The Murder of Betsy Faria: Part One

0:00 Speaker 1: Warning, Kind of Murdery contains adult themes, explicit language, and

0:04 Speaker 1: descriptions of violence. It is not suitable for anyone, and

0:07 Speaker 1: we recommend you stop listening.

0:09 Speaker 2: Now True crime with a dash of the paranormal, the garish,

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0:25 Speaker 2: more than just murder. It's my very own pocket dimension,

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0:42 Speaker 3: You know, we are living in wild times, wild times indeed,

0:46 Speaker 3: but wild times require focus and they require more of

0:50 Speaker 3: your time. And that means that I am so thankful

0:53 Speaker 3: that you choose to spend your time with me. I

0:57 Speaker 3: am Zevan Odleberg. And this is kind of and I've

1:01 Speaker 3: got quite a murder story here for you today. So

1:04 Speaker 3: without further ado, let's get right down to it. Part

1:07 Speaker 3: one of Kind of Murdery's examination of the murder of

1:10 Speaker 3: Betsy Faria starts now. Betsy Foraria lived in Troy, Missouri.

1:25 Speaker 3: These days, the population of Troy is about fourteen thousand

1:29 Speaker 3: people still the kind of place where everyone knows your

1:32 Speaker 3: name if you've been there long enough. She worked, she

1:35 Speaker 3: kept in touch with her family and stayed connected to

1:37 Speaker 3: the people around her. Her sister Julie Swainey, said that

1:40 Speaker 3: Betsy wasn't the type to take over a conversation. She

1:44 Speaker 3: would ask questions, let the other person talk, and stay

1:47 Speaker 3: focused on them instead of herself. That's how Julie described her.

1:51 Speaker 3: Betsy was someone who listened first and didn't need attention

1:54 Speaker 3: to feel comfortable. Betsy had two daughters, and people close

1:58 Speaker 3: to her said that that part of her life came first.

2:00 Speaker 3: She stayed in contact with them, kept up with what

2:03 Speaker 3: they were doing, and made time for those conversations even

2:06 Speaker 3: when things got busy. Julie Swainey talked about how Betsy

2:09 Speaker 3: kept those relationships steady, checking in and staying involved instead

2:13 Speaker 3: of pulling back. It wasn't something she made a point

2:16 Speaker 3: of announcing. It just showed up in how she spent

2:18 Speaker 3: her time and who she stayed connected to. Betsy's marriage

2:22 Speaker 3: to Russ Faria looked different depending on who you asked.

2:25 Speaker 3: Rita Wolfe told reporters that Russ was a quote loving

2:28 Speaker 3: and doting husband. Another friend Dana Johnson said Russ had

2:33 Speaker 3: a temper. Those statements both came from people who had

2:36 Speaker 3: spent time around them, and obviously they didn't match up.

2:39 Speaker 3: They just sat there next to each other. Both part

2:42 Speaker 3: of how the relationship was described. Russ had his own

2:45 Speaker 3: routines that people around him recognized. One night a week,

2:49 Speaker 3: he met with the same group of friends. Sometimes they

2:52 Speaker 3: played tabletop games, sometimes they watched movies. It wasn't complicated

2:56 Speaker 3: and it didn't change often. The people in that group

2:59 Speaker 3: describe that is something regular, something that they expected to

3:02 Speaker 3: do with us each week. It was a consistent routine

3:06 Speaker 3: over time at home, Betsy's life followed the same kind

3:09 Speaker 3: of pattern that people tend to settle into work calls

3:12 Speaker 3: with family, time in the house, keeping up with what

3:16 Speaker 3: needed to get done. Nothing about it stands out when

3:18 Speaker 3: it's happening. It's just the same pieces, repeating the same conversations,

3:23 Speaker 3: the same people staying in contact. That's how her life

3:26 Speaker 3: looked before anything changed. So we've talked a little bit

3:29 Speaker 3: about the parias. Let's check in on another character in

3:32 Speaker 3: this story, Pam Hup. Pam spent quite a bit of

3:35 Speaker 3: time dealing with her mother's care. Her mother lived in

3:38 Speaker 3: a facility and was suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia. Pam

3:43 Speaker 3: took care of those parts of her mother's life, handling decisions, finances,

3:48 Speaker 3: the kind of responsibilities that don't wait for a convenient time.

