you're thihiing, i'm going be sick." i knew without a doubt he didn't do this. and if we didn't fight, he could be sitting in there for 30 years. >> a story with four years of twists -- >> after "teline" aired we had so many people step forward. >> -- takes a wild, hairpin turn. it all began the night he discovered his wife dead. >> oh mymyod, no! >> cops found blood on his slippers, and said he failed a polygraph. >> the fact t the matter is you stabbed betsy. >> thing was, this husband had an alibi, thanks to the buddies he met eve tuesday for "game night." >> we knew that he could not have committed this crime. a man cannot be in two places at the same time. >> a high-profile trial. a speedy verdict. >> i was stunned. >> so why isishis case getting an almost-unprecedented second look?

>> and is anyone prepared fofo 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 gamamnight." >> reporter: they were so sure of themselves as they campaigned 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.

what he'd later say was his ironclad alibi, and called 911. 9:40pm, december 27th, 2011. >> what is the location of your emergency? [ [ ying ] >> okay. i need you to take a couple deep breaths so i ian 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. >> reporter: betsy faria. and the crying you can hear is her husband, russell. >> oh, my god. no. >> russell -- she -- do you think that shehe beyond help right now? >> i think she's dead. >> okay. >> oh, my god.

>> reporter: betsy faria was dead and gone at 42. and yet early y ath for betsy, as you will hear, was not a surprise. that had been preordained, sad 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 sex, secrets, and lies, and astonishing recovered memories. asou'll see tonight, the search for justice is a winding

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, right? >> gregaous is a great word for her. 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, maybeven 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. mother of two daughters, leah and mariah, when she met russ, and he seemed just about perfect for her. funny, outgoing, big heart, said >> he's a happy pepeon. 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.

which led to a better rob, more money, things like that. >> reporter: yeah. >> which i probably wouldn't have done had she not come along. >> reporter: when russ met betsy, her daughters were very young, mariah still a tiny girl. >> we really created a big bond, you know. and -- and leah, you know, bonded with me as well. >> reporter: betsy and russ got married in january 2000. and,d,ike many couples, they had good times and then less good times. for more than a year, they actually lived apart. >> we argued a lot. you know, it's always darkest before the d dn, they say. >> reporter: and then betsy told him she'd found a church that meant a lot to her. maybe he'd like to come. >> the first week we went there, they were starting a series on marriage. it was kind of -- kindndf like an omen. >> reporter: and that, said russ, is when their marriage got better again. >> you know, we kinda re-fell in love with one another. >> reporter: but life will have its way with a person -- like it or not.

cancer. >> christmas of 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 -- lot of crying, lot of heartache, and just lot of hard time. but you know we kept our faith anwe kept praying. >> and she handled it with such grace. she just amazed the -- the millions of people that she knows.s. she was involved in tennis. she just continued playing tennis. you'd never know she was going through chemo. >> reporter: and maybe that helped her beat it in the winter of 2011, betsy's doctor told her the cancer was in remission. so she and russ decided to celebrate. they organized a caribbean cruise, invited their friends and family to come along.

>> she thinks i'm free and clear and then this bomb 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. >> rorter: she had, with luck, three to five years, perhaps less. so what did russ and betsy do? they went on that uise anyway. took their whole gang with them. betsy got to swim with the dolphins -- a dream she'd had for years. >> just seeing how happy she was made me happy. >> 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 could ever have while they were on this cruise. >> reporter: but then a few weeks later, betsy was dead. but it certainly wasn't the cancer that killed her. >> how did betsy die? the answer to that wasn't clear at all. her husband, whohoalled 911, had one idea. >> my wife killed herself!

had another. >> it's not typical for someone who's going to commit suicide to do it the way e done it and that's what concer us. even "turkey jerks." [turkey] gobble. [butcher] i'm sorry! (burke) covered marcrc fourth,2014. talk to farmers. we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum winter storm jonas promises to be the biggest of the decade. with total accumulation of up to three feet, roros will be shut down indefinitely, and schools are closed. campbell's soups go great with a cold, and a nice red. made for real, realife.

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have so recently upended our story, was russ caria's hysterical call to 911 the night of december 27th, 2011, in which he uttered four little words that were going to become very important indeed. >> my wife killed herself. >> reporter: my wife killed heelf. >> ok. russell, i need you to calm 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? >> reporter: there was the town of troy, about an hour from st. louis. between his sobs, russ told the operator he'd returned home from a night out with friends to find his wife, betsy, dead on the living room floor. and, he said, it looked like she'd committed suicide. >> what, what did she do? do you know? >> she's got a knife in her neck.. and she sliced her arms.

russ told us somhing clicked when he saw her lying there. >> well, she had talked about it years before and aually tried it once or twice. >> and when you came in, what do you -- >> i saw slashes on her arms, you know/ and that was the first thing that just registered in my mind. >> reporter: early next morning, betsy's mother, janet meyer, got a knock on the door. officers standing there on her doorstep. >> one of them just looked right at me and said, "betsy's dead." and i said, "well, how could she be dea" she was just here last night. >> officers also went to betsy's sister julie's house. >> they said it was a possible suicide. you know, i looked at her and gave hererhis look like, i don't think that sounds right. >> reporter: thing is by the time police offered that suicide suggestion to betsy's fm, they already knew the death of betsy faria was no suicide.

first responders could tell right away -- and the medical examiner's office found betsy's body had beeeepierced many, many times -- including wounds most likely inflicted after she was already dead. hardly surprising then, that police might be casting around for suspects. or, that russ, the husband, the man 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. >> but i think you're the only one that can help us with this right now. >> i don't know what to do. >> reporter: but investigators had a job to do, find betsy's killer and they thought it might emotional. was he acting? was this florid grief, actually real? whatever it was, russ seemed to be sticking with theheuicide story. >> what do you think happened to betsy? >> it looked like she killed herself. not know about all those other stab wounds? and something else -- betsy's

those first responders arrived, rigor mortis had already set in, the blood was drying. based on that, it appeared betsy had been dead for sosotime 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 afternoon, planned to go to her mom's house afterwards, , d then russ would drive her home. or at least, that was the arrangement. bu when he called betsy sometime after 5pm. >> i asked her if she needed a ride on my way home and she said, no that her friend was going to bring her home. and i said, okay. and she said she h something to talk to me about. and i said, well, is it good or bad?

