Grandma Is Out For Blood (Meet Marry Murder with Michelle Trachtenberg) | Forensic Files

[music playing] MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): 59-year-old Pamela Hutchinson lies dead in a hotel room.
Baffled detectives can't figure out who would want her dead. This was unlike any other investigation that I had.
Her body was found in the bathroom, she had been covered up with some sort of blanket or cloth,
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): On the run, 56-year-old Lois Riess, wife, mother, grandmother.
Unfortunately, there are some very dangerous people out there, people who you would not expect by looking at them
that they were dangerous. We have to get her before she commits another murder. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
Could this smiling grandmother really be a double murderer? We're about to find out.
I've had some wild cases that I have covered over the years, but I've never seen one like this before.
Are you sure the person lying next to you in bed would never hurt you? If not, you might have to pay more attention.
I'm Michelle Trachtenberg, and it's time for another tale of "Meet, Marry, Murder."
[music playing] MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, just
your average Midwestern backwater. Blooming Prairie is a small, small town. It's less than 2,000 people live there in Blooming Prairie.
But it's a very tight-knit community where the people-- they're-- they're really, really great people.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): To the outside world, Lois and David Riess appear
to be the perfect couple. They met as teenagers, fell in love, got married, started a family, and I don't think
anybody would suspect Lois of doing anything untoward with anyone. She looks like a matronly, lovely person
who might bake you cookies or take care of your children when you're gone. Lois and David Riess were both from Rochester, Minnesota.
They both were born in the 1960s, and then, about 20 years later, they married. So it was like, local boy meets and marries local girl.
It's that kind of wholesome story. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): In the 1980s
Lois and David moved out to the country to start a family. CAROLYN CANVILLE: David serves in the Navy,
and when he gets out, he opens up a bait shop. He eventually sells it, and then he opens up his--
his own worm farm business. They have this-- what looks like this really nice storybook life together.
Just a happy couple, really well-liked in the community. And what people don't know is that it's
not such a pretty picture behind closed doors. [music playing] MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): As a newspaper
editor for the "Owatonna Peoples Press," Jeffrey Jackson got to know all about Lois Riess.
There was a history of-- of depression in her family. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
But it wasn't just depression. Lois was taking a cocktail of antipsychotic medication,
or was supposed to, much to her husband David's frustration. So she has a troubled history here
that most people in the community had-- had no idea. Nobody ever suspected that there was any huge conflict,
and they just kind of blended right into the neighborhood. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
As they started raising their family, Lois and David were fixtures in the local community,
and often seen regulars at the local servicemen's club. While Lois cared for her disabled sister,
David could usually be found out on the lake fishing with his grandkids. Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes.
And there's a lot of fishing that goes on in this state. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
Journalist Carolyn Canville spent time researching the life of David and Lois Riess.
He's a real outdoorsy guy he loves fishing, hunting, and boating, and especially loves sharing
that with his grandchildren. He was a good man. He loved his family, loved his grandchildren.
It's a big, expanded family. You can imagine the types of nice get togethers they might have.
And it seemed like the family was very close-knit. Everybody knew grandma Lois, and they enjoyed visiting her.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): While they appear to be just a couple of regular Midwestern grandparents,
behind closed doors, Lois's mental health issues were getting worse. On top of that, she was starting to develop
an unhealthy addiction. The hidden part of Lois his personality was that she actually was a thrill-seeker and she did this through gambling.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Soon, Lois's gambling habit began leading her down a dark path.
Once the gambling addiction took hold, there was nothing that could stop her. And if she didn't have the funds to bankroll her gambling,
she would stop at nothing to steal. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Conveniently, as her disabled sister's primary caretaker,
Lois had easy access to sister's accounts, eventually siphoning off more than $100,000.
Lois was appointed as her guardian, and she stole $100,000 before they said, something's wrong here.
