Heidi Firkus' murder: A complete timeline of events

Heidi Firkus was shot and murdered in her St. Paul, Minnesota, home on April 25, 2010. Her husband, Nicholas "Nick" Firkus, informed police that a stranger had visited their home and attacked both of them. He indicated Heidi was shot and murdered, and he was wounded while fighting back.

For years, detectives could find no concrete evidence to disprove his account, but nothing to validate it either. No signs of forced entry. No fingerprints or DNA of another individual. And as the years went by, the unanswered questions lingered.

In 2021, more than 10 years after Heidi's death, Nick Firkus was arrested and indicted for her murder. The police mentioned inconsistencies in his account, the absence of physical evidence, and a potential financial motive. He was later convicted, bringing closure to one of Minnesota's longest-standing cold cases.

The Heidi Firkus case is covered in the Dateline: Unforgettable episode titled 65 Seconds, on June 20, 2025, on Oxygen.

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The timeline of events from the day of Heidi Firkus's murder to the eventual conviction

Early morning, April 25, 2010: The 911 calls

Around 6:30 a.m., Heidi Firkus made a call to 911. She indicated that someone was attempting to enter their residence on Minnehaha Avenue West. No more than a few seconds into the call, there was a loud shot, which is believed to have been a shotgun. The call was cut short after some 38 seconds, reports CBS News and KARE 11.

Roughly a minute later, a second 911 call was made from Heidi Firkus's phone—this time by Nick. He told the dispatcher that both he and Heidi had been shot by an intruder.

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Police response and crime scene

Police quickly arrived and discovered Heidi Firkus dead on the kitchen floor with a gunshot to the back. Nick was lying next to her, shot in the leg. He was said to be extremely upset and was hospitalized for treatment, according to FOX 9.

Officers observed no evidence of forced entry. The front door was shut and locked. No struggle was evident, nothing appeared stolen, and no witnesses saw anyone exiting the residence. A neighbor, Brendan O'Connor, who was house-sitting kittens next door, told the police that he heard a voice shout:

"You shot her, you shot me, please, please, no."

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Nick Firkus' account and initial investigation

Nick provided police with multiple statements, but his account varied over time. First, he said he awoke to sounds at the front door, got up to get water, and then awakened Heidi.

He said he grabbed his shotgun and went downstairs. According to investigators, he said an intruder forced his way in, grabbed him, and when they struggled, the gun fired and killed Heidi and injured him.

In one version, Nick said the intruder took the gun and shot Heidi. In another, he claimed his finger slipped during a struggle. According to FOX News, forensic evidence did not support the idea of a struggle. No unidentified DNA was found on the weapon or at the supposed entry point. The angle of Heidi’s gunshot wound also raised doubts.

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Discovery of financial trouble

During the investigation, police learned that the Firkus family residence had been foreclosed in 2009. Fox9 reported that Nick Firkus had been served foreclosure documents in June 2009 and that the home was subsequently auctioned off. Eviction proceedings began in early 2010. The lockout date was scheduled for April 26, 2010—just one day after Heidi died.

Investigators discovered no evidence that Heidi knew about the foreclosure or the lockout notice. As per ABC News, it was reported that Nick got married in August 2012, two years following her death.

He became engaged to his second wife, Rachel Watson, a few months following the murder, and married her after dating for a year.

They had three children. Rachel subsequently stated that she allowed Nick to deal with the finances throughout their marriage, and although she was aware he had money issues in the past, he downplayed them, explaining to her it "wasn't that bad" and that he had simply been young and inexperienced.

Subsequently, Rachel discovered a foreclosure notice on their own residence for unpaid property taxes, which shocked her. As reported by The Independent, the situation reminded her of what had happened before Heidi’s death. She confronted Nick and secretly recorded their conversations.

She later turned these recordings over to police, explaining that Nick was following the same pattern of deception that he had during his first marriage. According to Yahoo News, Rachel said:

“He was definitely repeating the same things he did with Heidi with me.”

While Rachel's compliance was instrumental in resuscitating the investigation, her testimony was not brought during the trial. According to ABC News, the judge declared it inadmissible to avoid pre-trial biasing of the jury. Rachel obtained a divorce in 2019 from Nick owing to his ongoing financial dishonesty and secrecy.

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Arrest, charges, and trial

Nick Firkus was apprehended on May 19, 2021, and accused of second-degree murder. Prosecutors subsequently added a first-degree murder charge, as reported by CBS Minnesota.

The criminal complaint outlined evidence that included contradictory statements, the absence of physical evidence of a break-in, and the pending foreclosure, as most important to their case.

The trial occurred almost 13 years after Heidi died. According to KARE 11, it went on for around two weeks, with testifying concluding on February 9, 2023, after 10 days of court time. Closing arguments were presented the next day, and on February 10, 2023, the jury convicted Nick of first- and second-degree murder.

Nick Firkus was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole on April 13, 2023, reports ABC News and Ramsey County's official case update.

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For more details, watch the Heidi Firkus case on Dateline: Unforgettable.

Edited by Prem Deshpande