Becky Vreeland is a killer from Oklahoma who would murder her three year old Granddaughter Riley Nolan
According to court documents the body of three year old Riley Nolan was found in a trash can and the little girl’s body had been there for days
A police investigation would lead them to the child’s Grandmother Becky Vreeland. Vreeland would initially tell officers that Riley Nolan had died during a tragic accident and had fallen into a large green trash container. However Vreeland would not call authorities when the so called accident took place.
Becky Vreeland former husband would ultimately call police three days after the child’s death which led police to the body
It was determined during an autopsy that Riley Nolan had died from blunt force injuries to her head
Becky Vreeland would be charged with murder and was in the middle of her trial when she suddenly plead guilty and would be sentenced to forty five years in prison
Becky Vreeland Case
A 60-year-old Oklahoma City grandmother has been sentenced to life in prison for the death of her granddaughter.
Police say 3-year-old Riley Nolan’s body was found in a trash can at a home in southwest Oklahoma City in 2022.
Nolan’s grandmother, Becky Vreeland, was arrested and charged with Nolan’s murder in the first degree
Investigators believe Nolan’s body had been in the trash can for days when police discovered her body in a recycling bin.
A medical examiner’s report revealed Nolan’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
Vreeland will spend at least 85% of her sentence in prison before she would ever be eligible for parole.
An Oklahoma grandmother was in court this afternoon to face murder charges. June 21 marked one year since 3-year-old Riley Nolan was found dead inside a trash can at a home in southwest Oklahoma City. Her grandmother, Becky Vreeland, is charged with her murder. Today, a preliminary hearing was held in the case.
4 witness were called to the stand. The hearing lasted more than 3 hours. KFOR news cameras were not allowed in the room.
The first witness called to the stand was a former tenant who lived in the home.
After a long testimony, he claims he didn’t meet Riley until he saw her sleeping in the laundry room 2 weeks after he moved into the home.
The next witness was Vreeland’s ex-husband, Lyle Wayne Nolan who says he was at the home when his ex-wife told him there was an accident with Riley. He claims Vreeland said “she fell into a big green dumpster.”
Shortly after that, Nolan says he called 911 since Vreeland hadn’t called police even though it had been three days since she claimed she first saw Riley in the trash can outside the home.
An Oklahoma City Police Lieutenant was next to testify.
He says when he got to the house, he opened the lid to the trash can and saw a little foot sticking up, decaying, with “maggots all over the body.”
Vreeland said this to News 4 cameras in September of 2022.
“She died peacefully and I didn’t do it,” Vreeland in 2022.
The last witness to be called was a detective who testified that in his original interview with Vreeland, she claims Riley climbed into the trash can by herself using a 6 foot tall pool ladder, and suffocated to death.
He also said in that interview, Vreeland says she has left bruises on her three grandchildren before
The state does have another witness to call to the stand and testimony will continue at a later date.
Lois Riess is a killer from Minnesota who would murder her husband before going on the run where she would murder another woman in Florida
According to court documents Lois Riess and her husband were at a basketball game when the two would get into an argument. When the married couple arrived home Lois would fatally shoot her husband David
When the body of David Riess would be found Lois Riess had already fled the State
Lois Riess would end up in Florida where she would meet Pamela Hutchinson who looked a lot like her. Riess would befriend the woman before murdering her as well in order to assume her identity to escape the murder charges she was facing in Minnesota
It would later be revealed that Lois Riess had been stealing money from her family members including her sister and husband in order to fund her gambling addiction
Lois Riess would eventually be caught and would stand trial in Minnesota where she would be convicted of the murder of David Riess and later convicted in Florida for the murder of Pamela Hutchinson. For both of the murders she would receive a life in prison sentence
Lois Riess Now
MNDOC Offender ID:
261862
DOC Name:
Lois Riess
Also Known As Name:
Birth Date:
02/28/1962
Current Status:
Incarcerated as of 08/11/2020. Currently at MCF Shakopee.
Sentence Date:
08/11/2020
Anticipated Release Date:
Life without Parole
Expiration Date:
Life
Lois Riess Case
Six years ago, a Minnesota community was shocked to its core when police found local worm farmer David Riess dead in his home – and his wife, Lois Riess, missing.
That discovery would launch a multi-week manhunt that would ultimately lead to a chilling discovery: Lois killed her husband, fled the state and then murdered another woman in an effort to steal her identity.
