you're sitting there and sick." i knew without a doubt he didn't and if we didn't fight, he could be sitting in there for 30 years. >> a story with four years of twists -- >> after "dateline" aired we had so many people step forward. >> -- takes a wild, hairpin turn. it all began the night he discovered his wife dead. >> oh my god, no! >> cops found blood on his slippers, and said he failed a polygraph. >> the fact of the matter is you stabbed betsy. >> thing was, this husband had an alibi, thanks to the buddies he met every tuesday for "game night."

have committed this crime. a man cannot be in two places at the same time. >> a high-profile trial. a speedy verdict. >> so why is this case getting an almost-unprecedented second look? >> this doesn't happen, right? >> it's incredibly rare. >> and is anyone prepared for this? >> did she say, "i have a bombshell"? >> she did. >> from tales of a secret love -- >> she revealed that she and betsy had had an intimate relationship. >> -- to a tell-tale clue, hidden on a hard drive. >> it is a smoking gun. >> it's finally time for the truth. >> that's a scary moment. >> it was a horrible moment. >> i'm lester holt, and this is "dateline." here's keith morrison with "return to game night." >> reporter: they were so sure

for his freedom. he loved her too much more that, they said. and anyway, he was with us, they said. he could never have done those dreadful things, they said. here on that frigid night in the house on sumac drive, when the woman inside stopped feeling the cold, or anything else. when the husband returned from what he'd later say was his ironclad alibi, and called 911. 9:40pm, december 27th, 2011. >> what is the location of your emergency? [ crying ] >> okay. i need you to take a couple deep breaths so i can see what's going on. >> i just got home from a friend's house and -- and my wife -- my wife. >> reporter: the man was hysterical. a real emotion, most who heard it had come to believe. but now, a question -- was it? >> god. >> what is her name? >> her name is betsy. >> betsy? >> yes.

and the crying you can hear is her husband, russell. >> oh, my god. no. >> russell -- she -- do you think that she's beyond help right now? >> i think she's dead. >> okay. >> oh, my god. she's gone. >> reporter: betsy faria was dead and gone at 42. as you will hear, was not a surprise. to say. no, it was how it happened, why it happened, and all that's happened since in a small town near st. louis, missouri. was russell faria innocent, as his friends and family and army of supporters insisted? or guilty as sin, as both the state and betsy's family were so sure? and then just months ago, a fresh investigation revealed startling new allegations of

astonishing recovered memories. as you'll see tonight, the search for justice is a winding road, full of jarring potholes, unexpected detours. but first you need to know about betsy faria. she was one of four girls in her family. mary rodgers and julie swaney were older sisters. >> betsy was the most outgoing and the most social. >> reporter: kinda gregarious, >> gregarious is a great word very colorful, very lively. she was an individual. you couldn't tell her no. she did what she wanted to do. and she started deejaying at the age of -- i think she was 18, maybe even younger than that. >> reporter: wow. >> and she could start up a party. >> she was in her element when she was out there. she could get anybody on the dance floor, whether they wanted to or not. >> reporter: betsy was a single mother of two daughters, leah and mariah, when she met russ, and he seemed just about perfect

funny, outgoing, big heart, said russ's cousin, mary anderson. >> he's a happy person. he was a jokester. >> reporter: yeah. >> you -- you never seen him without him laughing. >> reporter: and, said russ, she was the perfect woman for him. >> she encouraged me to go back to school and get led to a better job, more money, things like that. >> reporter: yeah. >> which i probably wouldn't have done had she not come along. >> reporter: when russ met ters were very young, mariah still a tiny girl. >> we really created a big bond, you know. and -- and leah, you know, s well. >> reporter: betsy and russ got good times and then less good times. for more than a year, they actually lived apart. >> we argued a lot. y say. >> reporter: and then betsy tolda church that meant a lot to her.

they wer marriage. it was kind of -- kind of like an omen. >> reporter: and that, said russ, is when their marriage got better again. >> you know, we kinda re-fell inother. >> reporter: but life will have its way with a person -- like it or not. betsy found out she had breast cancer.2009, she told us that she thought she had it and it was diagnosed in january 2010. that's when she had her mastectomy. >> we went through a lot of -- ing, lot of heartache, and just lot of hard time. but you know we kept our faith and we kept praying. >> and she handled it with such grace. she just amazed the -- the millions of people that she knows.volved in tennis. she just continued playing tennis. you'd never know she was going through chemo. >> reporter: and maybe that it.

doctor told her the cancer was so she and russ decided to celebrate. they organized a caribbean cruise, invited their friends and family to come along. and then -- >> she thinks i'm free and clearmb just dropped on her. >> reporter: the cancer was back, had spread to her liver. >> it was inoperable. it was too far in her liver that they couldn't take it out. >> three to five years, perhaps less. so what did russ and betsy do? they went on that cruise anyway. gang with them. betsy got to swim with the dolphins -- a dream she'd had for years. >> just seeing how happy she wasppy. >> she told everybody that this was a second honeymoon for them. she said it was the best thing that happened. they had the best sex that they while they were on this cruise.

weeks later, betsy was dead.ly wasn't the cancer that killed her. >> how did bet to that wasn't clear at all. her husband, who called 911, had one idea. >> my wife killed herself!eporter: but investigators had another. >> it's not typical for someone ommit suicide to do it the way she done it and that's what concerns us. even "turkey jerks." [turkey] gobble. [butcher] i'm sorry!) covered march fourth,2014. talk to farmers. we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. bum-bum-bum-bum winter storm jonas promises to with total accumulation

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i just got home from a friend's house and -- and my wife. >> before all the events which have so recently upended our story, was russ faria's call to 911 the night of december 27th, 2011, in which he uttered four little words that were going to become very . herself. >> ok. down, honey. ok? i need you to calm down and take a couple deep breaths. we're going to get somebody on the way there, okay?re was the town of troy, about an hour from st. between his sobs, russ told the

a night out with friends to find dead on the living room floor. and, he said, it looked like >> what,do you know? >> she's got a knife in her neck. and she sliced her arms. >> russ told us something clicked when he saw her lying there. >> well, she had talked about it years before and actually tried it once or twice. >> and when you came in, what do you know, and that was the first thing that just registered in my mind.ly next morning, betsy's mother, janet meyer, got a knock on the door. officers standing there on her doorstep. >> one of them just looked rightsaid, "betsy's dead." and i said, "well, how could she be dead?" she was just here last night. to betsy's sister julie's house. >> they said it was a possible suicide.

gave her this look like, i don't think that sounds right.r: thing is by the time police offered that suicide faria was no suicide. not even possible. first responders could tell right away -- and the medical body had been pierced many, many times -- including woundlicted after she was already dead. hardly surprising then, that police might be casting around for suspects. or, that russ, the husband, the who supposedly discovered the body had some explaining to do. but that night, at the sheriff's department, getting him to focus was not an easy thing. >> oh god. it sucks. no.ou're the only one that can help us with this right now. >> i don't know what to do. investigators had a job to do, find betsy's killer and they thought it might incredibly emotional. was he acting? was this florid grief, actually real?

be sticking with the suicide story.hink happened to betsy? >> it looked like she killed herself.r: but did he really not know about all those other stab wounds? and something else -- betsy's body was cold and stiff when onders arrived, rigor mortis had already set in, the blood was drying.t appeared betsy had been dead for sometime when russ called 911. so detectives zeroed in on betsy and russ's movements. >> tell me about your night. >> reporter: russ said betsy had a chemo appointment that ed to go to her mom's house afterwards, and then russ would drive her home. or arrangement.

