A North Dakota woman will serve 25 years in prison for the poisoning death of her boyfriend, who authorities say believed he was about to receive a large inheritance and planned to break up with him.
Ina Thea Kenoyer was charged with murder in October 2023 for the death of 51-year-old Steven Riley Jr. Riley was hospitalized and died on September 5, 2023, after becoming ill and losing consciousness, according to court documents.
An autopsy found he died of ethylene glycol poisoning, according to a Minot police officer’s affidavit. Ethylene glycol is used in antifreeze.
Kenoyer pleaded guilty in May. State District Judge Richard Hagar on Wednesday accepted attorneys’ joint recommendation of 50 years in prison — for Kenoyer to serve 25 years, with 25 years suspended — along with 10 years of supervised probation and $3,455 in restitution paid to Riley’s family, The Minot Daily News reported.
She faced a sentence of life in prison without parole on the charges.
Riley’s friends and family contacted Minot police because they were concerned Kenoyer had poisoned him with antifreeze, the affidavit said. His friends told investigators that his health deteriorated rapidly at the airport, where he went to meet with a lawyer to finalize the inheritance transaction, the officer wrote.
Authorities said Kenoyer claimed Riley had been drinking alcohol all day and had suffered heatstroke in the days before his death. Kenoyer was aware of the inheritance, which she believed was more than $30 million, and according to the affidavit, she felt she was owed some of it as Riley’s common-law wife.
North Dakota does not recognize common law marriages. Researchers doubted whether the legacy existed, the newspaper said.
