Elizabeth O.
American Woman Kills Her Boyfriend For Serving Her Breakfast After Inheriting $30m
The suspect, Ina Thea Kenoyer, is accused of poisoning 51-year-old Steven Edward Riley Jr. to death after learning that he planned to dump her after receiving around $30 million inheritance.
The woman, who was arrested on Monday, October 30, allegedly killed her boyfriend crime on Tuesday, September 4, at their resident in Minot.
Riley reportedly became ill while meeting with a lawyer on September 3 to finalize his receipt of the inheritance, police said in a statement.
Kenoyer called 911 the next day, and paramedics found Riley unresponsive. He was originally taken to a local medical facility before being transferred to a Bismarck hospital where he died on September 5.
Kenoyer initially told authorities that her boyfriend had suffered a heat stroke, though an autopsy later revealed that Mr. Riley had died of poisoning.
Investigators learned there had been discord in the couple’s relationship; Mr. Riley was set to receive a large inheritance, believed to be around $30 million, and had planned to leave Kenoyer once he claimed it.
She told investigators after Riley’s death that she was entitled to part of the inheritance because she was his “common law” wife and that she planned to split the money with Riley’s son.
New York Post reports that some states recognize “common law” marriages, in which a longtime couple can be considered married without having gone through the formal legal marriage process. But North Dakota is not one of those states, and Kenoyer was “incensed” when investigators explained so.
She is charged with murder as a class AA felony, the most severe homicide charge in North Dakota, and is being held at the Ward County Jail on a $1 million bond, according to online records.
