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News Bulletin: Blooming Prairie killer to premiere on HBO

Lois Riess, Blooming Prairie, murder, HBO, killer
In her first ever media interview, Lois Riess, formerly of Dodge County, told a crew from HBO: “I wasn’t running, I wasn’t hiding, I was just in and out of real life.” Photo courtesy HBO
"I’ve never given an interview… I hope this is the right thing to do.”
-Lois Riess, Blooming Prairie Killer

It was a story that brought a white-hot spotlight to Blooming Prairie and Dodge County, one that couldn’t go away fast enough for some people.

Lois Riess, who killed her husband Dave at their rural BP home in March 2018, then fled to Florida – where she killed Pamela Hutchinson, a stranger who befriended her – is back in the news.

Riess is now spending the rest of her life in the women’s prison in Shakopee and the subject of a three-hour documentary that will air across two nights on HBO next week.

“I’m Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders,” debuts at 8 p.m. Oct. 15, followed by episode two at 8 p.m. Oct. 16. Both episodes will be available to stream on Max on Oct. 15.

The original documentary was directed by Erin Lee Carr, a Minnesota native who crisscrossed the country for more than a year. She interviewed family members, local associates and nearly everyone associated with the crime spree, including, in her first-ever interview, Riess herself.

In a trailer for the documentary, she looks slimmer; her once blonde hair is completely gray, but still long.

Viewers will hear her attempts to explain why she murdered two people, possibly shedding light on what she meant when she addressed her children at her 2020 sentencing.

“I feel I need to say this,” Riess said. “I didn’t know how much pain I was in until I wasn’t anymore.”

Theories have ranged from an unhappy marriage to mental illness to her gambling addiction, but those don’t necessarily justify her methodical, well-planned crime spree that followed. It included embezzling funds from Dave Riess’s successful wax worm farm; identity theft; stealing money from Hutchinson’s bank accounts; and a callous, calculated cover-up of the crimes.

The ripple effects of her actions were far-reaching, including the death of her son, Braden, who lost his battle with addiction.

Friends of the couple, who described them as normal, for lack of a better word, remain mystified by the case.

Dave Riess was kind; he was a happy guy who laughed a lot, and loved fishing.

Lois Riess was nice; she was fun-loving, social, generous to friends and family. She ran a day care out of their home for several years.

Among many people featured in the documentary are members of the Steele County Times. The HBO crew initially came to Blooming Prairie in December 2021.

The documentary is an Imagine Documentaries Production, in association with Carr Lot Productions. Imagine was founded by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron Howard, who are both executive producers of this film.

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