The Thing About Pam (2022) s01e04 Episode Script

Previously on - "Dateline" is here? - Wow.
Will you dig up something on Pam Hupp? There's no direct evidence here that connects her to the crime.
Well, it looks like we're facing a home court advantage here, Russ.
Did you guys ever find that letter about Russ putting a pillow over her face? Luminol photos were taken.
We found blood in the kitchen.
We the jury find Russell Faria guilty of murder in the first degree.
I'm not gonna quit until he's free.
I set up a trust for the daughters of Betsy Faria.
I'd like to transfer the balance to my personal checking.
No one knows a mother like her daughter.
Go ahead, Grandma, make a wish.
A very, shall we say, special relationship.
- Yay.
- Yay! Gotta get you back to Autumndale.
Already late meeting the plumber at our flip.
Oh, I can take Grandma back.
I don't want to go with you.
It's fine.
I'll take her.
Your mom's just protecting her spot in my will.
When does money become an obsession? By 1977, Pam had grown up poor, but she was popular.
She was on the pom-pom squad.
So, Pam, you gonna give it up to Randy tonight? I'm saving myself.
Randy's gotta wait till after I go to Mizzou, get my teaching degree.
Man, if he doesn't look good in that suit.
Aren't you supposed to stay inside, with the other teachers? That Gunderson boy better have you home by 11:00, Pam, and no fooling around.
Don't worry, Mrs.
Neumann.
Pam was just saying she's waiting till marriage.
After Mizzou.
Pam doesn't got the brains for Mizzou.
And I'm not so sure she has anything left to save, honey.
This one is very sneaky.
Was Pam born with a certain nature? He brain wired a certain way? Don't you walk away from me.
Why don't you have another drink, Mom? And if biology loaded the gun, so to speak, did upbringing fire it? I will cut you out of my will, Pam.
Did you wet yourself? What did I tell you last time? Hmm? Mm.
You're done.
Hm.
And if you even try to take those off, it'll be worse for you, trust me.
I should be the one crying.
You owe me, little girl.
But you got any money? No.
You're broke.
Rand, we're out of milk.
I need some grocery money.
I'm watching the game.
Come on.
Little late, isn't it, Pam? I'll go with you.
Mom.
Mom, you're tired.
You want me to bring you back some gin, yeah? - Okay, all right.
- All right.
Mm-hmm.
- Rand.
- Hmm? Money.
Thanks for getting milk.
You are a good mom.
Good moms don't run out of milk.
You were always out of milk.
You were always out of everything.
'Cause we were poor, dumbass.
Why are you here if you're just gonna insult me? Somebody has to keep an eye on you, for Sarah's sake.
Oh.
So does that mean you don't disown my daughter after all? No, she's still a bastard.
We got married before she was born.
Sarah is not a bastard.
She's not my family.
That's for sure.
You're going to get milk or what? Or what? Gin and tonic for you.
Uh, no.
So AAA is the last stop before the pros.
It's got nothing to do with the automobile association.
I'm headed to play in Florida.
Another G&T for me.
And a beer for AAA over here.
Hi.
Florida, huh? That's the plan, yeah.
AAA two to three years, and off to the big leagues.
I like a guy with a plan.
And Florida's real humid, right? My mom hates humidity.
Frazzles her hair.
So when do we leave? Great form, Mrs.
Fitzgerald.
- Hmm? - Yeah.
Mrs.
Fitzgerald baked these for helping out.
Isn't that nice? Her gout's spread like crazy.
She doesn't have any family around.
I'm sure you'll take good care of her.
Mm-hmm.
Hey, may I have some money for a beer? Hmm? Mm, no.
No more spending today.
Mm-mm.
I am not buying you another bathing suit.
That one barely fits.
When I was your age, I had to wear pedal pushers to the pool.
Know why? Your grandma beat me with a belt.
You think I ever got any cookies? Hmm.
You and baby Travis don't know how lucky you are to be mine.
Far, far away from mean, old Grandma.
Can I come with you to the house? Scott and I have been thinking about flipping, too.
Scott.
What's he know? He got his real estate license.
Anyone can study up.
It doesn't mean you got the knack.
Actually, Scott found this perfect foreclosure on Derby.
You guys don't have the bankroll for this game, and I don't want to see you make a mistake that I gotta fix.
You owe me 15.
72 with the fries.
How come Travis doesn't have to pay? I do other things.
He does.