Now, for the first time, Lois – briefly notorious across the nation as the “killer grandma” – is speaking out about the murders in an upcoming documentary directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Erin Lee Carr. Carr’s previous work includes Britney vs Spears and At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal.
“It was just the perfect storm,” Lois tells the documentary makers in I’m Not a Monster: The Lois Riess Murders, which premieres on HBO on October 15.
“It was just years and years of abuse, and years of giving and giving, and neglecting my own mental health and my own needs.
“And I don’t know, I think the word is ‘psychotic break’. I just snapped.”
On March 23, 2018, police found 54-year-old David Reiss inside his Blooming Prairie, Minnesota home. Lois was nowhere to be found.
Police discovered David had been shot multiple times and $11,000 had been stolen from him.
David was described as an avid outdoorsman, The Daily Beast reported. In 2010, after a stint selling bait, he and Lois had bought a piece of land with a white farmhouse to start his own business: Prairie Wax Worm Farm.
But according to the documentary, their outward success concealed a tumultuous relationship, massive holes in their finances, and alleged emotional and physical abuse.
“I was very intimidated by him,” Lois alleges in the new film. “I didn’t think I had a way out, or could defy him. Because he was a big man, and he was very very aggressive. Lots of verbal abuse, which I feel is worse than the physical abuse.”
The documentary details how Lois developed a dire gambling addiction, while experiencing a series of personal ordeals, ultimately leading to a suicide attempt and exacerbating the troubles in her marriage.
Eventually, Lois claims, she and David got into a fight in their farmhouse on March 11, 2018. During the argument, Lois says, David handed her a loaded gun, telling her to take her life and to “get it right this time.”
When David handed her the gun, she shot him in the heart, she said. Afterward, she covered him with a blanket and laid down beside him.
Then, she went on the run – and wasn’t arrested until April 19. From fast friends to a fatal end
Lois, then 56, fled in their 2005 Cadillac Escalade.
She drove 1,500 miles south to Fort Myers, Florida, police said. On the way, Lois stopped to gamble at Diamond Jo Casino in Northwood, Iowa, roughly 40 miles rom her home, the Beast reported, citing surveillance footage.
Once in Fort Myers, she met 59-year-old Pamela Hutchinson. The two became fast friends, and surveillance footage showed them eating at a local brewery on April 5. Pamela, originally from Bradenton, Florida, was staying in a timeshare on Fort Myers Beach.
“Never. I had never anticipated hurting that woman,” Lois says in I’m Not a Monster. “She reached out to me, to be my friend. I just wish I could have been in a better state of mind. I could have been her friend.”
Four days later, police found Pamela’s body inside that timeshare. Just like David’s body, police discovered Pamela dead from gunshot wounds and covered by a blanket
The two women looked similar in age and build, and the authorities would go on to argue Lois killed Pamela to steal her identity.
To this day, Lois claims that she does not remember killing Pamela and does not know why she did it – though journalists who covered her case expressed severe doubt about this story.
“It truly is a puzzle, because I don’t have all the memories and all the answers for that,” Lois says. “It was shown to me that I took her life. I still don’t know the reason why it happened.
“But I feel absolute remorse and shame. I feel terrible that I took her life, and David’s life.”
Beginning to cry, she continues: “She just got caught up in my breakdown, and it was awful.” ‘I miss my Dad’: Lois Riess in court
Lois was arrested ten days later by the US Marshal’s Service while eating at a restaurant in South Padre Island, Texas.
In June, a grand jury indicted Lois for Pamela’s murder, as well as stealing her car, ID and more than $6,000.
On December 17, 2019, Lois entered a guilty plea after initially planning to go to trial. She received a life sentence.
“You know, my mother died in a mental institution. I didn’t want to die in a mental institution,” Lois claims in the documentary. “And that was my biggest fear, if I had to go to trial. Because I felt mentally incompetent; I was in the middle of a breakdown. And I felt that’s what would happen – I’d end up just like my mother.”
Pamela’s ex-husband, James Hutchinson, said the outcome “probably wasn’t what I wanted.”
“Dang it, it was a cold-blooded murder,” James told the Fort Myers News-Press. “I’m trying to digest this, am I happy, sad? It might put a smile on my face, I don’t know if that’s OK.”
Pamela’s best friend, Judy Wilder, said she was thrilled when Lois was sentenced – but would have preferred the woman face the death penalty.
