A North Dakota woman, Ina Thea Kenoyer, 48, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for poisoning her boyfriend, Steven Riley Jr., 51, after she mistakenly believed he had inherited $30 million and was planning to spend it to make. Riley died last year of ethylene glycol poisoning, a toxic substance commonly found in antifreeze New York Post reported.
During the hearing in Minot, Stephanie Gonzalez, Riley's sister, confronted Kenoyer and told her she was lucky to receive such a lenient sentence, as reported by KXMB. “As so many other victims' families often find, the punishment should fit the crime,” Gonzalez told Kenoyer. “But luckily for you, the Department of Corrections doesn't put antifreeze in your iced tea.”
State District Judge Richard Hagar sentenced Kenoyer to 25 years in prison last Wednesday after she pleaded guilty in May. In addition to her prison sentence, Kenoyer was placed on 10 years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $3,455 in restitution to Riley's family, according to court records.
However, it appears that there was no inheritance at all. Officials revealed that Kenoyer poisoned Riley just hours after discovering an email he had received claiming he would inherit $30 million.
Ryan Riley, the victim's 21-year-old son, later told The Post that both his father and Kenoyer had fallen victim to online scams and that such an inheritance did not actually exist.
On September 3, 2023, during a meeting with the alleged estate attorney, Riley began to feel unwell. The next day, paramedics were called to his home, where they found him unconscious. He was pronounced dead on September 5.
Kenoyer initially told police that Riley had been drinking heavily and had suffered heatstroke in the days leading up to his death, the affidavit said. She also claimed that she intended to share Riley's alleged inheritance with his son, claiming that she was entitled to a share as his common-law wife. However, North Dakota does not recognize common law marriages.