>> i asked her if she needed a ome and she said, no, that her friend was going to bring her home. and she said she had something to talk to me about., is it good or bad? and she said, well, it's good. don't worry., well, i'll see you at home later and i love you. and that was the last time i >> after that, said russ, he ran some errands, and then, at six as he almost always did tuesday evenings, he arrived at a friend's house, where a small or what they called their "game night." >> we go over there on tuesday nights and usually we play games. >> reporter: but that particular night my friend had gotten a couple of movies.d to watch movies instead.

of drive-through, then drove the 30 minutes back to his house in d have put him there about 9:40pm. unsuspecting and then -- >> i was taking my jacket off and calling for betsy. floor. >> will you ever forget what that was like, coming into the >> i my eyes. >> i fell down there by her and i looked and i saw cuts on her arm and then i saw a knife in her neck.russ, is all he saw -- so it looked to him like she'd done it herself, deliberately. >> and if this comes back that it's not a suicide, you don't have any idea who may have harmed betsy? >> no, everybody loved betsy.ve soul. she always brought smiles to people. and she made me smile all the time. she made me so proud. it's not typical for someone that's going to commit suicide to do it by the way that she done it. and that's -- that's what >> so it did. it also made russ the prime suspect. coming up, russ and betsy's relationship.

betsy's tells police things lly weren't that sunny. >> he'd start playing this game a pillow over her face. this is what it's going to feel like when you die and then act ing. >> when "dateline" continues. why have your glasses fit manually, when there's the lenscrafters accufit system. replacing basic handheld measuring toolsystem that's five times more precise. no longer comes at a price.

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reporter: not long after his wife dead, the police took him in for a estions and a

though, said russ, when he saw the machine -- >> honestly, i don't even know if the thing was on or not. after it? they told him he failed it miserably, so he must have done it, they said.confess. >> the fact of the matter is you stabbed betsy. >> no, i did not.ven there. >> russ, you were there. >> no, i found her like that e home. >> reporter: russ denied it again and again. >> i did not do this. investigators didn't buy it and much of the reason for that is they were from this woman. pam met betsy years earlier when they both worked in the insurance industry and she had a say about russ,

big fat motive -- money.ents about how much money he'll have after she's gone. i've never seen their , but he has life insurance on her at work. she has life insurance. >> reporter: pam told stigators she had been with betsy the day she died. her about a proposal she was going to make to russ -- that the two of them move into her relative's house, while they rented out their home in troy. they'd all save money that way and she'd be closer to friends o treatments. but pam claimed betsy was concerned about how russ would react to that idea. >> and she goes, "okay. well, i'll tell him, but i'm telling you right now, he's going to get very angry." >> she said, "he's tired of moving. he is staying in his house and

>> so she had already approached him with the idea? >> she was going to approach him -- >> okay. home. russ off? that. me. >> well, that was the news that she wanted to share with you it. was when you told me. >> reporter: investigators didn't believe that. especially when they heard the bombshell pam laid on them, a pam said russ played with betsy. >> he'd start playing this game of putting a pillow over her face to see what it would feel . i don't know if he said this is what it's going to feel like ie or whatever and then act like he was kidding. >> uh-huh. >> she was very upset. >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: so they took that accusation to russ, too. >> why would her friends tell the police that you had done >> she had no reasf me. she's never been scared of me. >> reporter: but it wasn't just the pam hupp story that made oh, no. though betsy was killed in her living room, crime scene and on a pair of russ's

closet. >> the fact of the matter is, it's a sloppy crime scene. there's blood on your clothes, in your residence, in your bedroom. >> reporter: then they confronted russ with the horrifying fact that betsy had been stabbed over and over n, many, many times. >> your wife was stabbed over 25 times, russ. >> oh, my god. no. >> oh, my god. >> a burglar doesn't do that, russ. a stranger doesn't do that. somebody who loves that person does that.ho goes into a blind rage does that. >> reporter: there was only one option, said the investigators.oing to have to come clean and confess. >> there's no one else that has any kind of motive, monetary or . >> i can't tell you what i don't know.

confess to something i didn't do and i can't give you details for >> there was never a focus on anybody else. >> reporter: it was the day after the murder that russ's dead, and that russ was being questioned. and that didn't make sense to her. she'd seen betsy and russ just a. everything seemed fine then. >> betsy w she was even saving him a spot on the couch. she's like, here, babe, you can sit next to me.y was so sure russ would not, could not, have killed betsy, she set out to defend him any way she could. but by the time investigators 8 hours after he was first brought in for questioning, the story was all over the local media. >> and boy this case has really been taking a lot of turns today.. i mean, they showed my picture on the news and -- >> reporter: they said you were the main suspect? >> yeah.'s what it appeared. and while i was watching it, my family came in and turned it off.

>> reporter: some friends began to wonder if they'd ever really known russ at all. his famous jokester humor and y now. more like immature, crude, boorish. these church friends, sondra and marty mcclanahan, had spent a betsy and russ. >> many people would describe him as a pig. just the things he would say. not respectful. and he would do that to everybody, but he's doing it to wife, too. >> oh, you know, you wouldn't understand. it doesn't matter. you don't, like, say that in front of a group of people to your spouse. >> reporter: betsy's mother said she'd been close, very close to russ. she also remembered a few thingstuck out like a sore thumb. >> he told a friend of mine's husband that if he got into a fight to kill. >> reporter: and betsy's

said, but when they thought man. built-up anger. >> reporter: there was the time,russ chased one with a baseball bat. >> who chases after a boyfriend with a baseball bat? >> reporter: yeah. did you see that happen? orter: who told you about this? >> the girls. by it. >> reporter: so when officers told the family about all those >> when they said that, i didn't have any doubt in my mind.of -- it could be anybody else but russ when >> reporter: that's what the investigators were thinking, too. but there were plenty of people o thought the idea that russ faria killed his wife was utter hogwash. and they said they could prove coming up, what sounds like a slam game night buddies. >> we knew that he could not have committed this crime. >> reporter: impossible? >> it's impossible.

