Naman Shrestha
In the spring of 2010, the police received a harrowing call from Heidi Firkus from her Saint Paul home. Not long after the 911 call, she was found dead in the property, leaving the entire community shell-shocked. The years-long investigation uncovered several dark family secrets that led them to the perpetrator. All the intricate details of the case and the investigation that ensued are explored in the episode titled ‘Stranger In The House’ of ABC’s ’20/20,’ which also features exclusive and insightful interviews with Heidi’s loved ones and the officials linked to the investigation.
Heidi Firkus Placed a Frantic 911 Call Moments Before Her Murder
On December 14, 1984, in Roseville, Minnesota, Linda and John Erickson welcomed a little bundle of joy, Heidi Marie Erickson. At a young age, she moved with her parents and two older brothers, including Pete Erickson, to Falcon Heights. During her school years, Heidi was heavily involved in extracurricular activities and sports, including choral music, drawing, painting, as well as basketball and tennis. Described as a compassionate and sociable person, she had the ability to light up even the dullest rooms with her mere presence. In her teenage years, she first crossed paths with Nicholas “Nick” Firkus while volunteering with her church.
After graduating from Roseville Area High School, she began dating Nick in August 2003. Heidi then went to the University of Northwestern in Roseville, before tying the knot with Nick around 2005. The couple purchased a property in the city of Saint Paul, where they began a new chapter in their lives. A few years later, she joined Securian, where she was employed in the administrative department while her father worked as an account manager. Heidi’s promising life was cut short on April 25, 2010, as she was killed inside her Saint Paul home. On the fateful morning, the authorities received a 911 call from Heidi, who claimed that someone was trying to break into the residence.
During the frantic call, a loud noise was heard at the end. About a minute later, her husband also called 911 from her phone and told the dispatcher that he and Heidi had been shot by an intruder. When the authorities arrived at the scene, they found the 25-year-old woman dead, but Nick was taken to the hospital for the treatment of his injuries. The cause of her death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the back. Upon inspecting the crime scene, the detectives found no evidence of unidentified DNA on the gun or the door. They also found no signs of forced entry at the scene.
Heidi Firkus’ Killer Tried to Stage the Murder as a Home Intrusion Gone Wrong
After the police launched a homicide investigation, the detectives interviewed a few neighbors in the area to find out if they had noticed any signs of disturbance in the Firkus household. One of the neighbors told the authorities that he had heard a muffled argument followed by multiple gunshots. Upon receiving treatment for his wounded leg, Nick was questioned at the police station about what had happened. He told the detectives that an intruder broke into the home, and he had struggled with him over his shotgun near the front door. “So my finger slipped onto the trigger … she was running away, so I definitely hit her in the back,” he said. Nick then said that the trigger went off again, this time hitting him in the leg, after which the intruder fled the scene.
During the interview, Nick also told the investigators that the couple’s home was in foreclosure and they were supposed to leave the house at noon the following day. He also provided them with the details to create a composite sketch of the intruder, which was released to the public, and samples of his DNA. In the following weeks, the detectives found multiple holes in Nick’s statements. Despite being ordered to evict the house, none of the belongings were packed in the house. They believed that Heidi was unaware of the foreclosure. Moreover, there were no signs of struggle near the home’s front door. Upon carefully analyzing Heidi’s 911 call, the detectives couldn’t hear any noise from the alleged struggle between Nick and the intruder.
Due to a lack of leads and evidence, the case got stalled. Meanwhile, three months later, Nick got into a romantic relationship with a new woman, Rachel Sanchez. In the years that followed, the two married and had three children. About five years later, the composite sketch of the suspect was re-released. He was identified as Michael Pye, known for breaking and entering homes. However, he was in the police’s custody at the time of Heidi’s murder. Since his photo and description of his crimes were included in news articles a few months before the killing, the detectives theorized that Nick weaved the intruder story and tried to blame it on Michael. Since they didn’t have enough evidence against him, the police couldn’t charge him.
The Killer Was Brought to Justice, Thanks to His Second Wife
After Nick and Rachel got divorced, the police talked to Rachel. She claimed that she began catching her husband in small lies, but she soon learned that he had gotten the family into financial troubles, something he kept hidden from her. She also began recording their arguments, wherein she confronted him about the lies. In one of the recorded conversations, she was heard saying, “I do not want to think these things. I don’t. But the — your actions have caused me to just distrust you completely… Makes me think.” Nick asked, “That I could murder my wife?,” to which she replied, “That you could lie about something.” Armed with enough evidence against him, the authorities finally arrested Nick on May 19, 2021, and charged him with the second-degree murder of his first wife, Heidi Firkus.
He was later indicted on first and second-degree murder charges. In early 2023, his murder trial commenced. The prosecution told the jury that the defendant staged the robbery in order to keep Heidi in the dark about the financial condition of the family. They also presented a 3-D model of the Firkus residence and showed how Nick’s story had several holes. Meanwhile, the defense argued that Nick had no motive or reason to kill Heidi, who they claimed was aware of the foreclosure. Finally, on February 10, 2023, he was found guilty of first and second-degree murder. During his sentencing hearing on April 13, he stated, “I do maintain and will maintain to my dying breath my innocence of this crime.” Ultimately, Nick was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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