BROWNSVILLE — A woman who authorities believe killed her husband in Minnesota, then fled to Florida where she fatally shot her look-alike with the intention of assuming her identity waived extradition to both states Monday afternoon in Brownsville.
Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz, said federal deputy marshals brought Lois Riess, 56, to the 197th state District Court, where she waived extradition to both Florida and Minnesota.
Saenz said Florida authorities have been in the area since Friday and that Riess likely would be taken there first to face murder charges. Legally, Florida has 10 days to take Riess into custody.
Had Riess chosen to fight extradition, Florida and Minnesota would have had to provide proof the woman arraigned Monday was actually Riess.
A tip-off on Thursday on South Padre Island led to Riess’ arrest about 8:30 p.m. at an Island restaurant. Island spokeswoman Angelique Soto said Friday that a witness called police to say that a woman matching Riess’ description was spotted at the restaurant. The car she was using was towed and impounded “for forensic processing” and she was held in the Island jail until being taken to Brownsville for Monday’s arraignment.
Riess did not resist arrest and did not have a weapon with her when arrested. However, detectives recovered two pistols, one .22 caliber and one 9 mm, from the motel room where she was staying, Soto said.
Riess had been on the run since late March, when her husband David Riess, 54, was found fatally shot in their home in Blooming Prairie, Minn.
Authorities were called to Fort Myers, Fla., on April 9 and found Pamela Hutchinson, 59, of Bradentown, Fla., dead of gunshot wounds. Investigators believe Riess used the same gun to kill Hutchinson and her husband.
Riess had been spotted most recently gambling at a casino in Iowa. She is suspected of having transferred funds from her disabled 61-year-old sister’s account to her own and then withdrawing them at the casino. Riess earlier was suspended as her sister’s guardian.
