“The Grandma Killer”, Lois Riess, was one of the more bizarre true-crime cases of the 2010s. She became known in the media as the “Killer Grandma” after a 2018 crime spree that crossed several U.S. states.
Riess was from Blooming Prairie, Minnesota. In March 2018, her husband, David Riess, was found shot to death in their home. Investigators determined that Lois had taken money from his business account and then fled Minnesota.
She eventually travelled to Fort Myers Beach, Florida, where she met Pamela Hutchinson, a 59-year-old woman who looked remarkably similar to Riess. According to prosecutors, Riess befriended Hutchinson and then killed her, taking her car, money and identifying information in an apparent attempt to assume her identity.
That triggered a nationwide manhunt. Riess fled Florida and eventually ended up in South Padre Island, Texas, where U.S. Marshals arrested her on April 19, 2018.
What makes the case particularly strange is that Riess wasn't some mysterious career criminal hiding in the shadows. She was a mother and grandmother who had apparently become deeply involved in gambling and financial problems. The media nickname “Losing Streak Lois” also became associated with her.
The legal outcome was straightforward:
- In December 2019, Riess pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Hutchinson's death and received life imprisonment without parole.
- She was subsequently extradited to Minnesota to face the charge involving her husband.
- In August 2020, she pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in David Riess's death and received another life sentence without parole.
So she ultimately received two life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The strangest part of the story, to me, is the attempted identity theft. Riess didn't simply flee after Hutchinson's murder; authorities said she had deliberately targeted a woman who resembled her. That turned an already shocking double-murder case into something that almost sounds like the plot of a crime thriller. 😳
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