Overview
- Barnes County’s prosecutor announced Monday that Nancy Jean Trottier, 65, is charged with Class AA felony murder in the death of a newborn long known as Baby Rebecca.
- Trottier was arrested April 7 and is being held at the Stutsman County Correctional Center on $750,000 bond, with a preliminary hearing and arraignment set for May 21.
- Investigators reopened the cold case in 2019, exhumed the child to obtain DNA, and used a 2020 genetic genealogy report to generate leads that pointed to Trottier.
- DNA testing reported in June 2023 found it was 3.481 quadrillion times more likely the baby was the biological child of Trottier and her husband than an unrelated person, and it identified Trottier’s profile on tissue paper saved from the scene.
- During Monday’s court appearance, Trottier’s attorney disputed the prosecutor’s description of the case as strong, and the legal process now moves toward a preliminary hearing.