Sarah, your mom is always gonna make you pay.
Grandma, I'm over here.
When she was just a little bitch, Pam stole candy from a corner store and hid it under the bed, and she lied to her dad, said that I was the one who stole it.
Who do you think he believed? And she still steals from me.
Grandma's lying.
Her brain is mush.
Let's do cake.
Mothers and daughters, a bond that can't be severed.
Okay, okay.
Hello? It's Cathy from "Dateline.
" It had been almost two years since Russ' conviction, and Pam had rested on her laurels.
Hi.
Sorry to just show up, but you stopped answering my texts.
Oh, well, first, nice to meet ya.
And I told ya, I'm a private person.
I know.
But with Joel pushing for a retrial, you should really think about telling your side of the story.
A retrial who said that? - Just what I heard.
- Uh-huh.
'Kay.
Um, well, have a good one.
You might want to send a new photo, at least.
Ugh.
Ironically, it was Pam that got the ball rolling.
You mean, I could get out? That's what we're saying.
Lily and Mariah filed a civil suit against Pam for the insurance money.
So I was able to use some of the material from Pam's civil deposition as evidence in support of a thing called a Mooney motion.
Super longshot.
And it worked.
Now, this motion got us a hearing before a judge.
And he agreed to grant you a new trial.
Russ, this is a good thing.
I know.
Thanks, but they're a bunch of cheats.
I've already been in here three years because of them.
What if they just tear me down again - and I wind up back here, and - No, no, no.
Everything is gonna be different this time, Russ.
This motion guarantees that we'll be able to bring in all the evidence implicating Pam Hupp.
Now, we'd like to request a bench trial.
That is, one judge, not an uninformed group like we had last time.
- Just a judge? - Just one judge.
- Is that risky? - Yeah, it's different.
Normally, we only have to convince one juror out of 12.
Now, those odds didn't exactly work in our favor last time, but this time, you'll get a new judge, a fair one.
That's all we need, and we can win this thing.
But it's up to you.
We don't want to do anything without your say-so.
If you think it's better Let's go for it.
I trust you.
Mrs.
Hupp is It's fine.
It's fine.
You said it would take five or six years for an appeal.
- What's this about retrial? - Uh It's the most ridiculous thing.
My ten-year-old could file something better.
A Mooney motion.
- Money motion? - Mooney.
I could show you my bank statement.
- It's Mooney.
- The money's still there.
- I'm not the kind of person - Right, it's Who goes out and just blows money.
- No, I know.
- Not me.
Never has been me.
- Of course.
- I went to college.
You know, top of my class.
- I didn't need that money.
- Right.
And if he's such a great lawyer, and he charges what he charges, he's gonna crack this whole thing open based on a deposition? What deposition? The one for the girls' lawsuit against you.
Because of what you said.
Are you okay? I'm fine.
Joel's just using your testimony to say that the only reason that you opened the trust is because you felt pressured by the cops or me? No.
That is not true.
That is ridiculousness.
I know it's not It's ridiculousness.
So you never said that.
Are you saying that That this is my fault? No.
Not at all.
Just that Schwartz is using Schwartz is doing that one-sided BS.
But we will have to prep, so I'm gonna have Tina schedule some time.
Dream team.
Right.
Let me help you with the door.
There you go.
Thanks, Pam.
Bye.
Tina, um, do you understand Facebook? Because I made a campaign account for my reelection, but am I a page? Am I a person? What am I? I don't know, but I was actually just going over the original evidence list, and it seems like there are a few items on here that weren't filed correctly the first time around, - or never even tested.
- Hmm.
Should I test them now? Yeah.
Test everything.
Against Russ and anyone else? Why would we test against anyone but Russ? So we can, I don't know, be on the right side of things.
We are on the right side.
We won.
Seems like I knew what I was doing then.
Why would we change tactics now? She was just weird.
It was like she was blaming me or something.
It's not my fault that Betsy's girls made me talk to their lawyer.
She's the DA.
It's her job to put Russ away and keep him there.
Her job.
Hey.
We're behind on the mortgage and That's all that's left of Betsy's insurance.
And it's it's sentimental.
She would want me to save it for a rainy day.
Plus, people are late on bills all the time.
Nothing ever happens.
We gotta think bigger.
Is now the time for bigger, though? It's the time for big swings.
Russ is getting a retrial, and "Dateline" is up my ass.
- Well, reporters are rats.
- Yeah, they are.
