GUILTY MN - Heidi Firkus, 25, fatally shot, St. Paul, 25 Apr 2010 *husband arrested 2021*

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Niner said:
Got an article in my alerts.

Murder charge: Nicholas Firkus described intruder, but police didn’t find signs of struggle – Twin Cities

May 20, 2021
Though Nicholas Firkus told police 11 years ago about a life-or-death struggle with an intruder before his wife was fatally shot , investigators didn’t find evidence of any fight at the couple’s St. Paul home, according to a murder charge unsealed Thursday.
[.....]
Police arrested Nicholas Firkus, who is now 38, at his Mounds View home Wednesday. The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged him with intentional second-degree murder, not premeditated.
[.....]
During Nicholas Firkus’ short hearing on Thursday, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Elizabeth Lamin requested bail be set at $3 million.

Oh dang - the article timed out for me - so didn't get past that last paragraph I posted....
Anyone else read past that? Could give a 10% synopsis on the rest? Maybe the next court date is on there?
Click to expand...
I think I sent the full transcript over there ?
Let me know if there's anything else that times out and I'll try to get it to you.
 
He is still not in the court site - but I'll go with the date given in the article.


Thursday, July 1st:
*Omnibus Hearing (Virtual) (@ 1:30pm CT) - MN – Heidi Marie Firkus (25) (April 25, 2010, shot in back & died) & husband Nicholas Firkus (27) (shot in leg by alleged intruder) - *Nicholas James Firkus (27 @ time of crime/38) arrested (5/19/21) & charged (5/20/21) with 2nd degree intentional murder. $3M bond or $1M on condition of surrendering passport & not leaving Minnesota. Posted bond ($1M) & released.
The couple were allegedly shot by an intruder were facing eviction from their St. Paul home. Heidi Firkus was killed & her husband Nicholas was shot in the leg & wounded. Nicholas told the police that he & his wife had heard a noise near the front door. Firkus says he armed himself with a shotgun & the couple went downstairs to investigate & he struggled with the intruder. Firkus says his gun went off & his wife was shot. The struggle continued & the gun discharged again & shot him in the leg.
Timeline updated thru 4/11/11 see post #41 here:
MN - MN - Heidi Firkus, 25, St Paul, 25 April 2010 *Arrest*
5/19/21 Update: Firkus was arrested on 5/19/21 at his home for the murder of his wife. First appearance hearing on 5/20/21. 5/20/21 Update: According to the complaint, Firkus gave differing accounts of the incident in several interviews. In the first interview, he said one or possibly two people broke into the house, that he got the shotgun & as they were trying to escape to the garage, one of the suspects was able to take the shotgun from him & shoot both of them. In another interview, he said that there was a struggle with the suspects, his finger slipped & the gun went off. He said he was shot during a second struggle with a suspect. According to the complaint, the evidence shows that Heidi Firkus didn’t know of the financial troubles or the foreclosure. Investigators could not find unidentified DNA profiles in a test swab of the shotgun. There was also insufficient genetic information from DNA swabs of the entry door. The complaint says the trajectory of how Heidi was shot did not align with how Firkus described the incident. Despite Firkus’ report of a life or death struggle just inside the front door, a small table in very close proximity was undisturbed. An autopsy determined Heidi Firkus died of a single shotgun wound to the back, with no exit wound. The manner of death was homicide. He made his first appearance in court Thursday morning, where his bail was set at $3 million or $1 million on the condition that he surrender his passport & not leave Minnesota. His next court appearance will be an omnibus hearing on July 1. If convicted, Nick Firkus could face up to 40 years in prison.
 
Nick's ex-wife reopened a civil case against him, granting an emergency action to revoke any of his parenting time during the criminal trial/case. He has three children, and according to the ex-wife, they are aware that he was arrested due to 'hurting someone who died,' and have asked their mother 'what if he kills us?'

Sounds like they are looking for a new judge as well, will post any updates I hear.

Niner said:
He is still not in the court site - but I'll go with the date given in the article.


Thursday, July 1st:
*Omnibus Hearing (Virtual) (@ 1:30pm CT) - MN – Heidi Marie Firkus (25) (April 25, 2010, shot in back & died) & husband Nicholas Firkus (27) (shot in leg by alleged intruder) - *Nicholas James Firkus (27 @ time of crime/38) arrested (5/19/21) & charged (5/20/21) with 2nd degree intentional murder. $3M bond or $1M on condition of surrendering passport & not leaving Minnesota. Posted bond ($1M) & released.
The couple were allegedly shot by an intruder were facing eviction from their St. Paul home. Heidi Firkus was killed & her husband Nicholas was shot in the leg & wounded. Nicholas told the police that he & his wife had heard a noise near the front door. Firkus says he armed himself with a shotgun & the couple went downstairs to investigate & he struggled with the intruder. Firkus says his gun went off & his wife was shot. The struggle continued & the gun discharged again & shot him in the leg.
Timeline updated thru 4/11/11 see post #41 here:
MN - MN - Heidi Firkus, 25, St Paul, 25 April 2010 *Arrest*
5/19/21 Update: Firkus was arrested on 5/19/21 at his home for the murder of his wife. First appearance hearing on 5/20/21. 5/20/21 Update: According to the complaint, Firkus gave differing accounts of the incident in several interviews. In the first interview, he said one or possibly two people broke into the house, that he got the shotgun & as they were trying to escape to the garage, one of the suspects was able to take the shotgun from him & shoot both of them. In another interview, he said that there was a struggle with the suspects, his finger slipped & the gun went off. He said he was shot during a second struggle with a suspect. According to the complaint, the evidence shows that Heidi Firkus didn’t know of the financial troubles or the foreclosure. Investigators could not find unidentified DNA profiles in a test swab of the shotgun. There was also insufficient genetic information from DNA swabs of the entry door. The complaint says the trajectory of how Heidi was shot did not align with how Firkus described the incident. Despite Firkus’ report of a life or death struggle just inside the front door, a small table in very close proximity was undisturbed. An autopsy determined Heidi Firkus died of a single shotgun wound to the back, with no exit wound. The manner of death was homicide. He made his first appearance in court Thursday morning, where his bail was set at $3 million or $1 million on the condition that he surrender his passport & not leave Minnesota. His next court appearance will be an omnibus hearing on July 1. If convicted, Nick Firkus could face up to 40 years in prison.
Click to expand...
 
