Bone Deep: Untangling the Betsy Faria Case

The stranger-than-fiction case of Pam Hupp, a Missouri woman currently serving a life sentence for two murders, has received tremendous publicity, thanks to the NBC program Dateline and now a miniseries starring Renée Zellweger. Using interview and court transcripts, authors Bosworth and Schwartz (the defense attorney in the case) retrace events beginning in 2011 when Russ Farina found his wife Betsy stabbed to death in their home. What follows is a shocking tale of his false conviction, and the unsettling tunnel vision and ineptitude of the case’s police detectives, judges, and prosecutors. The actual culprit, Pam Hupp, was never seriously considered a suspect, and crucial evidence against her was not allowed in the trial. Following his conviction, Farina served three years in prison before the case was retried and Hupp was arrested. By this time, the case reached new heights of perplexity when there was yet another murder. Gary Bennett’s calming narration provides a note of clarity amid the astounding and infuriating events.