3:52 Speaker 3: She talked about managing her mother's affairs while also trying

3:55 Speaker 3: to keep up with everything else going on in her life.

3:58 Speaker 3: The people who knew Pam didn't describe her all the

4:00 Speaker 3: same way. Rita Wolf, who we've heard from before, said

4:04 Speaker 3: Pam showed up and helped when someone needed it, the

4:07 Speaker 3: kind of person who stepped in without making it complicated.

4:10 Speaker 3: That's one version of her, coming from someone who had

4:12 Speaker 3: seen her around Betsy and others. Another friend described her differently,

4:16 Speaker 3: saying that Pam could say things that made a conversation

4:20 Speaker 3: stop for a second, like something didn't land the way

4:23 Speaker 3: it was meant to. Those two descriptions don't line up,

4:26 Speaker 3: but they both come from people who spend time around her.

4:29 Speaker 3: They sit next to each other without being resolved. This

4:32 Speaker 3: happens with a lot of people when you hear about

4:34 Speaker 3: them from different people from different angles. One person sees

4:38 Speaker 3: someone helpful, another notices moments that feel off. Neither observation

4:43 Speaker 3: replaces the other. Both are just part of how Pam

4:46 Speaker 3: was described by people who knew her. At this point

4:49 Speaker 3: in our story, Pam's life is running on its own track, work,

4:52 Speaker 3: family responsibilities, the routine of dealing with her mother's care.

4:56 Speaker 3: Betsy's part of Pam's world, but she's not the center

4:59 Speaker 3: of it. They know each other, they have a history.

5:02 Speaker 3: They can pick up a conversation when they see each other.

5:05 Speaker 3: Nothing about their connection stands out on its own, It

5:08 Speaker 3: just exists. Betsy's diagnosis came in twenty ten breast cancer.

5:13 Speaker 3: Julie Swainey said it didn't change how Betsy talked to

5:16 Speaker 3: people right away. She still asked about them first, still

5:20 Speaker 3: kept the focus off herself when she could. But then

5:23 Speaker 3: the appointment started to stack up, tests, follow ups, then treatment.

5:27 Speaker 3: It wasn't one big moment, it was a series of

5:30 Speaker 3: smaller moments that kept getting added to the calendar until

5:33 Speaker 3: they were part of the week. Treatment meant driving, sitting, waiting,

5:38 Speaker 3: then driving home. The cycle repeated, and over time it

5:42 Speaker 3: needed someone to handle the transportation. Rita Wolf said Pam

5:46 Speaker 3: Hupp was the one doing a lot of that, picking

5:48 Speaker 3: Betsy up, taking her to chemotherapy, staying there then bringing

5:52 Speaker 3: her back. It wasn't framed as anything unusual. It looked

5:55 Speaker 3: like someone helping out, doing what needed to be done

5:58 Speaker 3: so Betsy didn't have to handle them alone. But those

6:01 Speaker 3: trips put Pam and Betsy together for long stretches. When

6:05 Speaker 3: you spend that kind of time with someone, you talk

6:07 Speaker 3: not one long conversation, more like pieces of a conversation

6:11 Speaker 3: spread across days in the car, in waiting rooms, back

6:15 Speaker 3: at the house. Pam later told investigators that Betsy talked

6:19 Speaker 3: about money during that time and then what would happen later,

6:23 Speaker 3: who would handle things what she wanted done. Betsy's illness progressed.

6:28 Speaker 3: Doctor said it had spread to her liver. Her schedule

6:31 Speaker 3: didn't clear up after that. It stayed full appointments, treatment

6:35 Speaker 3: time at home. In between, Betsy kept in contact with

6:38 Speaker 3: family the same way she always had, checking in staying

6:41 Speaker 3: connected even when she wasn't feeling well. That part of

6:45 Speaker 3: her life didn't change, It didn't fall away. It stayed

6:48 Speaker 3: in place alongside everything else she was dealing with. Her

6:51 Speaker 3: days kept moving in a predictable pattern, and Pam was

6:55 Speaker 3: part of that pattern, now driving, sitting, being in the house,

6:59 Speaker 3: leaving again. Rita Wolf described seeing them together more often

7:03 Speaker 3: during this stretch, usually tied to those treatment days. Russ

7:07 Speaker 3: kept his routine the same, meeting that same group of

7:10 Speaker 3: friends one night each week, sticking to his plan. All

7:14 Speaker 3: of this existed at once. Appointments, drives, calls with family,

7:19 Speaker 3: nights out with friends. Nothing stood out on its own

7:22 Speaker 3: while it was happening at the house. Routines stayed familiar.

