Erin Lee Carr, the creator of new Max documentary I Am Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders, has compared Riess to Gypsy Rose Blanchard – but not for the reason you might think.
The new true crime centers on the murders committed by Lois, a Minnesota wife, mother, and grandma who, in 2018, killed her husband, David Riess. While on the run, she met and murdered Florida woman Pamela Hutchinson.
After murdering David on March 11, Lois transferred around $11,000 from his money into her own account by forging his signature. She was deep in a gambling addiction at the time, and was seen at the Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa, before police could apprehend her.
Riess then drove to Fort Myers Beach in Florida, where she befriended Pamela, a resident who bore a striking resemblance to Lois. But this was all a ruse. Shortly after they met, Lois shot Pamela dead, stealing her ID and credit cards before taking her car and heading north.
She continued to gamble while on the run until April 19, when police received a tip that she was at a restaurant not far from the US-Mexico border. Following her arrest, Lois pleaded guilty to the double murder and was given two life sentences.
In I Am Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders, Carr was able to speak to Lois from prison for the first time. Although she never told friends and family at the time, Lois has since claimed she was the victim of an abusive relationship.
She also puts it down to mental illness, although this doesn’t explain why she killed Pamela. The docu-series might not provide clearcut answers, but it does pave the way for viewers to make up their own minds through new insights into the woman behind the headlines.
Filmmaker Carr is no stranger to dealing with odd true crime cases, having created the likes of I Love You, Now Die and Britney vs Spears.
She also directed Mommy Dead and Dearest, the infamous documentary on Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who has since been released from prison for planning the murder of her abusive mother, Dee Dee.
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In a conversation with The Wrap, Carr opened up about the similarities between the two women – not in regard to their crimes, but in the fact that both “involved Carr talking to an incarcerated woman who was fairly open about the violent murders she committed.”
After taking into consideration Lois’ claims of her husband David’s abuse, Carr said, “But then when you realize the Florida of it, it twists and it turns again.
“Female killers never kill strangers, statistically, unless there’s undue pressure or violence from a John or something like that. I needed to know what happened and also why was she not caught in Minnesota.”
The documentary filmmaker went on to describe the difficulties in speaking with Lois, stating, “I felt her shame and I felt her humanity.
“When we were speaking, we talked a lot about the abuse that happened in the house. But it was really difficult because she didn’t want to talk about Pam.
“[Riess] says that she did the things in an emotional and physical blackout, a sort of psychosis. But it’s really difficult to look at it that way, given how much planning there was.”
“We just have to understand how layered this is. It’s just so complicated,” Carr added. “There were 1,000 ways that a divorce could have happened, but that’s not what happened.”
I Am Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders is streaming on Max now. For more true crime news, read about the Sweet Bobby case, Worst Ex Ever’s most infuriating episode, and the details left out of the Menendez brothers documentary.