don't worry. and i said, okay, well, i'll see you at home later and i love you. and that was the last time i talked to her. >> 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 group gathered for what they called their "game night." >> we go over there on tuesday nights and usually we play games. >> reporter: but that particular ght my friend had gotten a couple of movies. and so we decided to watch movies instead. >e left at 9:00. he said stopped for a couple of sawiches at a local arby's drive-through, then drove the 30 minutes back to his house in troy, which would have put him there about 9:40pm. he said he walked through the unlocked front door, all unsuspecting and then --

and then i seen her there on the floor. >> will you ever forget what that was like, coming into the house and seeing that? >> i see it every time i close 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. >> and that, said 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. she was a positive 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 uuicide to do it by the way that she done it. and that's -- that's what concerns us. >> so it did. it also made russ the prime suspect. coming up, russ and betsy's relationship. they'd recently enjoyed that romantic cruise, but a friend of betsy's tells police things between them really weren't that sunny. >> he'd start playing this game of putting a pillow over her ce.

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reporter: not long after russ faria found his wife dead, the police took him in for a long night of questions and a polygraph test the following afternoon. though, said russ, when he saw the machine -- >> honestly, i don't even know if the thing was on or not. >> reporter: but after it? they told him he failed it miserably, so he must have done it, they said. time for him to confess. >> the fact of the matter is you

>> no, i did not. i wasn't even there. >> russ, you were there. >> no, i found her like that when i came home. >> repororr: russ denied it again and again. >> i did not do this. >> reporter: but investigators didn't buy it and much of the reason for that t they were hearing from this woman. pam met betsy years earlier when they both worked in the insurae industry and she had a lot of things to say about russ, including what sounded like a big fat motive -- moy. >> he makes comments about how much money he'll have after she's gone. i've never seen their financials, but he has life insurance on her at work.

>> reporter: pam told investigators she habeen with betsy the day she died. betsy told 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 and her chemo 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." >> why? why? >> she said, "he's tired of moving. he is staying in his house and that's it." >> so she had already approached him with the idea? >> she was going to approach him -- >> okay. >> -- when he came home. >> reporter: could that t ve set russ off? investigators asked him about that. >> she never mentioned that to me.. >> well, that was the news that she wawaed to share with you when you got home. >> i never got a chance to hear it. the first time i heard about it was when you told me. >> reporter: investigators didn't believe that.

bombshell pam laid on them, a disturbing game pam said russ played with betsy. >> he'd start playing this game of putting a pillow ov her face to see what it would feel like. i don't know if he said this is what it's going to feel like when you die or whatever and then act like he was kidding. >> uh-huh. >> she was very upset. >> did she sound scared? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: so they took that accusation to russ, too. >> i never did that. >> why would her friends tell the police that you had done that and that she was scared? >> she had no reason to be scared of me. she's never been scared of me. >> reporter: but it wasn't just e pam hupp story that made russ a key suspect. oh, no. though betsy was killed in her living room, crime scene investigators found her blood on a light switch in the bedroom. and on a pair of russ's slippers, stashed in a bedom 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. >> i didn't even go to my bedroom. >> reporter: then they confronted russ with the horrifying fact that betsy had

again, many, many times. >> your wife was stabbed over 25 times, russ. >> oh, my god. no. >> over 25 times. they're still counting. >> oh, my god. >> a burglar doesn't do that, russ. a stranger doesn't do that. somebody who loves that person does that. somebody who goes into a blind rage does that. >> reporter: there was only one option, said the investigators. russ was going to have to come clean and confess. >> there's no one else that has any kind of motive, monetary or crime of passion. >> i can't tell you what i don't know. i don't know. >> and i says, you know, i can't confess to something i didn't do and i can't give you details for something that i wasn't present for. >> tre was never a focus on anybody else. >> reporter: it was the day after the murder that russ's cousin mary heard that betsyas dead, and that russ was being questioned. and that didn't make sense to her. she'd seen betsy and russ just d

everything seemed fine then. >> betsy _as laughing and happy. she was even saving him a spot on the couch. she's like, here, babe, you can sit next to me. >> reporter: mary 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 released russ, 48 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. >> that was hard. i mean, they showed my picture on the news and -- >> reporter: they said you were the main suspect? >> yeah. that's what it appeared. and while i was watching it, my family came in and turned it off. they said, you don't need to watch that. >> reporter: some friends began to wonder if they'd ever really known russ at all. his famous jokester humor and pranks didn't seem so funny now. more like immature, crude, boorish. these church friends, sondra and marty mcclanahan, had spent a lot of time with betsy and rusu. >> many people would describe

just the things he would say. not respectf. and he would do that to everybody, but he's doing it to his wife, too. >> oh, you know, you wouldt understand. it doesn't matter. you're not smart enough. 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 things that now stuck out like a sore thumb. >> he told a friend of mine's husband that if he got into a fight with somebody, he would fight to kill. >> reporter: and betsy's sisters? they weren't aware russ ever physically hurt betsy, they said, but when they thought about it, there was rage in that man. >> i think he had a lot of built-up anger. >> reporter: there was the time, said mary, when russ chased one of the daughters' boyfriends with a baseball bat. who chases after a boyfriend with a baseball bat? >> reporter: yeah. did you see that happen? >> no. >> reporter: who told you about this? >> the girls. >> i think they were very scared by it. >> reporter: so when officers

stab wounds? >> when they said that, i didn't have any doubt in my mind. i never thought of -- it could be anybody else but russhen they told me that. >> reporter: that's what the investigators were thinking, too. but there were plenty of people in town who thought the idea that russ faria killed his wife was utter hogwash. and they said they could prove it. coming up, what sounds like a slam-dunk alibi from russ' game night buddies. >> we knew that he could not have committed this crime. >> it's impossible. a man cannot be in two places at