7:26 Speaker 3: Betsy spent time in the same rooms, handled what she could,

7:30 Speaker 3: rested when she needed to Meals happened when she felt

7:33 Speaker 3: up to them. Calls came in, calls went out. There

7:37 Speaker 3: wasn't a clear break between one part of the day

7:39 Speaker 3: and another. It was just a series of things that

7:42 Speaker 3: needed to get done, and those priorities adjusted according to

7:46 Speaker 3: how Betsy was feeling, and Pam was a regular part

7:49 Speaker 3: of that rhythm, coming and going and coming and going.

7:53 Speaker 3: Nothing in those days gets marked as different when people

7:56 Speaker 3: talk about them later. No single moment stands out. It's

8:00 Speaker 3: the same pieces. Repeating appointments, drives, time at home, conversations

8:06 Speaker 3: with family, nights out with friends. Each part fits next

8:09 Speaker 3: to the others without drawing attention to itself. Conversations about

8:13 Speaker 3: Betsy and Russ's marriage came from the people around them,

8:16 Speaker 3: and those conversations didn't line up. Some friends said Russ

8:21 Speaker 3: was the epitome of a loving and doting husband. Others

8:24 Speaker 3: said he had a temper and could get really angry.

8:27 Speaker 3: Pam talked about what she saw during that period in

8:31 Speaker 3: interviews with investigators. She said Betsy had expressed fear of

8:35 Speaker 3: us and described him as verbally abusive. Pam also said

8:38 Speaker 3: that money came up often during those drives and appointments

8:42 Speaker 3: with Betsy. In interviews with investigators, she said that Betsy

8:46 Speaker 3: asked her to handle a life insurance policy and told

8:49 Speaker 3: her she didn't trust Russ with money. Alongside worrying about

8:54 Speaker 3: her health and her finances both now and in the future,

8:57 Speaker 3: Betsy kept her focus on her daughter during this period.

9:01 Speaker 3: Julie Swainey said her sister stayed involved in their lives,

9:05 Speaker 3: checking in and asking about what was going on with them,

9:08 Speaker 3: even while she was dealing with treatment. Meanwhile, Pam was

9:11 Speaker 3: helping with logistics around Betsy's appointments. She was the one

9:16 Speaker 3: driving Betsy to chemotherapy and bringing her home afterward, getting

9:20 Speaker 3: her there, waiting through treatment, and then taking her home

9:24 Speaker 3: when the treatment was finished. They were often seen together

9:27 Speaker 3: managing Betsy's medical care, and it would be hard to

9:30 Speaker 3: say that Pam wasn't a godsend. At some point, Betsy

9:33 Speaker 3: changed one hundred and fifty thousand dollars life insurance policy

9:37 Speaker 3: so that Pam Hupp would receive it. Meanwhile, Russ kept

9:41 Speaker 3: his weekly routine at the same time that same group

9:44 Speaker 3: of friends. One night a week, his friends expected him

9:48 Speaker 3: to be there. The day started the same way a

9:50 Speaker 3: lot of Betsy's days did. She had a chemotherapy appointment scheduled.

9:55 Speaker 3: Getting to it meant arranging a ride, and her friend

9:58 Speaker 3: Pam Hupp was handling that. Everyone knew that Pam had

10:02 Speaker 3: been driving Betsy to treatments, picking her up, taking her in,

10:06 Speaker 3: bringing her home. That morning followed the same pattern, getting ready,

10:11 Speaker 3: heading out, going where Betsy needed to be at the

10:14 Speaker 3: treatment center. The process didn't change, check in waiting, then

10:19 Speaker 3: the treatment itself, time spent sitting, then more waiting before

10:23 Speaker 3: it was time to leave. Those appointments took hours, not minutes.

