A North Dakota woman poisoned her boyfriend to death after discovering his intention to end their relationship, enraged by the fact that he had recently inherited $30 million, according to police reports on Facebook.
Ina Thea Kenoyer, aged 47, was charged with the murder of Steven Edward Riley Jr, aged 51, on Monday, with authorities stating that the crime was driven by her “financial motives.”
“This case was incredibly complex,” said Investigations Commander Capt. Dale Plessas of the Minot Police Department.
According to witness statements provided to the investigators, Riley fell ill in the presence of his attorney on September 3, while collecting his substantial inheritance. He was found unresponsive in his Minot home the following day, after Kenoyer waited until then to call for emergency assistance.
Riley was pronounced dead at the hospital the day after.
Autopsy results revealed that he had died from ingesting antifreeze, which the police allege was administered to him by Kenoyer.
In a series of incoherent Facebook posts leading up to her arrest, the accused killer professed her innocence and claimed that Riley had taken his own life.
“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 wrote in a post three days before being charged with murder.
Kenoyer informed investigators that she had intended to split Riley’s extraordinary inheritance, which she estimated to be around $30 million, with his son, as per police records.
She argued that she was entitled to the fortune as his common-law wife, although such relationships are not recognized in North Dakota.
Furthermore, Riley had expressed his plans to end the relationship shortly after receiving the substantial sum, leading investigators to speculate that Kenoyer poisoned him in a bid to secure the inheritance.
“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,” Riley’s grieving son wrote on Facebook.
“Hope she gets what she deserves for taking you from this world.”
Kenoyer is facing an AA felony murder charge, the most severe murder charge in North Dakota.
She is currently held without bond at the Ward County Detention Center and is representing herself, according to court records.
This alleged killing adds to a series of domestic poisonings seen across the country, where scorned partners have poisoned their significant others in hopes of gaining access to their wealth.
Last week, a former doctor and poison specialist at the renowned Mayo Clinic was charged with fatally poisoning his wife amid marital difficulties, with authorities alleging that he intended to immediately have her body cremated to benefit from a $500,000 life insurance policy.
Meanwhile, Utah mother Kouri Richins is still awaiting trial for allegedly slipping a deadly fentanyl-laced Moscow mule to her husband, as she had planned to flip a $2 million mansion that he refused to finance.
With Post wires
