Ina Thea Kenoyer North Dakota woman fatally poisons boyfriend, Steven Edward Riley Jr., hours after the man inheriting $30M as she denies allegations.
Some financial windfalls are best kept to oneself… A North Dakota woman is accused of fatally poisoning her boyfriend just hours after the man inheriting $30 million, cops said.
Ina Thea Kenoyer, 47, was charged Monday with the Sept. 5 murder of Steven Edward Riley Jr., 51, in what cops say was driven by ‘financial motives.’
Riley became ill when he met with his lawyer Sept. 3 to collect the massive inheritance sum, witnesses told investigators.
‘This case was extremely complex,’
Kenoyer didn’t call 911 until the next day — when paramedics arrived to find Riley unresponsive in his Minot home.
He died at the hospital the following day, the Minot Police Dept stated in a Facebook release.
The girlfriend is alleged to have killed her boyfriend after discovering the man planned to ‘dump’ her after the windfall inheritance.
An autopsy determined he was killed after ingesting antifreeze, which police allege Kenoyer fed him.
‘This case was extremely complex,’ said investigations commander Capt. Dale Plessas of the Minot Police Department.
Despite Kenoyer allegedly telling investigators and others that Riley had been drinking throughout the day, no alcohol was found to be in his system. Investigators stated Kenoyer did not take Riley to be treated despite telling others he had gone to a local walk-in clinic and did not obtain any medical treatment for him for more than 12 hours after he began showing symptoms.
Kenoyer proclaimed her innocence in a series of Facebook posts in the days leading up to her arrest, claiming Riley had killed himself.
‘To the Shafer that almost hit me, that’s not married hello hunny I wish I was looking for someone but no I’m a one man woman, kind person, and Steve Riley the only man I ever wanted,’ she said in a non coherent post three days before she was charged with murder.
Kenoyer told investigators she planned to split Riley’s astounding inheritance, which she estimated to be around $30 million, with his son, the records state.
She claimed she was entitled to the fortune as his common-law wife. North Dakota, however, does not recognize such relationships.
Trending incidence of spouse or partner poisoning the other
Additionally, Riley had revealed plans to break off the romance shortly after receiving the massive sum, leading investigators to theorize she poisoned him to secure the treasure.
‘Rest in peace dad… I had a feeling it was her with how everything played out, but f–k I wish we made plans to see each other sooner. Hope she gets what she deserves for taking you from this world.’ Riley’s son wrote on Facebook.
‘Hope she gets what she deserves for taking you from this world.’
Kenoyer faces AA felony murder, the most severe murder charge in North Dakota. The AA designation is murder committed that is intentional, knowing or with extreme indifference. if convicted, the maximum penalty is life without parole.
She is being held without bond at the Ward County Detention Center and is representing herself, court records show.
The alleged incident in North Dakota marked at least the fourth time this year that someone has been accused of using poison to kill their spouse or partner in the U.S. Just last week, a poison specialist and former medical resident at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota was charged with fatally poisoning his wife, a 32-year-old pharmacist who died in August.
In May, the author of a children’s book on grief was accused of killing her husband by poisoning him with a lethal dose of fentanyl at their home in Utah. And, in March, a Colorado dentist was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder after police say he laced his wife’s pre-workout shakes with arsenic and cyanide.
