The murder of Heidi Firkus
St Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota · 2010
Overview
Heidi Firkus, 25, was shot in the back in the entryway of her St. Paul, Minnesota home at about 6:30 a.m. on April 25, 2010. Her husband, Nicholas Firkus, 27, told police an intruder had burst in and that the shotgun went off twice during a struggle, hitting her and, in the thigh, him. Police found no forced entry and nothing packed, though Nick said the couple was to be evicted the next day. A sketch of the intruder produced no usable leads, and the case went cold. In 2019 Sgt. Nichole Sipes took over, reviewed the file with FBI help, and found that the couple had lost their house to foreclosure, that Heidi apparently did not know, and, prosecutors said, that the 911 recordings and an FBI 3-D model of the entryway did not fit Nick's story. He was arrested on May 19, 2021 and indicted for first- and second-degree murder. A Ramsey County jury convicted him on February 10, 2023, after four hours, and on April 13, 2023 he was sentenced to life without parole. He maintains his innocence. In February 2026 the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the conviction.
How it was solved
There was no confession and no new suspect; the case turned on a fresh look at a file that had gone quiet. In 2010 Nick Firkus told police that an intruder had broken in and that Heidi was shot during a struggle over his shotgun. Detectives doubted the story that day: they saw no forced entry, no sign of a struggle in the entryway, and no packing in a house Nick said the couple would leave within a day. His family then hired a lawyer, who advised him to stop answering questions. A sketch Nick and his lawyer commissioned produced no leads, and a tip in 2015 pointed to a man who was already in prison. In 2019 St. Paul police Sgt. Nichole Sipes took the case, spent about nineteen months in the file, and with the FBI built a financial timeline. It showed the house had been sold at a sheriff's auction in 2009, that the eviction hearing in March 2010 was attended by Nick alone, and that Heidi apparently never knew. The FBI analyzed the audio of Heidi's 911 call for any sign of a third person in the house, and, according to ABC's 20/20, combined ballistics testing with a virtual model of the home to suggest the shots were deliberate and not accidental. Sipes also spoke to Nick's second wife, who described the same pattern of hidden bills in that marriage; a judge later barred prosecutors from calling her at trial. Nick was arrested on May 19, 2021 and a grand jury indicted him. At trial, prosecutors relied on circumstantial evidence: no unidentified DNA, no sound of a struggle on the 911 calls, a medical opinion that the leg wound was consistent with being self-inflicted, and the FBI model. The defense argued an intruder was still possible and that Heidi knew about the money. The jury convicted him in four hours, and the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed in February 2026, with several justices writing separately about how to review circumstantial evidence.
Sources
- How a Minnesota man was convicted in his 1st wife's cold case murder (March 27, 2026)
“On Feb. 10, 2023, after four hours of deliberations, the jury found Nick guilty of murder. He was sentenced that April to life in prison without parole.”
- Nicholas Firkus trial: verdict (February 10, 2023)
“Investigators did not find any unidentified DNA profiles on the gun and DNA swabs from the door to the house. No sound of a struggle was heard during the 911 calls and no evidence from the scene suggested the incident occurred as Nicholas described.”
- Nicholas Firkus trial: Husband sentenced to life in wife's 2010 murder (April 13, 2023)
“has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.”
- Nicholas Firkus murder conviction upheld by Minnesota Supreme Court (February 2026)
“The Minnesota Supreme Court has upheld Nicholas Firkus’ conviction for first-degree premeditated murder in the 2010 shooting death of his wife, Heidi Firkus.”
- Justices uphold murder verdict, differ on reasoning (February 27, 2026)
“The case had gone cold until it was reopened in 2019, and Nicholas Firkus was tried in 2023.”
- Guilty verdict in Nick Firkus trial (February 10, 2023)
“Prosecutors argued that Firkus's fear and shame of being exposed as a fraud led to the shooting.”
- Who killed Heidi Firkus? Timeline of the investigation
“On May 19, 2021, Nick was arrested for second-degree murder. A grand jury eventually indicted him on first- and second-degree murder charges.”
- Death at the Front Door: Who shot Heidi Firkus?
“No DNA evidence, no physical evidence, no sign of a struggle. To me, there were only two people in that house when Heidi was killed.”
- Guilty Verdict in Trial For 2010 Murder in Minnesota (February 2023)
“The case went cold until 2019, when St. Paul police reopened the investigation and asked the FBI for help. With new evidence, Firkus was charged in 2021.”
- Husband sentenced to life in prison in wife's 13-year cold case murder (April 2023)
“Firkus was arrested in May 2021 and charged with first- and second-degree murder. Prosecutors said that Nick Firkus killed his wife to hide from the shame of their financial troubles.”
- Man sentenced to life in prison for murdering wife in 2010 (April 13, 2023)
“FBI agents used technology to recreate the crime scene, which led to Firkus being arrested in 2021”