You know what my mom used to do with rats? She liked that poison that killed them slow.
I like the kind with zinc.
It makes 'em pop right from the get-go, you know? Well, my mama always said to make sure they got nothing to feed on.
You are so right.
Huh.
If Russ never gets out, there's no story.
No "Dateline.
" No "Dateline.
" Hmm.
We'll see.
Would you scootch back a bit for me, please? We're gonna try and get a shot of you through the doorway, like this.
Oh, boy.
There's no need to be nervous.
We're not here to interrogate you.
It's okay.
I know what you're here for.
I'm here to report the facts.
You're gonna say that the facts don't point to Russ, right? There are certain facts that call into question that theory.
And it's my responsibility to report those too.
You mean some people saying it's Pam Hupp? I know what some folks think, and I can only guess what they're saying about me.
But Pam was there for the family and the police.
She was their star witness.
So how could that be if she were the guilty one? Pam, it's great that you wanted to come back in and help us, but a lot of this we know from the first time around.
Did you know that Betsy had an inverted nipple? No, I didn't.
Well, I told her it was a sign of cancer, and it sure was.
I mean, we just spent a whole lot of time together, you know? Um, and I did.
I, uh replaced what a husband would be.
So you were filling voids they had in their marriage.
- Yeah.
- Uh-huh.
And after that, I knew she had a mad crush on me.
I didn't know to what level.
It didn't matter.
I think that happens with people.
But I think because I always had her back, she trusted me.
She really, really, really loved me.
And it just kept growing from that.
She wanted to be more.
Oh, you mean, like Like, a sexual relationship? Yeah.
But I said, "No, that's not me," and all of that, and she got sort of mad.
So over time It didn't start out that way But our relationship became more.
We were sexual together.
Don't like girls.
Never been attracted to girls.
I'll go watch "Magic Mike XL" right now.
Love men.
But sex isn't a big deal to me, so it was something I sacrificed for her.
Well, it's the caregiver in you.
Exactly.
And, uh, never mentioned it before because it's private, and, um, she was very serious about nobody knows, 'cause she was scared what Russ would do, but he knew.
He was jealous.
Thought we were ripping each other's clothes off all the time.
But it wasn't like that.
We weren't lesbians.
- Mm.
- We just had this sexual thing between us.
Betsy getting that from you, that must have made Russ really mad.
Big time.
Russ and me got physical over it.
We were in the basement playing softball when Russ comes home.
He goes, "What the hell are you two doing down here?" "If I ever catch you two "muff thumpers together again, "I'll stab ya and bury ya out in the yard.
" "Muff thumpers?" That's what he said.
- Huh.
- Okay.
Well, that's Uh-huh.
Thank you for coming in and telling us that.
That's That's on the record, so.
We'll let you know - if we have any questions.
- That's fine.
Thank you.
Just doing my part.
I'll walk you out.
Thank you, Detective.
Thank you, Pam.
We're gonna need to rethink.
I agree.
It's about time we move away from her lies.
She's not lying.
She just keeps changing her story.
And I know Schwartz's whole case is gonna be making Pam look guilty, and with this new muff stuff, it just could be distracting in court.
Especially since she didn't mention any of it in the first trial.
Well, she was probably scared.
And then look what happened.
Russ killed Betsy.
We can't too much on Pam this time around.
We need more hard evidence.
Well, back in 2011, Pam mentions an email that Betsy had written her but not sent.
She said it was a document on Betsy's computer.
But it details how she was afraid of Russ, how he would hold a pillow over her face, but no one ever looked for it.
Why? I don't know.
Well, we need to find the letter.
Joel, listen to this.
"I woke up to Russ holding a pillow over my face.
"Didn't know what was going on.
"I broke loose and started to scream at him, "asking what he was doing.
"He was said that he wanted me to know what dying feels like.
" Sounds Huppity.
That was just sent over from the DA's office.
Remember the Medical Examiner's report said that there was bruising around Betsy's neck? If Pam wrote this letter before the murder She would be setting up that Betsy was gonna be suffocated by Russ.
And that was found on Betsy's computer, just like Pam said it would.
It's weird that they sent over a little piece of paper.
We need the computer.
We need the original data file analyzed.
Hey, Greg.
Joel Schwartz here.
I got a rush job for you.
Front desk says nobody's changed your diaper in two days.
I cannot come running every time you crap yourself, Mom.
Well, this is what you wanted.
I can't do anything without you.
