Kriti Mehrotra
NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Woman at The Bar’ is an episode that chronicles the story of a double homicide committed by a single woman for no good reason. All she wanted to do was apparently gain money to feed her gambling addiction and have a new identity. In 2018, Lois Riess killed her husband of 26 years, David Riess, in their Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, home before fleeing to Florida, where she befriended her look-alike, Pamela Hutchinson, and murdered her as well. Then, the 56-year-old traveled to Texas, where she met Bernie Mathis just a few days later.
Who Is Bernie Mathis?
As per court documents, 65-year-old Bernadette “Bernie” Mathis met Lois Reiss at Liam’s, a South Padre Island restaurant, around mid-April 2018. Lois had made her way there from Florida by way of Louisiana, where she had won $1,500 at a casino. The two women immediately hit it off, with Bernie thinking that maybe they could become best friends. Therefore, they met at the same spot once again on April 15. That night, as per the report, “Bernadette consumed one, maybe two drinks and was informed by the bartender she seemed, ‘out of it.'” She then invited Lois to come back to her condo and stay the night.
Bernie and Lois ended up spending some time in the community hot tub before Bernie retired to her room for the night, having already set up a place for Lois in her guest bedroom. The next morning, the two had breakfast together before Bernie drove the Minnesota woman back to the motel where she was staying. They planned to have dinner together on April 20, but while waiting for Lois at the restaurant, Bernie was informed by the bartender that U.S. Marshals and authorities had arrested her new friend. That’s when the Texan discovered that Lois had slain two people in two states in the span of just weeks.
Where Is Bernie Mathis Now?
When Bernadette “Bernie” Mathis learned who Lois Riess really was, her “heart just went in my throat.” Furthermore, upon learning the details of what Lois had done to Pamela Hutchinson in Florida — the befriending, the staying over, and then the brutal murder – Bernie believed that she sure could have been Lois’s next victim. “I thought,” she candidly recounted on her first ever sit-down interview in connection to the matter for the two-hour ‘Dateline’ episode. “Man, I just really dodged a bullet.”
Coming to her personal standing, Bernie Mathis resides in Rancho Viejo, Texas, at the moment, where she works as a Court Reporter at the Cameron County Courthouse in Brownsville. Previously, the Texas Christian University graduate had held the same position at the 449th Judicial District Court of Texas and the Hidalgo County Court At Law #8. Instead of focusing on her encounter with Lois and what could have happened, the happily married Texan is currently dedicating her time to work, friends, and family.
Read More: Where Is Lois Riess Now?
