M.very ethical to find suitable roles even before Judywith The thing about Pam (from tonight on TopCrime 9.15 pm) Renée Zellweger he had no doubts. The story of Pam Hupplistened to on a podcast like any commuter on the Los Angeles freeways, between an interview and the visits of the dog just operated on the hip, it had to be transformed into miniseries. The elements of charm of this fact of local news, which over time has become a portrait of deviant psychology? An ordinary woman – irreproachable, well disposed and helpful, albeit also mythomaniac, rude on the verge of offense, petty and planning – that kills like it’s written on the shopping list. One line up and tomorrow is another day, a day when Pam has more money than yesterday.
The thing about Pam, the suspect unsuspected?
Set of the events: O’Fallon, Missouri. It all begins with the brutal death of Betsy Fariaterminally ill with cancer killed with 55 stab wounds in December 2011. The body is found by her husband Russ, who returns from an evening with friends and calls 911, and crying he says that his wife committed suicide. The scene is that of an apparent domestic violence event, a pair of bloodstained Russ slippers are found. That evening Betsy had reached home accompanied by Pam, who had offered to give her a lift after a chemotherapy session. The two were friends after they met in the offices of an insurance company, State Farm.
Prosecutor Leah Askey has no doubts, and arrests Russ the next day. Ignoring any alternative leads, that is Pam, also because – as will be discovered later – no one believed her physically capable of killing. Indeed, the woman collaborates and helps, and in the interest of the poor wretch she confirms the violent temper of Russ, who has come to seriously threaten Betsy when she discovers that the only beneficiary of his insurance (worth 150 thousand dollars) is Pam. A name change that took place only five days before his death.
The trial, led by Judge Chris Mennemeyer who refuses to admit the evidence against Pam – besides the money, the fact that the phone records showed that she had been in Betsy’s house for more than half an hour – is one-sided. And it closes on December 21, 2013 with Ross being sentenced to 30 years. In the meantime, the case is now national, and passes from local TV, KTVI, to NBC, which produces a total of 6 specials of the format Dateline (where the podcast originates from). Taking a lot of interest in Pam Hupp.
Renée Zellweger is Pam Hupp. (Skip Bolen / NBC)
Things never go as you think
The matter gets complicated and becomes a topic of bar debate when in 2015 the case reopens thanks to the efforts of Joel Schwartz, defense lawyer. With Russ cleared awaiting a new sentence any thesis against him – including the slippers – is refuted by the evidence against Pamalready looked upon with suspicion by Betsy’s daughters for not transferring the insurance money to them (not even the part already promised). Journalistic investigations then show complicity between prosecutor and sheriff, negligence and omissions, to the point that both Judge Mennemeyer and Askey – accused of misconduct – are relieved of their posts. The process is lengthy, and in 2020 Russ is released from prison after a $ 2 million plea deal.
And Pam? Do you end up in the jail? No and yes. That is, not for Betsy but for the murder of this Louis Gumpenberger. This poor wretch – suffering from brain damage following a car accident – ends up on the ground with two bullets following an alleged break-in and robbery of Pam’s home. It is 2016, in full second trial; in one hand he has a handful of banknotes, in the other a knife, in his pocket a sheet of paper with instructions on how to kidnap the woman and steal Russ’s money. After all, the investigators deduce that it is a staging: the young man was hired to accuse Russ and divert the investigation.
Currently in prison for life at the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri, and with the Betsy Faria case still open, Pam is also suspected of killing her mother, as she was the last person to visit her in the nursing home where she was staying. And where in 2013 she falls “accidentally” from the balcony of her room; the autopsy revealed that in the blood he had 8 times the normal dose of a hypnotic, Zolpidem. And who was Mom’s money for?
Renée Zellweger is Pam Hupp. (Skip Bolen / NBC)
Renée Zellweger: “My jaw dropped on the steering wheel”
Lively and fun. Thus the description of the neighbors by Pam Hupp. What else could they say, or can we say in these cases. That they knew about her of her wickedness of her because she was scalping the turkeys for Thanksgiving Pam harder than the national average for housewives? In The thing about Pamour only document apart from the videos on YouTubeRenéè – with prostheses for the face and body, and controversy to follow – it does not skewer turkeys, however it dries up the ferret of the boring neighbor.
Who will take revenge by talking to the TV as an omen. The gesture, as well as the arrogance, the solution of problems according to codes of practicality (Pam buys tools to frame Louis al Bricocenterother than Arsenio Lupine), the drinks from the vending machine swallowed from morning to evening, describe a world-class approach to reality outdated by time. And from the circumstances, even in the physical.
“The thing about Pam”, the cast: from left Renée Zellweger, Judy Greer, Josh Duhamel, Katy Mixon and Glenn Fleshler. (Skip Bolen / NBC)
Features that Pam-Renée’s mother does not hesitate to remind her, muttering like a pot of beans. Against her character, meanness, lies and the way of leading life, the shortcuts made of aches and pains to not work. And hence perhaps the decision to raise money by eliminating the annihilation friend of cancer. The close link with current events, and the black comedy tone of the series that ends with a glimpse into the car that exalts and demeans the real system of rebounds and sensational oversights and cover-upsprevented Renée from being nominated for an Emmy.
But the character cast by Renée is a very effective portrait of an anonymous woman with weakened mythomanias and a lot of initiative. In the look, with a few ordinary variations as usually happens in the provinces where home and center have no class gaps, her Pam looks like every afternoon TV interviewee connecting from somewhere. It doesn’t give the creeps until you realize it looks like some knowledge. A bit like what happened when watching Rosa Bazzi.
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