Russ Faria and his attorney, Joel Schwartz, worked with the actors portraying them so I feel like they are probably OK with the show and possible received some money. I'm not sure about Betsy's daughters. I live in the STL area and while I didn't follow the story closely, it was highly publicized. Pam Hupp did come across as over the top and full of herself when you saw her in real life on the news.