x
Breaking News
More () »

'The marriage is irretrievably broken' | Pam Hupp's husband files for divorce

Court documents state the couple has been apart since Aug. 23, 2016, which is the day Pam Hupp was taken into custody for the murder of Louis Gumpenberger

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Pam Hupp is back in court filings. But this time, it doesn’t have to do with any criminal cases. Her husband has filed for divorce.

Public court records in Missouri indicate Mark Hupp has petitioned to dissolve his marriage with his wife of nearly 37 years. 

Court documents state the couple has been apart since Aug. 23, 2016, which is the day Pam Hupp was taken into custody for the murder of Louis Gumpenberger. She entered an Alford plea in the case three years later.

Hupp was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She's serving time in the Chillicothe Correctional Center.

"There remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage of the parties can be preserved and, therefore, the marriage is irretrievably broken,” a court filing signed by Mark Hupp states. A separate filing signed by Pam Hupp indicates she received the divorce papers.

The papers were filed nearly four years to the day Hupp was taken into custody. 5 On Your Side emailed Mark Hupp's attorney for comment. We have not heard back.

Prosecutors said Hupp lured Gumpenberger to her O’Fallon, Missouri, home back in August 2016 and shot him. They said she planted a knife and kidnapping note on him.

Hupp told investigators she killed Gumpenberger in self-defense after he tried to kidnap her on Russell Faria’s behalf. Faria’s wife, Elizabeth “Betsy” Faria, was stabbed to death in 2011. Faria’s conviction for his wife’s murder was overturned and he was acquitted of the crime in 2015. Her life insurance documents had been changed shortly before her murder to make Hupp the beneficiary of the policy. Hupp has denied killing her friend.

Prosecutors believed Hupp killed Gumpenberger as a distraction from the investigation into Betsy Faria’s murder.

Hupp has never been charged with the death of Betsy Faria. In 2019, the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis said it would launch a new investigation into the case.

Pam Hupp case coverage: 

Before You Leave, Check This Out