UNSOLVED·2007·Minot, North Dakota·7 SOURCES·1 COVERAGE LINK·UPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative
Anita Knutson, an 18-year-old Minot State University student, was found dead in her off-campus apartment on June 4, 2007. Her father went to check on her after she missed a work shift and could not be reached. Police determined that she had been killed the previous day and recovered a knife at the scene.
The Minot Police Department investigated for years without bringing a charge. By 2015 the case was considered cold. That September, Knutson's family and community members delivered a petition with more than 1,000 signatures asking authorities to renew the investigation. A detective began re-examining the file around 2019, and the department later worked with the television program Cold Justice, which provided investigative resources.
On March 16, 2022, police arrested Nichole Rice, Knutson's former roommate, on a murder charge. Rice pleaded not guilty. A judge later moved the trial from Ward County to Grand Forks County because of concerns about seating an impartial jury.
Rice's trial opened in March 2025. On March 26, after hearing the prosecution and defense cases, a Grand Forks County jury found her not guilty. She was acquitted, no conviction stands against her, and she is not presented as responsible for Knutson's death.
No other person has been charged. Knutson's killing therefore remains legally and factually unsolved after the acquittal.
Anita Knutson was found fatally stabbed in her Minot apartment in June 2007; her former roommate was acquitted of murder in 2025, and the killing remains unsolved.