Come on.
Mm-hmm.
- All right, come on.
- What? No, what? Damn it! Where are my glasses? I know you took 'em.
You take all my things.
I don't know how I raised such a fat little thief.
I did not take your things.
You should be nicer to me.
Why should I be nice to a girl who marries a Gunderson? I'm married to Mark now, Mom.
Mark.
Mark.
Mark, Mark, Mark, Mark.
But you made a little Gunderson.
And she's still got you beat.
Sarah is a teacher.
And you're what? On disability or something? I make a nice living with my real estate business.
Well, just go flip your dang houses, before Sarah takes that too.
When a parent hurts a child, does that hurt get passed on like a grim inheritance? All right, ladies and gentlemen, the next house on the auction block: Derby Street.
It is a beautiful little house with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a wonderful little kitchenette.
Wonderful opportunity for a smart buyer.
85, the woman in blue.
Going once, going twice.
95, the woman in pink.
Pam, what are you doing? I don't think the lender's gonna give us another loan.
- Shh.
- We shouldn't even be here.
You really gonna let this go? Do we have enough money? Bow out, Sarah.
It's only gonna get worse for ya, trust me.
Okay, going once, going twice.
Sold to the woman in pink.
Pam wins again.
For now.
But could she do it once more in a court of law? - Oh, boy.
- Mrs.
Hupp.
Why did Betsy make you the beneficiary? - Pam.
- Pam! Any comments? Mr.
Hupp, anything? Any comment at all? Anything at all today? Do you have any comment? - What's that? - Someone from the DA's office sent those over to me anonymously.
And they change everything for us, Russ.
- What is it? - Luminol photos.
That's right, perfect pictures.
No camera malfunctions.
- And - Wait for it.
No signs of blood, no evidence of a cleanup, - which means the police lied.
- Ha! Hey.
I can't promise you we're gonna win.
I think we learned that last time around.
But I can promise you that these give us a much better shot.
I've thought about you and this case every damn day since the last trial, and I am gonna fight like hell for you out there, Russ.
I appreciate that.
Mrs.
Askey, you may proceed.
"My name is Russell Faria.
"I just got home from my friend's house, and my wife killed herself.
" That's what the defendant said on his 911 phone call.
But that was a lie.
The first of many.
Betsy Faria did not kill herself.
She was murdered.
And the state will show that the only person with the means, motive, and opportunity was Russell Faria.
Judge, our case will be based on evidence, not theories.
And the evidence will clearly show that Russell Faria did not murder his wife.
The person who murdered Betsy Faria was the last person to see her alive, was the person who got the insurance payout, and the person who has consistently lied about every single detail of this case.
Detective McCarrick? Detective McCarrick, nobody followed up with Pam Hupp's husband to do an actual interview with him alone.
No.
Nobody bothered to seize his phone, to verify when Pam's message was left? - No.
- Hmm.
And nobody nobody bothered to check with the neighbors to see when she might have got home.
Not to my knowledge.
Can anyone testify where Pam Hupp was at the time of the murder? No.
Were you aware that Pam Hupp's financial situation was so dire at the time of Betsy's murder that she was several months behind on her COBRA payments for her health insurance? I was not.
How much did Pam gain when Betsy died? $150,000.
$150,000.
No further questions.
Daniel Williams.
"I need to change my life insurance policy "out of his name, but can't let him know "that I have taken him off as beneficiary.
"I need your help.
"I am so tired from the cancer.
"I am so afraid of staying out in Troy alone with Russ.
"If something happens to me, would you please show this to the police?" And that was addressed to Pam Hupp.
Correct.
And as a member of the Cybercrimes Task Force, it's your job to examine all the digital evidence.
Can you please tell the court where you found this document? I found the pdoc on Betsy Faria's computer, State's Exhibit 3.
No future questions.
What's this letter? Don't worry about it.
The defense would like to call Detective Michael Merkel.
After you took the Luminol photos, you testified, back in the first trial, that they showed absolutely nothing, because of a malfunction in the camera that has since been repaired.
Is that correct? So there were no photographs that were developed that day.
I don't believe so.
No, sir.
I'd like to show you what is marked as Defendant's Exhibit O.
What you see? It would be the Luminol photos from the scene.
Where did he get those? And do they show absolutely nothing? No, sir.
There's 130 of them there.
Pull one out.
Any one.
At random.
What is that a picture of? Looks like a sink drain.