I think Lois knew that she had an opportunity, that are cognitively disabled sister relied on her for everything,
and possibly wouldn't even understand that she had stolen from her. And so she did so very easily right under her nose.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Lois almost got away with it, too. She was not charged criminally in that,
but she was removed as guardian. And in the papers and the legal documents that were filed removing her from that,
it did indicate that she had spent thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars gambling,
particularly at this one Casino, the Diamond Jo Casino, which isn't far from their home in Blooming Prairie.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): After spending years covering up for Lois, her issues were starting to put a strain on her marriage
with David. Everything was saying that the source of their trouble was money, and particularly, the money she
was using for gambling. She had an addiction problem. She had a mental illness that she
wasn't properly treating because she had discontinued her medication. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
Whatever Lois was after, one thing's for sure, her demons were about to put her husband's life in danger.
I believe that she had planned that she was going to have to continue along this path of crime
so that she could amass enough wealth for herself to do everything that she wanted.
It seemed as if it just kind of came to a one day. Seemed like she just snapped.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: After 35 years of marriage, you would think David Riess would
have realized that his wife was a ticking time bomb. Or maybe he just thought that when she exploded,
it wouldn't be on him. Either way, she wasn't showing any signs of slowing down.
In fact, she was just starting to speed up. [music playing] In March of 2018, Lois Riess's declining mental health
and addiction to gambling was about to reach a boiling point. So here's this woman, you know, she's in her 60s.
She and her husband have been married for over three decades. They have three children, five grandchildren,
and then, suddenly, one night, she decides to kill him. He and Lois had apparently gone to see
grandkids in sporting events. On the way back to their home, they started arguing.
My guess is that they had been arguing about money, and, particularly, about money being used by Lois
to feed her gambling habit. When you look at how she decided to cross that line into killing, it was really motivated, first and foremost,
by finances and money. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Lois's gambling may have caused her and her husband's
financial situation, but David was the one about to pay the price. He handed her a loaded pistol and told her, basically,
to shoot and kill herself. She had attempted suicide before, and now, he was basically telling her, do it right
this time. Get it right. Shoot yourself. And instead, she took the gun, pointed it at him,
and shot him three times. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): After murdering the man she'd spent the last 35 years with,
Lois Riess begins plotting her escape. But to pull it off, she'd need a head start.
After she had killed him, she covered him with a blanket and then lay down beside him.
It's like an old Gothic William Faulkner tale or something, just quite-- quite gruesome.
Then she takes some bath towels and she-- she closes the door and she stuffs the towels under the door to seal out
any odors that might escape. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): With David's body stashed in the bathroom,
Lois but the second part of her plan into action. Former Homicide Detective Rod Demery.
She then manufactured text messages to his family and friends to say that he had gone on a fishing trip
and that he wasn't going to be around and they shouldn't come out looking for him.
She eventually sends another text that says he's sick and he doesn't want to be bothered.
All of these text messages, obviously, to keep people from looking for him and throw them off the trail.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Funding her gambling habit had turn Lois into a practiced con
artist, a skill she put to immediate use cleaning out David's checking account. She writes three personal checks to herself
and forges the signature, all totaling $11,000. And then, she hits the road. I think, at that point, the world was open for Lois,
and she was not going to turn back. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): As Lois skips town, David is still mysteriously nowhere
to be found. People began to get a little suspicious. They wondered, where is he?
They couldn't-- they would call, they couldn't-- they couldn't reach him, they couldn't contact him.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Lois's fake texts from David could only fool people for so long
before someone sounded the alarm. They realized, this is really not something that he would have typed.
He wasn't known for using punctuation, so it was pretty clear that someone else had typed it.
Finally, they called the Blooming Prairie Police Department and asked for a welfare check,
and that's when police discovered his body. They see the towels stuffed into the door and then walk in,
and they see David's rotting body underneath a pile of blankets. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds
to the chest. [gun firing] MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Police identify Lois as a prime suspect right from the start.
His car is missing, and so is his wife. When we first heard about the case, and Lois was named as a person of interest, which, of course,
is just a way of saying a suspect, in the shooting death of her husband, we didn't have a lot to go on.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): A warrant is issued for her arrest, but by then, she's long gone.
