Six years ago, a Minnesota community was shocked when police found local worm farmer David Riess dead in his home — and his wife, Lois Riess, missing.
That discovery would spark a multi-week manhunt that would ultimately lead to a chilling discovery: Lois murdered her husband, fled the state, and then murdered another woman in an attempt to steal her identity.
Now, Lois – briefly infamous across the country as the “killer grandma” – is speaking out for the first time about the murders in an upcoming documentary directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Erin Lee Carr. Carr’s previous work includes Britney vs. Spears And In the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal.
“It was just the perfect storm,” Lois tells the documentary makers I’m Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders which premieres on HBO on October 15.
“It was just years and years of abuse, and years of giving and giving, and neglecting my own mental health and my own needs.
“And I don’t know, I think the word is ‘psychotic break.’ I just snapped.”
A husband and father found dead
On March 23, 2018, police found 54-year-old David Reiss at his home in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota. Lois was nowhere to be seen.
Police discovered that David had been shot multiple times and that $11,000 had been stolen from him.
David was described as an avid outdoorsman, The everyday beast reported. In 2010, after selling bait for a while, he and Lois had purchased a piece of land with a white farm to start his own business: Prairie Wax Worm Farm.
But according to the documentary, behind their outward success was a tumultuous relationship, huge holes in their finances and alleged emotional and physical abuse.
“I was very intimidated by him,” Lois claims in the new film. ‘I didn’t think I had a way out, or could challenge him. Because he was a big man, and he was very, very aggressive. A lot of verbal abuse, which I think is worse than physical abuse.”
The documentary details how Lois developed a serious gambling addiction while experiencing a series of personal trials, which ultimately led to a suicide attempt and exacerbated problems in her marriage.
Ultimately, Lois claims, on March 11, 2018, she and David had an argument at their farmhouse. During the argument, Lois says, David handed her a loaded gun and told her to take her life and “get it right this time.” ”
When David handed her the gun, she shot him in the heart, she said. Then she covered him with a blanket and lay down next to him.
She then went on the run – and was not arrested until April 19.
From fast friends to a fatal ending
Lois, then 56, fled in their 2005 Cadillac Escalade.
She drove 1,500 miles south to Fort Myers, Florida, police said. Along the way, Lois stopped to gamble at Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa, about 40 miles from her home, the Beast reported, citing surveillance footage.
Once in Fort Myers, she met 59-year-old Pamela Hutchinson. The two became fast friends and surveillance footage showed them having dinner at a local brewery on April 5. Pamela, originally from Bradenton, Florida, stayed in a timeshare on Fort Myers Beach.
“Never. I never expected to hurt that woman,” Lois says I’m not a monster. “She contacted me to be my friend. I wish I could have been in a better state of mind. I could have been her friend.”
Four days later, police found Pamela’s body in that timeshare. Like David’s body, police found Pamela dead from gunshot wounds and covered in a blanket.
The two women were similar in age and build, and authorities alleged that Lois killed Pamela to steal her identity.
To this day, Lois claims she has no memory of killing Pamela and does not know why she did it – although journalists covering her case expressed serious doubts about this story.
“It’s really a puzzle, because I don’t have all the memories and all the answers for that,” says Lois. “I was shown that I took her life. I still don’t know why it happened.
“But I definitely feel remorse and shame. I feel terrible for taking her and David’s lives.”
She starts to cry and continues, “She just got caught up in my breakdown, and it was horrible.”
‘I miss my father’: Lois Riess in court
Lois was arrested ten days later by the US Marshal’s Service while eating at a restaurant on South Padre Island, Texas.
In June, a grand jury indicted Lois for Pamela’s murder, as well as stealing her car, ID and more than $6,000.
On December 17, 2019, Lois entered a guilty plea after initially planning to go to trial. She received a life sentence.
“You know, my mother died in a mental institution. I didn’t want to die in a mental institution,” Lois claims in the documentary. “And that was my biggest fear, if I had to appear in court. Because I felt mentally incompetent; I was in the middle of a breakdown. And I felt that that would happen: I would end up just like my mother.”
Pamela’s ex-husband, James Hutchinson, said the outcome was “probably not what I wanted.”
“Damn, it was a cold-blooded murder,” James told police Fort Myers News-Press. “I’m trying to digest this, am I happy, sad? It might put a smile on my face, I don’t know if that’s okay.”
Pamela’s best friend, Judy Wilder, said she was thrilled when Lois was convicted, but she would have preferred the woman to receive the death penalty.
‘Oh my God, I’m so happy. This will give the family some sort of closure. I’m just glad she didn’t say she was crazy,” she told the newspaper News-Press. “I’m a little disappointed, but [you] we have to trust our system. [I] I would have liked to see the death penalty.”
Lois was subsequently extradited to Minnesota to face charges for her husband’s murder.
Similar to her previous trial, Lois initially entered a preliminary not guilty plea, but later changed course and entered a guilty plea at a pre-trial hearing.
For David’s murder, she was again given a life sentence without the possibility of parole. She will spend the rest of her life in prison in Minnesota.
In a victim impact statement, Breanna Riess, David and Lois’ daughter, said she moves between “anger, regret and sadness.”
“March 11, 2018 was the last time I hugged my dad and told him I loved him,” she said, according to Fox 9. “I miss my dad more than words can describe.”
The couple’s son, Billy Riess, chose to address his mother directly in his statement, Fox 9 reported.
‘You just left. We didn’t have anyone,” Billy said. “It will cost me a lot to talk and ever see you again. There is no excuse for it.”
If you are experiencing feelings of anxiety, or are struggling to cope, and you or someone you know is currently in need of mental health care, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline on 1-800-273-SPEECH (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis line that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you live in the UK, you can speak to the Samaritans in confidence on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.orgor visit the Samaritans website for more information about your nearest branch. If you are in another country, you can go there www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.