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reporter: in the days after betsy faria died, her husband russ was without a doubt suspect number one. murder -- >> all of the evidence points to you. >> reporter: and betsy's family others in russ fariaelieve a word of it. >> they were very happy. and they were planning a trip to florida and it was going to be in march and he was like, well, ou want to do, you plan it. we'll make it happen. >> reporter: after betsy's death, cousin mary saw russ's grief up close. >> he was heartbroken.he kept saying how bad it hurt because he lost his betsy. that was the most heart-wrenching thing to see. >> reporter: they had a wake for betsy. and russ --e down, just talking to her all by himself, just him at the casket.

>> it was hard. it was very hard, but it was really nice to see how many touched and that came. >> reporter: and as for that story pam hupp was telling about russ putting a pillow over ying that's what death feels like -- >> would russ have done such a thing? >> no. now, would russ pull a cover over her head and fart d say something like that? yes, he would. >> because he was a jokester? . but would he put a pillow over her face and do that? absolutely not. >> they were happy couple. >> reporter: one of betsy's many good friends was russ's aunt, linda hartmann.s the last person she'd suspect of killing betsy, especially given how upset he was about her terminal cancer.he way that he had spoken about losing betsy, you knew howved her and he was taking it really badly. >> reporter: but, said linda, the police didn't seem to want to hear any of that.

could've been russ?" >> reporter: but, of course, most of what you heard was just opinion. russ's defenders had something much stronger in their corner.libi. remember that game night russ said he attended between 6:00 and 9:00pm the night betsy was murdered?chael corbin, the host of game night. a few of his friends had been coming by tuesday nights for years. >> essentially, it's a way where we can all get together, be sociable and not really spend any money.t particular tuesday night, mike said, russ and the others watched movies together.ne left at 9:00 p.m. as usual. and then early the next day mike and his girlfriend angie got a surprise. >> we were up having our morning coffee.k on the door, which is instantly odd, about 6:00 or maybe a little before. the police more or less invite themselves in and start asking us a whole lot of questions about what happened last night.

was he drinking anything?ing strangely? >> reporter: thing is, the police didn't tell them anything beyond the fact that something had happened to betsy, said mike. they just asked a lot of questions about their game night th, three days later, there was another early morning knock at the door. >> they took angie in one car, me in another vehicle with two investigators and they questioned us separately us. i'll put it that way. >> reporter: the two others at mike's house that night were also picked up and questioned separately. 6:00. they watched movies. >> and we were all within eight er the whole night. >> did he act the same as usual? >> oh yeah. >> and you -- >> yeah.know, he dozed off at one point. i know that. this. >> reporter: nor was it simply the unsupported story of some friends.amera showed russ stopped for gas just after 5:15pm.

food, a couple of iced teas on way to game night before 6:00 p.m. russ's cell phone pinged in those areas, too, and all from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. -- near mike's house. and the receipt from his trip to-thru was time-stamped 9:09 p.m. the drive back to russ's house would take, what with that stop at arby's, about 35, 40 minutes, putting him home just about the . >> once we heard the timeline, we knew that he could not have committed this crime. >> impossible? >> it's impossible. a man cannot be in two places at the same time.how your wife died. >> repor persuaded, not at all. after all, they had pam hupp's story. and what they said was russ's failed polygraph and her blood and it wasn't long after betsy was killed that russell faria

coming up, some say investigators may have blown it on russ because it's somebody else who got the payout from bets insurance policy. >> she got the money? >> she got the money. >> reporter: when "dateline" r body lotion. first i wash... then i apply it to my wet skin. it moisturizes with no sticky feel. i quickly rinse off. nivea in-shower body lotion -- in the body lotion aisle. h.

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>> > reporter: the case against nt to trial in november 2013, almost two years after betsy's murder. >> i don't know what to do. >> reporter: prosecutors opened that frantic 911 call the night betsy died. >> russell -- she -- do you think that she's beyond help right now?he's dead. >> reporter: the state said it sounded suspiciously hysterical, like an act.aid it sounded to her like howls of guilt. >> y oh my god, oh my god." it's like, "oh, what did i do? what did i do?" >> well, he loved her, didn't

>> uh-huh. that's what causes these -- passion. >> reporter: if that wasn't suspicious enough, said the state, there was also russ's clearly bogus suggestion that self. an obvious lie, they argued. after all, as they pointed out, the medical examiner discovered been stabbed more than 50 times. members of betsy's family, including her daugat russ had a temper. the friend who drove betsy home that night, pam hupp, told the olice, essentially that ruc' pbbad guy. the physical evidence, said the state, also proved that russ rder -- that is, betsy's blood on his slippers and her blood on the bedroom light switch. even though she was killed in the living room.e, said the prosecutor, russ's semen was found in betsy, showing he had ore killing her.

jurors, he violates her one more time.s alibi, the prosecutor said it only made his movements that evening more suspicious. looked like he went out of his way to appear in front of cameras at multiple gas stationsought everything at one place. and his alibi witnesses? sounded suspiciously rehearsed, said the state.ther didn't think much of them either when they testified. >> they all were saying the exact same thing and the exact same monotone, da,da,da,da,da,da. it was unbelievable. >> reporter: and that was in essence the state's case against russ faria. to which defense attorney joel re you kidding? >> in my opinion, an innocent man got charged with murder. and then it sort of snowballed from there.eporter: for one thing, he

pings, the friends' testimony alibi as airtight as any he'd ever seen. but what stood out stark and clear to him, said schwartz, was that there were also some very curious unanswered questions., for example -- questions about pam hupp, who had bad mouthed russ to the police and the jury.tz, had to be one of the last people, if not the last, to see betsy alive. that would have been just after 7pm. within the window of time betsy is thought to have died. and when spolice reports and listened to pam's interviews, inconsistencies stood out to him, anyway. example?ated betsy's mom said pam told her she didn't go into betsy's house when she dropped her off that evening. but -- >> she told the police a completely different story. she said she went inside for 10 to 15 minutes. >> seems like maybe more between 10 and 20 minutes? >> could be, yeah. >> okay. >> i really wasn't paying attention. i was just trying to get out of there. >> sure. >> another one?e left the house, betsy was sitting on the couch but in another interview,

something different. have still been on the couch, but today it makes sense that she walked me to the door. >> reporter: and then there were the phone records beginning at 7:21. betsy did not answer phone calls, including three from a daughter. which just a short time earlier, she had promised to answer. so, was she dead by then?r -- >> at 7:27, there's a call from pam hupp's cellphone to betsy's cellphone.t one also went unanswered but here's what pam told the police about that 7:27 p.m. call. ell her i was home. >> home? not possible, said schwartz. pamlf hour's drive away. >> but where actually was she, based on the cell tower triangulation? >> the cell tower triangulation had not gotten more than at the very most, about three miles from the house.

