GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Court TV) — Nearly two decades after 18-year-old Anita Knutson was found stabbed to death in her bed, her roommate, Nichole Rice, now 37, was acquitted of her murder.
Prosecutors painted a picture of a strained friendship that culminated in Rice killing her roommate on June 3, 2007. The defense said Rice had an alibi when the murder took place, pointed to alternative suspects and said charges only came about after the case was sensationalized by the media.
WATCH: Toxic Roommate Murder Trial: Opening Statements
Here are the key witnesses and crucial evidence presented at Rice’s trial, which began on March 18, 2025.
Key Players
Anita Knutson shared a small two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with Nichole Rice in Minot, North Dakota.
(Photo by: Court TV)
Knutson was adopted at 5 months of age by Gordon and Sharon Knutson in Anaheim, Calif., where she lived until the family relocated to North Dakota when Anita was in high school. According to her obituary, Anita wrote and published a book in 8th grade. At the time of her death, she was studying Elementary Education at Minot State University and worked at a hotel and a shop in the mall.
Nichole Rice, formally Nichole Thomas, is charged with felony murder in the death of her roommate, Anita Knutson.
(Photo by: Court TV)
At the time of the murder, the two women shared an apartment in Minot, N.D., though friends told police the two had a strained relationship. At the time of the murder, Rice worked at a call center in Minot, where her supervisor said she was a “great sales agent.” Rice told investigators that she was at her parent’s farm 20 miles away from her apartment the weekend of Anita’s murder.
Anita’s adoptive parents, Sharon and Gordon Knutson, both testified on Day 1 of Nichole Rice’s trial.
(Photo by: Court TV)
Anita’s mother testified that Anita and Nichole did not share the same friend group. She said her daughter was scared of Nichole, even having her father install a lock on her bedroom door to protect her privacy. Sharon testified about the incredible loss their daughter’s death had on their family, including Anita’s brother Danny, who died by suicide three years after Anita was killed.
Anita’s father testified about seeing his daughter face down on the bed through the window. Gordon testified that he had convinced the apartment manager to get a key to the apartment. While she was gone, the maintenance man found a screen from the window in the lawn and believed it was from his daughter’s apartment.
VIDEO: Toxic Roommate Murder Trial: Anita Knutson’s Adoptive Father Testifies
Laura Knapp was the resident manager of the apartment that Nichole Rice and Anita Knutson shared.
(Photo by: Court TV)
Knapp testified that she and the apartment’s maintenance man, Marty Annell, lived together in 2007. They were both home on June 4, 2007, when Gordon Knutson asked for a key to his daughter’s apartment. She testified about the screen that Annell found on the lawn the morning of June 4. She said the screen was bent in and had a small key-sized slash in it. Knapp testified that she lived with Becker for 10 years and believed they had a good relationship. She testified that he died by suicide on New Year’s Day of 2009.
VIDEO: Apartment Manager Recalls Day Anita Knutson’s Father Found Her Dead
Sgt. David Goodman was one of the responding officers from the Minot Police Dept.
(Photo by: Court TV)
Sgt. Goodman testified about finding Anita Knutson deceased, wearing a light-pink-colored robe with her head by the foot of the bed. He did not observe anything in disarray, and the victim’s purse with cash was visible. Sgt. Goodman testified that they brought the defendant in to see if anything was out of place in the apartment, and Rice quickly noticed that her iPod was missing.
VIDEO: Sergeant: I Was Suspicious of Nichole Rice From the Very Beginning
Devin Hall is one of the alternative suspects that the defense said “all evidence points to.”
(Photo by: Fort Peck Adult Correctional Facility)
Defense Attorney Rick Sand said Hall was caught sprinting from Rice and Knutson’s apartment on the day of the murder. Hall is currently incarcerated at Fort Peck Adult Correctional Facility in Poplar, Montana, on unrelated theft and burglary charges.
Courtroom Exhibits
VIDEO: Police Walkthrough of Nichole Rice and Anita Knutson’s Apartment
(Photo by: Court TV)
A screen-less window near the foot of Anita Knutson’s bed.
(Photo by: Court TV)
Nichole Rice’s room on June 4, 2007.
(Photo by: Court TV)
Anita Knutson’s room when police walked through the home prior to evidence being collected on June 4, 2007.
Photo taken from police walkthrough showing a plastic container filled with water in the bathroom sink of Anita Knutson and Nichole Rice’s apartment. (Court TV)
(Photo by: Court TV)
Close-up piece of folded paper on Nichole Rice’s bed.