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reporter: in t t days after

number one. but while police accused him of murder -- >> all of the evidence points to you. >> reporter: and betsy's family painted russ as an angry man, others in russ faria's world didn't believe 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, if that's what you 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 heartbron. and 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 -- >> he broke down, just talking to her all by himself, just him at the casket. and he fell to the ground. he was a broken man. >> it was hard. it was very hard, but it was really nice to see howowany people that she touched and that me. >> reporter: andnds for that story pam hupp was telling about russ putting a pillow over betsy's face, saying that's what death feels like -- >> would russ have done such a

now, would russ pull a cover over her head and fart underneath it and say something like that? yes, he would. >> because he was a jokester? >> that would do, yes. 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. she said russ was the last person she'd suspect of killing betsy, especially given how upset he was about her terminal cancer. >> the way that he had spoken about losing betsy, you knew howow much he loved her and he was tatang it really badly. >> reporter: but, said linda, the police didn't seem to want to hear any of that. >> they kept on asking me, you know, "do you think it could've been russ?" >> reporter: but, of course, most owhat you heard was just opinion. russ's defenders had something much stronger in their corner. an alibi. remember that game night russ said he attended between

was murdered? this is michael corbin, thhost 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. >> reporter: that particular tuesday night, mike said, russ and the others watched movies together. and everyone 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. got a knock 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 russell here last nigh was he drinking anything? was he acting strangely? >> reporr: 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 the night before. then, three days later, there was another early morning knock at the door. >> they took angie in one car, me in another vehicle with two

interrogated us. i'll put it that way. >> reporter: the two others at mike's house that night were also picked up and questioned separately. they all said the very same thing -- russ arrived around 6:00. they watched movies. >>nd we were all within eight feet of each other the whole night. >> did he act the same as usual? >> oh yeah. >> and you -- >> yeah. you know, he dozed off at one point. i know that. i didn't think anything weird of this. >> reporter: nor was it simply the unsupported story of some friends. a surveillance camera showed russ stopped for gas just after 5:15pm. more videos and receipts when he stopped to buy cigarettes, dog food, a couple of iced teas on the e y to game night before 6:00 p.m. russ's cell phone pinged in those areas, too, and all evening -- from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. -- near mike's house. and the rececet from his trip to

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 time he called 911. >> once we heard the timeline, wenew that he could not have committed this crime. >> impossible? >> it's impossible. a man cannot be in two places at the same time. >> i know how your wife died. >> reporter: but detectives not persuaded, not at all. after all, they had pam hupp's story. and what they said was russ's iled polygraph and her blood on his slippers. and it w wn't long after betsy was killed that russell faria was arrested for the murder of his wife. coming up, some say investigators may have blown it by focusing only on russ because it's somebody else who got the payout from betsy's $150,000 life insurance policy. >> she got the money?

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>> > reporter: the case against russell faria went to trial in@ november 2013, almost two years after betsy's murder. >> i don't know what to do. >> reporter: prosecutors opened their case with that frantic 911 call the night betsy died. >> russell -- she -- do you think that she's beyond help right now? >> i think she's dead. >> reporter: the state said d sounded suspiciously hysterical, like an act. betsy's mother said it sounded to her like howls of guilt. >> yeah, "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." it's like, "oh, what did i do? what did i do?" >> well, he loved her, didn't he? >> uh-hu that's what causes these -- these crimes of passion. >> reporter: if that wasn't suspicious enough, said the state, there was also russ's clearly bogus suggestion that betsy killed herself. an obvious lie, they argued. after all, as they pointed out,

she had actually been stabbed more than 50 times. members of betsy's family, including her daughters, testified that russ had a temper. the friend who drove betsy home that night, pam hupp, told the jury what she told police, essentially that ruc'pad guy. the physical evidence, said the state, also proved that russ committed the murder -- that is, betsy's blood on his slippersrsnd her blood on the bedroom light switch. even though she was killed in the living room. what's more, said the prosecutor, russ's semen was found in betsy, showing he had sex with her before killing her. as the prosecutor put it to the jurors, he violates her one more time. and as for russ'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 stations when he could have b bght everything at one place. and his alibi witnesses?

sa the state. betsy's mother didn't think much of them either when they% testified. >> they all were saying the 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 schwartz said, are you kidding? >> in my opinion, an innocent man got charged with murder. and then it sort of snowballed from there. >> reporter: for one thi, he said, the surveillance tapes, the receipts, the cell tower pings, the friends' testimony created an alibi as airtight as any he'd ever seen. but what stood out starkrknd clear to him, said schwartz, was that there were also some very curious unanswered questions.

about pam hupp, who had bad mouthed russ to the police and the jury. pam, said schwartz, 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 ve died. and when schwartz read the police reports and listened to pam's interviews, inconsistencies stood out to him, anyway. example? one report indicated betsy's mom said pam told her r e 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 le 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? pam said when she left the house, betsy was sitting on the couch but in another interview, which was videotaped, she said something different. >> she may have still been on the couch, but today it makes sense that she walked me to the dooror >> reporter: and then there were the phone recordbeginning at 7:21. betsy did not answer phone

daughter. which just a short time earlier, she had promised to answer. so, was she dead by then? six minutes later ---- >> at 7:27, there's a call from pam hupp's cellphone to betsy's cellphone. >> reporter: that one alsosoent unanswered but here's what pam told the police about that 7:27 p.m. call. >> i callebetsy to tell her i was home. >> home? not possible, said schwartz. pam lived a half hour's drive away. >> but where actually was she, based on the cell tower triangulation? >> the cell tower triangulation showed that she had not gotten more than at the very most, about three miles from the house. at the very least, she was still at the house. >> reporter: but the biggest questions to schwartz was about insurance. it seemed very odd to attorney schwartz that just four days before the murder somee,

beneficiary 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 wanted her to get 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 a locacalibrary and had a young librarian, not a notary or any insurance company employee, witness betsy's signature on the change of beneficiary form. the whole thinseemed very fishy to schwartz. >> i believe that betsy was conned in some way, shape or form into signing this policy without believing it would ever actually be sent to the insurance company, which is why she never told anybody, includininher own mother and her own sisters, who she was very close with.

detective told the insurance company pam was not a suspect and so the company cut her the check. >> the husband always does it. so, of course, this ishe guy who did it. and i think that clouded their judgment in their investigation. it's the only explanation in my eyes 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 certainly bring up the issue. >> one of the concerns that i have is -- again, like i said, the defense raising doubt with you just because you're one of the last people to see betsy. you get this money given to you. >> reporter: after all, said the detective, pam did benefit from betsy's death to the tune of 150,000. >> they're going to ggest that you may have something to do with the planning or the conspiracy to commit that murder because of your financial windfall. >> r%porter: and not only that. >> what you're originally telling investigators is that

to take care of -- make sure the kids are taken care of because they're afraid of russ and she's afraid of russ and the kids will blow throughght. however, you now have this money and have not turned any of this money over to the family or the kids. >> thas correct. >> that's a huge problem. >> reporter: to make it look like less of a problem, he said, she should s up 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 first phone call. >> 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. that's exactly what's going to be asked of you. >> reporter: in open court, but outside the presence of that jury, attorney schwartz told the judge that, indeed, he did intend to ask pam hupp about all those things when she took the and. but the judge said, no, he would not ask about any of that because, said the judge, there was no direct connection between