I think there was probably a part of Lois that always felt disdain for a conventional life.
And once she murdered her husband, then the floodgates were open. She can be whoever she wanted to be.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Before that could happen, though, Lois would first need to finish her 2,000
mile run to escape justice. Lois Riess is on the run. The first sign of her is at a convenience store.
She's seen on a video camera asking for directions. CCTV video will capture her asking for directions
at a gas station, which just happens to be next door to her favorite casino, the Diamond Jo.
Diamond Jo's Casino, that-- that Lois apparently frequented a lot. She spent the day there gambling,
then she hits the road and she starts traveling south to Florida. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
Lois drives David's Cadillac first through Iowa before turning south, leaving a trail of security footage
behind for investigators to piece together later. Even on her way down to Florida to try
to-- to-- to hide out, she was stopping at casinos and spending money that she had taken from her husband after
she had shot and killed him. [music playing] MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): In Florida, Lois thinks about looking up an old friend
who had a place down there. Homicide Detective David Foraker worked on the case.
It just so happened that our suspect showed up to her house on Fort Myers beach and appeared to be scoping the place out.
When she was confronted by our witness, she, you know, put her head down and just said, oh, I'm
sorry, wrong house, and then-- then left. We believe she came to southwest Florida, and Fort
Myers beach, in particular, perhaps because she knew her friend lived down here.
We believe that's why she went to the house to-- to see the friend, although she got
spooked when the friend recognized her and she left immediately. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
But apparently, Lois isn't spooked enough to leave town. In fact, she ends up sticking around Fort Myers
long enough to make a new friend. We have no evidence to suggest that they knew each other prior.
Lois is the one who initiated the contact because she had an agenda. She had a plan.
On April 3, Lois Riess is hanging out with her new buddy. She's met a woman named Pamela Hutchinson, who
actually looks similar to Lois. And the two of them are having a grand time. They're out having dinner and drinks.
It looks like they've been friends forever. She looks like a nonthreatening individual
who just wants to have fun. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Carmine Marceno, Lee County Sheriff.
She could be your family member. She wants to have a drink. She befriends our victim.
Unfortunately, there are some very dangerous people out there, people who you would not expect by looking at them
that they were dangerous. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): The next part of Lois's plan is ready to fall into place.
So Lois Riess has figured this out. She can just find someone who looks like her so she
can steal their identity. There's a very general resemblance as far as age and race and color of hair, maybe build somewhat.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): For Lois, stealing Pamela Hutchinson's identity
isn't enough. She believes she actually needs to become Pamela Hutchinson. And she isn't going to let a little thing like murder
get in her way of that happening. Lois Riess took advantage of a very kind, good-natured, lovely person.
ROD DEMERY: A call comes from Hutchinson's rented condo to reception asking to stay for a couple more days
and giving her credit card number, and it's extended for three days. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
It's another one of Lois's gambles, but just how far is she willing to go to stay out of jail?
Pamela Hutchinson is about to find out. JEFFREY JACKSON: They had drinks together.
They-- they had fun together. They talked and they-- they laughed, until Lois killed her.
With her husband's blood on her hands and the police on her trail, Lois Riess is running on borrowed time.
As the clock runs down, the question is, will she began her new life as Pamela Hutchinson?
[music playing] April 5, 2018, after murdering her husband of 35 years, Lois Riess is on the run, gambling
that her plan to steal another woman's identity will keep her from having to face justice.
At 7:46 PM that night, CCTV video will capture Pamela and Lois laughing and walking
and talking together. We see them entering the condominium together. We see them leaving, we see them entering,
and then, all of a sudden, we don't see our victim leaving the condominium anymore.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): When Pamela doesn't check out of Village Marina
as originally scheduled and goes dark on social media, her family tries to get in contact with her to no avail.
