Anita Knutson was an 18-year-old Minot State University student found stabbed to death in her off-campus apartment in Minot, North Dakota, on June 4, 2007. Her case stayed cold for 15 years until her former roommate, Nichole Rice, was arrested in 2022 and charged with the killing. A Grand Forks jury acquitted Rice in March 2025, and the Minot Police Department has since said it has exhausted its leads.
Who Anita Knutson Was
Knutson was born September 22, 1988, in Orange County, California, and was adopted at five months old by Gordon and Sharon Knutson. The family raised her in Anaheim before moving to Butte, North Dakota, when she was a high school freshman. She graduated from Velva High School in 2006 and enrolled at Minot State University as an elementary education major. She worked at a clothing store in the Dakota Square Mall and at a local hotel.1Minot Daily News. Road to Resolution: A Timeline of the Anita Knutson Investigation
What Happened on June 4, 2007
Knutson was found dead in her bed in the apartment she shared with Nichole Rice, then Nichole Thomas. She had been stabbed twice in the chest. A bloody knife was in the room, and a corner of the window screen had been cut. Investigators came to believe the cut screen was staged to make it look as though an intruder had entered through the window, rather than evidence of an actual break-in.2KX News. Nichole Rice Found Not Guilty in Anita Knutson Murder
Early leads included a reported “mysterious jogger” seen near the scene the day before, but no concrete suspect emerged. Lt. Dan Strandberg told reporters at the time that police had “nothing that brings us into a specific focus of a person or persons.” A reward fund grew to $20,500, with contributions from the Knutson family, local businesses, and North Dakota’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Rice was considered a person of interest early on, but police said there was not enough evidence to make an arrest.1Minot Daily News. Road to Resolution: A Timeline of the Anita Knutson Investigation
Why the Case Went Cold
The investigation stalled for years. The Minot Police Department cited staffing shortages and increased demands on local law enforcement following the Souris River flood and the Bakken oil boom.3Minot Daily News. Nichole Rice Found Not Guilty for 2007 Murder of Anita Knutson The physical case file sat on a bookshelf inside the department as what investigators described as a “constant daily reminder” that the case remained unsolved.
The Knutson family kept pressure on. On what would have been Anita’s 27th birthday in 2015, they hand-delivered a petition with more than 1,000 signatures to the Minot Police Department, urging it to seek outside help, including from the television series Cold Justice. In 2016, the North Dakota State Crime Lab pulled a DNA sample from the murder weapon, but it was too small for database testing. The sample was sufficient to exclude every tested male profile; it did not exclude Rice. Detective Mikali Talbott was assigned to re-examine the case in 2018.1Minot Daily News. Road to Resolution: A Timeline of the Anita Knutson Investigation
The Cold Justice Review and Rice’s Arrest
In 2021, the Minot Police Department partnered with Cold Justice, an Oxygen network true crime series. The Knutson case became the show’s 100th investigation, airing as Season 6, Episode 17, with prosecutor Kelly Siegler and investigator Steve Spingola working alongside local detectives.4Oxygen. Anita Knutson Is Cold Justice’s 100th Investigation The team re-tested DNA, reviewed case files, and re-interviewed witnesses. Several earlier persons of interest were eliminated.
On March 16, 2022, Nichole Rice was arrested at her workplace and charged with Class AA felony murder. Minot Police Chief John Klug said the breakthrough came from refocusing on details investigators already had, not from newly discovered evidence. The prosecution’s case rested primarily on inconsistencies in Rice’s statements over the years and on two drunken confessions she reportedly made in 2008.1Minot Daily News. Road to Resolution: A Timeline of the Anita Knutson Investigation Rice’s father posted a $120,000 cash bond, and she was released.