>> in the 25 years i've been prticing law, i've never -- a witness testifies, you can cross-examine the witness. that's a basic tenet of law. their bias, their interest, th fact that they are the last person with the victim, the fact they've just recently were given the victim's insurance under who kns what pretenses, the fact that they lied about going into the house, the facq that they lied about where they were when they called the victim after being in the house, and i couldn't get into any@of that. i've never seen anything like it. >> reporter: meanwhile, the case against russell faria wasn't quite finished. the allegation still to come. russ had helpers as he set about killing his wife. coming up, prosecutors detail a mind-boggling plot hatched, they say, but russ' game night pals, but what will

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case that his client was an innocent man. russ wasn't pretending t tbe grieving when he made that 911 call, said joel schwartz. he was grieving. >> it sounded like a man whose wife was dead and he was grieving tremendously. however, he was doing his best to answer the questions when asked in order to help the 911 operator and to help the police solve this. >> reporter: and russ told the police he thought it was suicide because that's what it looked like when he walked into the use and found her there. >> her wrist was slit deeply and the knife was in her neck. although there was 56 wounds, those were the oy two visible to the naked eye. her shirt, her pants covered every other stab wound, and those weren't visible to see. i thininthe person calling this in as a suicide is not somebody who committed the crime, but somebody who had no idea.

schwartz, many of betsu's wounds were clearly not the result of the wild stabbing you'd see in a crime of passion. rather they appearededo have been methodically and deliberaly made after betsy was dead to 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 de cut on her wrist that's post-mortem. >> reporter: and the blood evidence on russ's slippers? >> there was no imprint of a shoe in the blood, nor was there any footprint anywhere 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 stage this. >> reporter: dipped it in the blood? >> dipped it in the blood and hid those back in the closet. >> reporter: as for the prosecution accusation that russ had sex with betsy before killing her -- >> without getting too graphic, there were eight sperm cell found inside of her during the autopsy the next day. >> reporte totally consistent with what russ told the police,

>> wwere intimate sunday night. >> reporter: that is, intimacy two days before the murder. and besides all of that, said the defense, given russ's alibi, there is simply no way he could have committed the crime. but the state wasn't quite finished with its case against russ faria. in her closing argument to the jury, prosecutor leah askey proposed a complex theory of how the crime occurred, a theory for which she did not present evidence at the trial. and it was big. russ's alibi, she told the jury, was carefully staged for the precise intention of hiding a murder and that russ's game night friends were in deep, co-conspirators who helped russ hatch the murder plan, waited for the right night t carry it out, then lied about it on the stand. an accusation mike corbin wasn't in court to hear. but later? >> i thought it was beyond the

i mean, we're innocent people. there is absolutely no evidence that we did anything wrong that night. there never will be because it didn't happen. >> reporter: and despite what the prosecutor argued, neier mike corbin nor any of the others have ever been charged with conspiracy, nor have they been connected in any way to betsy's murder. so, according to the prosecutor, how did russ do it? without getting a single drop of blood on the clothes he wore all that evening, and that night when he talked to detectives afterward. here's how, said the prosecutor to the jury. first, knowing what he intended to do, russ ran errands so that he would appear in front of those surveillance cameras. then drove to his friend's house and dropped off his cell phone so it would d ng there all evening. then he drove the lf hour home, stripped naked, had sex with b%tsy, stabbed her more than 50 times, showered, put on his slippers, began to step in the blood but caught himself and stopped, took those slippers

at some point, said prosecutor askey, russ s nt to the kitchen to get towels, which he used to clean up, and finally he put his clothes back on. meanwhile, to complete his alibi, one of the game night buddies drove russ's phone back to his house, picking up an arby's receipt for him on the way. only then, said the prosecutor, did russ call 911 as he tossed hibloody 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 credible people, you know, that i was with all evening. i don't know anybody thahawould lie for anybody when it comes to a crime like that, you know. wouldn't, not for my best friend, not for my mom. >> reporter: the more important question, of course, w what the jurors would think. they deliberated four and a half hours before arriving at a verdict. >> reporter: tell me about going back up into the courtroom and seeing them comemen.

the rest of my life is on the line. and, you know, depending on these 12 people, just hoping and just trying to hold it all together. >> reporter: he had done everything he could to appear innocent. but was he? coming up -- >> i couldn't really read what theyere thinking, you know, up until they spoke. >> the jury delivers its verdict, but this case is the opposite of over. in our next hour new witnesses, new evidence, and a new account of the night of the murder. >> she remembered seeing a car parked in an odd position down the street. and there were two guys in there. >> reporter: but first, a judge's almost unheard of ruling. >> it's incredibly rare, having happened o oy three times previously in the state of missouri. >> reporter: ever?

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despite an alibi corroborated by several friends, russ faria is charged with murder in the case of his wife. again, keith morrison. >> reporter: there's quite possibly no room, no space, as thick with tension as a courtroom. when a jury, its intentions

discretion, prepares to announce russ faria stood and searched their faces. but -- >> i couldn't really read what they were thinking. up until they spoke. stared and listened. >> and when you heard it? >> relief. >> huge relief. >> reporter: relief because the verdict was guilty. guilty of first-degree murder. russ faria struggled to maintain his composure. >> it was devastating. but i was trying my best to hold it together because my family's behind me and i can hear them crying. >> the worst part of it was looking at russ's face. he was in shock. he cououn't believe it. 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

agree. >> they wanted to blame somebody and t police were telling them that it was me. >> reporter: which was exactly right, said betsy's mother, all the more convinced that justice had been done. no matter what any of russ'sma2&ceiek"t(jjut)qpconvencido que supporters might tell her. >> if somebody w we to come to you with evidence, strong evence, that it wasn't russ, but it w`s some other person, is that something that you would accept? >> i would still feel it's russ, 100%. >> reporter: a month after his trial, just before christmas 2013, russ faria was sentenced to life in prison. he filed an appeal. and sat in his cell, unable to do much of anything except think. >> i can't imagine ever being mad enough to do anything like that to anybody, let alone my wife whom i love. i've never stopped loving my wife. i'm innocent of this. i did not kill her. >> what's it take to get used to the idea of being in here?