at the house.eporter: but the biggest questions to schwartz was about insurance. ey schwartz that just four days before the murder someone, supposedly betsy, made pam the y of betsy's $150,000 life insurance policy. >> and she got the money? >> she got the money. >> reporter: pam told investigators she was one of betsy's best friends and betsy t the money to make sure her daughters got what they needed. >> she goes, "would you be my beneficiary on my life policies and make sure my kids get when they need it? and i said, "well, i could." >> reporter: but to make this important change, they went to ad had a young librarian, not a notary or any ee, witness betsy's signature on the change of beneficiary form. the whole thing seemed very

>> i believe that betsy waay, shape or form into signing this policy without believing it would ever actualinsurance company, which is why she never told anybody, including her own mother and her own sisters, who she was very close with. detective told the insurance company pam was not a suspect ny cut her the check. >> the husband always does it. so, of course, this is the guy who did it. clouded their judgment in their investigation. it's the only exes to explain what i consider to be a horribly deficient investigation. >> reporter: much later, that same lead detective was preparing pam to testify at russ's trial and warned her the defense would certainle. >> one of the concerns that i have is -- again, like i said, the defense raising doubt with you just because you're one of eople to see betsy. you get this money given to you. >> reporter: after all, said the

betsy's death to the tune of 150,000.oing to suggest that you may have something to do with the planning or the conspiracy to commit that murder because of your financial windfall. not only that. >> what you're originally telling investigators is that she wanted you to do this to try to take care of -- make sure theaken care of because they're afraid of russ and she's afraid of russ and the kids will blow through it. however, you now have this money and have money over to the family or the kids. >> that's correct. >> that's a huge problem. >> reporter: to make it look like less of a problem, he said,p a trust for betsy's daughters and soon. >> it helps, obviously, if that trust is going to be set up for the girls - >> it will -- >> -- before the trial. >> and i told you that at the . >> sure. >> reporter: then the detective prepared pam for the key question he expected the defense to ask. >> did you have anything to do with betsy's murder? >> no, absolutely not.y what's going to be asked of you. >> reporter: in open court, but outside the presence of that

intend to ask pam hupp about all those things when she took the stand.the judge said, no, he would not ask about any of that because, said the judge, there wa pam and the murder. >> in the 25 years i've been practicing law, i've never -- a witness testifies, you can cross-examine the witness.asic tenet of law. their bias, their interest, the fact that they are the last h the victim, the fact they've just recently were given the victim's insurance under whonses, the fact that they lied about going into the house, the fact that they lied about where they were when they called the victim after being in the house, and i 't get into any of that. i've never seen anything like it. >> reporter: meanwhile, the casefaria wasn't quite finished.

russ had helpers as he set about killing his wife.rosecutors detail a mind-boggling plot y, but russ' game night pals, but what will the jury think? >> i was nervous. the rest of my life is on the line.nding on these 12 people. find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75% skin clearance at 3 months. while the majority saw 90% clearance. use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting, you should be tested for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infectionsy to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have ...such as fever, sweats, chills,

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case that his client was an innocent man. russ wasn't pretending to be 911 call, said joel schwartz. he was grieving. >> it sounded like a man whose wife was dead and he was grieving tremendously. st to answer the questions when asked in order to help the 911 operator and to help the police solve this. russ told the police he thought it was suicide because that's what it looked like when he walked into the house and found her there. slit deeply and

although there was 56 wounds, those were the only two visible . her shirt, her pants covered every other stab wound, and i think the person calling this in as a suicide is not somebody who committed the crime, but somebody who had no idea. >> reporter: what's more, said f betsy's wounds were clearly not the result of the wild stabbing you'd see in aassion. rather they appeared to have been methodically and deliberately made after betsy o make it look like a crime of passion. >> there's no other explanation for the lack of blood and there's no other explanation for the deep cut on her wrist that's post-mortem. >> reporter: and the blood lippers? >> there was no imprint of a shoe in the blood, nor was thereywhere on the tile floor leading back to where the slippers were found. >> reporter: so how would the blood get on the shoes? >> somebody attempted to s >> reporter: dipped it in the blood?

hid those back in the closet. >> reporter: as for the prosecution accusation that russ had sex with betsy before killing her --ithout getting too graphic, there were eight sperm cell found inside of her during the autopsy the next day.ally consistent with what russ told the police, said schwartz. >> we were intimate sunday night. >> reporter: that is, intimacy ore the murder. and besides all of that, said the defense, given russ's alibi, there is simply no way he could he crime. but the state wasn't quite finished with its case against russ faria.rgument to the jury, prosecutor leah askey proposed a complex theory of how the crime occurred, a theory fort present evidence at the trial. and it was big.

precise intention of hiding a that russ's game night friends were in deep, co-conspirators who helped russ hatch the murder plan, waited for the right night to carry it out, then lied about it on the an accusation mike corbin wasn't in court to hear. but later? >> i thought it was beyond the pale. i mean, we're innocent people.bsolutely no evidence that we did anything wrong that night. there never will be because it didn't happen. despite what the prosecutor argued, neither mike corbin nor any of the others have ever been charged with conspiracy, nor have they n any way to betsy's murder. so, according to the prosecutor, how did russ do it? without getting a single drop ofhe clothes he wore all that evening, and that night when he talked to detectives afterward., said the prosecutor to the jury. first, knowing what he intended to do, russ ran errands so that

then drove to his friend's house and dropped off his cell phone so it would ping there all evening.e half hour home, stripped naked, had sex with betsy, stabbed her more than 50 times, showered, put on gan to step in the blood but caught himself and stopped, took those slippers off. at some point, said prosecutor to the kitchen to get towels, which he used to clean up, and finally he put his clothes back on.mplete his alibi, one of the game night buddies drove russ's phone back to his house, picking up an n the way. only then, said the prosecutor, did russ call 911 as he tossed his bloody slippers into the closet. and what did russ think of all that? >> i thought she was making up some kinda cockamamie story. here i have four cu know, that i was with all evening.

lie for anybody when it comes tot, you know. i wouldn't, not for my best friend, not for my mom. >> reporter: the more important question, of course, was what think. they deliberated four and a half hours before arriving at a verdict. >> reporter: tell me about going courtroom and seeing them come in. >> i was nervous. the rest of my life is on the line.epending on these 12 people, just hoping and just trying to hold it all together. ne everything he could to appear innocent.? coming up -- >> i couldn't really read what they were thinking, you know, up until they spoke.rs its verdict, but this case is the opposite of over. new witnesses, of the night of the murder. >> she remembered seeing a car parked in an odd position down the street.

there.r: but first, a judge's almost unheard of ruling. >> it's incredibly rare, having happened only three times e state of missouri. >> reporter: ever? >> ever."dateline" continues. 'cause it's a messy world out there. en' s new take on lighter italian fare. three new mediterranean inspired dishes.

