ST. LOUIS – Pam Hupp is asking a judge to throw out her murder conviction. She handwrote a Motion to Vacate her conviction and filed it from her prison in Chillicothe.
A public defender is now looking into Hupp’s claims that she was pressured by her attorneys and by the jail, to take a plea.
Never does she mention the man she shot to death in her home.
In August 2016, only Fox 2 captured Hupp’s arrest for the murder of Louis Gumpenberger, a man with disabilities. Hupp lured Gumpenberger to her O’Fallon, Missouri home where she shot him at her bedroom door and claimed he was trying to kidnap her.
O’Fallon police quickly saw through it – finding evidence Hupp plotted the murder and planted fake evidence to make it appear she was the victim.
Three years later, Hupp took what’s called an Alford plea – never admitting guilt, but acknowledging prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her.
In a jail phone call after her plea, Pam Hupp told her husband Mark how people in court seemed surprised she didn’t admit anything. In a jail recorded phone call she said, “…because that’s what they were expecting, the gory details and me admitting that. And the judge said no, she’s not. That’s not what it is. So they were not happy.”
Hupp got a life sentence in the deal, but now she’s hoping a judge will throw it out. She complains about her defense attorneys in a ten-page motion she filed from prison.
Four of the pages she wrote by hand saying in part, “My attorneys took $250,000 and didn’t do anything…”
Hupp added, “They cut my time short because all of the attorneys had to go on vacation.”
She also said, “I asked my attorneys all the time for a speedy trial. Nothing was ever done and I was lied to all the time about it… They pushed me into taking a plea without being able to talk to my loved ones – locked down in a suicide unit in a turtle suit for 3 years.” Turtle suit is her reference to her jail clothing.
She does not mention her daily phone calls with her husband Mark Hupp, who filed for divorce this month.
Hupp’s motion, including her handwritten argument 
Hupp’s motion, including her handwritten argument 
Hupp’s motion, including her handwritten argument 
Hupp’s motion, including her handwritten argument 
Hupp’s motion, including her handwritten argument 
Hupp’s motion, including her handwritten argument 
Hupp’s motion, including her handwritten argument 
Hupp’s motion, including her handwritten argument 
Hupp’s motion, including her handwritten argument 
Hupp’s motion, including her handwritten argument
You’ll recall from our reports, Hupp tried to kill herself after her 2016 arrest for murder. You could see her thinking about it in the interrogation room as she subtly grabbed a pen, hid it in her pants, felt for her jugular vein, then went to the bathroom where she stabbed herself.
You could hear first responders in the background yelling “We need a medic! Pam! Pam! Pam! Talk to me!”
Evidence photos showed how she stabbed herself in her neck and wrists. Her booking photo showed her bandaged neck.
In Hupp’s new court filing she claims, “I was not suicidal and never attempted or caused any trouble for 3 years. It was obvious that I was kept (in the suicide unit) to pressure me to take a plea. It was cruel and unusual punishment.”
Hupp’s former attorney Nick Williams told FOX Files Friday the defense team had no comment. Filings like this from prisoners are not uncommon. Now a new lawyer, a public defender, will look into Hupp’s claims.
