HBO Docuseries Goes Inside Twisted Case of Lois Reiss

When authorities found the body of 54-year-old David Riess inside the home he shared with his wife on March 23, 2018, it shocked the small Minnesota community of Blooming Prairie. He had been shot multiple times and his wife, Lois Reiss, was nowhere to be found.

As a homicide investigation developed, authorities learned that Lois had fled to Florida, making stops at casinos along the way, police previously said. While in Florida, Lois struck up a friendship with 59-year-old Pamela Hutchinson — specifically because she looked like her.

Soon after, Hutchinson was found dead inside a hotel in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., on April 6, 2018, local authorities said, and the sinister plot was unspooled: Lois had fatally shot Hutchinson before stealing her identity. Police said at the time they found the victim’s purse in Lois’ disheveled hotel room, with the victim’s car keys missing.

By that point, Lois was wanted by authorities for both her husband’s murder and Hutchinson’s. After weeks on the run, Lois was arrested on South Padre Island in South Texas, on April 19, 2018. 

But what, exactly, led her to commit the murders? For the first time, Lois is expected to speak out from behind bars in a new two-part HBO original documentary about the killings that landed her in prison for life. The docuseries, titled I’m Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders, will premiere over two nights on Oct. 15 and Oct. 16 on HBO.

(A trailer is seen below)

In the documentary, directed by Erin Lee Carr, Lois “admits to killing David, pointing to alleged emotional abuse in the relationship, but is unable to justify her methodical, well-planned crime spree that followed, which included embezzling funds, a second murder of a stranger, identity theft and a callous, detailed coverup of her crimes,” reads a press release shared with PEOPLE.

“It was just years and years of abuse,” Lois claims in the trailer, referencing her marriage with David, whose killing led her to be sentenced to life in prison in 2020. “I just snapped.”

The docuseries also delves into the motives and mindset of Lois as family members, friends and witnesses “recount their impressions of the likeable grandmother,” the release adds. “Carr uncovers a deeply troubled past, an extensive gambling addiction, a strained marriage, and a family rocked by mental illness, suicide, and substance abuse,” according to the release.

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Prior to being sentenced in Minnesota for David’s killing, Lois had separately been convicted of Hutchinson’s murder in Florida and was also sentenced to life in prison.

Speaking about Hutchinson’s killing in the trailer, Lois says, “I never anticipated hurting that woman.”

I’m Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders will premiere over two nights on Oct. 15 and Oct. 16 on HBO. Both episodes will be available to stream on Max on Oct. 15.