Niamh Shackleton
Things might not be all as it seems in the murder case of Steven Edward Riley Jr.
The North Dakota-based man was allegedly killed by his girlfriend Ina Thea Kenoyer after he thought he'd inherited a whopping $30 million.
Riley died on 5 September at a hospital in Bismarck two days after falling ill - and the same day he met his so-called lawyer to pick up his 'inheritance'.
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Following an autopsy, it was revealed that Riley's cause of death was poisoning after he ingested toxic amounts of antifreeze and Kenoyer has since been charged with murdering her partner.
Police say the 47-year-old's actions were 'financially motivated'.
She was under the impression she would have been eligible for some of Riley's inheritance as his common-law wife, but North Dakota does not recognize such relationship.
But Riley's murder looks to have been in vain as his son, Ryan Riley, believes there wasn't any inheritance in the first place.
“He wasn’t suspicious before he went to the airport, but he was convinced he had inherited the money and was going to receive it when the supposed lawyer landed,” he told The New York Post.
"But the supposed lawyer never showed up. It was a scam.
"It was a stranger who managed to trick my dad into believing it was true, unfortunately.”
Ryan added that his father had wanted to leave Kenoyer 'for a while' prior to his passing and accused her of 'leeching off of him'.
Doubling down on his plans to leave Kenoyer, a witness had told the police that she had seen the woman throwing Riley’s property outside their home out of anger over his apparent plans to leave.
In a Facebook post shared to Minot Police Department's page, the authorities shared that Kenoyer has been charged with Class AA Felony Murder.
“This case was extremely complex,” Investigations Commander Capt. Dale Plessas said.
“Thank you to everyone who provided us with information that helped our investigators piece this together.”
At the time of writing, police said the investigation was 'ongoing'.
Kenoyer is currently being held at Ward County Jail and North Central District Court Judge Richard Hagar has set her bond at $1 million cash.
UNILAD contacted Minot Police Department.
Kenoyer's next court appearance is slated for December 7, where she faces a maximum sentence of life without parole.
She does not have a lawyer and is reportedly representing herself.