A tragedy of Shakespearean proportions appears to be brewing in North Dakota
A jealous girlfriend has been accused of poisoning her boyfriend with antifreeze when he was going to collect a $30 million inheritance check, but her family claims they had both been scammed.
Steven Edward Riley Jr., 51, fell ill on his way to the Minot airport on Sept. 3 to collect the surprise multimillion-dollar check.
Police say his girlfriend, Ina Thea Kenoyer, 47, had poisoned him, leading to his death two days later, a gruesome act that police said was motivated by “financial reasons.”
Construction worker Riley had big plans for the millions he would receive, but apparently he didn’t want Kenoyer to share them and had planned to break up with her.
But, according to Ryan Riley, the victim’s 21-year-old son, the couple had unknowingly been victims of an online scam and there was never any money involved.
According to Ryan, his father had received an email from a person claiming to be an attorney for an unknown “distant relative” and arranged to meet him at the Minot airport to sign for the cash.
Ina Thea Kenoyer allegedly gave her boyfriend antifreeze after finding out he was breaking up with her. Minot Police Department
“I wasn’t suspicious before I went to the airport, but I was convinced that I had inherited the money and that I was going to receive it when the so-called lawyer landed,” Ryan told The Post.
“I planned to acquire acres of land and give a portion to me and some of my brothers. Then he opened his own auto shop.
“But the supposed lawyer never showed up. It was a scam. Unfortunately, it was a stranger who managed to trick my dad into believing it was true.”
Ryan added that Kenoyer also believed that Riley, a father of five adult children, was going to receive a windfall and that was “his motive” for allegedly killing him.
Steve Riley and Ina Kenoyer believed he was about to inherit $30 million, his son says.Steven Riley/Facebook
“They weren’t very happy. [and] “My dad wanted to leave her for a while,” he said.
“She just never worked and was taking advantage of him.
“She was extremely lazy and never did anything.
“[My dad] “He was a very loving person and did everything he could to help those around him.”
Ryan, who is in the Army and lives in Texas, said he took emergency leave to rush to North Dakota when he learned his father was in the hospital and visited his home after his death.
“They were very unpleasant conditions,” he said.
“Dog feces everywhere, dirty clothes scattered throughout the house, the garbage seemed endless, nothing was clean.”
Kenoyer told investigators that she was entitled to part of Riley’s inheritance as his common-law wife and planned to split the money, which she estimated at about $30 million, with her son, police records show.
However, North Dakota does not recognize common-law marriages, so his claim would have been dubious from the start.
Ryan Riley, 21, told The Post that his father was “a very loving person who did everything he could to help others.” Ryan Riley/Facebook
Riley became ill when he went to meet with the attorney to collect the huge inheritance sum, witnesses told investigators, according to police documents.
Capt. Dale Plessas, investigative commander for the Minot Police Department, told The Post on Wednesday: “Both Steven and Ina believed the $30 million inheritance was real, but we have no indication it was ever paid.” ”.
Kenoyer did not call 911 until the next day, when paramedics arrived and found Riley unconscious in his Minot home.
He died in the hospital the next day.
It appears that Ina Kenoyer has made several sinister comments about Steve Riley on Facebook in recent years.
A police affidavit alleges that Kenoyer told authorities that Riley had suffered heat stroke when he became ill, but an autopsy later found that his death was caused by poisoning by ethylene glycol, the main chemical used to make antifreeze, with the that police allege Kenoyer fed him.
According to police, investigators searching the couple’s home located a Windex bottle containing what was suspected to be antifreeze.
Start your day with everything you need to know
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
A beer bottle and a plastic cup, which were also suspected of containing antifreeze, were found in the garage.
Kenoyer apparently had an on-again, off-again relationship with Riley and had previously written about her apparent disdain for him in a series of Facebook posts, The Post can reveal.
In 2021, she posted a photo of him and wrote, “I hope everyone gets what they fucking deserve.”
Another photo he posted of Riley included the caption: “Watch out for this man, he’ll bleed you out and spit you out.”
“I wish I was worried about this man,” read a third post on the account with a different photo of Riley.
Kenoyer is being held without bond at the Ward County Detention Center and is representing herself, court records show.
His next court appearance is scheduled for December 7. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
“This case was extremely complex,” Plessas said Monday.
“Thank you to everyone who provided us with information that helped our investigators piece this together.”
The couple had been together for four to five years, according to Ryan Riley. Ina Kenyoer/Facebook
The alleged murder is the latest in a series of domestic poisonings across the country committed by scorned associates hoping to cash in on their victims’ fortunes.
Last week, a poison specialist and former doctor at the famed Mayo Clinic was accused of poisoning his wife amid marital difficulties, allegedly trying to immediately cremate her body while planning to cash in on a $500,000 life insurance policy.
Meanwhile, Kouri Richins, a Utah mother, is still awaiting trial for allegedly slipping her husband a deadly Moscow mule loaded with fentanyl the day before collecting money on a $2 million mansion she hoped to sell and which he refused to sell. pay.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn