Death By Inheritance Scam
The Toxic Motives of Poisoner Ina Kenoyer
When fifty-one-year-old Steven Riley fell victim to an elaborate inheritance email scam, he thought his ship had finally come in. Steven also apparently felt the next ship he sailed would be a solo voyage; friends said that he planned to leave his girlfriend of ten years, Ina Kenoyer, as soon as he got his hands on his windfall. Little did Riley know that the only thing that had arrived was a furious girlfriend with her own dollar-driven dreams who wasn't about to lose both love and money.
Ina Kenoya
On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, forty-eight-year-old Kenoyer pleaded guilty to felony murder in a North Dakota courtroom. She will be sentenced on August 13.
The Fateful Airport Meeting
We don't know all the details of the inheritance scam. Riley certainly wasn't alone in falling prey to one; a staggering fifteen percent of U.S. adults have been targeted. Typically, victims are notified about a supposed inheritance left by a long-lost relative, often coming from a seemingly legitimate law firm or other professional entity. Red flags include secrecy, urgency, requests for personal information, and the need for an initial payment to secure future gains.
But we know that, on the evening of September 3, 2923, Steven Riley went to the Minot International Airport to meet with a lawyer to finalize his receipt of the $30 million inheritance. Kenoyer and some of Riley's friends accompanied him. The lawyer never showed up; perhaps there had been a miscommunication.
While they were waiting, Riley suddenly became ill, complaining of stomach pain and feeling drunk despite not having consumed any alcohol. Several friends wanted him to go to the doctor, but he resisted. Kenoyer insisted he was merely suffering from heat stroke and needed to go home and rest.
The following morning, a concerned friend went to check on Riley, only to be told by Kenoyer that he was at a walk-in clinic. After searching every clinic and emergency room in Minot, the friend could not locate Riley. In reality, Riley was already in critical condition. Within hours after he returned home from the airport, Riley was vomiting uncontrollably and unable to walk. He fell into a coma and was airlifted to a hospital in Bismarck but never regained consciousness. He died on September 5.
Steven Riley and Ina Kenoya
Timeless Motives for Murder
Kenoyer's motives appear to be a desire for money and revenge. She was furious when Riley told her he was taking his loot and hitting the road. Ten years of her life, and this was how it ended? On September 3, the day before Riley's death, one of Kenoya's friends had seen her throwing Riley's belongings out of their shared home on September 3.
Kenoyer came up with a plan. Although not legally married, she believed their ten-year relationship would qualify her as a "common law" wife. This status meant she would be entitled to half the money as his "common law" wife (she planned to give the other half to Riley's son).
Several of Riley's friends went to the police, sure that Kenoya had committed murder. She initially claimed Riley had been drinking heavily on September 3 and had suffered heat stroke the previous day, but friends who were with him on both days refuted these claims. Toxicology tests found no alcohol in Riley's system at the time of his death.
Kenoyer also made several suspicious statements to authorities. She alleged that Riley may have accidentally ingested antifreeze by smoking a cigarette that fell into the substance in their garage. She also claimed that symptoms of heat stroke can "mimic poisoning."Perhaps most damning was Kenoyer's insistence that she was entitled to half of Riley's supposed $30 million inheritance as his "common law" wife. When investigators informed her that North Dakota does not recognize common law marriage, she became "incensed," according to the affidavit.
A search of the couple's home turned up a capless Windex bottle containing a green liquid believed to be antifreeze, along with a beer bottle and plastic mug also suspected to contain the deadly substance. An autopsy confirmed lethal levels of the substance in his body. Kenoyer was arrested and charged with murder on October 30.
Poison: A Woman's Weapon?
True crime fans often nod knowingly when a woman is accused of murder by poison. Of course; isn't poison the female murderer's weapon of choice? As it turns out, the answer to that question is more complicated than it initially appears.
First of all, the fact that men commit 90% of the murders means that, if we're just considering the numbers, virtually every imaginable murder weapon is more often wielded by a man. However, if we statistically break down murder weapons by gender, we start getting some meat on this commonly held belief's bones. FBI data from 1999 to 2012 reveals that, among the minority of female murderers, they are seven times more likely than men to choose poison as their weapon of choice. Among female killers, poison is used in more than 2.5 percent of cases, compared to just over one-third of one percent for male murderers. So, it's a rare weapon choice for both male and female murderers but - statistically - significantly more common among women.