Pamela's family has started get a little worried because she should have been home by now,
and she had been posting on Facebook, but suddenly, she's not posting anymore, and she's not responding to any of their posts,
so they're getting concerned. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): But it's not just Pamela's family
that senses something is off. The people in the condo below her has called reception to complain about a nasty smell
seeping in through the walls. The hotel personnel go to room 404 to check. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
Housekeeping finds the bathroom door blocked by something. When she tried to open the door, she couldn't.
She couldn't. It kept running into something. And she finally managed to shove the door open.
They open the door, and they find Pamela's body covered in towels, and she's been shot.
A couple of things that I first noticed when we got there and was briefed by the others already on scene were
the spare bedroom and the spare bathroom looked like they had been used. I don't know, typically, if there's only one person
in a room, you would think they would only use one bathroom, maybe use both. But then again, the bedroom, the second guest
bedroom was also-- looked like someone had slept in the bed. I knew that there was only one person
that checked into the room. So knowing what I saw from the video, I thought, OK, maybe this female stayed the night, slept over.
This incident, this murder investigation, it rocked us. This was certainly unlike any other investigation that I had.
It wasn't just your normal run of the mill, if there is such a thing, homicide. Fort Myers beach is a smaller town in Wake County,
and it's-- it's a quiet town, but not by the norm to find a murdered person in a rented condominium there.
All sorts of things were crossing my mind, but it never would have dawned on me that another elderly white female would be my killer.
At that point, she would stop at nothing, not only murdering her husband, but taking the life of a stranger,
and then, therefore, her identity. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Lois went with the same escape plan
she used after murdering her husband, delay and get ready to run. She starts to do her own cover up of the crime scene,
puts the the towel by the door so there's no odor coming out. Over the next couple of days, CCTV video
will capture Lois going in and out of Pamela's room carrying garbage bags. We see this white female get in an Escalade
with Minnesota license plates, leave the property, and then walk back to the property about one hour later.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Lois has dumped David's Cadillac at a beachfront parking lot.
You got a woman who comes to Florida, looks like she's looking for somebody who looks at least somewhat like her to kill
and assume their identity. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): As far as Lois Riess is concerned,
she's now Pamela Hutchinson, so she's safe to get back on the road. We see her walking back and forth in the hallway
before she takes off in the victim's car, an Acura, and starts to make her trek out of Florida.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Local police quickly put the pieces together.
Detective David Foraker. Once I entered the bathroom, I noticed that there was a pillow.
It appeared to be from the bed itself that had a defect in it consistent with being a gunshot and being in close contact
with a-- a firearm as it was fired. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): At this point,
Florida investigators already know there's a manhunt underway for a suspect in the murder of David Riess.
We have an investigation, a death investigation, maybe a murder investigation going on in Minnesota.
At the same exact time, now, we have a murder investigation going on in Fort Myers Beach, Florida.
That creates a very unique set of circumstances. We then got into direct communication
with the detectives up in Dodge County, and they were very helpful. We developed a rapport, started communicating, basically,
non-stop over the next couple of weeks, just going over things providing them information and vice versa.
We actually received photos of their crime scene up there and compared it to with what we had down here.
And, again, they were very similar with what happened up there and down here. So, again, that solidified for us
that, OK, the person who was responsible up there was also responsible for the homicide down here.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Both teams of investigators are now getting a clearer picture
of Lois Riess and her MO. The way she had befriended the victim, who was a loving, wonderful person, and obviously, a very trusting
person, the way she had befriended her and then killed her was highly disturbing, and we thought
had the marks of a really evil killer. After committing two murders, she's got the victim's vehicle,
she's calculated. We have to get her before she commits another murder. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
But now, with two crime scenes 1,500 miles apart, and a murderer walking around with a new identity,
police have to find a new way to track her down. Lead prosecutor Rich Montecalvo.
So many places have video, whether it's a private business, government office, a highway,
that it's almost the first place law enforcement looks now, especially when they have a-- a suspect on the run.
Remarkably, the video is perfect, perfect clarity. Perfect-- the dates align and everything.
