LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo. – A former investigator in the high-profile 2011 murder case of Betsy Faria – later linked to Pam Hupp – is now accused of lying under oath during testimony in Lincoln County, prosecutors say.
On Tuesday, the Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Michael A. Merkel, 46, of Troy, Missouri, with two felony counts of perjury in criminal trial to secure conviction of murder.
Court documents allege that Merkel provided false testimony during a criminal trial to secure the conviction of Russ Faria in the murder of Betsy Faria, his wife, who was found dead in her home on December 27, 2011.
During the course of the murder investigation, authorities learned that Betsy changed the beneficiary of her $150,000 life insurance policy to Hupp just days before her death. While this raised suspicions around the time of Russ’ retrial, Hupp was off the hook from charges at the time. Russ would ultimately serve three years behind bars before he was acquitted in a 2016 retrial.
Hupp later came under renewed scrutiny in the 2016 murder of Louis Gumpenberger, a man with disabilities. While she claimed he was a home intruder, police determined she had lured him to her home and staged the scene to divert attention from the Faria case.
According to new court documents obtained by FOX 2 over Merkel’s charges, investigators used a Bluestar luminescence test to evaluate blood evidence at the crime scene, but the results were disputed during the trial. Merkel testified that photographs taken during the Bluestar test showed “absolutely nothing” due to a camera malfunction, but forensic review later contradicted that claim.
The defense argued that the photographs were not provided during pretrial discovery, raising questions about the integrity of the evidence presented. During the retrial, Merkel clarified that his earlier testimony meant the photographs did not show any chemical luminescence, not that they were entirely blank.
Court documents also cited a media inquiry from an investigative reporter in connection with Merkel’s charges, one believed to be related to at least two reports from FOX Files investigators Chris Hayes (STORY 1 & STORY 2).
Lincoln County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Krehmeyer requested a $250,000 cash-only bond for Merkel. A document with that request reads: “One of the pillars of our criminal justice system is that the citizens of this country can depend upon honesty and integrity of those individuals that are entrusted with the responsibility of investigating potential criminal conduct.”
As of Wednesday, court documents have not listed an attorney for Merkel.