Bone Deep by Joel Schwartz and Charles Bosworth Jr.

 

On a Tuesday night in 2011, Russell Faria returned home from his weekly game night with friends thirty minutes away.  He walked into a nightmare.  His wife, Betsy, lay on the floor in a pool of blood, stabbed with what was later detailed as fifty five wounds.  He called 911 immediately and EMS workers found Betsy cold and starting rigor mortis, something that would indicate death had occurred around two hours before.

But the nightmare would deepen.  After talking with a woman who claimed to be Betsy's best friend, Russ himself was arrested for Betsy's murder.  Four people testified that Russ was with them at the game night and he had receipts for some errands he had run on the trip but that solid alibi did nothing to sway the police and prosecutor.  Instead they believed Pamela Hupp, the supposed best friend who had lots of story to tell about Russ's cruelty to Betsy although everyone else thought the marriage was solid.  Pam had also ended up with one of Betsy's life insurance policies taken out to care for her two daughters after her death (Betsy had terminal cancer).  Although Pam made lots of noise about giving that money to the girls, she instead spent it on herself.  

Russ went through a trial and one of the authors, Joel Schwartz, was his lawyer.  He thought he had never seen a more clear case of a defendant's innocence but the jury returned a guilty verdict.  Russ was sent to prison but Schwartz continued to work for Russ's freedom.  He filed an appeal, brought a case against Pam for the insurance money and reported the prosecutor and judge to the federal agency responsible for investigating cases where fraud could be involved.  He got a second trial for Russ and after four years, Russ was found not guilty.

This case had more Dateline episodes than any other in the history of the true crime show.  With Russ's lawyer's inside information, true crime readers will learn all the facts of the case.  As time went on, Pam was found to have a connection to several other murders, including that of her own mother, and is currently serving a life sentence.  The sheer evil of committing a murder for her own profit and then trying to frame someone else makes Pam Hupp deserving of the life sentence she has received.  This book is recommended for true crime readers.