Post by Joanna on Jun 5, 2014 23:34:17 GMT -5
Seven Years Later: Murder Unsolved
MINOT, N.D. – Butte native Anita Knutson (above) was found seven years ago – murdered – but who did it?
The answer has eluded authorities for years, making this case one of the most mysterious in Minot's history. She died in her bed from knife wounds to her upper body. Her front door was locked. Her car was parked a few steps away. A dirty, bloody knife was discovered in the sink. Later, a Minot State University student who lived in the apartment across from Knutson’s reported seeing a broken window in her apartment. Matt Murphy told investigators he often parked his bike in a rack next to Knutson's bedroom window and when he went to get his bicycle at noon Monday, noticed a broken window with glass on the ground.
Police released few details, but Lieutenant Dan Strandberg said a witness reported seeing a man in a white T-shirt and dark shorts running from the area, described as being around 6-foot-2 with dark hair and weighing approximately 200 pounds.
Lt. Jason Sundbakken says: "You have a young, popular lady who doesn't appear to have enemies or anything of that nature found killed in the apartment that she lived in. Generally those things you start from the inside and look out and typically you find something pretty close to home. At the onset of this case we didn't feel that it would be seven years later and here we are without a resolution yet." But this doesn't mean one won't eventually come. The Knutson case is officially listed as a 'Cold Case' in North Dakota now. That has brought more manpower to the investigation .... "Sometimes when you are in the investigator in an incident like this and you are submerged in it, you can miss the forest from the trees so it is nice to have a different set of eyes looking at it to help develop new leads in the case," Sundbakken adds.
So how might it be solved? Science may end up playing a big role – DNA ... and the Combined DNA Index System ... or CODIS. "It is called a CODIS database,” Sundbakken explains, “and that has the profile that is linked there and then 10, 20, 100 years down the road if someone does something it links up with that DNA profile."
Should the killer ever have his or her DNA entered in the system – it would match instantly with what investigators have. But that hasn't happened ... yet. Old fashioned-police work could bring it to a conclusion as well. "In many cases like this, that go on for a long time,” Sundbakken continues, “it is just a matter of getting lucky with a tip, someone talking who didn't talk before, something of that nature."
Knutson would have been 25 now ... perhaps soon, closure can come in this case – for everyone. "It is frustrating that we can't get a resolution for the family ... and for Anita," says Sundbakken.
If you have any information that could help investigators – you are urged to contact the Minot Police Department at (701) 852-0111.
Source: KXNews, June 4, 2014.
