Lois Riess

I am surprised at how often I am surprised in hearing about a case for the first time after seeing how “high profile” the case had been. I admit that some of that is likely due to the fact that I have gone to exclusively streaming television like many of us and by doing so I rarely keep up on new episodes of things like Dateline or 48 Hours. It is not that I do not have the ability because I have several streaming services and they allow me to watch those and several other types of true crime shows. But, when I still subscribed to cable I would use the DVR to tape all the shows I wanted and simply used that more than watching television live. That being said, I am still surprised that I had not heard of this case.

On March 23, 2018 police in Blooming Prairie Minnesota went to a home for a welfare check. Friends of David and Lois Riess were reporting they had not seen or heard from the couple in a few weeks. Now, to be fair, it seems like more people were actually looking for David than they were for Lois. It was mentioned that typically David would always respond to text messages very quickly and that was not happening. David had also apparently not been seen at work for the last few weeks either although it appears his business, Prairie Wax Worm Farm, was on his property. He did have a business partner and this is who apparently called the police.

Generally when the police are called to make a welfare check they are not allowed to actually enter a home without a reason. This reason could be anything they see unusual outside the home or if they can see anything through the windows, if they look, of the home. I am unclear what the officer(s) saw at the Riess home that made them believe they could, and should, enter, but they obviously did. Inside they would find the body of fifty-four year old David Riess. He was found in the bathroom of the home surrounded by blood and covered with towels. The medical examiner would determine that he had been shot several times, but just how many times I am not sure I can say. David's wife of more than twenty-five years, Lois, was no where to be found.

Upon further investigating it appeared that David had been murdered on March 11^th, nearly two weeks before he was found. Investigators also discovered that Lois had taken nearly $11,000 out of David's business account. Some say she put that money in the couple's joint account but I cannot prove this and for me, this would not make any sense if she had killed her husband. It would seem unusual that someone who had murdered someone, and presumably went on the run, would put money in an account, forcing them to access the account to get the money back, leaving them open to be tracked by investigators. Investigators also learned that Lois had a gambling problem and these things seemed to lead them to believe that she was responsible for her husband's death.

It would be learned that when Lois left Minnesota she headed towards Florida. On her way south she stopped to gamble at least once at a casino. She then made her way to Fort Myers Beach Florida where investigators say she would plan the next steps.

It is unclear at what point Minnesota investigators put out information that Lois was wanted for questioning in the murder of her husband, but it seems clear that when Lois struck again in Fort Myers it was not known about what happened in Minnesota.

Pamela Hutchison was staying at a resort condo in Fort Myers Beach. I have been unable to confirm whether the date her body was found was April 6^th or 9^th because different articles said both days. Generally when something like this happens I will confirm the date either through an appeal or a website such as findagrave.com. I was not able to do that here. Like David Riess, Pamela was found in the bathroom of the condo, laying in a pool of blood and her face had been covered with a towel.

Investigators began talking to the staff of the condo as well as the friends and family of Pamela. They would learn first that Pamela had expressed that she had found a new friend in Fort Myers and on the last day anyone heard from her she had stated she was meeting the new friend for dinner. The staff at the condo told investigators that Pamela had initially reserved the condo for a particular amount of days but on the day she was to leave she had called the office that morning and extended her stay. They only assumed that it was Pamela on the telephone and the bill was paid with Pamela's credit card but the staff could not say for certain that they had actually spoken to Pamela. Investigators were also given access to surveillance cameras at the resort.

The camera showed Pamela meeting her new friend for dinner. Investigators noticed that the new friend looked quite a bit like Pamela. Cameras followed the two women to Pamela's room. At some point the friend came out of the room and initially looked as if she was leaving. Investigators would later say she looked a bit distraught. They believed that the next person that entered Pamela's room would be her killer. What they were surprised to find was that this woman did not actually leave, but returned to the room. The woman would not leave the room again until the next morning. Surveillance cameras then saw the woman driving away in Pamela's car.

Eventually investigators in Minnesota and Florida would realize they were looking for the same woman and the FBI would be called in to help. While a motive for the murder of David was not quite known, it was believed that Pamela had been murdered simply because she had resembled Lois so much so that Lois believed she could continue to be on the run, only now do so as Pamela. She had taken Pamela's credit cards and identification. She had also taken $5,000 from Pamela's bank account.

On April 19, 2018 Lois Riess was arrested by U.S. Marshals on San Padre Island in Texas. It would be later said that she was likely headed to Mexico. Investigators believe before going to Mexico Lois was looking for her next victim and had found her. She had made the acquaintance of a woman named Bernadette Mathis and law enforcement believes that she would have been murdered if she had not been caught first.

Despite the murder of her husband occurring prior to the murder of Pamela Hutchison it appears that authorities in Florida had gathered enough evidence to charge Pamela before those in Minnesota. Florida has never shied away from asking for the death penalty and they were discussing it in this case. In December of 2019 however Lois would take a plea deal on the charges of murder, grand theft, grand theft auto and identification theft. She would be given a life sentence.

While Lois was being held in Florida authorities in Minnesota were getting things in order to file charges against her in the murder of her husband. It had been determined that both of her victims had been killed with the same .22 caliber handgun. In May of 2019 Minnesota authorities indicted her on charges of 1^st and 2^nd degree murder in the death of David Riess.

Lois would eventually agree to be extradited to Minnesota but apparently on the condition that she would be able to serve any and all sentences she was to serve, including the one in Florida, in Minnesota. That is not to say that she “ran” up to Minnesota and immediately pleaded guilty. In fact, she initially pleaded not guilty at her first court hearing in July 2020. The following month she changed that plea and accepted a deal in which she pleaded guilty to all charges and accepted a sentence of life without parole. If either of her cases would ever be overturned, which is unlikely, she would still have the case from the other state to serve essentially ensuring that she will remain in prison for the rest of her life.

My research stated that David and Lois had three children together. However, when it came to her sentencing in Minnesota I could only determine that two of her children spoke, a son and a daughter (I am unsure of the sex of the third child). Both spoke at her hearing and the son especially showed extreme animosity towards his mother for murdering his father. It is quite understandable.