- Is that absolutely nothing? - No.
Pull out another one.
Any one.
- Now what's that? - Floor tile.
- Is that absolutely nothing? - No, sir.
So when you said that the photographs contained absolutely nothing, you actually meant nothing you wanted to see.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
You testified in 2013 that those photographs contained absolutely nothing, but today, you now see 130 photographs of absolutely something, is that correct? - Yes, that's correct.
- Yes, so there's no evidence that Russ cleaned up any blood in those photos, is there? - No.
- Thank you.
No further questions.
The defense calls Greg Chatton.
I work in digital forensics for law enforcement matters.
And you examined the computer file the prosecution claims is a letter from Betsy Faria? Yes, I validated the file and documented the date and times the file was created.
Can you explain to the court what you found? Mrs.
Faria was running Windows 2003, and when a document is created, she would be tagged within the metadata of the file automatically.
This is something that the user cannot control.
That's a lot.
So who did the metadata say created the alleged letter? - It said "unknown.
" - "Unknown"? Hmm.
I wonder how that happened.
There are only two ways: someone changed the author to "unknown," or the file was created on another computer - and then copied over.
- I see.
You found something else interesting in the metadata.
What was that? The metadata tagged this document as being created in Word '97.
Was Word '97 installed on Betsy's computer? No.
So it would be impossible for that document to have been created - on Betsy's computer.
- Yes.
Which means it had to have been copied over from a different computer.
That's correct.
No further questions.
The witness may step down.
Are there any more witnesses for the state? Leah.
Are you going to call Pam? The state rests, Your Honor.
Why didn't they call Pam? If there's something more damaging, we could discover it on cross.
We could finally nail her.
Very well.
Are there any more witnesses for the defense? The defense rests, Your Honor.
We don't need her lies in this court.
Please rise.
There's no question this was a brutal murder.
And I'm sorry for the family who had to experience such a horror.
But the investigation of this case by law enforcement is rather disturbing, and frankly, raised more questions than answers.
Consequently, as to count one, murder in the first degree, court finds the defendant, Russell Scott Faria, not guilty.
Oh! As to count two, armed criminal action, the court finds the defendant, Russell Scott Faria, not guilty.
So Mom's killer just gets to walk away and that's it? Looks like it.
Leah blew it.
All she had to do was call me to the stand.
Here she comes.
Joel Schwartz is here.
Thank you, Tina.
How you doing, Leah? Just great, Joel.
Look, I'm not sure you're gonna want to do this, but we have a lot of research that we are willing to share, if you decide to reopen the Faria case.
We had the right guy, but thanks.
All right.
Well, if you change your mind.
Yeah, you'll be my first call.
- Can I ask you a question? - Of course.
How do you like working for her? I don't work for Leah.
I work for the county.
Doesn't matter whose name's on the door.
This town is lucky to have you.
Hi, this is DA Askey.
I'd like the Sheriff's Office to draw up a destruction of evidence order.
Yes, all evidence related to the Faria case.
That's items 1 through 214.
Yep, and the evidence logs.
Thank you.
I still think there's evidence out there I never received.
When I finally got the cell tower triangulation, it showed that Pam had not gotten more than, at the very most, about three miles from the house.
And at the very least, she was still at the house.
And the fact that she lied about where she was when she called the victim But I couldn't get into any of that when she testified Well, the 25 years I've been practicing law, I have never seen anything like it.
In everyday life, we're all the heroes of our own stories.
But what happens when our story gets told? Can you believe this crap? Maybe nobody will see it.
For the first time, Pam wasn't in control over her own story.
Hello, missy? - No.
- Hello No, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
I'm cutting you off.
12 bucks a pop.
What, now you can't buy me a drink because you bought Sarah's house out from under her? It wasn't hers.
You owe her big time.
I have half a mind to cut you out of the will and stick her in your slot.
I pay for Autumndale.
I hate Autumndale.
It smells like spiderwebs and soup.
You know, you're done, Pam.
I'm cutting you off.
Aww, thanks, hon.
You really do take care of me.
I don't know what I'd do with ya.
She is down for the count up there.
Won't be down for dinner.
- Or breakfast.
- Breakfast, too? Yeah, she needs her rest.
If you don't from her, maybe pop in around lunchtime.
Sure thing, Miss Pam.
Happy Halloween.
Trick or treat.
- I like your costume! - Ah! Will you please wait for me? Whoa.
That almost looks real.