10:27 Speaker 3: Pam stayed with Betsy during the appointment and handled the

10:30 Speaker 3: ride back home once it was finished. That's how Rita

10:33 Speaker 3: Wolf and other friends described it. Pam taking care of

10:36 Speaker 3: the driving so Betsy didn't have to. When they left

10:39 Speaker 3: the treatment center, they went back to the house in Troy,

10:42 Speaker 3: following the same route they'd taken before other appointment days.

10:46 Speaker 3: They arrived back home together later that day. Betsy sent

10:50 Speaker 3: a message to Russ. The message read quote, Pam hop

10:54 Speaker 3: wants to bring me home to bed, She offered, and

10:57 Speaker 3: I accepted. That message places Pam with Betsy at the

11:01 Speaker 3: house after the appointment, part of the same pattern of

11:04 Speaker 3: helping her get home and settled after the treatment. Russ

11:07 Speaker 3: kept his routine that night, friends said he met with

11:10 Speaker 3: that same group of friends and was with the group

11:13 Speaker 3: later that night. That afternoon, the house in Troy settled

11:17 Speaker 3: back into its usual rhythm. After Betsy's appointment. She came

11:20 Speaker 3: home with Pam and moved through the same room she

11:23 Speaker 3: always did, the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom. The

11:27 Speaker 3: treatments left her tired, and the routine after her treatments

11:30 Speaker 3: usually meant getting her settled and letting her rest. Pam

11:34 Speaker 3: was still there, part of that same pattern, having brought

11:37 Speaker 3: her home and stayed long enough to make sure she

11:39 Speaker 3: was in and comfortable. While Pam was still in the house,

11:43 Speaker 3: Betsy used her phone to text Russ. It's the message

11:46 Speaker 3: I mentioned a moment ago. She texted Pam, hup, wants

11:49 Speaker 3: to bring me home to bed? She offered, and I

11:52 Speaker 3: accepted that message. Placed Pam inside her house after the appointment,

11:57 Speaker 3: Consistent with what Rito Wolf had said about Pam handling

12:00 Speaker 3: the driving and being present on treatment days, Pam left

12:04 Speaker 3: the house after dropping Betsy off. She told investigators later

12:08 Speaker 3: that she'd taken Betsy home and then gone on with

12:10 Speaker 3: her own evening. Russ, meanwhile, was out gaming with his friends.

12:15 Speaker 3: Inside the house, nothing outwardly marked the rest of the

12:18 Speaker 3: evening as different from any other day. Betsy had been

12:21 Speaker 3: brought home, sent her text message, and was in the

12:24 Speaker 3: same space she had been in earlier, same room, same furniture,

12:28 Speaker 3: same quiet that settled in after the day's activity had

12:32 Speaker 3: passed the house. Betsy, the routine. Everything about that night

12:37 Speaker 3: was the same as it always was. Russ turned into

12:40 Speaker 3: the driveway and let the head lights wash over the

12:43 Speaker 3: garage door before he killed the engine. For a second,

12:46 Speaker 3: he stayed where he was, both hands on the wheel,

12:49 Speaker 3: looking at the house the way you do when you're

12:51 Speaker 3: finishing an ordinary day and expect the next few minutes

12:54 Speaker 3: to be ordinary too. The porch light was on, lights

12:58 Speaker 3: showed through a couple of windows. Nothing outside looked wrong.

13:02 Speaker 3: No open door, no movement, no shadows where they shouldn't be.

13:06 Speaker 3: He took the keys from the ignition, pushed the driver's

13:09 Speaker 3: door open, and stepped out into the cold. The card

13:12 Speaker 3: door shut behind him with a solid, familiar sound. He

13:16 Speaker 3: walked up the short path, keys in one hand, shoulders

13:19 Speaker 3: hunched a little against the night air, and he let

13:22 Speaker 3: himself in. Betsy, he called as soon as he crossed

13:25 Speaker 3: the threshold. His voice moved ahead of him into the

13:28 Speaker 3: house and disappeared there. He pulled the door mostly shut

13:31 Speaker 3: behind him, not all the way, just enough for the

13:34 Speaker 3: latch to catch. The house answered him with silence. He

13:38 Speaker 3: stood in the jury a moment, listening, no television, no footsteps,

13:43 Speaker 3: no voice from the kitchen, no water running, nothing coming

13:46 Speaker 3: from the back of the house. He called her name again,

13:49 Speaker 3: louder this time. Betsy Russ started forward. The living room

13:54 Speaker 3: opened up in front of him, exactly the way it

13:56 Speaker 3: always did, the couch in place, the table where it belonged,

14:00 Speaker 3: the room lit, but still like whoever had been there

14:03 Speaker 3: last had gotten up and stepped away. He took another

14:06 Speaker 3: few steps, in his eyes, moving from the couch to

14:09 Speaker 3: the hallway and back again. Betsy, The word came out sharper.