a lot of faith. >> faith in what? faith in god. faith in my attorney. >> reporter: that, of course, was joel schwartz, who told us, then that for him the case was far from it. >> i know that russ didn't kill betsy. and if russ didn't, then a jury should hear all the formation. >> reporter: so schwartz submitted the usual paperwork. and then he too, was forced to wait. for how long, who knew? >> you never know. the response is truthfully how long is a piece of string. it just depends. i'm hoping this is open and shut, and we get this thing baba in court soon. this man does not deserve to be in prison. >> reporter: and so schwartz got busy. for one thing, he followed the money. member 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 fundea trust in the name of the kids approximately five days prior to the commencement of trial.

interesting? >> about 10 days after the trial had concluded, the trust was defunded over 99.7% of what had been placed in there. >> wait a minute. she funded the trust so that during the trial it would look like she had given all this money to the kids. >> that's exactly correct. >> reporter: then in july 2014, pam was questioned by lawyers represesting betsy's daughters, who are 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 money all for herself. >> did she mention to you that she wanted the money to be used for her daughters? >> absolutely not. >> she never said anything lake that? >> absolutely not. no. >> did she tell you that she wanted you to get the money and to hold it for the benefit of her daughters until they were older? >> absolutely not.

her motive in the first place. so nothing surprised me. however, that in and of itsese is something that the court of appeals needed to hear about. >> reporter: the question, was key evidence from the state's star witness a lie? so in addition to the usual formal appeal, schwartz filed a request for a special hearininto reconsider and perhaps throw out the guilty verdict based on what pam said about and did with the insurance money. >> we thought the likelihood of success was very small. however, we had what i know to be an innocent man sitting in prison. so i was willing to take any shot. >> reporter: and what do you know? in february 2015, his motion was approved. he would get his hearing. >> it's incredibly rare having happened only three times previously in the state of missouri. >> ever? >> ever. >> reporter: few months later, a week before that special

met with pam hupp. their conversation was recorded. >> so what are our chances of making theudge believe us? >> reporter: askey replied that she was confident. >> i feel comfortable the law is on our side as far 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? and i'm a better lawyer today than i was three years ago. >> reporter: and pam hupp agreed wn askey suggested that joel schwartz's bruised ego was the reason for the special hearing, and it was a waste of her time and taxpayer money. >> so i'd be happy to take him on again. i mean, i've also got another 3,000 cases that need my attention. and when i spend all my time--

>> right. just because somebody got their feelings hurt because thth lost. >> schwartz isn't used to losing. >> right. and so that's really what it's about in my opinion. 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 in 2015, a judge would decide. hurt feelings or injustice? coming up, a new witness echos pam hupp's claim that in at least one important way, betsy did not trust russ. >> she asked if my husband and i would be beneficiaries on one

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reporter: in june 2015, a year and half after russ faria was convicted of murder, joel schwartz returned to the same courthouse to make his pqtch. pam hupp, the state's key witness, had shown herself not to be 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. the judge said he'd make a decision by 1:30 p.m. but -- >> at 1:30, no judge. i arted to get a little nervous because he'd had plenty 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 court of appeals, it could take quite a while. so at 1:45 i started to get a lot nervous. finally about 2:0000i talked to one of the sheriffs. and i thought, we're going to

my confidence had faded. i asked what was going on, if he knew. and the sheriff told me that there was a printer problem. >> a printer problem. >> so at that point my spirits were lifted and i thout, okay, we still may win this. and the judge came out moments later. >> i didn't know what he was going to say until he said it. and it just -- very nervous time. but when he handed down his decision, it was like, finally, something good in my favor. >> reporter: his guilty conviction was overturned. russ faria would get a new trial. >> it was very overwhelming. you just felt like you had a huge victory. you know, the only thing we ever wanted was a fair chance, a fair 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. >> we were supposed to come up with $50,000 plus property. >> plus property? >> plus propopty as collateral. >> to guarantee the -- >> correct. >> that's not so easy to do. >> no, not at all. and i didn't know if we could do

>> reporter: but mary had been fighting for her cousin since the day he was charged and -- >> we got lucky. somebody i know set me up with a bondsman that knew the story, didn't believe an innocent 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 going anywhere. >> reporter: and less than two weeks after the hearing, mary, relatives and friends all piled into a bus provided by a generous supporter and showed up unannounced at the jail, where russ, who'd been behind barsrsor three and a half years, had no idea what was about to happen. >> the look on his face was priceless. >> i was just trying to call you. >> it was just very emotional. you almost feel like you can't breathe. >> who'd you see first? >> my mother. that was incredible. and getting to hug and kiss as

just be with all the people you love at the same time. >> reporter: russ moved in with his mom and resumed as much as he could the life he'd missed behind bars. like game night with his old friends, outings with family independence day, concerts, fishing, ball games. life was sweet on the outside. but all the while, the cloud drifted toward him. the second trial, the real possibility he'd be convicted again and sent right back to prison. and yet russ told us that despspe the risk he was looking forward to a new trial. >> i want a fair trial the way that it should've been. so that people can renew their faith in the justice system. >> reporter: except perhaps he didn't know what the prosecution was finding out about him. a whole new investigation was

material. the prosecutor declined to excellent on her new comment on her new evidence or anything else. so we learned what we could from some of the state's s w witnesses like betsy's long-time friend, rita wolf. >> we met freshman year in high school and became friends immediateland have been friends ever since. our friendship never really stopped except for a couple years when i went away to college. she had moved to florida and then we reconnected after that. >> it's rare to have a high school friend you are able to kind of reconnect with and remain close to. >> oh, yeah. pick up where we left off. >> reporte 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 at the moment. we talked about a few things and then she just broke down bawling. and she's like, i'm going to kill myself. but then there would 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 feeling good and she's like, i feel great today. and her personality had changed