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russ faria is charged with wife. again, keith morrison. >> reporter: there's quite possibly no room, no space, as on as a courtroom. when a jury, its intentions hidden behind masks of discretion its verdict. russ faria stood and searched their faces. but -- >> i couldn't really read what ng. up until they spoke. >> reporter: betsy's family stared and listened. >> and when you heard it? >> relief. >> reporter: relief because the verdict was guilty. guilty of first-degree murder.gled to maintain his composure. >> it was devastating. my best to hold it together because my family's behind me and i can hear them crying. >> the worst part of it was russ's face. he was in shock.

and i haven't lost sleep in a long time over something in this business and i lost sleep. >> reporter: russ's attorney was convinced that a terrible had just occurred. but betsy's family did not agree. >> they wanted to blame somebody and the police were telling them that it was me. >> reporter: which was exactly right, said betsmore convinced that justice had been done. no matter what any of russ'sma2&ceiek"t(jju t)qpconvencido que supporters might tell her. >> if somebody were to come to vidence, strong evidence, that it wasn't russ, but it was some other person, ishat you would accept? >> i would still feel it's russ, 100%. >> reporter: a month after his trial, just before christmas to life in prison. he filed an appeal. and sat in his cell, unable to

mad enough to do anything like that to anybody, let alone my . i've never stopped loving my wife. i'm innocent of this. i did not kill her. >> what's it take to get used tof being in here? >> a lot of prayer. a lot of faith.? >> faith in god. faith in my attorney. >> reporter: that, of course, joel schwartz, who told us, not over. far from it. >> i know that russ didn't kill betsy. and if russ didn't, then a jury should hear all the information. >> reporter: so schwartz ual paperwork. and then he too, was forced to wait.o knew?

long is a piece of string. i'm hoping this is open and shut, and we get this thing back in court soon. this man does not deserve to be >> reporter: and so schwartz got busy. for one thing, he followed the money. remember betsy's life insurance payout to pam hupp? pam told detectives the moneye3 f1 was for betsy's daughters. and in fact -- >> mrs. hupp had funded a of the kids approximately five days prior to the commencement of trial. >> reporter: but isn't this interesting? >> about 10 days after the trial had concluded, the trust was defunded over 99.7% of what had been placed in there. . she funded the trust so that during the trial it would look like she had given all this money to the kids.y correct. >> reporter: then in july 2014, pam was questioned by lawyers representing betsy's daughters, e suing her over the insurance money and that time pam said that the money was never intended for betsy's daughters. betsy wanted her to have the rself. >> did she mention to you that she wanted the money to be used for her daughters?t. >> she never said anything like

no.you that she wanted you to get the money and to hold it for the benefit of til they were older? >> absolutely not. >> i never doubted that that wase first place. so nothing surprised me. however, that in and of itself is something that the court of o hear about. >> reporter: the question, was key evidence from the state's star witness a lie?o the usual formal appeal, schwartz filed a request for a special hearing to reconsider and perhaps throw out verdict based on what pam said about and did with the insurance money. >> we thought the likelihood of success was very small.what i know to be an innocent man sitting in prison. so i was willing to take any shot. what do you know?

approved.ould get his hearing. >> it's incredibly rare having happened only three times previously in the state of missouri. >> ever. >> reporter: a few months later, a week before that special hearing, prosecutor leah askey met with pam hupp.ersation was recorded. >> so what are our chances of making the judge believe us? >> reporter: askey replied that she was confident. >> i feel comfortable the law isar as next week goes. so i feel real comfortable with that. and the truth of the matter is, while i don't want to have another trial, we've got a good case. you know? lawyer today than i was three years ago. pam hupp agreed when askey suggested that joel schwartz's bruised ego was

hearing, and it was a waste of payer money. >> so i'd be happy to take him on again.o got another 3,000 cases that need my attention. and when i spend all my time-- >> keep redoing them -- just because somebody got their feelings hurt because they lost.chwartz isn't used to losing. >> right. and so that's really what it's ion. that's what it's about, so to me it's doing a disservice to the taxpayers and citizens here. >> reporter: was she right? a week later, on a june morning 2015, a judge would decide. hurt feelings or injustice? coming up, a new witness at least one important way, betsy did not trust russ.

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june 2015, a year and half after russ faria was convicted of murder, joel schwartz returned to the to make his pitch. pam hupp, the state's key witness, had shown herself not e credible, said schwartz, and so the conviction should be thrown out. prosecutor askey countered that the case against russ was as strong as ever. arguments lasted less than an hour. they broke at eleven.judge said he'd make a decision by 1:30 p.m. but -- >> at 1:30, no judge.

of time and to write motion granted doesn't take very long. however if you're going to write a denial, that's gonna go to the ld take quite a while. so at 1:45 i started to get a lot nervous. finally about 2:00, i talked to sheriffs. and i thought, we're going to lose this thing. my confidence had faded. i asked what was going on, if he knew. there was a printer problem. >> a printer problem. >> so at that point my spirits were lifted and i thought, ay win this. and the judge came out moments later. >> i didn't know what he was il he said it. and it just -- very nervous time. but when he handed down his decision, it was like, finally, good in my favor. >> reporter: his guilty conviction was overturned. russ faria would get a new trial. >> it was very overwhelming.ke you had a huge victory. er

trial. >> reporter: russ would remain in jail awaiting trial, though unless someone could come up with bond money. mary was determined to make that happen. supposed to come up with $50,000 plus property. >> plus property? >> plus property as collateral. >> to guarantee the -- >> correct. >> that's not so easy to do.all. and i didn't know if we could do it. >> reporter: but mary had been fighting for her cousin since the day he was charged and -- somebody i know set me up with a bondsman that knew the story, nt man should be sitting there, and he worked with me. >> reporter: mary put up her home as collateral. >> i'm that positive in his innocence and that he's not here. >> reporter: and less than two weeks after the hearing, mary, relatives and friends all piled into a bus provided by a upporter and showed up unannounced at the jail, where russ, who'd been behind bars for d no