14:13 Speaker 3: Now he stopped near the edge of the living room

14:15 Speaker 3: and tilted his head, listening for anything, a cough, a shift,

14:19 Speaker 3: the sound of someone answering from another room. Nothing came.

14:23 Speaker 3: His breathing got a little quicker. He moved again, slower,

14:27 Speaker 3: now looking lower, scanning the floor around the couch in

14:30 Speaker 3: the open space behind it. Then his angle changed. Something

14:35 Speaker 3: on the carpet near the sofa resolved into a body.

14:39 Speaker 3: He closed the distance in a rush, two fast steps,

14:42 Speaker 3: and then a hitch in his movement, like part of

14:44 Speaker 3: him wanted to stop before the last few feet made

14:47 Speaker 3: it real. Betsy was on the floor beside the couch,

14:50 Speaker 3: her body turned awkwardly, head angled off to one side,

14:54 Speaker 3: her hair partly covered her face. Blood was everywhere, not

14:58 Speaker 3: just a little, not just a stain on clothing, but

15:02 Speaker 3: a broad, dark spread across the front of her and

15:05 Speaker 3: out onto the carpet beneath her. It had soaked into

15:08 Speaker 3: the fibers and spread under her in a shape that

15:10 Speaker 3: kept widening the longer he looked at it. He bent

15:13 Speaker 3: at the waist first, not yet kneeling, trying to make

15:17 Speaker 3: sense of what he was seeing. Then he saw the

15:19 Speaker 3: handle a kitchen knife stuck out of her neck, the

15:22 Speaker 3: dark handle rising up at an angle that made no

15:25 Speaker 3: sense in a room like that, in a house like that,

15:28 Speaker 3: in the middle of what had started as a normal night.

15:31 Speaker 3: He froze there, half bent, hands hanging useless at his sides,

15:36 Speaker 3: staring at the knife, then at her face, then back

15:39 Speaker 3: at the knife. Then his knees hit the carpet beside her.

15:43 Speaker 3: He reached for her shoulder. First, his hand hovered there

15:46 Speaker 3: a split second before it touched fabric, gone wet and

15:49 Speaker 3: heavy with blood. Betsy, he said, at once, then again louder, Betsy.

15:55 Speaker 3: He pressed against her shoulder as if he could shake

15:58 Speaker 3: her into answering him, then shifted that his hand toward

16:00 Speaker 3: her neck, searching for anything he could call movement, pulse, heat.

16:05 Speaker 3: Nothing answered his touch. He leaned closer, his face near hers,

16:09 Speaker 3: looking for the rise and fall of breath, listening to

16:12 Speaker 3: his own breathing too loud in his ears. His hand

16:16 Speaker 3: came away, slick. He looked at it, stunned, palmed, dark

16:20 Speaker 3: and shining in the room light, then wiped it instinctively

16:23 Speaker 3: against his pants, leaving a long smear across the fabric.

16:27 Speaker 3: He leaned in again, closer, this time, one hand braced

16:30 Speaker 3: on the carpet, the other reaching toward her jaw line,

16:32 Speaker 3: and then jerking back, unsure where to touch and where

16:36 Speaker 3: not to touch. Betsy, Betsy, He used her name, like

16:40 Speaker 3: it could do something by itself. The knife never moved,

16:44 Speaker 3: she never moved. He rocked back onto his heels, pushed

16:48 Speaker 3: himself up with one hand, nearly lost his footing, then

16:51 Speaker 3: caught himself and turned toward the front of the house.

16:54 Speaker 3: He took a few fast steps, stopped, looked back at

16:58 Speaker 3: her again, then moved harder and more urgently, his hand

17:01 Speaker 3: already going for his phone before he reached the injuryway.