>> do u remember how you found out that she was dead? >> i was feeding 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 muted, and betsy's face was on the tv. that's how i found out. >> what is that like? >> i cried. i called my husband immediately and said, you're not going to believe this but betsy's gone, betsy's dead. for a minute, i thought, oh, crap, did she really kill herself? >> reporter: but only for a minute. and of course when she learned betsy had been stabbed many mes, she knew it was murder. during those first days of grieving rita sought out betsy's family. >> i did askpecifically, "do you guys think russ did this?" and they said, "oh god, no!" at that moment they did not ink russ did it. >> but what changed it? >> you know, my opinion that the more the prosecutions office shared information with their family -- >h-huh -- >> the more they believed, "oh

and they would share with me. one of the sisters would text me and tell me, you'll never believe this. and then we would talk and so as time went on, i started believing it. >> reporter: rita told prosecutut askey she knew, intimately, about one of the key pieces of evidence, life insurance. remember russ's defense implied that pam hupp somehow tricked betsy into signing over, to her, a $150,000 policy. but rita knew exactly what betsy wanted to do with at insurance, and it didn't look good for russ. >> she asked if my husband and i would be beneficiaries on one of her life insurance policies. >> why would she do that? >> well, what she told m mwas that she really felt that russ 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

him with it. >> yeah. i think russ will piss it away, is what she told me. so we sat down at my dining room table and we wrote out a mocked up version of a trust. >> reporter: so it soundnd a lot like what pam hupp had said that betsy did not trust russ with her life insurance money but she did trust a friend. >> you agreed to do it? >> no. i did not agree to do it. i told betsy i felt that because she had so many loving sisters i would have done it -- i would have put one of her sisters on there. >> reporter: bututf betsy wanted a friend to take charge of her money, maybe s went next to her friend pam hupp. did rita's story mean russ had a motive to kill betsy? and how about this? pam hupp, the state's prime witness in the first trial, had new evidence too, which you can only call explosive. secrets until now. for reasons which will perhaps be obvious. secrets, the prosecutor told

wide open. >> i told her i ally hope if you think he still did it that u have a whole lot more evidence than you had the first time and she said they did. >> but did she say i have a bombshell. i have something really big. >> she did. she did. coming up, from out of the blue a dratic new claim about betsy's personal life. >> she revealed that she and betsy had had an intimate relationship.

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pam went to talk to detectives soon after russ was released from jail. >> and tolthem a secret

indeed. >> she revealed 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. and he, too, was taken aback by pam's story of an affair with bets >> they became close friends when they worked together at an insurance company and as russ and betsy relationship kind of deteriorated, pam took kind of a surrogate role as partner. >> i knew everything about every member of her family, about everything they'done. >> here's pam telling the detectives. >> i knew the most intimate of intimate of family stuff from her. >> okay. >> so our relationship started pretty soon fast of -- i was a huge confidante of hers. i don't tell other people's buness. i don't really care -- >> right.

anything, and it wouldn't go any farther. >> right. >> so that -- we had a special bond that way. >> it wasn't intimate initially, but after the cancer diagnosis, pam thought that the least that she could do for her fririd was to sort of give into this intimacy that betsy wanted. >> i mean, we just spent a whole lot of time together, you know, and i did. i replaced what a husband wod be. it's honesy a relationship with two women who really aren't attracted to women. i don't know how to explain that. it's not -- i'm attracted to men. love everything about them. can't wait till "magic mike xl" mes out, but she's the same way. it's not like she was a lesbian or anything. it wasngt like that. it was such an evolution of emotional trauma for her. >> because russ, according to pam, had become abusive. but when he found out what betsy was up to?

this relationship, according to pam? >> according 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 thaangered him? >8 because 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 of it bebeuse she likes sex, but that's not true. >> well, and -- and you're absolutely right. don't think the sex would have bothered him as much, again, as -- >> no, he wouldn't have cared about that. >> the emotional part. >> if we just went and banged in the closet once a week or whatever -- >> yep. >> he would have cared less. >> i agree 100% with that. and there's a lot of people like that there's no threat. >> right. i was very threatening to him because --

>> oh, i was changing gis life. >> his whole dynamic. yeah. >> then one day, pam told the dedectives, russ confronted her, and something truly ugly 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. yeah, he was right there. i could feel his spit, nasty. and he said, you two [ bleep ], something to that effect, if i ever catch you together again, i'll bury you out in the backyard. >> just a few weeks prior to her being killed? >> yes. >> and, said pam, onhe night betsy was murdered, she was going to tell russ she was leaving him, intended to file for divorce. and betsy knew that russ would 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. we both know there's 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 just a few weeks before e new

started recalling some vague images in her head from the night of the murder. and so on her own she went to the scene of the crime and standing there outside the faria house, she td those detectives, an old memory returned to her, a crucial memory. >> she went back to the faria's old house and took pictures. and kind of looked down the street in different ways and she said that she remembered seeing russ that night. she remembered seeing a car kind of parked in an odd position down the street and there were two guys in there. >> and you think you recognized one of thope men. >> i do, yes. >> and who do you think you believe -- who do you believe that person was? >> i believe it was russ. >> and there was 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 something on the floor. and at one point, the passenger was gone. >> well, this is a fairly

>> mean, it is and it's potentially a huge gift to the prosecutors. like, hey, we've got russ faria on the scene at a time when it would sort of fit in with all the eviden. he o osomeone else sneaks in kills her. and she's got time to be cold and stiff by the time ems arrives. absolutely. and an eyewitness who said she saw it. >> right. >> and then the prosecutor revealed she'd uncovered what she said was a true scandal. russ had a girlfriend, said prososutor askey, was stepping out with her at the time of the murder. a girlfriend, who it seemed, was having his baby. >> here's another motive for russ to kill his wife because he wanted to be with his pregnt girlfriend. >> but the key piece of new evidence, undiscovered until now was a letter found on betsy's laptop, a letter that spelled out her fears about russ. this was the proverbial smoking gun. >> the prosecutor called it

declaration. talked about betsy having a pillow put over her face, feeling threatened by russ, talked about the insurance. here's this really bad guy who's motivated by all these things, to do me harm. >> it was the letter in which betsy asked pam to accept her life insurance money and use it help betsy's daughters. it ended with a line that, looking back, could be considered prophesy. >> she says if anything happens to me, give this to the police. >> prosecutor leah askey was confident russ faria was about to be convicted of murder a second time.% coming up, joel schwartz has a very different take, arguing that the prosecution's new evidence will only help russ. >> the lies upon lies continued

