A North Dakota woman who poisoned her boyfriend's sweet tea with antifreeze over a non-existent $30 million inheritance will spend the next 25 years in prison.
Ina Thea Kenoyer, 48, learned her fate during her sentencing hearing Wednesday, according to the Minot Daily News.
Kenoyer previously pleaded guilty to the murder of her longtime boyfriend Steven Edward Riley Jr., 51, in 2023.
Kenoyer and Riley mistakenly believed he was in line to receive a $30 million inheritance. He planned to meet a phoney attorney to solidify the deal at the airport in Minot, North Dakota, on Sept. 3, 2023, investigators learned, according to the outlet.
Kenoyer was under the impression their 10-year relationship made her his common law wife and that she would be entitled to payment upon his death. However, North Dakota does not recognize common law marriages, the paper reported.
The misinformation motivated her to lace his sweet tea with antifreeze, after she learned he planned to break up with her under the false belief he was going to receive the lump sum.
He died two days later in the hospital. An autopsy determined the cause of death was antifreeze poisoning.
Police said Kenoyer had financial motives to murder her boyfriend and was angry when she learned the inheritance was fake.
"You stole more than a human life. You stole a son from his mother and stepfather. You stole a father from five sons, a brother from two sisters, an uncle from 12 nieces and nephews, and a great uncle to eight, and many friends," Stephanie Gonzalez, Riley's sister, told the court as she delivered her victim impact statement, according to KYFR-TV.
"How does it feel to have taken so much for absolutely nothing?" she sniped.
