47-year-old North Dakota woman Ina Thea Kenoyer has been accused of murdering her boyfriend by poisoning him with antifreeze after learning he was set to inherit $30 million.
Per The New York Times, Tenoyer was charged with murder on Monday, October 30 for her involvement in the September 5 death of her boyfriend of ten years, 51-year-old Steven Edward Riley, Jr. Authorities were called to their Minot home on Sept. 4 and Riley was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died a day later.
According to investigators, Riley had recently learned he was going to inherit as much as $30 million and was potentially planning to leave his girlfriend after claiming it. When she spoke to police, Tenoyer claimed that he suffered a heat stroke. Autopsy results, however, showed he died of ethylene glycol poisoning. An affidavit reveals that Riley's friends and family believe that she used antifreeze to fatally poison him since the main ingredient in antifreeze is ethylene glycol. In fact, they said that she previously made comments about poisoning him with antifreeze.
Some of Kenoyer's friends also said they saw her removing some of his belongings from their home the day he was poisoned. Another friend told authorities that she was upset about Riley's alleged plans to leave her after getting the money. When speaking with investigators, she shared her belief that she was Riley's "common law" wife and would be entitled to at least a portion of the inheritance, which she would split with his son. North Dakota is one of the states that does not recognize "common law" marriages.
"Witness stated they wanted to obtain medical treatment for [Steven Edward Riley, Jr.], but Ina Thea Kenoyer was adamant that [he] was suffering from heat stroke and just needed to go home and rest after the airport,” reads the affidavit, which added that Riley's friend Wesley Torgerson went to their property to see how he was doing only to be told by Kenoyer that he was at a walk-in clinic. However, she went to local walk-in clinics and was told he was not there.
Authorities have since recovered a Windex window cleaner bottle from the couple's home, which is believed to contain antifreeze. Also recovered was a Coors Light beer bottle and plastic mug, which are both suspected of containing the substance. Kenoyer told investigators that heat stroke symptoms "mimic poisoning," and that he could have smoked a cigarette "that may have fallen into antifreeze."