>> the look on his face was priceless.ust trying to call you. >> it was just very emotional. feel like you can't breathe. >> who'd you see first? >> my mother. that was incredible. and getting to hug and kiss as much as you want. just be with all the people you time. in with he could the life he'd missed behind bars. independence day, concerts, fishing, ball games. life was sweet on the outside. but all the while, the cloud drifted toward him. , the real possibility he'd be convicted again and sent right back to prison. and yet russ told us that despite the risk he was looking forward to a new trial. >> i want a fair trial the way so t

>> reporter: except perhaps he didn't know what the prosecution was finding out about him. a whole new investigation was ed. detectives dug up brand-new material.utor declined to excellent on her new comment on her new evidence or anything else. from some of the state's new witnesses like betsy's long-time friend, rita wolf. >> we met freshman year in high school and became friends immediately and have been friends ever since. our friendship never really stopped except for a couple i went away to college. she had moved to florida and then we reconnected after that. igh school friend you are able to kind of reconnect with and remain close to. >> oh, yeah. pick up where we left off.r: betsy confided in her, said rita, especially about her cancer. >> she came to my house once and i didn't even know she was upset

then she just broke down bawling. and she's like, i'm going to kill myself.ould be days where you would never even know she had cancer. we'd go play tennis out of the blue and i'd say, are you od and she's like, i feel great today. and her personality had changed for the moment. >> do you remember how you found out that she wasding both of my babies, they were in their high chairs, and my oldest son said, there betsy. and i turned and looked and i had my tv mutece was on the tv. that's how i found out. >> what is that like? >> i cried.and immediately and said, you're not going to believe this but betsy's gone, betsy's dead. for a minute, i thought, oh, ally kill herself? >> reporter: but only for a minute. and of course when she learned betsy had been stabbed many times, she knew it was murder. during those first days of

>> i did ask specifically, "do you guys think russ did this?" and they said, "oh god, no!" at that moment they did not think russ did it. >> but what changed it? that the more the prosecutions office shared information with their family -- >> uh-huh -- believed, "oh my god, he did this." and they would share with me. one of the sisters would text me'll never believe this. and then we would talk and so as time went on, i started believing it. >> reporter: rita told prosecutor askey she knew, mately, about one of the key pieces of evidence, life insurance. remember russ's defense implied that pam hupp somehow tricked signing over, to her, a $150,000 policy. but rita knew exactly what betsy wanted to do with that insurance, and it didn't look good for russ.sked if my husband and i would be beneficiaries on one of her life insurance policies. >> why would she do that?

would blow the money on toys and fun and would not spend it on the girls and helping the girls start a life. she was really, really concerned about the girls getting the money to have for certain things in their life. >> and didn't think he was responsible enough to entrust him with it.eah. i think russ will piss it away, is what she told me. so we sat down at my dining roomte out a mocked up version of a trust. >> reporter: so it sounded a lot like what pam hupp had said that betsy did not trust russ with her life insurance money but shend. >> you agreed to do it? >> no. i did not agree to do it.elt that because she had so many loving sisters i would have done it -- i would have put one of her sisters on there. >> reporter: but if betsy wantedo take charge of her money, maybe she went next to her friend pam hupp.

and how about this? pam hupp, the state's prime he first trial, had new evidence too, which you can only call explosive. secrets until now. for reasons which will perhaps be obvious.secutor told rita, that would blow the case wide open.really hope if you think he still did it that you have a whole lot more evidence than you had the first d they did. >> but did she say i have a bombshell.ething really big. >> she did. she did. coming up, from out of the blue a dramatic new claim about betsy's personal life.that she and betsy had had an intimate

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o talk to detectives soon after russ was released from jail. >> and told them a secret something very surprising indeed.for the first time that she and betsy had had an intimate relationship. >> robert patrick has been watching the russ faria case just as we have. he's a reporter for the st. louis post-dispatch. taken aback by pam's story of an affair with betsy. >> they became close friends when they worked together at an insurance company and as russ d of deteriorated, pam took kind of a surrogate role as partner. >> i knew everything about every member of her family, about d done. >> here's pam telling the detectives. >> i knew the most intimate of intimate of family stuff from

>> okay. >> so our relationship started pretty soon fast of -- i was a huge confidante of hers. i don't tell other people's business.are -- >> right. >> about that stuff. so she knewould talk to me about anything, and it wouldn't go any farther. >> right. >> so that -- we had a special that way. >> it wasn't intimate initially, but after the cancer diagnosis, the least that she could do for her friend was to sort of give into this intimacy that betsy wanted. >> i mean, we just spent a whole lot of time together, you know, i replaced what a husband would be.relationship with two women who really aren't

it's not -- i'm attracted to men. love everything about them. can't wait till "magic mike xl" way. or anything. it wasn't like that. it was such an evolution of emotional trauma for her. >> because russ, according to pam, had become abusive.d out what betsy was up to? >> what did russ think about this relationship, according to pam?ording to pam, even before they consummated it, he was suspicious of their relationship. and apparently he and betsy had arguments about it. and she would kind of throw her relationship with pam in russ's face.>> and she talked about me all the time and it bothered him. >> and that angered him?ecause it wasn't just -- >> well, bothered is one thing. >> well, he thought it was sex. at that time, it wasn't even sex. he thought that was part olikes sex, but that's not true. >> well, and -- and you're absolutely right. i don't think the sex would have bothered him as much, again, as -- >> no, he wouldn't have cared

the closet once a week or whatever -- >> yep.d have cared less. >> i agree 100% with that. >> and there's a lot of people s no threat. >> right. because -- >> you -- you were changing his whole -- >> oh, i was changing his life. >> his whole dynamic. yeah. dete happened. >> pushed me up against the wall, and he was all red-faced >> kind of like a gritted teeth? >> oh, he's like, talk about this far away from my face.ht there. spit, nasty. and he said, you two [ bleep ], to that effect, if i ever catch you together again, i'll bury you out in the backyard. >> just a few weeks killed? >> yes. >> and, said pam, on the night betsy was murdered, she was going to tell russ she was leaving hi for divorce.

be furious, said pam. but neither of them understood how furious. >> i had guilt feelings. i'm leaving her with this [bleep] coming home. i know he's coming home. she knows he's coming home. going to be a big thing going on, and i left her there. >> right. >> and i felt guilty, but i didn't want to be there. >> then almost four months later before the new trial, pam told detectives she started recalling some vague m the night of the murder. and so on her own she went to the scene of the crime and here outside the faria house, she told those detectives, an old memory returned to her, a crucial memory. >> she went back thouse and took pictures. and kind of looked down the street in different ways and shee remembered seeing russ that night. she remembered seeing a car kind of parked in an odd position and there were two guys in there. >> and you think you recognized one of those men. >> i do, yes. >> and who do you think you