“Oh, my God, I’m so happy. This will give the family some type of closure. I’m just glad she didn’t say she was crazy,” she told the News-Press. “I’m kinda disappointed, but [you] gotta trust our system. [I] would have liked to see the death penalty.”
Lois was then extradited to Minnesota to face charges in her husband’s murder.
Similar to her previous trial, Lois initially entered a provisional not guilty plea but later changed course and entered a guilty plea during a pre-trial hearing.
For David’s murder, she received yet another life sentence without the possibility of parole. She will remain in prison in Minnesota for the rest of her life.
In a victim impact statement, David and Lois’s daughter Breanna Riess said she cycles between “anger, regret and sadness.”
“March 11th, 2018 was the last time I hugged my dad and told him I loved him,” she said, according to Fox 9. “I miss my dad more than words can describe.”
The couple’s son Billy Riess chose to address his mother directly in his statement, Fox 9 reported.
“You just left. We had nobody,” Billy said. “It will take a lot for me to talk and see you ever again. There’s no excuse for it.”
Michael Disporto is a killer from New Jersey who was convicted of the sexual assault and murder of 23-month-old Ariana Smyth.
According to court documents emergency personnel were called to a home where they would find 23-month-old Ariana Smyth unresponsive. The little girl was rushed to the hospital but unfortunately would die from her injuries two days later
After an autopsy was conducted it was revealed that Ariana Smyth had been sexually assaulted and died from blunt force injuries
Michael Disporto who was dating Ariana Smyth mother Holly Bobo at the time of the murder would convince the mother not to seek medical help for her daughter
Eventually Michael Disporto and Holly Bobo would be arrested
Holly Bobo would plead guilty to to endangering the welfare of a child. and was sentenced to three years in prison
Michael Disporto would be charged with murder and sexual assault. His first trial would end with a hung jury however during his second trial he would be found guilty of both of the major charges. Disporto would be sentenced to life in prison with no parole for the murder and additional forty years for the sexual assault ensuring he will die behind bars
Michael Disporto Case
A New Jersey man was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday for the sexual assault and murder of his girlfriend’s 23-month old daughter.
Michael Disporto, 30, of Manahawkin, received the life sentence with no parole eligibility for his first-degree murder conviction and a 40-year sentence for his aggravated sexual assault conviction, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office said. A jury found him guilty of both crimes last October.
Police found the toddler, Ariana Smyth, unresponsive on July 3, 2016. She was brought to Cooper University Hospital, where it was determined she suffered extensive injuries and was also sexually assaulted, authorities said.
The child died two days later when she was taken off life support. Medical examiners ruled the death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma.
Prosecutors alleged Disporto sexually assaulted the girl, caused the injuries that led to her death and convinced her mother, Amber Bobo, not to seek medical care for her.
Bobo, of Gloucester City — pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child. and was sentenced to three years in prison in May 2017.
Authorities said Bobo and Disporto picked the toddler up from her father’s home in Cape May County and brought her to Bobo’s home on South King Street in Gloucester City on July 2, 2016. Bobo and Disporto had been dating for about two weeks.
Disporto asked to be alone with the child to “get to know her better” and twice took her out of the house alone, prosecutors said. In the morning, Bobo discovered Disporto had moved Ariana and changed her clothes, according to charging documents in the case.
The child also had bruising on her head and genitals, she said, but Disporto denied causing them and convinced Bobo not to take the toddler to the hospital, court documents said.
Bobo admitted at her plea hearing that they instead took two separate trips to the Deptford Mall, where Ariana began to vomit. Bobo called EMTs that evening when Ariana lost consciousness.
Disporto was first tried for the murder and sexual assault in 2019, but the jury became deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial.
Alex Madrid is a killer from Arizona who was convicted of the murder of fourteen year old Claudia Lucero
According to court documents Alex Madrid and the mother of Claudia Lucero had ended their relationship months before the murder. Police say that Madrid broke into the apartment where he would kidnap Claudia. The fourteen year old would be sexually assaulted and murdered before her body was dumped in a dumpster two miles from her home
Police would find the body of Claudia Lucero a few days later
Semen on the body would lead police to Alex Madrid as well as GPS coordinates
Alex Madrid would eventually be arrested, the murder took place in 2013, and would be charged with kidnapping, sexual conduct with a minor, second-degree burglary, abandonment or concealment of a dead body, unlawful flight from law enforcement and first-degree murder.