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3 f2 la and at the entrance to the courtroom, bags were inspected, police used wands to check for contraband, or metal in people's pockets. but resentments festered. the treatment, to some people, didi't seem equal.

in line. th didn't get patted down. they didn't use a wand. they didn't search their purses. pam hupp got to go in through an employees' door. >> reporter: this was a very polarized room, this courtroom. it was like the -- two sides didn't want much to do with each other atatll, right? >> not at all. it was tense. >> reporter: prosecutor leah askey presented the case, again, as a crime of passion. she reviewed all the old evidence -- the 55 stab wounds, the bloody slippers, russ's alleged abusive and controlling behavior, and so on. >> here's a bad guy. he's mean to his kids. he's mean to his dog. he's mean to his wifif there's blood in spots, maybe there was cleanup in other spots. >> reporter: and then there was all that new evidedee. and one extra tidbit mentioned for the first time on day one of the trial.

water in the tub. >> reporter: meaning? >> well, that fit with the prosecution theory that russ had killed her and cleaned up. >> reporter: so, what did defense attorneys nathan swanson and d el schwartz think about this amped up evidence against russ? not much, apparently. that last bit, for example, the water drops in the bathtub with its allege that russ killed betty and then cleaned up in the tub -- >> this officer 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. >> awfully a convenient recollection to have years later. >> reporr: what about pam hupp's story about a secret, intimate relationship with betsy? >> j don't believe it. nor did anybody else who knows betsy. and frankly the people we spoke

bout it. it was just an excuse fofobetsy to have given her the money. >> r rorter: no, said the defense, the state's case didn't make any more sense w than it did the first time. >> 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. she continued to speak with the detectives, the stories became more outlandish. i think in their view their case got better. however, the lies upon lies continued to, ateast in our view, enhance our defense, number one, and show that the basis of their theory had nothing, had no stability whatsoever. >> reporter: but unless she 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 miss hupp are 180 degrees

>> reporter: were they? well, yes. 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. i saw him -- the last time i saw him was at her 40th birthday party he had for her. >> reporter: but june 2015, she said she knew him all too well, saw him up close and personal just before the murder, when she claimed russ threatened to bury her in the backyard. >> just a few weeks prior to her being killed? >> yes. >> reporter: in july 2014, when pam was questioned by lawyers representing betsy's daughters, she denied any intimate relationship with bets >> we were not having an affair. there was not an intimate relationship. >> reporter: but when detectives met with pam a year later, in 2015, pam was telling them they were very intimate indeed. >> i replaced what a husband would be.

also, in the 2014 civil deposition pam said she had a good memory. >> do you have any memory problems, ms. hupp? >> no. no. >> reporter: but in 2015, when she told detectives that she suddenly recalled seeing russ outside his house the night betsy was murdered, she blamed her not remembering that before on her having g bad memory. >> so my brain has been almost like a boxer's brain. severe head injuries, ree accidents in a row. >> reporter: but just as astonishing as her inconsistencies, said the defense attorneys, was where at story about seeing russ that night actually came from -- one of the detectives. you can hear it for yourself. >> what we believe may have happened is that you were prprent, that russ was not there when you and betsy got there. and that prior to you leaving, somehow or another russ knew

phone call or just the sheer presence of your car, or that he walked in and saw you there and that -- it was that particular moment motivating factor for you to leave was him coming into the house. that is what we have discussed amongst ourselves. >> reporter: the detective asked pam straight out -- >> is any part of that correct, and it is in fact, did you see russ that night? >> no. >> reporter: you heard right. she said no. until a few months later when she said yes. >> who do you believe that person was? >> i believe it was ru. >> the police in -- in effort to enhance miss hupp's story as well as bolster their case, suggested a theory to miss hupp that she may have seen russell faria at the house that night. >> reporter: which she adopted. >> i mean, it's so brazen to be doing it on a cording so that everyone can hear it.

inconsistencies, said the defense, were rampant. >> and it wasn't even that she would tell a story and then a week or a month later, tell a different story. the stories she would tell in a single interview would be inconsistent. >> reporter: then, remember the state'e'allegation that russ was having an affair when betsy was murdered and the woman was possibib pregnant with his baby at the time? a little fact-checking might have been a good idea. whilthe woman did have an affair with russ, it was way before betsy was murdered. and while she once claimed she had russ's baby while he was in prison, that simply wasn't true, as she herself admitted. >> reporter: what happened when she put this woman on the stand? >> the woman said what she always said. "yes, we had an affair. that affair ended a year and a half before betsy died. i never had a baby. i don't know why i'm here." >> reporter: surprise! there was another one coming,

didn look good for someone. coming up, from deep inside a computer, investigators are about to retrieve a critical piece of evidence. >> it is a smoking gun. >> reporter: and the defense makes a risky move. >> i was either going to be the goat or the hero. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues.y ma? always life is unpredictable, so embrace it! head and shoulders. live flake free for life if you're trying to be a little better... things just got a whole lot better. introducing entrees loaded with flavor, not calories. applebee's grill & bar favorites made a little better for you. featuring new dishes, all under 650 calories and starting at just $9.99.

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rerter: it was a little like watching a tennis match for observers at russ faria's murder retrial. the 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. >> reporter: joel schwartz, russ's attorney, was having some success cross-examining the prosecutor's witnesses. like, for example, rita wolf, who was called by the prosecution, but -- >> the defense i talked to them as well. >> uh-h-h. >> and i really felt that the life insurance piece helped them more than it helped the prosecution just because of who got it. >> reporter: it was pam hupp, of course, who got it. could 150,000 be a motive for

as pam herself told detectives ---% >> and money is -- makes people do crazy, crazy things. >> reporter: but the big surprise? at the first trial, )n officer testified that a special test had possibly detected bld in the kitchen. he'd taken photos to prove it. but he told the court the pictures did not turn out, so jurors would have to take his word for it. >> the officer testified that nothing developed. all of the photographs were simply blackness because the cameme malfunctioned. >> reporter: schwartz didn't believe it. >> i'd been insisting for the last two and a half years on these black photos. i didn't buy it. >> reporter: and finally, st before the 2nd trial, his 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.