And what we find through the video is our victim and another white middle-aged female going back
and forth from the victim's condominium room on a number of occasions over a course of a few days.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): The other woman is Lois Riess, or, as the media starts
referring to her, as the fugitive grandma. She takes the victim's driver's license, credit
cards, her identity, her vehicle, and what does that do for her? It gives her more time.
It's clear where she's going. She wants out of the country. In my belief, she knows we're on her tail.
Everybody presumed, because of-- of the way they were following her path, that she was headed to Texas,
and then, probably, to Mexico. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): As Lois races toward the southern border,
she unwittingly leaves behind a trail of clues giving investigators her exact location.
She goes to an ATM or to a bank on Fort Myers Beach, where Lois Riess withdraws $5,000 from the victim's bank account,
and off she goes, in the victim's car, the Acura, not to be seen until many, many hours
later farther up north in the state of Florida. Police launch a nationwide manhunt for what they're
calling the fugitive grandma. Let's get this information out. Let's be on the lookout.
Let's put her face on the billboards everywhere. Because where is she going? We don't know.
But we need to all work and stop her before she commits another murder. I don't know if she knows she's wanted,
but she knows that she's trying to get as far away from Fort Myers Beach as she can.
The trail continues, the journey continues. She ends up in a hotel in north Florida.
She walks up to the front desk, once again, her MO, smiling, calculated, cool, the appearance of anyone's grandmother.
She checks into a Hilton in Ocala, and she uses the victim's-- it's the first time now.
She's taken on this new persona, and she's now using the victim's identification and credit
card to check into a hotel. DAVID FORAKER: She did the best she could to conceal herself.
She was wearing a hat. We have her on video doing that. She pulled in with the victim's vehicle
and she actually rented a room there for the night and got room service. To then check into a hotel using
the actual identification, the picture identification, that's unusual, and that is a great trail for law enforcement
to follow up on. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): But hotel and credit card bills are not the only clues
Lois is leaving behind. She also stops to indulge in her favorite pastime, gambling.
And here she is now fleeing, now having committed two murders, and still feels the need to stop gamble in broad daylight.
As she leaves Florida, she stops in a casino and she wins $1,500. And at the time she wins, she uses
her own identification and social security number to claim the winnings. If she wouldn't have stopped at-- at this casino
to spend money, to gamble some more, she might have made it to Mexico. She very, very possibly could've-- could've escaped,
and then just not been heard of again. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Lois's little gambling detour amazes even the state attorney.
Unfortunately, when we're dealing with people who are evil and who are willing to kill, and kill
two times quickly, back to back of each other, nothing they do surprises me. However, in this particular case,
it is surprising to see somebody and-- and unusual immediately go off on a gambling jaunt
after they've killed two people. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Lois then drives on through Louisiana toward Texas.
She knows, as time passes, the investigation keeps moving, and we're going to be hot on her trail at some point in time.
I imagine there was a bit of a thrill, a bit of an adrenaline rush, which that, you know, that's part and parcel of-- of gambling
addiction as well. But I'm-- I'm certain that her main objective was, I gotta get out of here.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Eventually, Lois crosses the state line into Texas, one step
closer to the Mexican border. She makes her way along the Gulf Coast to Corpus Christi, Texas.
She has with her directions to get to South Padre Island, and she checks into a Motel 6 on South Padre Island in Texas.
We know she has a gambling habit. OK, she's got resources. She's in the casinos.
Is she looking for another person to befriend? Is she looking for the next vehicle
to take, the next victim, the next driver's license? We have to stop her and put an end to it immediately.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Lois Riess murdered her husband, killed an innocent woman
to steal her identity, and now, in South Padre Island, she targets her next victim, another look alike whose
identity she wanted to steal. Remarkably, she looks somewhat like Lois, about the same height, about the same age,
the head full of white hair. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): In her frantic attempt to avoid justice
for her two previous murders, is Lois about to try for her third? There's a trail of evidence that she's building but her
plan is that she's-- she's going to make it across the country and leave the country.
