Pam Hupp in 2020: What is the notorious killer doing now?

Pam Hupp is going to spend the rest of her life in prison, but that hasn’t stopped her from making headlines. The killer will be the focus of a new TV series based on her crimes and her connection to the unsolved murder of Betsy Faria. The series will be an adaptation of the Dateline podcast The Thing About Pam, which detailed Hupp’s actions leading up to her arrest in 2019.

The series will be a joint venture between NBC and Blumhouse Television. Blumhouse co-presidents Marci Wiseman & Jeremy Gold told TV Web that they intend to tell Hupp’s story without romanticizing her persona or excusing her vile actions.

Miniseries treatment

Wiseman & Gold explained that the series will be an objective account of the past. “We’re not just looking for monsters under the bed,” they stated. “But also the things that keep us up at night so the chance to mine the incredibly rich trove of material from the Dateline archives to develop is a really unique and exciting opportunity for us.”

The duo revealed they were fans of the podcast prior to signing a deal with NBC. “When we first came across The Thing About Pam, like thousands of others who’ve seen the Dateline episode and listened to the podcast, we were riveted. So when NBC presented this to us we jumped at making this our first scripted project with them.”

The series has yet to receive a proper title or release date, but it will be narrated by Dateline veteran Keith Morrison. It will revolve around three different legal cases. The first is the suspicious death of Hupp’s mother Shirley Neumann in 2013, the second is the murder of Louis Gumpenberger in 2016, and last but not least; the death of Betsy Faria and the subsequent framing of Betsy’s husband Russell.

Stranger than fiction

This will not be the first time Hupp’s exploits have been on television. She was featured on a Dateline special in 2014, and has since gone on to appear in four additional episodes. Dateline producer Liz Cole told TV Line that she’s eager to partner with Blumhouse Television to tackle the case from a new perspective.

“We have covered this story from all angles, including as an unwitting participant,” Cole stated. “Having been at the forefront of the true crime genre for so long, we know better than anyone that truth is often stranger than fiction, and with the twists and turns in this case, we saw a real opportunity to present it in a scripted format. We are so fortunate and pleased to be co-producing it with Blumhouse Television.”

Monetary setbacks

Hupp may be the center of attention, but she won’t see a penny from these TV deals. Margaret Burch, the mother of Louis Gumpenberger, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hupp to the tune of $3 million. Burch’s lawyer, Gary Berger, told KSDK that they filed the lawsuit knowing that Hupp didn’t have the means to pay it back. 

Berger explained that the lawsuit was filed in order to prevent Hupp from making money. “That’s why we did this,” he stated. “We didn’t want her to profit from her murders and crimes. You always hear about how years later there is a TV movie and we don’t want her to profit from that, and that’s what Margaret told the judge today.”

Heartbreaking testimony

Berger attributed the favorable ruling to Burch’s heartbreaking testimony in court. “[It was] in a word – powerful. I mean she spoke from the heart,” he stated. “She’s lived this, the love for her lost son, what she’s done through the circus that Pam Hupp has put her through.”

Hupp, 61, is currently incarcerated at the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri. She was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, and will never be eligible for parole.