The Thing About Pam examines the real-life people and events surrounding the 2011 Betsy Faria murder case, from the alleged perpetrators to the lawyers and judges who oversaw the case.
NBC's true crime drama recreates aspects of the case through a dramatic lens and it focuses in on individuals who were actually involved, including the judge who presided over the trial against Betsy's husband Russ Faria in 2013.
Episode 3 of the show, titled "She's A Star Witness", showed viewers the role that Judge Christina Kunza Mennemeyer played in the trial, including her decision to stop the prosecution from presenting evidence of another potential suspect: Pam Hupp.
Here is everything you need to know about Judge Mennemeyer, who is portrayed by Heather Magee in the series.
Where Is Judge Christina Mennemeyer Now?
Christina Kunza Mennemeyer was the presiding judge over the trial against Russ Faria in 2013, for which he was found guilty by a jury despite him having an alibi and the police finding no evidence of blood on him at the time of his wife's murder.
Faria's wrongful conviction was later overturned in 2015 in a new trial, where a judge found him not guilty, and he was then released from prison.
Mennemeyer worked as the Presiding Circuit Judge of Lincoln and Pike Counties from January 2013 for a six-year tenure, per Pike County News.
Several cases she has overseen, including Faria's wrongful conviction, have been overturned, Fox2 reported in 2016.
Per the publication, Attorney Lynette Petruska said at the time: "I have to assume the judge was operating on a good faith belief that she was doing the right thing, but the court of appeals told her she was wrong three times in a row, that is unusual."
In 2017, Mennemeyer was suspended from her position in the Missouri Supreme Court without pay for a period of six months beginning February 1.
She was suspended after a complaint was filed against her in November 2014 for deliberately postponing the appointment of counsel in order to "prevent a public defender from disqualifying her" from cases.
The director of the Missouri State Public Defender System also claimed Mennemeyer had "threatened to bring bar complaints against any public defender who entered an appearance in advance of her appointment date."
Missouri's Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline, which is an independent state agency, recommended Mennemeyer be suspended in September 2016, and this was accepted in January 2017.
In May 2018, Mennemeyer sought her second term in office and spoke at the Republicans of Pike County Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, according to a report from Pike County News at the time.
In her speech she said: "I treat all litigants the same regardless of whether they have a lawyer or not. Everybody gets their day in court. Everybody gets the time they need in court. When I finish a trial, I take time to review the notes and the law to apply the facts to the law."
Mennemeyer was unseated by Patrick S. Flynn in August 2018 in the Pike County Primary for the 45th Judicial Circuit Court, according to a report from Herald-Whig, a daily newspaper in Quincy, Illinois.
Flynn is now the 45th Circuit Court Presiding Judge.
The Thing About Pam airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
