A North Dakota woman who killed her longtime boyfriend by poisoning his iced tea with antifreeze in hopes of obtaining a $30 million inheritance that never existed has met her fate.
Ina Thea Kenoyer, 48, was sentenced Wednesday to serve 25 years behind bars for the September 2023 murder of Steven Edward Riley Jr., 51. Minot Daily News reports.
She had previously changed her plea to guilty to felony murder and extreme indifference to human life, after initially denying poisoning her 10-year-old boyfriend in an effort to collect the large inheritance, which turned out to actually be an online scam.
Kenoyer had apparently believed he would be entitled to the money if Riley died as his common-law wife, and police said he became enraged when officers told him that North Dakota law does not recognize common-law marriages.
Judge Richard Hagar finally accepted a joint sentencing recommendation from his defense attorney and state prosecutors on Wednesday, under which he must also pay Riley’s family $3,455 in restitution, according to the Minot Daily News.
Ina Thea Kenoyer, 48, was sentenced Wednesday to serve 25 years behind bars for the September 2023 murder of Steven Edward Riley Jr, 51.
He had apparently believed he would be entitled to a $30 million inheritance if Riley died, like his common-law wife after 10 years together.
Riley began feeling unwell before a scheduled meeting with what he thought was a lawyer to collect his $30 million inheritance on September 3.
She had even rejected friends and family’s attempts to seek medical treatment for him, claiming that he was only suffering from heat stroke and that she would treat him at home.
On Sept. 5, Kenoyer told a friend that Riley went to a walk-in clinic, but the friend couldn’t reach him at any clinic or the local emergency room.
Just hours later, paramedics responded to the couple’s home and found Riley unconscious.
He was rushed to Trinity Hospital in Minot and then transferred to a Bismarck hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Kenoyer was eventually arrested on October 30, 2023, and investigators said she had “financial motives” after learning that Riley planned to break off their relationship once she received the inheritance.
A subsequent autopsy determined that he died after ingesting antifreeze, with toxic levels of ethylene glycol in his blood.
A police search of the couple’s home later revealed a Windex bottle containing what was suspected to be antifreeze. A beer bottle and a plastic cup, both suspected of containing antifreeze, were also found in the garage.
Kenoyer was eventually arrested on October 30, 2023, and investigators said she had “financial motives” after learning that Riley planned to break off their relationship once she received the inheritance, which she planned to split with her five children.
They also observed that ethylene glycol could be added to antifreeze to give it a sweet taste, thus disguising it as sweet tea.
Riley began feeling unwell before a scheduled meeting with what he believed was a lawyer to collect his $30 million inheritance on September 3, and was pronounced dead days later.
In court Wednesday, Riley’s sister, Stephanie Gonzalez, and her son, Ryan Riley, gave heartbreaking victim impact statements.
Gonzalez said he was still processing how Kenoyer was able to take his brother’s life, lie to his nephew about the circumstances of his death and try to sell his vehicle while he was dying in the hospital.
“He must be an atrocious person with no soul,” he said of Kenoyer, who he said “stole more than a human life.”
“You stole a father from five children, a brother from two sisters, an uncle from 12 nephews and nieces and a great uncle from eight, and many friends,” González said. according to KFYR-TV.
He noted that his mother is now 71 years old and “has to spend the rest of her old life, not in happiness, but in sadness, sorrow and pain.”
“Regardless of what your final sentence is, it will be too good for you,” González concluded.
‘As the family of any victim feels, the punishment must fit the crime. Luckily for you, the Department of Corrections doesn’t put antifreeze in iced tea.
Ryan also talked about how he had been trying to rekindle his relationship with his father before he was murdered.
“I don’t think there’s anything more important than family,” he told Kenoyer. “Having someone so important taken away from you is just painful.”
“I can’t even find the words to describe how I feel and how much it weighs everyone down,” he continued. ‘I just wish none of this would ever happen.
“I never expected to lose my father over something so selfish,” Ryan said.
Kenoyer then remained silent when the judge asked him if he had his own statement.