Ina Kenoyer

The Minot woman charged with poisoning her boyfriend with antifreeze in a bid to collect a purported $30 million inheritance entered a change of plea to guilty to Class AA felony murder on Wednesday.

Ina Thea Kenoyer, 47, Minot, appeared in North Central District Court for a pretrial conference after a stint at the State Hospital in Jamestown for a competency evaluation in March.

The charge against Kenoyer stemmed from an investigation into the death of Kenoyer’s longtime boyfriend, Steven Edward Riley Jr., 51, Minot.

According to court documents, Riley and Kenoyer both believed he was to be the recipient of a $30 million inheritance in the weeks leading up to his death on Sept. 4. Investigators have stated they do not believe the inheritance was genuine. Deputy State’s Attorney Tiffany Sorgen detailed for the court that probable cause existed that Kenoyer caused Riley’s death through ethylene glycol poisoning.

When the time came for the plea to be formally entered, Kenoyer hesitated briefly before leaning into the microphone and saying, “Guilty.”

Sorgen asked the court for a standard pre-sentence investigation, but Morrow requested an additional psychological evaluation beyond her recent evaluation at the State Hospital. Kenoyer’s sentencing has been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 14.