Jeffrey Jackson

Faribault Daily News/Associated Press

Prosecutors in Florida announced Monday they intend to seek the death penalty for Lois Riess of rural Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, for the murder of Pamela Hutchinson on Fort Myers Beach in April.

Riess, 56, drove to Florida in late March, investigators believe, after she allegedly shot and killed her husband, David Riess, in their home just outside the Blooming Prairie city limits. Once in Florida, Riess is believed to have met Hutchinson — a Bradenton, Florida, woman who resembled Riess in looks and body shapes.

Investigators believe that Riess befriended Hutchinson and then shot and killed her — likely, they say, with the same gun that she allegedly shot her husband. They believe that Riess killed Hutchinson so she could steal her identity, her credit cards and her car.

In papers filed with the circuit court in Lee County, prosecutors lay out the aggravating factors that would allow them to seek the death penalty, namely:

• That Riess killed Hutchinson, a capital felony, in order to avoid being arrested;

• That Riess killed Hutchinson for “pecuniary gain,” that is, for a profit or economic gain;

• That Riess’ killing of Hutchinson was “a homicide and was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification.”

Although Riess has yet to be charged for her husband’s death — Dodge County prosecutors are still waiting for test results from a crime lab in Florida before charging her with murder in Minnesota, Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose said late last month — she was charged in Dodge County in late March with taking money out of a deceased person’s bank account — her husband’s — with consent and using his debit card after his death.

As for the manner in which Hutchinson was killed, investigators believe that Riess befriended Hutchinson at a time-share condo, accompanied her to several places over the course of several days, then shot her twice in Hutchinson’s condo, leaving her body on the floor of the bathroom where it would not be found for several days.

Numerous police reports say that when emergency personnel entered the room “they smelled a strong odor of decomposition” and they “noticed towels on the floor pushed against the back door.”

According to police reports, Riess then took money, credit cards and identification from Hutchinson’s purse, along with Hutchinson’s car keys. She allegedly stole Hutchinson’s car, took money — $5,000 — from Hutchinson’s bank account and used Hutchinson’s credit cards at a hotel in another city on her way out of the state.

She was eventually arrested in South Padre Island, Texas, and brought back to Florida to face charges there.

After her arrest, police in Texas searched her room at a Motel 6 on the island where they found what police reports call “multiple items of interest to the homicide investigation.” Among the items were two guns (a 9mm and a .22-calibre), clothing which Riess was said to be wearing in surveillance videos that the police had of her and Hutchinson, and personal identification and credit cards that belonged to Hutchinson.

Riess was indicted by the Lee County Grand Jury with the capital offense of First Degree Murder with a Firearm on June 6. She was also indicted for Grand Theft of a Motor Vehicle, Grand Theft and Criminal Use of Personal Identification Information of a Deceased Individual, $5,000 or more.

In late June, Sheriff Rose of Dodge County said that murder charges against Riess for her alleged slaying of her husband could come at any time. No charges have been filed in Minnesota, Rose said, because the county attorney was still waiting to see if the Florida test results show that the gun used to kill Hutchinson was the same gun that investigators believe was used to kill David Riess.