A grandmother from Minnesota who shot her husband to death back in 2018, later murdering a woman to steal her identity, has received her second life sentence this past week.
Lois Riess, 58, admitted to killing her husband David in a Kasson, Minnesota, courtroom before going up on the run — eventually ending up in Florida where she befriended and then murdered a woman who looked just like her to steal the victim’s identity.
Riess received life imprisonment for killing Pamela Hutchinson, 59, late last year; the body was discovered dead inside a hotel in Fort Myers Beach on April 6, 2018.
This past Friday, she was extradited back to Minnesota to face prosecution on a first-degree murder charge, to which she pleaded guilty.
Riess received a life sentence without the possibility of parole according to reports.
Prior to being sentenced, Reiss apologized to her husband’s family and friends. She went on to reveal how she should not have killed him and told them life without her husband was her true sentence.
Investigators found the body of her 54-year-old husband, David Riess, inside their Blooming Prairie home on March 23, 2018; He’d been shot multiple times.
Police said Riess then fled to Florida, making stops at casinos along the way.
And while she was in Florida, Reiss made friends with Hutchinson, specifically, because the victim looked like her.
Riess then fatally shot Hutchison prior to stealing her identity. In addition, police revealed how they found the victim’s purse in her disheveled hotel room, her car keys missing.
While police are not confident when exactly Hutchinson was killed, they do know Riess used the same gun to commit both murders.
Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose issued the following statement after the sentencing.
“Today’s guilty plea and life sentence is a turning point for our community, which can now begin to heal from David Riess’ death,” it reads. “For David and Lois’ family in particular, today’s life sentence closes a tragic chapter, and we will continue to offer the family our support through their healing process. We are grateful to our criminal justice partners from across the nation who brought a series of terrible crimes to an end, and brought a killer to justice.”
With a background in the creative and educational fields, Amelia Finefrock is freelance writer, singer-songwriter and nanny based in Chicago.
