FORT MYERS, Fla. — Former fugitive Lois Riess was sentenced to life in prison after a court appearance during which she changed a plea and admitted her guilt in the murder of a Florida woman.
Riess appeared in a Fort Myers courtroom for what was supposed to be a pre-trial hearing in the April 2018 shooting death of 59-year-old Pamela Hutchinson, a woman Riess had just met while on the run from authorities. Instead, the Fort Myers News-Press reports, Riess had her attorneys announce she was withdrawing her not guilty plea and admitting her guilt to four criminal counts: first-degree murder with a firearm, grand theft of a motor vehicle, grand theft, and criminal use of identification.
In exchange for her guilty plea, the state attorney's office withdrew a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Riess for Hutchinson's murder.
“This defendant will never get out of prison. This life sentence also alleviates any appellate issues that could arise and guarantees she will never be free again," said State Attorney Amira Fox. "It also allows the family of the victim to not have to go through the details of this crime at a trial.”
After Judge Robert J. Branning accepted her plea, Riess also waived extradition to Minnesota where she will face first-degree murder charges in the 2018 death of her husband David Leonard Riess. Riess was 54 years old when he was fatally shot at their home in Blooming Prairie.
Minnesota Attorney General's Office spokesman John Stiles confirms that they have taken over the prosecution of Lois Riess from Dodge County, a common practice when small counties encounter a complicated, high-profile case. Stiles says he expects the extradition process to begin shortly, which means Riess should be back in Minnesota within a month or two.
"We were going forward based as if nothing had happened in Minnesota and we strictly only had our charges in Lee County," said Florida Chief Assistant State Attorney, Rich Montecalvo, who prosecuted the case. "We were still very confident we would have gotten a conviction had we gone to trial."
Riess was arrested on April 19, 2018, by U.S. marshals and police at a restaurant in South Padre Island, Texas. She had been on the run following the deaths of her husband and Hutchinson, who authorities believe was targeted for her identification because she looked like Riess.
Lois Riess was also indicted on first-degree murder charges out of Dodge County, Minnesota, after her arrest. Assistant Florida State Attorney Rich Montecalvo says Riess may be housed in Minnesota after her trial in Dodge County, or could be brought back to Florida to serve out her life sentence.