The trial venue was moved from Ward County to Grand Forks County in January 2025 after questionnaires from nearly 120 prospective jurors revealed what both sides jointly described as “pervasive prejudice” against Rice, driven by extensive media coverage and the Cold Justice broadcast.5Minot Daily News. Documentary Cited as Reason for Venue Change for Rice Case
The 2025 Trial in Grand Forks
The trial began March 17, 2025, before District Court Judge Richard Hagar. It ran seven days. Deputy Ward County State’s Attorney Tiffany Sorgen led the state’s case and called more than 20 witnesses.3Minot Daily News. Nichole Rice Found Not Guilty for 2007 Murder of Anita Knutson
The State’s Theory
Prosecutors argued that Rice killed Knutson in a “fit of rage” after their roommate relationship had deteriorated. Co-workers from an eTelecare call center described Rice as “very angry” over disputes about alarm clocks, Wi-Fi access, and a fish tank. One testified that after Knutson repeatedly turned off Rice’s fish tank filter, killing the fish, Rice began calling Knutson a “bad evil person.”6People. Inside Nichole Rice’s Life After the Anita Knutson Trial Sharon Knutson testified that Anita was “scared of Nichole Rice” and had her father install a lock on her bedroom door.7Court TV. ND v. Nichole Rice: Toxic Roommate Murder Trial
Two witnesses testified to confessions in 2008. William May, Rice’s ex-boyfriend, said that at a house party that summer Rice, whom he described as “belligerently drunk,” told him “she had did it. She had killed Anita.” When he later tried to get her to repeat the admission sober, she said she did not remember saying it. Kristina Holler testified that while giving Rice a ride home from a different party around the one-year anniversary of the murder, Rice admitted arguing with Knutson over an alarm clock and “stabbed her,” adding that Knutson had been wearing a white robe.8Minot Daily News. Witnesses’ Testimonies Highlight Alleged Confessions by Rice
Rice’s aunt, Brenda Glinz, testified that Rice had said Knutson “deserved to die” and described crime scene details including the cut window screen and the perpetrator waiting in the bedroom. Prosecutors argued Rice knew specifics never released publicly, including a dish left in the sink and what the victim was wearing.9Minot Daily News. State Rests in Rice Trial for Murder of Knutson Retired detective Robert Barnard testified that Rice’s reaction to Knutson’s death was “unusually flat” and that she seemed more concerned about a missing pink iPod than about her roommate.7Court TV. ND v. Nichole Rice: Toxic Roommate Murder Trial
The Defense
Defense attorney Richard Sand of Sand Law PLLC called a single witness: James Douglas Kouns, a former FBI agent with 22 years of experience who had reviewed the file. Kouns said the Minot Police Department’s investigation lacked “attention to detail” and “thoroughness,” and that investigators “seemed to spend a lot of attention running down dead end rabbit holes while glossing over some important facts and details.” He identified Devin Hall as an overlooked person of interest, calling him the FBI’s “strongest suspect,” and testified that Hall reportedly owned a knife identical to the murder weapon, including a distinctive missing medallion on the handle. Prosecutors countered that Hall had been in Montana when Knutson was killed.10Minot Daily News. Nichole Rice Trial: Defense Rests Case After Single Witness
Sand attacked the confession testimony. Neither May nor Holler had any documented record of reporting Rice’s alleged 2008 admissions to police; both provided formal statements only after Rice was arrested in 2022. Lead investigator Sgt. Carmen Asham acknowledged on the stand that she could not explain why records of the reported confessions were missing from the case file.9Minot Daily News. State Rests in Rice Trial for Murder of Knutson Holler admitted to memory gaps and heavy drinking during the period in question.
During cross-examination, Asham also confirmed an “inappropriate relationship” with the late Lt. Matt McLeod, who had been involved in the investigation. The city of Minot spent roughly $17,000 investigating McLeod’s conduct and more than $100,000 on a broader investigation into department management under Chief Klug, who was placed on leave in September 2024 and retired in early 2025.11Minot Daily News. City Pays to Put Investigation Behind It Sand told jurors the Cold Justice involvement had created pressure that led to a “sloppy and rushed” investigation and a “media circus.”2KX News. Nichole Rice Found Not Guilty in Anita Knutson Murder
The Not Guilty Verdict
The jury began deliberating on a Tuesday afternoon, paused around 7:30 p.m., and reconvened at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. They returned a not guilty verdict about an hour later, after a total deliberation of just under five and a half hours.3Minot Daily News. Nichole Rice Found Not Guilty for 2007 Murder of Anita Knutson
Defense attorneys were seen shouting and hugging members of the Rice family while the remainder of the verdict form was still being read, a reaction that drew criticism in the courtroom and online. The Knutson family left immediately.12KX News. Nichole Rice Attorneys Respond to Complaints Over Verdict Behavior On April 1, 2025, Sand Law PLLC posted a public apology on Facebook, writing: “When the verdict was read, we reacted emotionally. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended, especially to Anita Knutson’s family.”13KFYR-TV. Law Firm That Represented Nichole Rice Releases Statement on Reaction to Verdict
Anita’s sister, Anna Knutson-Toedter, posted a statement on social media: “I spent the last week reliving some of the hardest parts of the last 18 years of my life, and in those 18 years one thing I’ve learned is that a not guilty verdict does not mean innocence.”6People. Inside Nichole Rice’s Life After the Anita Knutson Trial
Where the Case Stands Now
By January 2026, the Minot Police Department said it had “exhausted their leads.” A department spokesperson stated: “At this time, with the not guilty verdict, there are no further developments that the Minot Police Department can comment on regarding the future of this case.” Double jeopardy protections mean Rice cannot be charged again for Knutson’s murder. No other suspects have been identified, and the case is cold again.14Inforum. College Student’s Cold Case Murder File Shows No Leads After Acquittal
In March 2026, Nichole Rice and her husband Dallas Rice were charged with felony theft in an unrelated case. The couple, who served as president and secretary-treasurer of the Souris Valley Bowmen Club, are accused of stealing club funds between roughly July 2022 and July 2025. Both face Class A felony charges of conspiracy to commit theft exceeding $50,000. Dallas Rice also faces a Class A felony theft charge; Nichole Rice faces a Class B felony theft charge for allegedly making an unauthorized transfer of between $10,000 and $50,000. Both have pleaded not guilty, and Nichole Rice’s trial in that case is scheduled for November 2026.15Minot Daily News. Couple Charged With Theft From Archery Club6People. Inside Nichole Rice’s Life After the Anita Knutson Trial