>> i believe it was russ. another guy who was kind of bigger or bulkier in the passenger seat. when she drove by, they appeared to be ducking down, as if, you know, perhaps they lost floor. and at one point, the passenger was gone. >> well, this is a fairly rn memory. >> i mean, it is and it's ge gift to the prosecutors. like, hey, we've got russ faria cene at a time when it would sort of fit in with all the evidence. he or someone else sneaks in kills her. and she's got time to be cold and stiff by the time ems arrives. and an eyewitness who said she saw it. >> right. >> and then the prosecutor revealed she'd uncovered what rue scandal. russ had a girlfriend, said prosecutor askey, was stepping out with her at the time of the murder.nd, who it seemed, was having his baby. >> here's another motive for russ to kill his wife because he

girlfriend. >> but the key piece of new ence, undiscovered until now was a letter found on betsy's laptop, a letter that fears about russ. this was the proverbial smoking gun. >> the prosecutor called it betsy's basically dying declaration.sy having a pillow put over her face, feeling threatened by russ, talked about the insurance. here's this really bad guy who'shese things, to do me harm. >> it was the letter in which betsy asked pam to accept her ance money and use it to help betsy's daughters. it ended with a line that, looking back, could be considered prophesy.nything happens to me, give this to the police.ah askey was confident russ faria was about to be convicted of murder a

a very different take, arguing that the prosecution's new evidence will only help russ. lies continued to at least in our view enhance our defense. connects your family and friends... your businesses, devices... tainment, connected cars, and connected homes. . extending your reach to pull you closer to what you need and the people you love.still evolving and so are we. with a network that is invented and reinvented every day

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and at the entrance to the courtroom, bags were inspected, police used wands to check for contraband, or metal in people's pockets.resentments festered. the treatment, to some people, didn't seem equal. >> betsy's side, they could cut in line.t get patted down. they didn't use a wand. they didn't search their purses. pam hupp got to go in through an >> reporter: this was a very polarized room, this courtroom.as like the -- two sides didn't want much to do with each other at all, right? it was tense. >> reporter: prosecutor leah askey presented the case, e of passion. she reviewed all the old evidence -- the 55 stab wounds, the bloody slippers, russ's

he's mean to his kids. dog. he's mean to his wife. there's blood in spots, maybe there was cleanup in other spots. >> reporter: and then there was all that new evidence. and one extra tidbit mentioned me on day one of the trial.eputy said, i remembered that i did see some water in the tub. >> reporter: meaning? >> well, that fit with the prosecution theory that russ had killed her and cleaned up. what did defense attorneys nathan swanson and joel schwartz think about this amped up evidence against russ? not much, apparently. that last bit, for example, the water drops in the bathtub with russ killed betty and then cleaned up in the tub --coming up with this evidence three and a half years after the fact and allegedly remembering something as minute of a detail as water droplets in a tub is deeply troubling. there was never a report on this. and frankly, i don't believe it.venient

pam intimate relationship with betsy? >> i don't believe it. nor did anybody else who knows betsy. and frankly the people we spoke who knew pam hupp, nobody bout it. it was just an excuse for betsy to have given her the money. >> reporter: no, saitate's case didn't make any more sense now than it >> it was still based on no evidence. >> reporter: but the wildest thing of all, said defense attorney schwartz, was the tale, make that tales, told by pam hupp. >> pam's story became -- it's called super charged. as s the detectives, the stories became more outlandish. their case got better. however, the lies upon lies

view, enhance our defense, show that the basis of their theory had nothing, had no stability whatsoever. e was telling the truth? >> it's simply not possible based upon her answers that she was telling the truth, because the things that were stated by 0 degrees different from things that had been stated by her previously. >> reporter: were they? back in 2011, pam said she'd only met russ a few times. >> he seems nice enough. i just don't know him that well. last time i saw him was at her 40th birthday party he had for her. >> reporter: but june 2015, she m all too well, saw him up close and personal just before the murder, when sheeatened to bury her in the backyard. >> just a few weeks prior to her being killed? >> yes.july 2014, when pam was questioned by lawyers

she denied any intimate ip with betsy. >> we were not having an affair. there was not an intimate relationship. >> reporter: but when detectives a year later, in 2015, pam was telling them they were very intimate indeed. >> i replaced what a husband would be.r: curious. also, in the 2014 civil deposition pam said she had a good memory. >> do you lems, ms. hupp? >> no. no. >> reporter: but in 2015, when she told detectives that she suddenly recalled seeing russ s house the night betsy was murdered, she blamed her not remembering that before bad memory. >> so my brain has been almost like a boxer's brain. severe head injuries, three accidents in a row. just as astonishing as her inconsistencies, said the defense attorneys, was where about seeing russ that night actually came from --

you can hear it for yourself.ve may have happened is that you were present, that russ was not theresy got there. and that prior to you leaving, somehow or another russ knew ere, either by a phone call or just the sheer presence of your car, or that hew you there and that -- it was that particular moment motivating factor for youve was him coming into the house. amongst ourselves. >> reporter: the detective asked pam straight out --f that correct, russ that night? >> no. >> reporter: you heard r until a few months later when she said yes. >> who do you believe that person was?

enhance miss hupp's story as well as bolster their case, ry to miss hupp that she may have seen russell faria at the house that night. >> reporter: which she adopted.t's so brazen to be doing it on a recording so that everyone can hear it. >> reporter: pam's inconsistencies, said the defense, were rampant. even that she would tell a story and then a week or a month later, tell a different story. th single interview would be inconsistent. >> reporter: then, remember the state's allegation that russ wasaffair when betsy was murdered and the woman was at the time? a little fact-checking might have been a good idea. affair with russ, it was way before betsy was murdered. and while she once claimed she while he was in prison, that simply wasn't true, as she herself admitted. >> reporter: what happened when d?

always said. "yes, we had an affair. that affair ended a year and a half before betsy died.a baby. i don't know why i'm here." >> reporter: surprise! there was another one coming, too. didn't look good for someone. coming up, from deep inside a computer, investigators are about to retrieve a critical piece of evidence.t is a smoking gun. >> reporter: and the defense makes a risky move. >> i was either going to be the >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. y ma? always life is unpredictable, so embrace it! ve flake

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er: it was a little like watching a tennis match for observers at russ faria's murder retrial.prosecution served hard and the defense responded in kind. >> every time her people went up, joel would come back and he would just shoot 'em down.l schwartz, russ's attorney, was having some success cross-examining the prosecutor's witnesses. like, for example, rita wolf, e >> the defense i talked to them

