of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel. In July 2016, Russ filed a civil rights lawsuit against Askey and three deputy sheriffs on the grounds that they had "fabricated evidence, ignored exonerating evidence and failed to investigate the other obvious suspect." Meanwhile, KTVI found other problematic cases involving Mennemeyer. The following month, Askey and the sheriff's office issued a press release stating that they were cooperating with the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri in a review of the case. In 2017, Askey asked Lincoln County commissioners to conduct an independent investigation into her conduct; the investigation found no wrongdoing. In January 2017, Mennemeyer was suspended by the Supreme Court of Missouri for misconduct unrelated to the Faria case. In August 2018, both Mennemeyer and Askey (now Leah Wommack Chaney) were voted out of office, a result attributed to the mishandling of the murder case and trial. The decision not to investigate Hupp had been widely criticized; a former employee of the prosecutor's office said, "There were several of us that kept thinking, why are we not pursuing Pam Hupp? [...] They were just locked down on Russ." In a 2021 interview, Leah Wommack Chaney ( Askey) noted that she had believed Hupp would have been physically incapable of inflicting the wounds found on Betsy's body. In a July 2021 interview, Betsy's daughters stated that when they had asked about the possibility of Hupp having been the murderer, they were told by former Lincoln County investigators "she physically could not do that". In September 2019, federal district judge John Andrew Ross dismissed Russ' suit against Leah Wommack Chaney on the basis of prosecutorial immunity. In January 2018, attorneys acting for Russ deposed Hupp as part of his lawsuit against Lincoln County; she declined to answer 92 questions relating to the killing of his wife. In response to the refusal, Russ' attorneys sought a court order to force a response. In March 2020, Russ received a settlement in his civil rights case worth over $2,000,000 (). Charging of Pam Hupp In June 2019, after Hupp entered an Alford plea to the murder of Louis Gumpenberger, Lincoln County prosecuting attorney Mike Wood announced that he would be reopening the Betsy Faria homicide investigation. In October 2019, Wood requested a case review by the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis. In August 2020, newly elected Lincoln County Sheriff Rick Harrell said