We have some other interesting demographic data about poisoners. It's more often a choice among white killers, particularly white women. Older killers (over 30) are more than twice as likely as younger ones to use poison. Disturbingly, the most common victims of poisoning murders are the killer's own children, followed by spouses and intimate partners.
Ethylene Glycol: A Sweet but Deadly Poison
Kenoyer's weapon of choice was ethylene glycol, the toxic substance in antifreeze. Before 2012, when bittering agents became mandatory additives in the US, antifreeze had a sweet taste that a poisoner could easily mask in beverages. This sugary substance made it a frighteningly easy poison to administer to unsuspecting victims.
The initial symptoms of ethylene glycol poisoning closely mimic alcohol intoxication. Ironically, if administered within the first hour after ingestion, pharmaceutical-grade ethanol (drunk orally or given intravenously) can act as an antidote to ethylene glycol poisoning. The body will preferentially metabolize the ethanol, giving the kidneys time to excrete the unmetabolized ethylene glycol. In other words, getting the victim very drunk can save their life. Of course, they'll still face a nasty hangover - but that's vastly preferable to death by kidney failure.
Within the first 12 hours after ingestion, a victim may exhibit:
Dizziness and slurred speech
Nausea and vomiting
Rapid heartbeat and difficulty breathing
Muscle cramps and loss of consciousness
As the poisoning progresses, more severe symptoms set in between 12-24 hours:
Organ failure, particularly of the kidneys, heart, and lungs
Metabolic acidosis (a dangerous buildup of acid in the body)
Coma, seizures and death
Without prompt treatment, as little as 4 ounces of ethylene glycol can kill an adult male. However, the frightening truth is that many victims don't realize they've been poisoned until it's too late. If Riley's friends hadn't alerted police, his death may have been misclassified as natural causes.
Other Notorious Antifreeze Killers
While the exact poisons used are not detailed in FBI homicide data, antifreeze containing ethylene glycol has been a notorious choice in many high-profile cases. Its sweet taste and delayed onset of symptoms make it a deviously effective weapon for killers seeking to avoid suspicion. Historically, several factors made antifreeze an attractive murder weapon:
No one raised an eyebrow if antifreeze was kept around the house for car and plumbing maintenance.
The sweet taste could be concealed in beverages without alerting the victim.
It worked quickly, usually killing within 24 hours without prompt medical treatment.
Initial symptoms look like alcohol intoxication, making it easy to blame the victim.
Unless foul play was suspected, routine autopsies typically wouldn't detect the substance.
Kenoyer is far from the first to exploit ethylene glycol as a murder weapon. Other high-profile cases include:
Lynn Turner, a Georgia woman who killed two husbands (one a police officer) with antifreeze in 1995 and 2001. She claimed they died of natural causes but was convicted in 2004. Turner took her own life in prison in 2010.
Stacey Castor, a New York woman dubbed the "Black Widow," poisoned her first husband with antifreeze in 2000 and attempted to murder her second husband in 2005. In a final horrific twist, Castor poisoned her daughter and tried to stage it as a suicide to frame her for the murders. Castor was sentenced to 51 years to life in 2009.
Wisconsin resident Mark Jensen was convicted in 2008 of murdering his wife Julie by lacing her food with antifreeze over several days in 1998.
Diane Staudte, along with accomplice-daughter Rachel, murdered her husband and son with antifreeze in their Gatorade in 2012 and attempted to kill her daughter. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison in 2016.
These cases illustrate the deadly efficacy and recent popularity of ethylene glycol as a poisoner's tool. They also demonstrate the dogged investigation and scientific advancements needed to bring such killers to justice.
The Bottom Line
Steven Riley is dead. Ina Kenoyer has pleaded guilty. The mandated addition of bittering agents to antifreeze in recent years is a positive step to reduce its viability as a murder weapon.
But what are we to make of the human element? What does it mean to see a decade-long couple betray each other so viciously over money? What degree of rage and greed could drive someone to treat their partner so callously? And how can we inoculate ourselves against the myriad of financial scammers whose havoc, while not often ending in murder, so frequently robs their victims of far more than money?
If there's a cautionary tale in this story, it's a reminder of the capacity for deception and betrayal that lurks in the shadows of human nature. We must remain vigilant to the motives of others and the desires in our hearts, lest we let our emotions guide our decisions. As Demosthenes said, "The easiest thing of all is to deceive one's self; for what a man wishes he generally believes to be true."
Thanks for reading this issue of The Mind Detective. Please share with your fellow true crime aficionados. If there’s a case you’d like me to cover, please shoot me an email.