ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Less than a week after Lois Riess befriended and allegedly killed Pamela Hutchinson on Fort Myers Beach, the Minnesota woman was in Texas, making friends with another woman who invited Riess to stay in her guest bedroom.
These are some of the details contained in 2,627 pages of documents released Monday by the state attorney’s office, which has charged Riess with first-degree murder in the death of Hutchinson, 59, who was found shot to death in a timeshare April 9. Riess is also accused of stealing Hutchinson's car, identity and money before fleeing to Texas. This is the first of what is expected to be several voluminous releases of public records.
The first set also includes photos, cell phone text messages, statements and a detailed case report.
Riess, a 56-year-old Minnesota grandmother, was arrested April 19 by U.S. marshals at a restaurant in South Padre Island, Texas. Her husband, David Riess, 54, had been found shot at their home in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota in March. Riess had been on the run since then, driving south from Minnesota, with a stop at a casino in Iowa, before arriving on Fort Myers Beach.
After Riess left Florida, she traveled to Texas by way of Louisiana, (where she won $1,500 at a casino.) In Texas, Riess befriended Bernadette Mathis, 65, at Liam’s a South Padre Island restaurant, and the two returned to Liam's April 15, Mathis later told investigators.
According to the report, "Bernadette consumed one, maybe two drinks and was informed by the bartender she seemed, 'out of it.'"
"Bernadette does not remember why she allowed the suspect to come back to her residence with her, but the two of them ended up there and spent time in the community hot tub. Afterward, Bernadette retired to her room and the suspect stayed in the guest bedroom. The next morning the two had breakfast together and Bernadette drove the suspect back to the Motel 6. Bernadette was due to have dinner with the suspect on Friday, April 20, 2018 but while at the restaurant was informed by the bartender Riess had been arrested."
The report says Riess also befriended two vacationing men at a karaoke bar, and that a hotel employee, Amanda Camacho, noticed a marked change in Riess' appearance after she met her: "The next time Amanda saw the suspect, she appeared to be a completely different woman. Amanda remembered the suspect dressing more provocatively by wearing short shorts and a black tank top."
Other details from the documents:
- When detectives searched Riess' Texas motel room, besides a 9-mm and a .22 handgun, they found "a black bag with multiple other firearm paraphernalia that include bullets, a holster, duct tape, rubber gloves, checkbook of the victim's with (4) credit cards, and what appeared to be a trophy."
- Photos of Riess' Escalade show two knives: a folding jack knife and a filet knife.
- After Riess was arrested April 19, even before she was read her Miranda rights, "the suspect invoked her··right to. remain silent· and requested an attorney. Therefore, no interview was attempted."
- Investigators removed two wine bottles from the kitchen trash of Hutchinson's condo; when her body, which was found on a bullet-holed pillow, "There were no indications of a struggle or defensive marks on the decedent ... the projectile entered the decedent's left lower lung; traveled through the right atrium of the heart, the esophagus and right upper lung. The projectile was located in the upper right portion of the decedent's bra (and her) stomach and intestines were full of blood and her kidneys were pale, indicating shock and loss of blood"
- The people Riess met in Texas describer her as "completely normal. Neither witnessed any emotional breakdowns or outbursts."
Kathy Laferty, who owns the Padre Rita Grill on South Padre Island that Riess visited, remembered her as "always happy, upbeat and pleasant. Kathy never observed any signs of anger or emotional distress, but reiterated the suspect was overly friendly, jovial, a good tipper and talked with everyone at the bar."
In addition to what appears to be a blood spot, there was a newspaper in the Escalade, the March 11 Minnesota Star Tribune with the lead headline: "House of horrors hid in plain sight."
According to the documents, Riess used the name "Stormy Liberty" on her cellphone account. She also visited a Minnesota acquaintance with a winter home in Fort Myers, standing in the woman's driveway and staring at the woman's vehicle. She rushed off when Tess Koster confronted her.
"I stepped forward and said, 'Can I help you.' And we made eye contact," Tess said. "At that point I was in shock. Lois Riess is in my driveway. She's suspected of murdering her husband and she's in my driveway."
Tess says Riess quickly turned around, got in the SUV and drove away. She and her husband then called the Lee County Sheriff.
