Advances in DNA technology led to the 1981 cold case being reopened
Credit: Stutsman County Correctional Center
NEED TO KNOW
- Nancy Jean Trottier, 65, has been charged with murder after DNA linked her to a newborn found dead in North Dakota in 1981, police said
- Advances in DNA technology reopened the cold case, leading to the baby’s exhumation and a genetic genealogy report
- Trottier’s preliminary hearing and arraignment have been scheduled for May 21, according to jail records viewed by PEOPLE
A woman has been arrested 45 years after her newborn baby was found dead on a college campus in North Dakota, according to online records and multiple reports.
Online jail records reviewed by PEOPLE show that the Barnes County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a Class AA felony murder charge against 65-year-old Nancy Jean Trottier on Tuesday, April 7.
Trottier is accused of murdering her newborn baby, who was found behind the Valley City State University campus — where she was a student from 1978 to 1982 —in April 1981 with a plastic bag over her face and her umbilical cord still attached, KVLY and Valley News Live reported.
An autopsy found that the infant, who was dubbed "Rebecca" by authorities, had been alive at birth and died from acute asphyxia, consistent with suffocation, per the outlets, citing police.
Credit: Stutsman County Correctional Center
After the case went cold for decades, advances in DNA technology led to the case being reopened and the baby's body being exhumed in July 2019, KVLY, Valley News Live, and KX News reported.
Once DNA was extracted from her remains and the baby was reburied, investigators received a genetic genealogy report pointing to possible relatives of the newborn by August 2020, which investigators say ultimately led to Trottier.
According to an affidavit reviewed by the outlets, Trottier was interviewed in October 2021 and allegedly told investigators, “Maybe it was me,” and “It could be, maybe it was me.”
Trottier agreed to provide a DNA sample, and her husband's DNA was collected in December 2021.
A DNA analysis returned in June 2023 concluded that it is 3.481 quadrillion times more likely that the baby is the biological child of Trottier and her husband than an unrelated individual, the outlets reported, citing the affidavit.
The forensic report also indicated that Trottier's DNA matched that of tissue paper recovered from the scene, the affidavit alleges, per the outlets.
Credit: Stutsman County Correctional Center
Jail records reviewed by PEOPLE show that Trottier, who is from Arizona, is being held at the Stutsman County Correctional Center.
Trottier appeared in court on Monday, April 13. During the hearing, her attorney, Luke Heck, disputed Barnes County State's Attorney Tonya Duffy's claim that the case against her is "strong," Inforum reported.
A preliminary hearing and Trottier's arraignment have been scheduled for May 21 in Barnes County, according to online court records.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Barnes County State’s Attorney’s Office and Heck for comment.
Read the full article here