I don't think anybody would have thought that this was actually be-- going to be headed in the direction
of multiple murders. We already know Lois Riess wasn't the best wife. I mean, kind of obvious when you murder her husband.
But she's about to prove she's even more lethal as a friend. [music playing] After murdering two people, her husband of 35 years,
David, and Pamela Hutchinson, the woman whose identity she has now assumed, Lois Riess is getting ready to continue
her killing spree. Let's look at our suspect, Lois Riess. You know why she's able to fly under the radar?
Because she looks like anyone's family member, grandmother. It's always disturbing to me, as a prosecutor,
and as a member of the community, to see when people do evil things and just don't seem to have any care about what they did.
She's a wolf in sheep's clothing. She walks up, she smiles, she's calm, she has the appearance of a grandmother,
she's collective, but make no mistake, she's calculated. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
On South Padre Island, Lois's new friend, Bernadette Mathis, takes her to dinner before inviting
her home to spend the night. They spend time having drinks and hanging out in her hot tub.
It amazed me that that Lois would yet befriend another person and somehow get invited
to stay in her guest room. Those people should think their lucky stars that-- that--
that-- because she had the gun. She had the gun. She could have done it again. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
By now, the nationwide manhunt for Lois was in full swing. At this time, law enforcement has figured out
through video surveillance what she was up to in the days leading up to the murder and a little bit
afterward. They figured out that she switched cars, put out the license plate reader,
and now, law enforcement has out a full-fledged media campaign to try to catch her.
There's a BOLO, which means be on the lookout for her, and her picture is everywhere.
We were behind the eight ball a little bit, but with the investigation going forward and all hands on deck,
we were able to, you know, make great progress on it very quickly. And so that way, we were able to get that information
and the suspect information out so that way, hopefully, someone could come into contact with her and catch her.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Police start offering a reward. The reward posted was $6,000 for any information leading
to the capture of Lois Riess. We knew what happened in Minnesota. We knew what happened here, and we did not want
there to be a third victim. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): The police didn't, but Lois did, and she
would have if not for the eagle eyes of a good Samaritan on April 19, 2018. She's sitting in a bar in South Padre,
and the bartender looks at her and says, oh, that's the woman who's wanted who I just saw on TV.
And he reported her, and probably saved Bernadette Mathis's life. It is certainly something that has crossed my mind,
that had she not been captured when she was, perhaps she would have done the same thing.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Officers move quickly to apprehend Lois. She got a tap on the shoulder, and it was a US marshal,
and he asked her to step outside, and she did. And she was asked to produce identification,
and she did, and she was arrested. [music playing] Law enforcement officers commented
that she didn't appear to be too startled or even worried about being arrested. And the thought was maybe she was just tired and tired
of playing this game. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Lois's Thelma without Louise interstate chase is finally
over, but even now that she's in custody, the hunt for evidence continues. The marshals go to Lois's room there at the resort,
and they find a .22 caliber pistol. Lo and behold, they discovered that that the gun that had been
used on Pamela Hutchinson was the same gun that had been used on David Riess. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
With Lois facing charges in two states for murdering her husband and Pamela Hutchinson,
prosecutors have to decide in which state she should stand trial. It was ultimately agreed that Florida would take her first
and do what we needed to do through the judicial system to go forward. As the sheriff, it's a personal thing for me.
You committed that murder on a tourist in my county. You can run. You're not going to hide.
And we are going to get you. And in the end, I wanted her to specifically face the music here.
CAROLYN CANVILLE: June 6, 2018 Lois Riess is indicted by a grand jury in Florida
for the murder of Pamela Hutchinson. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Right from the get-go, Lois denies she
committed premeditated murder. Once you're convicted of first degree murder in Florida,
there's only two possible sentences. One is a life sentence without the chance of release,
and the second sentence is the death penalty. In this case, we decided to seek the death penalty.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): As the Pamela Hutchinson murder case is about to go to trial,
Lois suddenly changes her plea. In December of 2019, Lois Riess changes her plea in the murder of Pamela Hutchinson
to guilty in order to escape the death penalty. She's sentenced to life without parole.
