48-year old Ina Thea Kenoyer will spend the next 25 years of her life in prison for killing her boyfriend by poisoning his iced tea with antifreeze over an inheritance that investigators say was likely a scam

A North Dakota woman has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison after confessing to killing her boyfriend by poisoning his drink with antifreeze to get $30 million inheritance that turned out to be a scam.

48-year-old Ina Thea Kenoyer was sentenced on Wednesday to 25 years in prison for her role in the death of her boyfriend, 51-year-old Steven Edward Riley. Jr in 2023.

Riley Jr. was hospitalized on Sept. 5, 2023 after falling ill and losing consciousness, according to court documents. He later died at the hospital and an autopsy later revealed that he had died from ethylene glycol poisoning, according to a police affidavit. Ethylene glycol is used in anti-freeze fluid used for automobiles.

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After Riley Jr. fell ill so quickly, family and friends became suspicious as he was traveling to meet with an attorney to finalize the inheritance transaction, according to the affidavit. They told investigators that they believed he had been poisoned with anti-freeze by Kenoyer, an officer wrote in the affidavit.

Kenoyer claimed Riley Jr. had been drinking alcohol all day and suffered from heat stroke just a few days before his death, according to authorities. Kenoyer reportedly was aware of the inheritance which she thought was $30 million. She believed that she was entitled to a portion of that money as his common-law-wife, the affidavit said.

North Dakota law does not acknowledge common-law marriages and investigators say they don’t believe the inheritance actually existed, The Minot Daily News reported.

Kenoyer was arrested and charges with murder in October of 2023 and faced life in prison without parole if convicted. She plead guilty to the charges in May 2024 and in a deal with the prosecution would serve 50 years in prison with 25 years suspended and 10 years of supervised release, according to the affidavit.

State District Judge Richard Hagar on Wednesday accepted attorneys’ sentencing recommendation. During sentencing multiple family members of Riley Jr. addressed the court and Kenoyer, local CBS affiliate KXMB reported.

“As so many other families of victims often feel, the punishment should fit the crime,” Riley Jr’s Sister Stephanie Gonzalez told Kenoyer. “But lucky for you the Department of Corrections doesn’t serve antifreeze in your iced tea.”

In the last several years multiple people have been convicted of poisoning their spouse or partner. A former medical assistant with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota was charged with fatally poisoning his wife in October of last year.