N.D. woman found not guilty in the cold case killing of her roommate

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (TCN) -- A woman was found not guilty of stabbing her roommate to death in a cold case that spanned almost 20 years.

The Minot Daily News reports the jury returned the verdict Wednesday morning after deliberations began Tuesday, March 25, and acquitted Nichole Rice in connection with the death of Anita Knutson.

Nineteen-year-old Knutson lived in a home in Minot with Rice. Her family became concerned on June 4, 2007, after she failed to show up to work and didn’t answer any calls, so her father, Gordon Knutson, drove to her house to check in on her.

When he arrived, he saw her window open, so he asked a maintenance worker to let him in. Gordon Knutson told "True Crime News" that he walked into his daughter’s room and found her mattress "soaked in blood."

"From that point I was just in total shock," he said.

The autopsy showed Knutson had been fatally stabbed in the chest with a pocket knife.

Investigators continued to search for Knutson’s killer, but the case eventually went cold.

Then, on March 16, 2022, Minot Police Department detectives arrested Rice and said there were inconsistencies in her story.

According to the Minot Daily News, Ward County prosecutors argued Rice drunkenly told friends at parties that she killed Knutson and had information about her roommate’s death that wasn’t public knowledge.

Deputy State’s Attorney Tiffany Sorgen said, "In the early morning hours of June 3, 2007, Nichole Rice took this knife and plunged it into the chest of this girl and killed her."

Rice’s attorneys claimed police did not rule out other persons of interest and that prosecutors’ main proof was text messages between Rice and Knutson arguing over an alarm clock.

Richard Sand said during closing arguments, "They’re trying to use conjecture and hearsay to convince you guys that Nichole got out of bed in the middle of the night, drove to Minot, killed her roommate, and scrubbed the scene of DNA. She’s this mastermind mob hit killer. Goes back home, and has the intestinal fortitude to just go on with life like it never happened. We’re talking about a daughter, a sister, a wife, and a mother. This is a load of crap."

For more about this case, check out the "True Crime News" video below.

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