JUDGE: Do you understand why you're here today? LOIS RIESS: Yes. JUDGE: To the charge of first degree murder with a firearm,
a capital felony which is punishable by the death penalty or life, how do you plead?
LOIS RIESS: Guilty. She made a plea bargain with-- with the authorities in Florida
that she would admit to first degree murder charges against her in exchange for her
being given a life sentence. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Justice may have been served in the Pamela Hutchinson case,
but there was still one other teeny tiny unresolved matter facing Lois Riess, the murder of her husband, David.
She's extradited to Minnesota to face the music there. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
Minnesota prosecutors could have simply let Lois serve out her life sentence in Florida for the murder of Pamela
Hutchinson, but the calls in her home state for justice in the murder of her husband of 35 years
were too strong to ignore. On August 11, 2020, now, it's two years after Lois has killed her husband, David.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): Eight months after being convicted in the murder of Pamela Hutchinson,
Lois Riess finally confessed to killing her husband David too. She changes her plea.
She enters a plea of guilty to the murder of her husband, David. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER):
The fugitive grandma who had murdered her husband of 35 years in cold blood had finally been brought to justice.
The enormity of this case, geographically, as well as-- as just in terms of-- of what happened and how
this destroyed so many families' lives, I've never seen anything like before. And I hope I never see again.
Who would have ever suspected this-- this woman from Minnesota to have come down here to do what she did.
Certainly, it's not the image that I have when I think of my grandparents or my parents.
But, again, we-- we don't know, you know, why people do things sometimes. MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (VOICEOVER): In the end,
Lois Riess received another life sentence for murdering her husband, David. She'll spend her remaining days behind bars.
She looked like a-- a grandmother that-- that may have been a little quirky, but I don't think anyone suspected she would be violent.
When you look at her path into murder, you can see that it was really motivated by money, first and foremost.
Really, all she saw was dollar signs, and it was whatever she could do to get as much money as possible to amass wealth for herself.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG: When David Riess married the woman who would murder him 35 years later,
he had no idea her innocent love of gambling would eventually turn deadly. But that's the way it is when you first meet someone.
You have no idea who they will become decades later. They might even become a killer.
In the end, justice is served. That killer's off the streets. She's behind bars where she belongs.
Hopefully, it brings some sense of resolution, conclusion, justice for the family.
I'm Michelle Trachtenberg, and I'll see you next time, on "Meet, Marry, Murder."
[music playing]

Hi FilmRise True Crimers! On this next episode of Meet Marry Murder: A seemingly harmless Grandma, Lois Riess, goes on a murderous road trip wreaking havoc at every pit stop along the way. A nationwide manhunt ensues from Blooming Prairie, Minnesota to Fort Myers, Florida. Can law enforcement capture this fugitive grandmother?

I guess it’s true what they say, you should never judge a book by its cover. I’d love to know what you think about this case in the comments below – it might just be our craziest story yet! If you’re looking forward to more episodes be sure to also like and subscribe!

Enjoy ❤

Michelle Trachtenberg

Brief Summary

Lois Riess murders her husband and a lookalike to steal her identity, leading to a nationwide manhunt and her eventual capture.

Key points

The Perfect Couple. Lois and David Riess appeared to be a wholesome couple, but dark secrets lurked beneath.
A Ticking Time Bomb. Lois's mental health issues and gambling addiction threaten her marriage and family life.
Murderous Escape Plan. After killing her husband, Lois Riess plots her escape, leaving a trail of deception.
Identity Theft. Lois befriends Pamela Hutchinson, planning to steal her identity after committing murder.
The Discovery. Pamela Hutchinson's family grows concerned when she goes missing, leading to a grim discovery.
The Fugitive Grandma. Lois Riess, a seemingly ordinary grandmother, becomes a fugitive after two murders.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Could this smiling grandmother really be a double murderer?

0:52WatchNov 10, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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