1 - They're Still Counting

·30 min·2 clips

A detective tells Russ Faria that Betsy was stabbed 56 times — many wounds inflicted after she was already dead — and that only someone who loved her could have done it.

1. Dateline NBC's 'The Thing About Pam' investigates the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria in Troy, Missouri, and the subsequent criminal case against her husband Russ Faria. 2. Host Keith Morrison has been a Dateline NBC correspondent for a quarter-century; producer Kathy Singer has been with Dateline for 25 years and drove five hours from Chicago to St. Louis the day after she first heard the story. 3. The central question the episode poses: when Russ arrived home on December 27, 2011 and found Betsy dead, was he the killer — or had the investigation pointed at the wrong person from the start? 4. Troy is described as a small Missouri town near St. Louis where residents can live in the country while commuting to the city; the crime occurred on Sumac Drive, a dead-end street off Highway H. 5. Russ's 911 call at approximately 9.40pm on December 27 captured him hyperventilating, sobbing, and struggling to form words while alone with Betsy's body on the living room floor. 6. Russ told detectives he had spoken to Betsy around 5pm, run errands including filling his tank and buying cigarettes and dog food, attended weekly game night at his friend Mike's house, stopped at Arby's, and arrived home at roughly 9.45pm — a timeline that matched official call records. 7. Attorney Joel Schwartz, who had a painting of Marilyn Monroe given by a client who couldn't pay cash, told Singer the case 'snowballed' after investigators made a snap judgment that the husband killed the wife. 8. While Russ was being interrogated, Betsy's friend Pam Hupp gave investigators intimate details about the marriage: that Russ had been separated from Betsy six or seven times, made comments about how much money he would have after she died, and held a life insurance policy on her. 9. Most alarmingly, Pam told police that Russ had recently played a game of putting a pillow over Betsy's face while saying 'this is what it's going to feel like when you die' — and that Betsy had been 'very scared' the prior weekend. 10. Russ's interrogation lasted roughly two days, during which detectives tried to get him to confess using the pillow story and the news Betsy had wanted to share — a plan to rent their Troy home and move in with relatives to save money. 11. Russ denied the confession attempt for 40 minutes straight, maintaining his innocence and saying Betsy had never been scared of him. 12. The episode's title 'They're Still Counting' comes from the moment a detective revealed to Russ that Betsy had been stabbed over 25 times — the coroner not yet finished; the final count was 56 wounds, many inflicted after death, hidden under her clothing. 13. Joel Schwartz argues the suicide call makes sense because the only visible injuries were slashed wrists and a knife in Betsy's neck — her clothing covered 54 other wounds — and Betsy had previously attempted suicide at least twice, including a bridge incident that led to psychiatric admission. 14. Betsy had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010; after a remission she and Russ organised a celebration cruise, but just before it sailed in 2011 she received a stage-four terminal diagnosis. 15. Rather than cancel, Betsy insisted the Cozumel cruise proceed as planned — swimming with dolphins and making memories — before returning home to resume chemotherapy. 16. Morrison asks why a husband would kill a terminally ill wife for life insurance money he was bound to receive anyway, framing Russ's alleged motive as weak. 17. Singer and Morrison discuss the unreliability of 911 calls as evidence, citing a case where a mother whose son was murdered called in completely calmly yet was innocent — making emotional performance on a call an unreliable indicator. 18. The episode blends archive 911 audio, police interview recordings, and present-day narration from Morrison, with Singer providing the investigative reconstruction and timeline analysis. 19. True-crime listeners who enjoy case reconstructions with embedded police-interview audio and a host who was personally involved in the case will find the pacing and access compelling. 20. Listeners who find prolonged ambiguity about guilt frustrating, or who want immediate resolution rather than a multi-episode arc, will find this episode inconclusive by design.

As heard by us

A measured true-crime opener that lets a tidy timeline turn uneasy.

This episode follows a quiet Missouri death investigation as small details begin to unsettle the story: the phone call, the errands, game night, the late-night drive home, and the detectives who can tell something does not quite add up.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a strange death investigation told with calm, skeptical detail.

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