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Dateline's new episode, titled Murder in Minot explores the story of Anita Knutson, who was found dead at her apartment on June 3, 2007. Knutson was a student of Minot State University who lived off campus in North Dakota.
When authorities reached the crime scene, they found the victim lying on the bed, with the mattress soaked in blood. Anita Knutson was reportedly stabbed multiple times to death. While examining the crime scene, investigators discovered a cut on the window screen.
Initially, authorities thought the intruder came inside through the window, but soon they realized this information was fabricated. The complete investigation behind finding the murderer of Anita Knutson is documented in Dateline's episode titled Murder in Minot. The episode will be released on May 2, 2024, at 9 pm EST.
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What is the story of the Dateline episode subject, Anita Knutson?
Anita Knutson, the subject of latest Dateline episode, was born in Orange County, California, on September 22, 1988. As reported by the Minot Daily News, she was raised in the neighborhood of Anaheim, California by her adoptive parents named Sharon and Gordon Knutson.
It was in 2006, when Anita Knutson was enrolled into the Minot State University. She started living off-campus at a local hotel named Vanity, located in North Dakota. Before her death on June 3, 2007, she reportedly had her last conversation with her mother on June 1, as she had moved into her apartment.
When her mother, Sharon Knutson, couldn't connect with her on the phone, Gordon decided to drive to Minot to check on her. It was on June 4, 2007, when Gordon reached her apartment and found her car on the parking lot, as reported by Minot Daily News.
The door was locked from inside, and no one opened it even after Gordon knocked multiple times. According to the same publication, a maintenance worker named Marty Arnell pointed Gordon to the torn window screen. When he looked inside, he found his daughter lying in a blood-soaked bed, with multiple stabbing wounds.
When the Minot Police reached the crime scene, they found the victim's body lying face down on the mattress. As described on the website of the Oxygen television network, when investigators went through Anita's phone, they found her last message was from Michael Vann, who was identified as her wannabe boyfriend.
Authorities stated that the crime scene was staged, and the murderer did not enter from the window. People magazine reported that the victim was stabbed for two times in the chest. Detective Dan Strandberg determined the case to be a homicide.
The police began interrogating Anita's friends, colleagues, family members, and every possible suspect around the crime scene. However, this yielded no particular results, and they failed to find enough concrete evidence that could lead them to the murderer.
Anita Knutson's funeral was arranged on June 11, 2007. Two days later, her official autopsy reports arrived. The reports revealed that the cause of Knutson's death was due to the two stabbings on her chest. The weapon was determined to be a small pocket knife.
Minot Daily News further stated that two businessmen kept a sum of $ 5,500 as a reward for anyone who could provide information on the murderer. Additionally, Sharon Knutson offered $ 10,000 to anyone who could lead them to their daughter's killer. However, the police failed to find any culprit, and the investigation was declared cold.
The investigation into Anita Knutson's murder restarted in 2016
According to Minot Daily News, it was in 2016 when the Minot State Crime Lab extracted a DNA sample from the murder weapon, which didn't belong to the victim. After DNA testing, all the possible suspects were excluded except for Anita Knutson's roommate, Nichole Rice. Reportedly, it was in 2021 when Detective Mikali Talbott from the Minot Police Department restarted the investigation.
It was on March 16, 2022, when suspect Nichole was arrested. She was charged with Class AA felony murder—for stabbing Anita Knutson, per People magazine.
As per KFYR TV, the trial for Nichole Rice began on March 18, 2025. On March 21, 2025, Nichole's friend Kristina Holler testified in court that the suspect confessed that she killed Anita Knutson. As per Kritina, her friend Rice told her that she stabbed Anita after an argument over an alarm clock, which repeatedly kept going off.
As reported by People, another witness named William May, who dated Nichole Rice for a brief time, testified against the suspect. He revealed that during a party in 2008, Nichole Rice made a drunk confession about killing Anita Knutson. As per KFYR TV, the Dateline case is still open for further investigations.
Check out our other articles to learn more details about other cases on Dateline.