Alex Madrid would be convicted on all charges
Now the penalty phase begins and Alex Madrid could be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole
Alex Madrid Case
Over a decade after the death of a 14-year-old Mesa girl, a man accused of her murder was found guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court on Wednesday.
After a 27-day trial, a jury found Alex Madrid guilty on all counts in the murder of Claudia Lucero.
Claudia’s body was discovered in December 2013 in a dumpster two miles from her family’s apartment.
Madrid had ended a relationship with Lucero’s mother earlier that year, and the prosecution argued that he had access to the family’s apartment and intended to sexually assault Claudia.
Prosecutors said that Madrid got into the Luceros’ apartment the morning of Claudia’s death. They said he sexually assaulted Claudia, murdered her and tried to get rid of her body by disposing of it in a dumpster.
The prosecution presented DNA evidence of Madrid’s semen found on Lucero, along with GPS records placing him near the location of her body at the time of her death.
The defense argued Madrid had an alibi for the time frame during which the prosecution said Claudia was killed.
The jury deliberated for less than an hour before finding Madrid guilty on charges of kidnapping, sexual conduct with a minor, second-degree burglary, abandonment or concealment of a dead body, unlawful flight from law enforcement and first-degree murder.
Madrid faces the possibility of the death penalty, with a sentencing hearing set to begin Oct. 9.
A jury has found Alex Madrid guilty in the murder of a teenager over a decade ago.
Madrid was found guilty of first degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual contact with a minor. The victim in the case, Claudia Ann Lucero, was killed in 2013, and per our previous reports, Madrid had recently broken up with Lucero’s mother at the time the murder happened. Lucero’s body was found in a dumpster located two miles from her home in Mesa. Lucero was 14 at the time of her death.
According to the Medical Examiner, the victim was strangled and sexually assaulted, and DNA tied Madrid to the crime.
The sentencing phase of Madrid’s trial is set to begin on Oct. 9, when a jury will decide whether Madrid will be put to death or spend his life behind bars.
Verity Beck is a killer from Pennsylvania who would plead guilty to the murders of her parents
According to court documents police were called to a residence in Abington, Pennsylvania where they would find the bodies of Reid Beck, 73, and Miriam Beck, 72. An autopsy would reveal that each victim was shot in the head and then dismembered
According to Verity Beck brother his sister had been living with her parents and told him things were not going well. It turns out that Verity was stealing from her elderly parents and they confronted their daughter which may have led to their murders
Verity Beck would ultimately plead guilty but mentally ill and would be sentenced to life in prison
Verity Beck Case
A suburban Philadelphia woman will spend life in prison for shooting and killing her parents and then dismembering their bodies with a chainsaw inside their home.
On Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, Verity Beck, 45, of Abington, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murders of her parents, Reid Beck, 73, and Miriam Beck, 72.
Verity Beck was silent as she was led to and from the courtroom. While inside the courtroom, however, she admitted to killing her parents and dismembering their bodies.
The couple’s bodies were found on Jan. 17, 2023, after their son told Abington police he had gone to his parents’ home to check on them. He said he saw a body on a floor, covered with a bloody sheet, and a chainsaw nearby. Prosecutors later said both victims had a single gunshot wound to the head.
The man told police that he spoke to his sister, who also lived there, and that when he asked whether something bad had happened to their parents, she responded, “Yes.” Verity Beck, a former teacher at a special education school in Lower Merion Township, told her brother that things at home had “been bad,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said Beck was facing financial difficulties and her parents had accused her of stealing from them.
Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty in the case and Beck underwent several mental health evaluations which determined she was competent to stand trial.
In January 2024, Beck notified officials that she intended to use an insanity defense. While the court found she was sane when she committed the murders, they accepted her plea of guilty but mentally ill.
“While everyone in the family realized that she had mental health issues, no one recognized the seriousness of it or how serious it had become,” James Lyons, Beck’s defense attorney, told NBC10 on Monday.
While spending the rest of her life in prison, Beck will receive medical treatment so that she won’t be a threat to herself and others.
Beck’s family members, including her brother, were present in court on Monday. They were pleased the case did not go to trial.
“This was a horrendous tragedy for them to have to live through since it happened all the way up until this point,” Samantha Cauffman, the prosecutor, said Monday. “To not have to go through that process of a trial, this is wonderful for them.”