Prosecutors say Lois Riess (pictured) may have been planning a third murder after allegedly killing her husband and another woman
Prosecutors say the woman accused of murdering both her husband and another woman whose identity she stole, may have been planning to kill again before her arrest.
Lois Riess, known as ‘Losing Streak Lois’ because of her gambling habit, allegedly killed her husband in Minnesota on March 23, before befriending 59-year-old Pamela Hutchinson at Fort Meyers Beach in Florida.
Police allege she killed Hutchinson in early April in a similar manner to how she allegedly murdered her husband, intending to steal her identity because the women looked alike.
New documents released by the State Attorney’s office in Lee County, Florida, also say police believe Riess may have been planning a third murder – a woman named Bernadette she had befriended at a bar in South Padre Island, KIMT reported.
The pair had gone to dinner on April 15 before the woman invited Riess to come to the community hot tub and allowed the accused killer to sleep in her guest bedroom.
Bernadette said she was told by the bartender she ‘seemed out of it’ after only a few drinks, and ‘does not remember’ why she let Riess come home with her.
Riess’ husband David Riess (right), 54, was found shot dead at their Minnesota home on March 23. Her second alleged victim, Pamela Hutchinson (left), 59, was found dead at her condo in Fort Meyers Beach, Florida, on April 9, though investigators believe she died days before
Riess and Bernadette had gone to breakfast in the morning, and made plans for dinner on April 20. Riess was arrested on the night of the 19th, and the court documents say Bernadette was told by someone at the bar while waiting for Riess to show up.
Bernadette told Wink News she thought Riess was ‘a new best friend’, and that the woman had seemed overly kind and paid for her dinner.
She said it wasn’t until she tried to call Riess to confirm she was coming to dinner and received the voicemail of someone called ‘Stormy Liberty’ she knew something was wrong.
‘I had called and texted her to see if we were going to meet and I never got a response,’ she told Wink.
‘I called her phone and there was somebody on the other end of the phone that I think her name was like Stormy Liberty or something like that.’
Thousands of pages of new documents and photographs released by the State Attorney’s Office in Lee County, Florida, show the disturbing items in the car Riess’ was driving (pictured) following her arrest in April
Investigators say they discovered two knives in the vehicle, allegedly stolen from Pamela Hutchinson following her alleged murder
A mannequin head and a bottle of what appears to be glitter were also found
When she went back inside moments later, she was told of Riess’ arrest, leaving her feeling ‘gullible and stupid’.
‘It’s just scary—very scary to meet a stranger and think that they’re going to be your friend and they turn out to be a killer,’ she said.
In their interactions, Bernadette told investigators Riess came across ‘completely normal, calm and friendly’.
This is not the first instance Riess had used the alias Stormy Liberty. In March, a woman in Blooming Prairie received a call from a woman named ‘Stormy Liberty,’ who asked for the address of Theresa Koster, a ‘mutual friend’ who had a winter home in Fort Myers.
Police also found a bottle of prescription medication in a cup holder
The woman gave Stormy the address. Detectives discovered that Riess had used the name ‘Stormy Liberty’ to open a cellphone account.
In early April, Koster went outside her house in Ft. Myers to find a woman staring at her car. Koster addressed the woman, and their eyes met – Koster later told police the woman was Riess.
‘Wrong house,’ the woman said, and left quickly.
Riess has pleaded not guilty to Hutchinson’s murder, and is expected to stand trial for her husband’s in Minnesota after trial in Florida
isKoster, who knew Riess from Minnesota – months ago, she’d invited the Riess couple to her Florida home – knew she was wanted by Minnesota authorities in connection with the death of her husband, and called police.
Following the 56-year-old’s arrest, police searched the car she had been driving – a vehicle allegedly stolen from Hutchinson.
Officers discovered a prescription pill bottle, stained blankets and sheets, and a new cell phone box.
Inside her Texas hotel room, they found two handguns and ‘a black bag with multiple other firearm paraphernalia that include bullets, a holster, duct tape, rubber gloves, checkbook of the victim’s with four credit cards, and what appeared to be a trophy,’ News Press reported.
Riess has pleaded ‘not guilty’ to Hutchinson’s murder last month, and is expected to stand trial for her husband’s murder in Minnesota following her trial for Hutchinson’s killing in Florida, CBS reported.
Riess was in a Texas court in April signing a waiver of extradition, allowing authorities to transport her to Florida and Minnesota to face her multiple charges