The mother of a disabled man from Missouri who was lured to his death and fatally shot by Pam Hupp on Friday was awarded a $3million judgm...
The mother of a disabled man from Missouri who was lured to his death and fatally shot by Pam Hupp on Friday was awarded a $3million judgment in her wrongful death lawsuit.
Margaret Burch, the mother of Louis Gumpenberger, 33, delivered an emotional statement in court that left her shaking.
Burch spoke of the heartbreak of losing her son in August 2016, and how her grandson 'still has nightmares' four years after the cold-blooded murder.
Pam Hupp, 61 (left), is serving a life sentence for shooting and killing Louis Gumpenberger, 33 (right), in Missouri in August 2016
Gumpenberger's mother, Margaret Burch (left), on Friday was awarded a $3million judgement in a wrongful death lawsuit against Hupp
She told the judge the boy, now aged, 15, looks just like his late father and 'misses that daddy can’t spoil him anymore,' reported Fox 2 Now.
Burch added, referring to her son's convicted killer: 'Pam got off easy.'
Hupp, 61, is currently serving a life sentence for leading Gumpenberger to her home under the guise of being a producer for NBC's Dateline, and then shooting him in her bedroom.
It is believed that Hupp wanted to frame Russell Faria, the husband of her slain friend, Betsy Faria, for Gumpenberger's murder as part of a twisted plot to divert attention from herself amid a new investigation into the woman's 2011 stabbing death.
Russell Faria was initially convicted of his wife's murder, but was later acquitted. He claimed Hupp had stabbed Betsy, who was terminally ill, 55 times because she was a beneficiary of her $150,000 life insurance policy.
Hupp entered a plea last year, admitting that prosecutors had enough evidence against her in Gumpenberger's murder, to avoid the death penalty.
It is believed Hupp shot and killed Gumpenrberger after luring him to her home as part of a plot to frame a murdered friend's husband. Gumpenberger had disabilities from an accident
Hupp claimed that she shot the man in her bedroom at her home in O'Fallon, Missouri, after he tried to kidnap her
The $3million judgment against Hupp may never be collected, unless she finds a way to profit off of her crime, for example by selling the rights to her story, or writing a book.
Burch's attorney, Gary Burger, said outside court he hopes that having the judgement hanging over her head would serve as a deterrent for Hupp.
'We don’t want Pam Hupp to profit off of her crimes and her murder and so this will dissuade her from that,' he said.
He added that should Hupp come into money in the future, 'the first $3million goes to Margaret and to Louis’ son.'
In May, NBC announced that it was turning a series of Dateline episodes about Hupp and her crimes into a scripted TV show. A feature-length film and a documentary about Hupp were also said to be in the works.
On August 16, 2016, Hupp shot dead Gumpenberger inside her O'Fallon home.
Hupp claimed she killed the man in self-defense when he tried to kidnap her.
Hupp (left) is a suspect in the 2011 murder of her terminally ill friend, Betsy Faria (right). She is also accused of helping convict Betsy's husband, Russell (right), of the murder
Russell Faria was later acquitted of stabbing his wife 55 times (pictured in mugshot)
But authorities claimed that Hupp opened fire on the man as part of a bizarre attempt to distract from the re-investigation of her friend Betsy's death.
Feeling that Faria's acquittal was drawing attention towards her, authorities believe Hupp wanted to frame Russell by creating a hoax revenge attack.
Hupp originally told police that she got out of her car on her driveway and Gumpenberger pulled a knife and demanded she take him to a bank 'to get Russ's money' - an apparent reference to the insurance money she collected from Betsy's death.
She told authorities she knocked the knife out of Gumpenberger's hand and ran into her house.
She said she got a gun and fatally shot Gumpenberger after he followed her inside.
The story quickly unraveled.
During a news conference, St Charles Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar spelled out the bizarre circumstances surrounding Gumpenberger's death.
Lohmar said that days before the killing, a woman reported that someone matching Hupp's description in an SUV approached her claiming to be a producer for the TV show 'Dateline' and promised to pay $1,000 if she would record a scripted sound bite about 911 calls.
The woman at first agreed but backed out when the woman failed to show any credentials. The woman then went to police.
Lohmar said a surveillance camera showed the SUV's license plate, which matched Hupp's.
He has said authorities believed Hupp was 'vetting a potential victim'.
Lohmar said Hupp then turned to Gumpenberger, who was left physically and mentally impaired after a 2005 car wreck.
Data from Hupp's cellphone indicated that Gumpenberger was not a stranger as Hupp had claimed - GPS showed she was at his apartment, 13 miles from her home, less than an hour before the fatal confrontation.
Police found $900 in plastic bags in Gumpenberger's pocket after his death, and a note that appeared to be instructions to kidnap Hupp and collect Faria's money. Authorities said the money and note were planted.
After her arrest in Gumpenberger's murder, Hupp was questioned by police in an interview room.
She was caught on camera taking one of the detective's ball point pens. She used it to stab herself multiple times in the neck and arms while using the police station bathroom.
In June 2019, Hupp admitted that prosecutors had evidence to convict her of Gumpenberger's murder. She entered an Alford plea ahead of her sentencing. The plea wasn’t an admission of the crime but conceded that evidence existed for a conviction.
Last October, prosecutors reopened the investigation into Betsy Faria's brutal killing and named Hupp a suspect.
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