"this is what it feels like to die". In response to the claims, Schwartz noted that the pillow story had originally been told by Hupp. Betsy's daughters ultimately issued an apology to Russ in July 2021. Retrial and acquittal of Russ Faria An initial motion for a new trial was rejected by Judge Christina Mennemeyer in December 2013. In January 2014, KTVI partnered with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper to review the case. The next month, the Post-Dispatch reported that Hupp had kept the $150,000 rather than put it into a trust for Betsy's daughters. She had also contradicted herself during police interviews, such as initially claiming she had not entered the Faria house after driving Betsy home but later revising this account twice. The 9-1-1 operator who had taken Russ' call believed he had been genuinely shocked and upset. The article alleged that Askey, the prosecutor, had been in a relationship with Mike Lang, the then-captain of investigations for the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and one of the investigating officers in the Faria murder case, as well as a prosecution witness. Two members of the jury in Russ' trial informed the media that this information had been withheld. Schwartz appealed the conviction. In February 2015, the Missouri Court of Appeals sent the case back to the 45th Circuit Court for a hearing on a retrial. After Mennemeyer recused herself from the case in June, 22nd Circuit Court Judge Steven Ohmer granted a motion for a new bench trial based on the evidence that had emerged, with Russ released on bond pending the trial. During the retrial, Schwartz was allowed to introduce evidence implicating Hupp as the perpetrator. CSI agent Amy Buettner, who had examined the crime scene, testified that she believed the slippers found in Russ's closet had not gotten bloodied by stepping in blood. During the trial, police officers disclosed that Hupp who was not called to testify had claimed in recent interviews that she and Betsy had been in a sexual relationship. Hupp also told police that she had "remembered" seeing Russ and another man in a car parked in a side street outside the Faria house as she drove Betsy home. On November 7, Russ' conviction was overturned and he was released from prison after having served almost four years. In 2016, Schwartz filed a bar complaint against Askey; it was eventually dismissed by the Office