Glinz testified about Rice’s move to Arizona in 2008, saying that she gave Rice a ride back to North Dakota after her living situation broke down. Glinz testified that in conversations about Knutson’s murder, Rice said whoever did it waited in Rice’s room until Knutson had finished a shower. Glinz said Rice said Knutson had been stabbed and raped, which has never been found to have occurred by investigators.

Glinz testified that Rice had said she was in Sykeston on June 2, 2007, and later that evening went to Ruso for her cousin’s grand opening of the 41 Club, but that Rice said she returned to the apartment in Minot to get clothes afterward.

“The story’s always changed. I think throughout the whole 18 years of who it may be, or where she was, or that they got the person, or that she was cleared and that she didn’t have to worry about it because there’s no DNA of her anywhere and that she was cleared of the scene,” Glinz said.

Deputy Ward County State’s attorney Tiffany Sorgen asked Glinz about how Rice reacted and behaved after Knutson’s murder, and subsequent statements Rice allegedly made regarding her slain roommate.

Anita Knutson

“She was not the way most people would react if their friend, if they died,” Glinz said. Glinz testified that Rice referred to Knutson in a derogatory manner after her death and said, “She deserved to die.” Glinz said the only thing Rice cared about was they stole her iPod.

Rice’s attorney Richard Sand raised the issue of a statement with Minot Police where Glinz said she had issues with memory loss due to an autoimmune disease, and noted that she never mentioned Rice’s alleged comment that Knuston deserved to die before her testimony that morning. Glinz responded that Nichole had made the comment.

Rice was noticeably emotional during her aunt’s testimony, and Glinz testified she hadn’t communicated with her family members for several weeks.

“She is my niece, and it is my brother. This whole thing has not only destroyed the Knutsons, Nichole’s life, my entire family and the community. This needs justice. It’s time for the truth to be told,” Glinz said.

Final State’s witness

Judge Richard Hagar granted a motion outside the presence of the jury, allowing one of the defense’s expert witnesses to be present in the courtroom during the testimony of the State’s final witness Minot Police Department Sgt. Carmen Asham. The State did not object to the motion, and Sand stated it was essential the expert, James Kouns, be in the courtroom as his testimony will be directly related to law enforcement’s investigation.

Asham took the stand, and provided further testimony about her role in the investigation of Knutson’s murder, and how it ultimately led to Rice being charged.

Asham noted the outside of the window sill had dust and cobwebs on it, and didn’t show marks of any tools being used. Asham said the condition of the screen from the law enforcement’s reenactment and the actual screen from the crime scene were markedly different, and the actual screen shows more significant damage. Asham testified the cut on the screen was in the shape of a backwards “L” when viewed from the outside. Asham said Knutson’s blood was found on the screen, which indicated the cut was made after the murder.

Asham testified that the point of entry by the perpetrator was determined to be through the front door. Asham said only Knutson, Rice, apartment manager Laura Knapp and maintenance man Marty Annell had keys to the apartment. Asham said she investigated that key making kiosks were not available until 2010, and it was unlikely any other copies could have been made.

Asham also cited the autopsy report, which found no indication of a sexual assault.

Asham said DNA samples were taken from around 50-60 people, and that no fingerprints were found on the window sill of the apartment.

Asham testified regarding Knutson’s cell phone records, which included an unread text message sent to Knutson at 4:55 a.m. on June 3, 2007. Asham said her prior communications that evening had been consistent up to that point, and included a phone call around 2 a.m. that morning. The final text messages on Knutson’s phone were also discussed, which were to a man named Michael Vann. Knutson’s messages indicated she wasn’t feeling well, and planned to take a shower, but that evidence didn’t indicate she had.

Asham testified she didn’t have an answer as to why statements provided by Rice’s ex-boyfriend William May and former Kirstina Holler alleging Rice had confessed to the murder were missing, and other things like audio recordings were also missing. Asham detailed evidence that was held back from the public, which included the cut screen, the approximate time of Knutson’s death, the position of Knutson’s body, and what she was wearing.

Asham testified about “Cold Justice” ‘s involvement in the investigation, which was a collaboration she said was initiated by the Minot Police Department (MPD) administration. Asham said that “Cold Justice” had been given access to the case file prior to the 10 days they spent in Minot, but documentary crew were not calling the shots.

“When they came, they had researched the case file. They had a list of people they thought should possibly be reinterviewed. We went through that list with them and gave them our input. There were a couple people we crossed off the list because we thought they weren’t relevant,” Asham said.

Asham indicated they reviewed a number of “false leads,” and several persons of interest were considered, including Annell, Rice, Vann and Knutson’s friend Tyler Schmaltz. Asham stated Annell, Vann and Schmaltz were all ruled out as suspects, as they all had alibis which were corroborated by investigators.

“It’s like a puzzle. You have to go through all of the pieces you’re given, and figure out how they fit together. And figure out what is extraneous information that doesn’t fit into the puzzle,” Asham said.

