Nicholas Firkus Wiki – Nicholas Firkus Biography
A jury found Nicholas Firkus guilty of murdering his wife and staging a break-in and struggle in their St. Paul home back in 2010. Firkus was found guilty of both first- and second-degree murder after about four-and-a-half hours of jury deliberation. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Apr. 13 where he faces life in prison.No charges were filed at the time of Heidi Firkus’ death, and the investigation eventually went cold. That was until St. Paul homicide sergeant Niki Sipes put “fresh eyes” on the case in 2019. St. Paul police, the FBI and agents from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) put together enough evidence to charge Nicholas Firkus with first-degree murder in 2021.
“Today, a Ramsey County jury found Nicolas Firkus guilty of the premedicated murder of his wife, Heidi, on April 25, 2010 in their Saint Paul home,” Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said in a statement. “We are very grateful to the Saint Paul Police Department and the FBI for their diligent investigative work. I am also very grateful for the prosecutors, victim advocates, paralegals, and support staff in my office, who worked so tirelessly in their efforts to seek justice for Heidi. While nothing will bring Heidi back to her family and friends, we do hope this verdict provides them with some measure of closure.”
Nicholas Firkus Age
Nicholas Firkus is 39 years old.
Nicholas Firkus Incident Detail
According to a criminal complaint in the case, Nicholas Firkus originally claimed an intruder had broken into the couple’s St. Paul home on April 25, 2010. Firkus claimed he’d heard a noise, grabbed a shotgun and woke up his wife. The complaint said Nicholas Firkus initially told dispatchers that the intruder grabbed his gun and shot Heidi, but later changed his story to say he struggled with the intruder over the gun, and his finger slipped and hit the trigger as they wrestled for control, striking Heidi. Firkus also had a gunshot wound to his leg.The complaint says investigators did not find any signs of struggle in the home, and the angle of Heidi Firkus’ gunshot wound did not support her husband’s story.
According to the complaint, investigators discovered Nicholas Firkus was in significant debt at the time of the shooting, and the couple was due to lose their home to eviction the next day, unbeknownst to his wife.Prosecutors presented evidence and called witnesses over the course of 10 days of testimony to try to prove Nicholas Firkus staged a burglary, shot Heidi in the back and himself in the leg, and tried to pin the blame on an intruder no one else saw.
Firkus’ defense attorneys insisted the break-in did happen, but that St. Paul Police zeroed in on the husband instead of pursuing a would-be burglar. The trial took place in Ramsey County Chief Judge Leonardo Castro’s courtroom with about 75 spectators filling the seats and oftentimes additional spectators standing in the back, audibly reacting to several questions from attorneys and answers from witnesses. The prosecution rested its case late Thursday morning after the testimony of St. Paul Police Sgt.
Nichole Sipes, who picked up the cold case and gave it a second look in 2021. Sipes’ investigation finally led to criminal charges against Firkus, who long had been St. Paul Police’s only suspect. The state’s theory was that Firkus killed his wife out of shame and fear. Their house was foreclosed and they were set to be evicted one day after the incident, and prosecutors say Firkus never informed his wife. They also presented witnesses who testified that the Firkuses would do anything to stay in the marriage because they considered it a “holy sacrament.”
High-profile defense attorney Joe Friedberg called a close friend of Heidi and Nick’s, Hilary Autry, as his first witness. Autry testified that while driving together, Heidi pointed out an apartment near the neighborhood of Dale and Grand to her and said that’s where she and Nick were interested in moving. The defense implied with the witness that Heidi was aware she and Nick would be packing up and moving out of their house on Minnehaha Avenue.
In cross-examination, prosecutor Rachel Kraker pointed out Autry was holding hands with Nicholas Firkus’ mother in the hallway prior to her testimony. And by introducing emails Autry and their group of friends sent in the weeks leading up to Heidi’s death, Kraker pointed out that two of Autry’s friends — but not Heidi — were planning to move on the weekend Heidi was killed. Not only did Heidi not say she was moving, but she offered to help one of those friends with their move.
Kraker is a seasoned senior assistant county attorney in Hennepin County who is assisting Elizabeth Lamin in Ramsey County with the case. The last witness at the trial was Brandon O’Connor, who was staying next door to the Firkus’s on the morning of the shooting. O’Connor told police that day that he heard two shots, then a male voice said something to the effect of “you shot me” or “you shot her.” “And you don’t have any dogs in this fight?” Friedberg asked. “No,” O’Connor replied. O’Connor’s memories may have faded over time and he gave slightly different accounts of what he heard to police, reporters and defense investigators over the years.
On cross-examination, Lamin noted O’Connor’s testimony that after hearing the shots, he looked out the window but saw no one running out of the Firkus home.Regarding what he heard the voice yell, O’Connor testified that it matched what Nick Firkus is heard yelling on the 911 call. During her closing arguments on Friday, the state painted a picture of Heidi Firkus as a person loved by many, married to a man with secrets. “She was not a fictional stranger, she was the stranger that she married,” prosecutor Rachel Kraker said, alleging that Nick Firkus concealed from Heidi the couple’s growing financial problems and that the couple was to lose the house in the one they lived
Kraker told the jury that Heidi had adoring friends and co-workers, a core group that would support her. “She was fun. She was wonderful and if people had to choose a side, she would be hers.” Kraker said that Nick Firkus took Heidi’s life to save her reputation. “This is not just about getting kicked out of a house. It’s about being exposed and Nick Firkus couldn’t let that happen.” The state then referenced a mountain of evidence presented during the trial, ranging from police interviews with the defendant about the alleged intruder to DNA from the crime scene and a diary entry in which Nick Firkus considers telling Heidi about her disastrous financial situation.
They argued that the staging of the fatal shooting proves premeditation, the necessary element for a first-degree murder conviction. “The darkness of shame, guilt and despair can cloud a person’s mind, it can make them think they have choices that are bad, but that doesn’t mean Nick Firkus didn’t plan what he wanted to do that morning,” Kraker argued. . “It is possible that he also intended to take his own life and changed his mind. We will never know. But he made the absolute decision to end his wife’s life and for that he is guilty.” The prosecution rested shortly after 10 a.m.
The defense began its closing argument by stating that Nick and Heidi Firkus were a loving couple, and that the state asks them to speculate and conclude that Nick acted irrationally and planned murder. “You don’t kill the love of your life to avoid momentary embarrassment,” insisted defense attorney Robert Richman. Richman attacked the state for a lack of hard evidence and what he called “psychotalk” in trying to explain away his theory that Nick Firkus killed Heidi because they were going to lose their home. The defense also produced crime scene photos to support Nick’s claim that an intruder is responsible for the death of his wife, and said police never considered another suspect.
Finally, Richman reminded the panel that Nick Firkus is presumed innocent under the law, and that the burden of proof rests with the prosecution to prove that the fatal shooting did not happen the way he said it did. If there is a possibility of an intruder, Richman insisted, then Nick Firkus must be found not guilty. “The issue is not whether Heidi knew about the foreclosure … the issue is whether the prosecution has proven that there was no intruder, that Nick killed his wife in cold blood,” Richman asked. “For 13 long years, Nick Firkus has waited to clear his name. His life is now in your hands. It is time for justice to be done in this case. There is only one verdict consistent with the evidence. Nick Firkus is not guilty.”
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