TROY, Mo. 鈥 A Lincoln County man sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2013 for allegedly murdering his wife left jail Tuesday after a relative posted $500,000 bond.
Russell Faria, 45, was met upon release from the Lincoln County jail by about a dozen family members. The group then traveled to an O鈥橣allon, Mo., restaurant on a bus.
A judge granted Faria a new trial at a June 5 hearing after Faria鈥檚 lawyers claimed that newly discovered evidence would have changed the outcome of Faria鈥檚 trial for the stabbing death of Elizabeth 鈥淏etsy鈥 Faria.
The hearing by a Missouri appellate court March 6. The order primarily focused on the actions and statements of Pamela Hupp, Betsy Faria鈥檚 friend.
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Betsy Faria had changed the beneficiary on $150,000 of her life insurance to Hupp just days before the murder. Hupp has offered different versions of Betsy Faria鈥檚 wishes for the money, saying that it was for Hupp, for Betsy Faria鈥檚 daughters or for another friend, according to court documents.
Although Hupp set up a trust for the daughters, a revealed that Hupp said she felt pressured by investigators to set up the trust before the trial and withdrew almost all of it after the trial, court records show.
Hupp has said she had dropped off Betsy Faria, 42, at her home outside Troy on Dec. 27, 2011, the night of the killing, and left.
Faria lawyer Joel Schwartz has complained that he tried to portray Hupp as an alternate suspect, but was limited in his questioning and his ability to introduce evidence against her.
Faria鈥檚 new trial has been set for Nov. 2.
Questions about the original conviction were raised by a of the Post-Dispatch and Fox 2 News in 2014.
Hupp has denied any involvement in the murder, as has Russell Faria.
J.B. Forbes of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
