motive.

After a brief and surface level investigation, Russ was tried and convicted of his wife’s murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. All the while, Betsy’s good friend, Pam Hupp, hovered around the proceedings, helping with the investigation and sharing Russ and Betsy’s marital issues with the police. Bless her heart.

Since I don’t want to spoil the story for those of you that may want to listen to the podcast or watch the very well-done Dateline miniseries, I won’t get into all the twists and turns that occurred as the truth unfolded. I will say that Pam wove an interesting web. Also, I was shocked to hear about a trial in which the prosecutor, judge, Pam, and most of the jury were old high school friends. All of it makes for a story that I was willing to sit in the driveway listening to even after my drive home from work ended.

I highly recommend The Thing About Pam both as a podcast and miniseries. If you haven’t listened or watched yet, do it! Let me know what you think.

What true crime podcast or show has left you in disbelief? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

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