said schwartz, did not support the officer's testimony about the results of that special test. >> and they didn't show what he wanted them to show, which is why we didn't see them in the first trial. >> reporter: in fact, later testing found no blood at all in the kitchen. >> 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 tataing about a police officer? >> yes, i am. >> reporter: when we called the officer, he strenuously rejected that allegation. he was never charged with perjury, and he accused attorney schwartz of dealing in smoke and mirrors. in any case, the defense still had a big problem, that computer document. the one addressed to pam found on betsy's laptop, but never sent in which she asked pam to be beneficiary of her life insurance and then expressed a kind of fear about what russ might do to her. clearly, said the state, that was betsy's own, very personal, dying declaration. >> when you got it, what did you think?

was, this is troubling. >> reporter: so it was, because it appeared to back up pam hupp's version of events. in fact, pamamold detectives about the document soon after the murder. >> 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 didn't find it. not then. not until just before the second trial, whea cyber crimes investigator finally cracked that computer. a copy of the document was turned over to the defense. >> iis a smoking gun, but it's not a smoking gun that leads to russ. i had always said that this letter would turn up only because ms. hupp was so insistent that this letter was there. >> reporter: but, this was curious. there was something different about this particular docucunt, different from any other document in betsy's computer. >> once we looked at the letter and had our computer expert analyze it, it turnsnsut that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for betsy to have

in her computer. >> why would you say that? >t 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 difffrent computer altogether. then transferred to betsy's laptop, said the defense, without 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 find that suspicious at least. >> reporter: because, said schwartz, the document was loaded onto betsy's laptop the day before pam was named the beneficiary of betsy's life insurance policy. and just days before the murder. >> it's likely that person deliberated coolly as to what they were going to do to betsy ananwhen they would do it, knowing where russ would be e the time. >> which, if you're right, means a a etty carefully planned murder?

as well as the money, and that information should be carefully as well as thoroughly looked at. >> reporter: pam hupp, whose story was the backbone of the ate's case against russ faria, was not called to testify. but, thanks to her police interviews, the shifting stories pam totd were front and center in the trial, along with revelations like h she kept the life insurance money and was the last person known to have seen betsy alive. >> the judge allowed us to go into those things. >> reporter: in the end, it wouldn't be a jury who'd decide russ faria's fate. joel schwartz had already rolled the dice and elected trial by judge alone. too late to go back now. >> a bench trial, a trial by a judge alone and not jury. why in heaven's name would you do that when it can be risky? >> frankly, it was a gut instinct. i was going to either be thehe goat or the hero.

enough.. coming up, the judge announces his ruling. >> that's a scary moment. >> it was a horrible moment. after four long years, the case russ faria finally learns his fate. you know, in hindsight, i probably shoulda just started in nashville. it's finger lickin' good. you've tried to forget your hepatitis c. but you shouldn't forget this. hep c is a serious disease. left untreated it can lead to liver damage and potentially liver r ncer. but you haven't been forgotten. ere's never been a better time

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lunchtime friday, the fifth day >> i was just kind of milling around outside the courtroom with family and friends and they were all tryryg to keep my spirits up. >> reporter: then, three excruciating hours later. >> the judge was getting ready to come back in. >> and you're thinking, i'm gogoa be sick. i reached over to 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? what if he feels the same way those jurors did? what do we do then? we can't go through this. and he walks out and he starts talking. >> that's a scary moment. >> it was a horrible moment. >> i'm just standing there and i'm sure i was holding my breath, you know, and just standing as straight as i cod focused in on the judge. it seemed like an eternity. >> he keeps talking and you're thinking, well, now i'm a little confused. because where is he going with this.

here it was, the words. >> and he says, you know, on the count of murder in the first degree, i find you not guilty. on the count of armed criminal action, i find you not guilty. it's just like a heavyweight lifted off my shoulders. >> qnd we all just busted up in tears. and you felt the floor come out from under your feet. and you're thinking, did we hear it right? is it real? is he really coming home? >> reporter: he was. russ faria was a free and finally finally vindicated man. >o see the tears of joy and to see the defense attorneys cry, i was happy for russ and his family because he sat in prison long enough. >> reporter: there was a big celebration, of course. many t tnk you's to the people who'd stuck with him, who worked so hard to win his freedom. but of course, not everybody was celebrating..

interviewed, but called the verdict, quote, shocking and heartbreaking. pam hupp also declined our request. once again denied she was involved in any way with betsy's murder. pam has never been charged with any crime in connection with this case. a case prosecutoleah askey considers closed. she told dateline she still believes russ killed betsy. in fact, askey gave us a written statement, there was probable cause to believe t defendant committed the crime. a jury was firmly convinced of his guilt. a judge was not. well, in fact, in open court, the judge said, the investigation into the facts and theories of this case by law enforcement is rather disturbing and frankly raised more questions than answers. >> i've represented a lot of ople that i felt were innocent and i believed it. none more than russ.

russ was acquitted once and for all, we joined him and his friends for game night. together again, for good now. >> i got a ultra-marine scout. >> reporter: russ's game night buddies vowed at the second trial just as they had at the first one that russ was with them when betsy was murdered. this was the alibi the 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. >> reporter: before 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 and shows me the photos of the 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. and that's when 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.

>> reporter: but now this strangest of cases was finally over and russ faria could contemplate some kind of life again. though for now, not with his stepdaughters who defend -- testified against him. their lawsuit against pam hupp over the insurance money ntinues. >> the only thing that i'm planning on doing is moving forward, you know. i could dwell on the past and be miserarae for the rest of my life. dwell on what happened 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. and i'll be miserable forever. or i can choose to look forward and make my own future. >> what woulshe think of all of this? >> she'd be very disappointed in a lot of people. >> reporter: she, meaning, of course, betsy. >> let me see your hand. still wear your wedding ring. >> yeah. i still care about betsy.

i'll be doing something and it'll bring up a memory and, oh, betsy used to love this. she's still alive in my heart. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." we'll see you again sunday 7:00, 6:00 central. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, good a crippling blizzard is setting in the mid-atlantic slowly making the way up the eastern seseoard. heavy snow whipping icy conditions are just beginning for our friends up north. >> but it is a much different story here in south florida. our temperatures will continue to fall this weekend thanks to the tail end o that storm. good evening. i'm jackie nespral. >> and i'm adam kuperstein. jawan has the night off.

of the blizzard of 2016 and