17:04 Speaker 3: He pulled it out, fumbled once, almost dropped it, caught

17:08 Speaker 3: it against his palm, and jabbed at the screen with

17:10 Speaker 3: his thumb. The phone rang in his hand. He paced

17:13 Speaker 3: two steps one way, then back toward the living room,

17:16 Speaker 3: not able to stay still and not willing to get

17:19 Speaker 3: too far from where she lay. When the despatcher answered,

17:22 Speaker 3: he started talking immediately, words coming before the opening questions

17:26 Speaker 3: were finished. My wife killed herself. She's on the floor.

17:30 Speaker 2: The dispatcher's voice came back, clear and level, asking for

17:33 Speaker 2: the address, asking if she was breathing, asking what he

17:36 Speaker 2: could see. He answered in fragments, looking over his shoulder

17:40 Speaker 2: into the living room. While he talked, blood knife, floor.

17:44 Speaker 2: He swallowed hard between words. The dispatcher told him to

17:47 Speaker 2: stay on the line. He didn't take the phone from

17:50 Speaker 2: his ear. He moved back toward the living room while

17:53 Speaker 2: the dispatcher kept talking. I'm going back to her, he said,

17:56 Speaker 2: voice catching and then steadying as he crossed the room.

17:59 Speaker 2: Heduch the carpet as he walked, choosing where he put

18:02 Speaker 2: his feet, avoiding the edge of the blood spread, without

18:05 Speaker 2: really thinking about how he knew where it ended. He

18:08 Speaker 2: lowered himself again, slower, this time, one knee down, then

18:12 Speaker 2: the other. The phone pressed hard to the side of

18:14 Speaker 2: his face. The dispatcher asked him to check for breathing,

18:18 Speaker 2: to look closely to tell her exactly what he was seeing.

18:21 Speaker 2: He leaned in until his face was close to Betsy's.

18:24 Speaker 2: His free hand reached toward her neck, then stopping in

18:28 Speaker 2: mid air before it landed. When he finally touched her again,

18:31 Speaker 2: he did it lightly like he was afraid any pressure

18:34 Speaker 2: at all might make what he was seeing worse. She's cold,

18:38 Speaker 2: he said at one point, then corrected himself into broken pieces.

18:42 Speaker 2: The dispatcher could work with I. I don't know she's

18:45 Speaker 2: she's not moving. There's so much blood. He kept looking

18:48 Speaker 2: for something to change, and nothing did. The dispatcher kept

18:52 Speaker 2: him talking. Every time he went quiet for more than

18:55 Speaker 2: a beat, another question came through the phone. Was the

18:58 Speaker 2: door unlocked? Was anyone else in the house? Had he

19:01 Speaker 2: touched the knife? He answered each one while glancing from

19:04 Speaker 2: the room to the doorway and back again, as if

19:07 Speaker 2: expecting the house to tell him something. No, No, I

19:11 Speaker 2: touched her. I didn't touch the knife. His answers were short, clipped,

19:15 Speaker 2: pulled out of him. When she told him to go

19:17 Speaker 2: unlock the door, he looked toward the front enterie like

19:20 Speaker 2: he had forgotten there was even a door to unlock. Okay,

19:24 Speaker 2: He stood up too fast, steadied himself with a hand

19:27 Speaker 2: on the couch, and then moved toward the front of

19:29 Speaker 2: the house with the phone still to his ear. His

19:32 Speaker 2: footsteps sounded loud on the floor. He reached the door,

19:35 Speaker 2: worked the lock with fingers that slipped once, then twice

19:39 Speaker 2: before the dead bolt turned. He pulled the door open,

19:42 Speaker 2: and colder air came in from outside. It's open, he

19:46 Speaker 2: told the dispatcher. He left the door open and turned

19:49 Speaker 2: back toward the living room. When he got back to Betsy,

19:52 Speaker 2: he didn't kneel right away. He stopped a few feet

19:55 Speaker 2: short of where she lay and just looked at her,

19:57 Speaker 2: his shoulders rising and falling. Phones still pinned against his ear.