>> uh-huh. >> and i really felt that the iece helped them more than it helped the prosecution just because of who got it.r: it was pam hupp, of course, who got it. could 150,000 be a motive for murder? as pam herself told -- >> and money is -- makes people do crazy, crazy things. >> reporter: but the big surprise? at the first trial, an officer testified that a special test ood in the kitchen. he'd taken photos to prove it.court the pictures did not turn out, so jurors would have to take his word for it.estified that nothing developed. all of the photographs were simply blackness because the camera malfunctioned. >> reporter: schwartz didn't believe it. >> i'd been insistwo and a half years on these black photos. i didn't buy it.

suspicions were confirmed. the photos did turn out, were there all along. >> we got a cd that had 132 photos. not one of which didn't develop. >> wow. >> reporter:said schwartz, did not support the officer's testimony about the results of that special test. >> and they didn't show what he how, which is why we didn't see them in the first trial. >> reporter: in fact, later testing found no blood at all in >> you used a very strong word about that testimony. >> perjury? >> yeah. >> it's a strong word. it's a strong allegation. it's not an inaccurate allegation, though. >> but you're talking about a police officer? >> reporter: when we called the officer, he strenuously rejected that allegation. he was never charged with perjury, and he accused attorneying in smoke and mirrors. in any case, the defense still

document.dressed to pam found on betsy's laptop, but never e asked pam to be beneficiary of her life insurance and then expressed a ut what russ might do to her. was betsy's own, very personal, dying declaration. >> when you got it, what did you think? >> i would say initial reaction was, this is troubling.it was, because it appeared to back up pam hupp's version of events. in fact, pam told detectives about the document soon after . >> i would like to see maybe if you guys can find that letter she was going to send me. >> reporter: but whether they looked for it or not, they not then. not until just before the secondber crimes investigator finally cracked that computer. a copy of the document was turned over to tis a smoking gun, but it's not a smoking gun that leads to

letter would turn up only because ms. hupp was so insistent that this letter was there. >> curious. there was something different about this particular document, different from any other document in betsy's computer. >> once we looked at the letter uter expert analyze it, it turns out that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for betsy to have written this the way it came up in her computer. say that? >> it was the only document in that computer that said author unknown, the only one. >> reporter: meaning the document most likely had been composed on a different computer altogether. then transferred to betsy's laptop, said the defense, out betsy's knowledge. >> ms. hupp knew what computer it was in, where on the computer it was, the entire contents of the letter as well when it was created. i >> reporter: because, said schwartz, the document was loaded onto betsy's laptop the day before pam was named the etsy's life

and just days before the murder. >> it's likely that person d coolly as to what they were going to do to betsy and when they would do it, knowing where russ would be at the time. >> which, if you're right, means ed murder? >> i think you follow the dots, oney, and that information should be carefully as well as thoroughly looked at. >> reporter: pam hupp, whose ckbone of the state's case against russ faria, was not called to testify. but, thanks to her police shifting stories pam told were front and center in the trial, along with s like how she kept the life insurance money and was seen betsy alive. >> the judge allowed us to go into those things.r: in the end, it wouldn't be a jury who'd decide russ faria's fate.d already rolled

judge alone. too late to go back now. >> a bench trial, a trial by a not jury. why in heaven's name would you do that when it can be risky? >> frankly, it was a gut instinct.ither be the goat or the hero. >> reporter: he'd find out soon enough..coming up, the judge announces his ruling. >> that's a scary moment. >> it was a horrible moment.r four long years, the case russ faria finally learns his fate. you know, in hindsight,ably shoulda just started in nashville.

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reporter: it was at lunchtime friday, the fifth day was just kind of milling around outside the courtroom with family and friends and they were all trying to keep my >> reporter: then, three excruciating hours later. >> the judge was getting ready to come back in. >> and you're thinking, i'm gonna be sick.o his sister and she had the same exact feeling. so we were sitting there holding each other's hands thinking, oh, we can't go through this again. what happens? what if he feels the same way those jurors did? what do we do then?o through this. and he walks out and he starts talking. >> that's a scary moment.

>> i'm just standing there and i'm sure i was holding my , and just standing as straight as i could focused in on the judge. it seemed like an eternity.s talking and you're thinking, well, now i'm a little confused. because where is he going with this. >> reporter: and then finally, here it was, the words.you know, on the count of murder in the first degree, i find you not guilty. on the count of armed criminal find you not guilty. it's just like a heavyweight lifted off my shoulders. >> and we all just busted up in tears. and you felt the floor come out from undyou're thinking, did we hear it right? is it real?ly coming home? >> reporter: he was. russ faria was a free and finally vindicated man.

to see the defense attorneys for russ and his family because he sat in prison long enough. >> reporter: there was a big course. many thank you's to the people who'd stuck with him, who workedis freedom. but of course, not everybody was celebrating.. betsy's family declined to be interviewed, but called the verdict, quote, shocking and ing. pam hupp also declined our request. once again denied she was involved in any way with betsy's murder.ver been charged with any crime in connection with this case. a case prosecutor leah askey considers closed.e she still believes russ killed betsy. in fact, askey gave us a written statement, there was probable the defendant committed the crime. firmly convinced of his guilt. a judge was not. well, in fact, in open court, the judge said, the

theories of this case by law enforcement is rather disturbing and frankly raised more questions than answers. >> i've represented a lot of people that i felt were innocet. none more than russ. >> reporter: a few weeks after russ was acquitted once and for im and his friends for game night.gain, for good now. >> i got a ultra-marine scout. >> reporter: russ's game night buddies vowed at the second as they had at the first one that russ was with them when betsy was murdered. prosecutor wouldn't believe. in fact, one of the friends revealed here that officers leaned on him, unpleasantly. >> did you feel threatened by them? >> absolutely.ore the second trial. >> trying to get you to flip on russ? >> basically yeah. and they're like, well, i want you to look at this. and then he opens up the book

crime scene and, you know, she's laying there. i said, i don't want to see those. i said i can't handle blood and guts stuff. they come in with trying to offer me immunity. i'm like, immunity for what? why would i need immunity? i didn't do anything. we all didn't do anything. >> welcome home! now this strangest of cases was finally ria could contemplate some kind of life again.not with his stepdaughters who defend -- testified agwsuit against pam hupp over the insurance money continues. >> the only thing that i'm planning on doing is moving forward, you know. i could dwell on the past and be miserable for the rest of my life.ppened to me and dwell on my wife's death and dwell on the fact that i was locked up and made to go through all of this.e miserable forever. or i can choose to look forward and make my own future. >> what would she think of all

>> she'd be very disappointed ineople. >> reporter: she, meaning, of course, betsy.et me see your hand. >> yeah. i still care about betsy. i think about her every day. i'll be doing something and g up a memory and, oh, betsy used to love this.s still alive in my heart. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline."ain sunday 7:00, 6:00 central. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, good @ @ cavs shocker, head copy @coach fired. @>> and tracking the winter @storm in

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