VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – This is the 4th time a Felony Dispositional hearing for Nancy J. Trottier has been pushed back in Barnes County.
Trottier was charged with murder in a 45-year-old case involving the death of Baby Rebecca. Trottier is facing a Double A Charge of murder before 1995.
On April 15th, 1981, Valley City police officers responded to a report of a deceased newborn female baby left in the underbrush near the campus of Valley City State University. Investigators revealed that the newborn child died from asphyxia after a live birth. No suspect was arrested at that time. The infant was named Baby Rebecca and buried in a local cemetery.
In June of 2019, then Police Chief Phil Hatcher announced that due to advancements in DNA technology and access to numerous DNA databases, area law enforcement in conjunction with the Barnes County State’s Attorney’s Office, decided to continue the investigation.
An order for exhumation was signed by Barnes County State’s Attorney Tonya Duffy and Sheriff Randy McClaflin on June 28th, 2019.
On July 18th, 2019 the Valley City Police Department exhumed Baby Rebecca and sent her body to the Medical Examiner’s office in Grand Forks for another examination. Biological samples were found. Subsequently, further DNA testing was performed on Baby Rebecca to determine her parental origins.
Investigators got a break in the case after exhuming the baby’s body to retrieve DNA. Investigators got a DNA hit that allegedly led to Trottier. However, prosecutors did not charge Trottier with murder until April 2026.
Trottier remains in the Stutsman County Correctional Center in Jamestown. Judge Nicholas Thornton set Trottier’s bail at $2-million-dollars surety bond or $750,000 in cash on April 13th. Her next court appearance is now set for December 3rd at 1pm in the Barnes County Courthouse.
