Community Corner

St. Louis County Library Presents Prosecutor Joel Schwartz And True Crime Writer Charles Bosworth Jr

The event will take place at Library Headquarters (1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.) on Saturday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m.

(St. Louis County Library)

February 11, 2022

St. Louis County Library presents defense attorney Joel Schwarz and true crime writer Charles Bosworth, Jr., authors of “Bone Deep: Untangling the Betsy Faria Murder Case.”

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Schwartz and Bosworth will be in conversation with St. Louis Post Dispatch reporter Robert Patrick.

The event will take place at Library Headquarters (1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.) on Saturday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Masks required for all attendees.

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Defemse attorney Joel Schwartz and New York Times bestselling author Charles Bosworth Jr. present the explosive, first-ever insider’s account of the case that’s captivated millions – the murder of Betsy Faria and the wrongful conviction of her husband.

Two days after Christmas, 2011, Russel Faria returned to his Troy, Missouri home to find his wife, Betsy, brutally murdered The crime would set off a chain of events leading to one man’s wrongful imprisonment, another man’s death, the revelation of a diabolical scheme, and an astounding miscarriage of justice left unresolved for another ten years.

No blood was found implicating Russ, and surveillance video, receipts, and friends’ testimony all supported his alibi. Yet incredibly, police and the prosecuting attorney ignored the evidence. But prominent defense attorney Joel J. Schwartz quickly recognized the real killer.

The motive was clear. Days before her murder, the terminally ill Betsy replaced her husband with her friend, Pamela Hupp, as her life insurance beneficiary. Still, despite the prosecution’s flimsy case and Hupp’s transparent lies, Russ was convicted—leaving Hupp free to kill again.

“Bone Deep” takes readers through the perfect storm of miscalculations and missteps that led to an innocent man’s conviction—and recounts Schwartz’s successful battle to have that conviction overturned. Written with Russ Faria’s cooperation, and filled with chilling new revelations, this is the story of what can happen when police, prosecutor, judge, and jury all fail in their duty to protect the innocent—and let a killer get away with murder.

Joel J. Schwartz has spent 30 years exclusively as a criminal defense lawyer in the St. Louis region. He has appeared on Dateline NBC, 60 Minutes, CBS Morning News, CNN, Fox News and countless local television news affiliates.

Charles Bosworth is a New York Times bestselling author of six true-crime books. He developed an expertise in writing about crime and the courts in 27 years as a daily newspaper reporter, including 20 years with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Program sites are accessible. Upon two weeks’ notice, accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Contact St. Louis County Library by phone 314-994-3300 or visit www.slcl.org.


This press release was produced by the St. Louis County Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.