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Anita Knutson was a vibrant college freshman, widely admired for her charismatic personality and promising future. Yet, her life was tragically cut short, a story revisited in the series Dateline: Unforgettable. Anita’s murder in 2007 remains a haunting unsolved mystery.
The chilling events unfolded on June 4, 2007, when Anita, just 18 and a student at Minot State University, stopped responding to her family’s messages. Concerned, her father, Gordon, decided to check on her at her off-campus apartment. It was there that he discovered a horrific scene—Anita lay face down, having been stabbed twice in the chest.
Investigators found a window screen at the apartment had been cut, suggesting a possible entry point, but this lead yielded little evidence to identify a suspect. Despite the passage of time, Anita’s murder remains unresolved, leaving a dark shadow over the bright future she once had. Her story continues to evoke both sadness and a yearning for justice.
On June 4, 2007, after 18-year-old Anita—a Minot State University student—failed to respond to family messages, her dad Gordon went to her off-campus apartment.
There, he found his daughter on her stomach, fatally stabbed twice in the chest.
Though a window screen at her apartment had been cut, police had little evidence pointing to a suspect.
An autopsy later revealed superficial cuts to Anita’s neck, suggesting the killer held the knife to her throat. As Sergeant David Goodwin shared, “We felt it was somebody that she knew.”
Persons of interest emerge in the case
Four people had a key to Anita’s apartment, including Anita, her roommate, Nichole Thomas, the manager, and a maintenance worker.
But the investigation began to focus on the maintenance man and Nichole, who was known to have a strained relationship with Anita.
In addition, police considered Tyler Schmaltz, Anita’s high school prom date with an admitted crush on her, and Michael Vann, a man she texted with shortly before she was killed.
Devin Hall, a 17-year-old picked up for breaking into an apartment who carried a knife, also came onto investigators’ radar.
Still, despite so many names, no one was charged, and the case went cold for many years. Then, in 2013, Anita’s young brother, Daniel, died by suicide.
“The person who killed my sister,” said Anita’s sister Anna, “certainly was a catalyst for Daniel making the choice that he made.”
Nichole Thomas Rice arrested
When Oxygen’s Cold Justice offered to help Minot Police Department Chief John Klug, the focus once again turned to Nichole, who was now married.
Investigators learned that about a year after the murder, she allegedly made a drunken confession, according to a former boyfriend. Her story of her whereabouts at the time of the murder was inconsistent.
In March 2022, Nichole was arrested for felony murder. After various delays, the trial began three years later in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
The prosecution argued that Nichole had access and a key and that bad blood between the two roommates turned deadly. However, the defense team poked holes in the prosecution’s circumstantial case.
In the end, the jury found Nichole not guilty. The homicide remains unsolved.
Dateline: Unforgettable airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.
