St. Charles County Prosecuting attorney Tim Lohmar announced the prosecution will seek the death penalty against Pamela Hupp if she is found guilty of murdering Louis Gumpenberger.
Police said Hupp shot and killed 33-year-old Gumpenberger in her O'Fallon, Mo., home last August. At the time, Hupp claimed Gumpenberger was a burglar, but investigators believe his death was part of an elaborate plan to "take the heat" off of herself from the trial involving Russ Faria.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Lohmar said he will pursue the death penalty for the first time in his tenure as prosecuting attorney in St. Charles County. If Hupp is sentenced to death, she would be the first woman given the death penalty since 1958, according to Lohmar.
She pleaded "not guilty" to the first-degree murder charge in late January.
The trial date is set for October.
Hupp's attorneys have requested a venue change, saying Hupp could not get a fair trial in St. Charles County. Prosecutors denied that claim, but a judge will have the final say at an April hearing.
Raw video: Press conference on Pamela Hupp case