Asham also testified regarding how Devin Hall and Jaron Vivier were ruled out as persons of interest after Amtrak and hotel records confirmed the pair were not in Minot at the time of the murder. Additional evidence ruling Hall out included a home video recorded by one of his family members when they arrived at the Amtrak station in Minot after 9 p.m. on June 3, 2007.

Despite reports and statements from Hall that he had a knife similar to the murder weapon, Asham testified that a family member provided Hall’s knife to investigators. Asham testified the murder weapon was a cheap folding knife, and it was a fairly common novelty knife possibly sold in gas stations and flea markets.

Asham’s testimony shifted to Rice, who noted she remained a person of interest due to the fact she lived with Knutson, and had a tenuous relationship with her. Asham said both roommates were attempting to get out of the lease and move out of the apartment before Knutson was murdered.

Sorgen entered a transcript of Asham’s interview with Rice in March 2022, which was ultimately accepted into evidence after a brief bench conference between the parties. Sorgen also introduced four other statements from Rice, which she said showed a number of inconsistencies regarding her whereabouts the weekend of the murder.

“It’s tough to keep track of, because there were so many differences in the various statements she gave. It’s hard for me to remember which statement had which differences. Definitely I know there were glaring differences in different interviews she did,” Asham said.

Asham said she and fellow investigator Mikali Talbott created a visual timeline to assess the differences, which illustrated the slight differences in each. Sorgen initially sought to introduce a PowerPoint presentation as demonstrable evidence, which was objected by Sand as it hadn’t previously been provided to the defense.

Hagar took the matter under advisement, and recessed the proceedings for lunch. After the parties reconvened, Sorgen indicated she would instead be incorporating the visual timeline into her closing.

Asham testified that Rice’s initial statement was she was out of town that weekend for a going away party for a relative in Carrington, and she spent Sunday at her family’s farm. Asham said the first major inconsistency from Rice was she initially represented that she stayed at the family farm all night on June 2, but she had in fact gone to the 41 Club in Ruso Saturday evening.

In her second statement on June 11, 2007, Rice told investigators she spent the night at the farm, and stayed there with her family until she left for work on the morning of June 4. Additional differences noted by Asham were changes in the activities Rice participated in the night of June 2 and the day of June 3. Asham said additional inconsistencies were found between the times Rice said she was asleep or otherwise occupied, and phone calls logged on her phone bill.

Asham testified that Rice portrayed herself as Knutson’s protector in interviews with law enforcement, and often would downplay the discord between the two. Asham testified there were no references to the window screen, the bowl in the bathroom sink, what Knutson was wearing or Rice’s iPod in any of the interviews.

Asham testified regarding the substance and dates of text messages exchanged by Knutson and Rice, which detailed several of their disputes over an alarm clock and Rice’s desire to get out of the lease. In one of the messages to Knutson, Rice stated she was done being “nice” and that “what goes around comes around.”

Asham also testified that information relayed in testimony by Glinz and Kristina Holler indicated Rice was aware of facts about the crime scene that were not shared publicly, including the dish in the sink, what Knutson was wearing, and the window screen.

Asham cross examination

Sand began his cross examination asking Asham about the missing aspects of the case file, and the report of the investigation in the late MPD Lt. Matt McLeod. Sand asked Asham if she was aware of the criminal investigations into allegations that McLeod had sexually assaulted a child, and Sorgen objected due to relevance.

Sand responded that the report was relevant, as McLeod had been involved in the investigation, and the report contained information on a relationship between Asham and McLeod. The defense received the report on March 21 on the day jury selection began in Rice’s trial, and Sand was adamant that the report spoke to Asham’s credibility.

“The credibility of a witness is always important, especially when they’re the lead investigator of the case and the case agent, and the only witness who’s been able to sit through the entire trial unsequestered,” Sand said.

Sorgen maintained the report was irrelevant to the case, but Sand insisted the report contained information that implicated issues with individuals who worked on the case 2007. Hagar allowed Asham to answer the question regarding the investigations into McLeod, and she said she was.

Sand reviewed evidence that was logged by McLeod with Asham, and once again asked her if she was aware of the details of the investigation into McLeod. Asham said she only read the segments of the report that pertained to her, which revealed she and McLeod engaged in an inappropriate relationship. Asham said McLeod pressured her into “inappropriate activity,” and that he kissed her and touched her on more than one occasion at the police department.

Sand questioned her about an email McLeod directed her to delete, and reviewed text messages between the two. Sand introduced a report from an interview of Devin Hall conducted by former MPD Detective David Goodman, which he said was also missing from the case file. Sand spent a majority of his time reviewing various aspects of the case file pertaining to persons of interest in the case, and whether Asham was aware of them.

On redirect, Sorgen returned to the investigation report of McLeod, and Asham clarified the email McLeod asked her to delete was related to an unredacted version of the report into former MPD Chief John Klug.

The state rested its case around 3:30 p.m. after some additional back and forth cross-examination and redirects of Asham, and Hagar excused the jury while the parties discussed the plan for the defense’s case.