20:01 Speaker 2: The dispatcher asked what he had touched, what he had moved,

20:05 Speaker 2: whether he'd tried to roll her over. He answered, while

20:07 Speaker 2: keeping his eyes on the floor beside the couch, then

20:10 Speaker 2: on the knife, then on her face. I touched her shoulder,

20:14 Speaker 2: I checked her. No, I didn't move her. The answers

20:18 Speaker 2: came broken up with breathing and silence, and the sound

20:20 Speaker 2: of him swallowing hard. Before he spoke again, he took

20:24 Speaker 2: one step closer and crouched without fully kneeling, like he

20:27 Speaker 2: couldn't decide whether getting close again would help or make

20:30 Speaker 2: it worse. He reached a hand out, stopped before touching her,

20:34 Speaker 2: and pulled it back to his own chest instead. The

20:37 Speaker 2: dispatcher kept him in the room with her through the phone,

20:39 Speaker 2: asking him to stay there, asking him to keep answering.

20:43 Speaker 2: He stayed where he could see her and the knife

20:46 Speaker 2: at the same time. The first hint of sirens came

20:49 Speaker 2: in faint through the open door, too far away at

20:52 Speaker 2: first to be certain. He turned his head toward the

20:54 Speaker 2: entry and listened, and then back towards Betsy, then toward

20:57 Speaker 2: the door again. I hear them, he said to the phone,

21:00 Speaker 2: though the dispatcher hadn't asked yet. His voice sounded lower,

21:04 Speaker 2: now worn out, the words less rushed because there was

21:07 Speaker 2: nowhere for them to go. He shifted his weight from

21:10 Speaker 2: one foot to the other and looked down at the

21:12 Speaker 2: blood on his pants where he'd wiped his hands without thinking.

21:16 Speaker 2: The dispatcher kept him on the line, still asking, still

21:19 Speaker 2: answering him, keeping the connection filled. Outside, the sirens got louder,

21:24 Speaker 2: moving closer street by street, until they were no longer

21:27 Speaker 2: somewhere else. The sound bounced off the houses and came

21:31 Speaker 2: in clean through the open door. Russ stayed in the

21:34 Speaker 2: living room, one hand holding the phone, the other hanging

21:37 Speaker 2: at his side, Flexing once and then going still. He

21:41 Speaker 2: looked at the front door, then back to Betsy on

21:43 Speaker 2: the floor. The sirens came up fast, at the end

21:47 Speaker 2: the way they do when they turn onto your street,

21:49 Speaker 2: and suddenly stopped being background noise, red and blue. Light

21:53 Speaker 2: started to flash across the front of the house, catching

21:55 Speaker 2: the edge of the open door, then sliding in across

21:58 Speaker 2: the floor in the wall. He stood there in the

22:00 Speaker 2: living room with the dispatcher still in his ear, his

22:03 Speaker 2: body turned half way between the doorway and Betsy, like

22:06 Speaker 2: he didn't know which direction to face. Now that the

22:09 Speaker 2: waiting part was over, He said again that she was

22:11 Speaker 2: on the floor, said there was a knife, said please

22:15 Speaker 2: at least once without attaching it to anything. The dispatcher

22:18 Speaker 2: told him help was there, Help was arriving. Officers were

22:22 Speaker 2: coming in. He didn't move toward the door. He didn't

22:25 Speaker 2: leave Betsy. The living room stayed exactly the way it

22:28 Speaker 2: had been since he found her, couch, carpet, blood, the

22:33 Speaker 2: knife still upright in her neck. The house lights on

22:36 Speaker 2: the front door opened to the night. Footsteps hit the

22:40 Speaker 2: front walk and came hard toward the door. All right,

22:43 Speaker 2: we're gonna stop there. Please do join me a week

22:46 Speaker 2: from today, Wednesday, May fifth, for part two of the

22:49 Speaker 2: Murder of Betsy Farrhea. And hey, if you know anybody

22:53 Speaker 2: who likes a true crime podcast, your family, your friend,

22:56 Speaker 2: somebody you bump into in an elevator, someone you'll weigh

22:59 Speaker 2: that on the street. Please do tell them about the show.

23:01 Speaker 2: I sure would appreciate it, and thank you once again

23:04 Speaker 2: for spending your time with me. Thank you truly for

23:07 Speaker 2: being here. I'm Zevan Odleberg and this has been kind

23:12 Speaker 2: of Murdery.

23:14 Speaker 1: If you like the show, please subscribe, review and tell

23:17 Speaker 1: your friends. You can find us on social media at

23:19 Speaker 1: kinda Murdery or email at kindamurderyat gmail dot com.