BARNES COUNTY, ND - A woman has been arrested 45 years after her newborn baby was found dead on a college campus in North Dakota.
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 in April 1981 with a plastic bag over her face and her umbilical cord still attached, according to KVLY. Trottier was a student at the university from 1978-1982.
An autopsy found that the newborn, who was dubbed "Rebecca" by authorities, had been alive at birth and died from acute asphyxia consistent with suffocation.
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. 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.
That report ultimately led police to Trottier. According to an affidavit, 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 forensic report also indicated that Trottier's DNA matched that of tissue paper recovered from the scene.
Jail records 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." A preliminary hearing and Trottier's arraignment have been scheduled for May 21.
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 in April 1981 with a plastic bag over her face and her umbilical cord still attached, according to KVLY. Trottier was a student at the university from 1978-1982.
An autopsy found that the newborn, who was dubbed "Rebecca" by authorities, had been alive at birth and died from acute asphyxia consistent with suffocation.
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. 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.
That report ultimately led police to Trottier. According to an affidavit, 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 forensic report also indicated that Trottier's DNA matched that of tissue paper recovered from the scene.
Jail records 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." A preliminary hearing and Trottier's arraignment have been scheduled for May 21.
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