Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Russell Faria

 

Charge:

First Degree Murder

Sentence:

Life Imprisonment without possibility of parole

Years Imprisoned:

3.5

Year Crime:

2011

Year Convicted:

2013

Year Cleared:

2015

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Missouri

County or Region of Crime:

Lincoln

City of Crime:

Troy

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

"Russell Faria was wrongly convicted on November 21, 2013 of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his wife, Elizabeth "Betsy" Faria, on the evening of December 27, 2011 inside their home in Troy, Missouri. Betsy who was ill with liver cancer, was stabbed 55 times. Faria called 911 to report finding his wife's body. When police arrived his wife's body was cold. He was arrested and charged with her murder the day after her funeral. After his conviction by a jury Faria was sentenced on December 23, 2013 to life in prison without parole plus a consecutive term of 30 years. In March 2014 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Fox Channel 2 in St. Louis publicized the results of their investigatio casting doubt on Faria's guilt. On March 6, 2015 the Missouri Court of Appeals ordered an evidentiary hearing in the Lincoln County Circuit Court. On June 5, 2015 Faria's conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered by St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer, who was lent to Lincoln County for Faria's case. The new trial was granted based on Judge Ohmer's determination that the jury's verdict may have been different if the jurors had known the new evidence of actions and statements of Pamela Hupp, a friend of victim Elizabeth “Betsy” Faria. Three days before her murder Betsy Faria had changed the beneficiary on a $150,000 of her life insurance to Hupp. Another policy for $100,000 named her husband as the beneficiary. The night of Faria's murder Hupp said she had dropped her off at Faria's home, and then she left. During the hearing Hupp testified that she felt pressured by prosecutors and police to set up a trust for the Faria's two daughters and that firve days before Faria's trial she put $100,000 of the life insurance money into the trust's bank account -- however, two weeks after Faria's conviction she withdrew $99,700 of the money, leaving only $300 in the children's trust account. Faria was released from prison on June 15, 2015 on $500,000 bail pending his retrial. Faria waived his right to a jury trial, and his bench (judge only) trial began on November 2, 2015. During Faria's retrial he presented Hupp as an alternate suspect who had the motive, means, and opportunity to kill Betsy Faria. Faria presented an alibi defense, supported by four witnesses that he was with them in O’Fallon, Missouri -- 24 miles from his house -- at the time Faria stopped using her phone or taking calls, which is likely when the crime was committed."

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"Faria was acquitted by a judge on November 6, 2015 after his retrial. Faria waived his right to a jury trial."

Defendant Aided By:

St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Fox Channel 2 in St. Louis

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

41

Age When Released:

45

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Faria not guilty in Lincoln County murder of his wife, By Robert Patrick (Staff writer), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 7, 2015"

Information Location 1:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/faria-not-guilty-in-lincoln-county-murder-of-his-wife/article_1a377230-8af1-5d79-992a-0f32d1c9bbf6.html

Information Source 2:

"Russell Faria, accused of killing wife in Lincoln County, released from jail to await new trial, By Robert Patrick (Staff writer), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 16, 2015"

Information Location 2:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/russell-faria-accused-of-killing-wife-in-lincoln-county-released/article_20981505-4e96-5266-a5eb-8bb71dbb2a58.html

Information Source 3:

"Judge orders new trial in controversial Lincoln County murder case, By Robert Patrick (Staff writer), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 5, 2015"

Information Location 3:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/judge-orders-new-trial-in-controversial-lincoln-county-murder-case/article_8d31c0e9-cd2a-5b5f-9d61-52ea93db060d.html

Information Source 4:

"Lincoln County man sentenced to life plus 30 years for killing wife, By Susan Welch (Staff writer), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 23, 2013"

Information Location 4:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/stcharles/lincoln-county-man-sentenced-to-life-plus-years-for-killing/article_83513837-1208-50b4-aa9f-b36b354a0919.html

Information Source 5:

"Russell Faria's wife was stabbed 55 times, but was he the killer?, By Robert Patrick (Staff writer), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 10, 2014"

Information Location 5:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/russell-faria-s-wife-was-stabbed-times-but-was-he/article_dd93f262-594e-5b88-b53f-097fc10033c8.html

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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