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An apparently ordinary grandmother showed the world looks really can be deceiving when she murdered her husband in cold blood before killing another woman to steal her identity.

Lois Ann Riess, dubbed the “Killer Grandma” by the media at the time, sparked a manhunt across the US back in 2018 when she vanished from her Minnesota home moments before police discovered her husband’s body.

David Riess, 54, was found with mutliple gunshot wounds inside the couple’s farmhouse. His wife, along with their car andthousands of dollars from his bank account, were nowhere to be seen.

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Investigators were quick to name Lois as the prime suspect, suspecting her of foul play. Court records would later show she had forged her husband’s signature, drained his accounts and fled south to fuel a life on the run driven by years of gambling addiction.

After arriving in Fort Myers Beach, Riess struck up a friendship with Pamela Hutchinson, a 59-year-old woman who bore a striking resemblance to her in age, build and hairstyle.

Prosecutors said Riess deliberately targeted Hutchinson in order to steal her identity.

The two were seen socialising together at bars and restaurants, laughing and drinking. Hutchinson had no idea she was befriending a crazed fugitive accused of cold-blooded murder, and one that was planning on killing her too.

Days later, Hutchinson was shot dead inside her holiday condo, with her body only being discovered a week later by maintenance workers who were investigating a foul smell.

Riess had taken Hutchinson’s ID, credit cards and car, and was using them to travel across several states in order to evade police.

Florida investigators later described the crime as cold and calculated.

“This case struck me immediately,” said Lee County Undersheriff Carmine Marceno at the time, “She looks like anybody’s mother or grandmother, yet she’s an absolute cold-blooded murderer.”

Surveillance footage captured footage of Riess gambling, shopping and checking into hotels as the murdered Hutchinson, causing police to further ramp up the man, or perhaps grannie, hunt.

Her audacious run finally ended on April 19, 2018, when US Marshals arrested her at a restaurant in Texas after a tip-off from a member of the public.

Two handguns were later recovered from her motel room.

Riess would eventually plead guilty to both murders.

In Florida, she admitted killing Pamela Hutchinson and stealing her identity, receiving life in prison without parole. She was then extradited to Minnesota, where she pleaded guilty to murdering her husband and received a second life sentence.

In court, her children delivered devastating victim impact statements. Her daughter Breanna said she cycles between “anger, regret and sadness”, while her son Billy told his mother: “You just left. We had nobody. There’s no excuse for it.”

In a recent HBO documentary, Riess claimed she suffered a “psychotic break” brought on by years of gambling addiction, financial ruin and mental health struggles, although these claims have been met with scepticism by prosecutors and journalists who covered the case.