Poitra pleads guilty

Nicholas Poitra has pleaded guilty to murdering 30-year-old Troyal Thumb last year, just weeks before his murder trial was scheduled to begin.

Appearing in person at the Eddy County Courthouse on Friday, Feb. 9, Poitra formally amended his pleas on all 10 charges against him to guilty, nearly bringing an end to one of the biggest stories to come out of Eddy County in recent memory.

Almost a year ago, on the evening of February 19, 2023, court documents say Poita walked into Rindy's Bar in Sheyenne shortly before 7 p.m. and killed Thumb, a father of four children, less than 10 minutes later with a sawed-off shotgun.

He then held several bar patrons at gunpoint as he stole a pair of car keys and took off with the bar's security footage.

What followed was a 65-hour-long manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies, which ended when a local farmer apprehended the fugitive and held him at gunpoint until police arrived.

Poitra would later plead not guilty to the charges filed against him, which included Class AA felony murder, and even rejected a plea agreement offered by the state last July.

Facing the possibility of life in prison, it appeared Poitra was prepared to let a jury decide his fate. A jury trial was scheduled to begin at the end of February, and jury notices had even gone out to Eddy County residents.

Instead, just 17 days before the start of his trial, Poitra chose to plead guilty and leave the length of his sentence up to District Court Judge James Hovey.

The charges Poitra has now pleaded guilty to include murder, a Class AA felony; armed robbery, a Class B felony; unlawful possession of a firearm, a Class C felony; and seven counts of terrorizing, all Class C felonies.

After Poitra amended his pleas, Judge Hovey ordered a presentence investigation, which is meant to look into the background of a convicted person to determine if there are extenuating circumstances that could impact the leniency or severity of a sentence.

Poitra's sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled, will take place upon the conclusion of the presentence investigation.

In the State of North Dakota, the maximum penalty for Class AA felony murder is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

The maximum penalty for a Class B felony is 10 years' imprisonment and/or a fine of $20,000, while each Class C felony carries a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment, a fine of $10,000, or both.