justice4heidi85 said:
Nick's ex-wife reopened a civil case against him, granting an emergency action to revoke any of his parenting time during the criminal trial/case. He has three children, and according to the ex-wife, they are aware that he was arrested due to 'hurting someone who died,' and have asked their mother 'what if he kills us?'





Sounds like they are looking for a new judge as well, will post any updates I hear.
Click to expand...
justice4heidi85 said:
Nick's ex-wife reopened a civil case against him, granting an emergency action to revoke any of his parenting time during the criminal trial/case. He has three children, and according to the ex-wife, they are aware that he was arrested due to 'hurting someone who died,' and have asked their mother 'what if he kills us?'

Sounds like they are looking for a new judge as well, will post any updates I hear.
Click to expand...

just curious, where did you find the info on civil case / child custody? What a sad story.
 
kittycat3 said:
just curious, where did you find the info on civil case / child custody? What a sad story.
Click to expand...

You can go to the Minnesota Courts website and search in the Case Records access for his two cases. He currently has the criminal case active, and the civil case.

The civil case goes all the way back to 2019 when they divorced, and has since been reopened. Yesterday, Nicholas and his ex-wife had a hearing in the civil case, and it was ordered that these kids start going to therapy with the parents. Nick had his visitation revoked, but is still granted legal custody.

These poor children. They are 8, 6, and 5 years old.
 
justice4heidi85 said:
You can go to the Minnesota Courts website and search in the Case Records access for his two cases. He currently has the criminal case active, and the civil case.

The civil case goes all the way back to 2019 when they divorced, and has since been reopened. Yesterday, Nicholas and his ex-wife had a hearing in the civil case, and it was ordered that these kids start going to therapy with the parents. Nick had his visitation revoked, but is still granted legal custody.

These poor children. They are 8, 6, and 5 years old.
Click to expand...

Can you please give me a link to the court site that you go to? I've tried one that takes me to all Minnesota court sites - and could not find him. Maybe a case # you can give me to - and I'll try that.
TIA! And
sgreeting_welcome_sign_general_100-109.gif


to WS & this case! :)
 
Niner said:
Can you please give me a link to the court site that you go to? I've tried one that takes me to all Minnesota court sites - and could not find him. Maybe a case # you can give me to - and I'll try that.
TIA! And
sgreeting_welcome_sign_general_100-109.gif


to WS & this case! :)
Click to expand...

Yes of course!

Here is the site to check documents on - Search - Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO)

Criminal Case Number (Murder) - 62-CR-21-2740

Civil Case Number (Divorce/Custody of Children) - 62-FA-19-1594
 
Thanks for the link Justice4heidi!

From the civil case docs:

Petitioner B has recently been charged with 2nd degree Murder in court file no. 62-CR-21-2740 and was recently released on bond. The underlying incident stems from a time when Petitioner B allegedly acted violently while experiencing a period of extreme stress. Petitioner B is currently experiencing a similar level of stress and Petitioner A fears he will harm the children. The children have expressed fear of Petitioner B.



looks like the next hearing is Sept 7. Kids will be in therapy until then and Nicks parenting time is suspended. He still has joint legal custody tho, not sure what that really means if he is not able to see the kids unless it is in therapists office.
My heart goes out to those kids too…..they deserve much better than this!
 
Last edited:
kittycat3 said:
Thanks for the link Justice4heidi!

From the civil case docs:

Petitioner B has recently been charged with 2nd degree Murder in court file no. 62-CR-21-2740 and was recently released on bond. The underlying incident stems from a time when Petitioner B allegedly acted violently while experiencing a period of extreme stress. Petitioner B is currently experiencing a similar level of stress and Petitioner A fears he will harm the children. The children have expressed fear of Petitioner B.



looks like the next hearing is Sept 7. Kids will be in therapy until then and Nicks parenting time is suspended. He still has joint legal custody tho, not sure what that really means if he is not able to see the kids unless it is in therapists office.
My heart goes out to those kids too…..they deserve much better than this!
Click to expand...

Is the Sept. 7th date for the civil - which I won't be following - or the criminal case? I ask as the court site has not been updated yet since his 7/1/21 hearing.

TIA!
animated-smileys-waving-003.gif
 
kittycat3 said:
Thanks for the link Justice4heidi!

From the civil case docs:

Petitioner B has recently been charged with 2nd degree Murder in court file no. 62-CR-21-2740 and was recently released on bond. The underlying incident stems from a time when Petitioner B allegedly acted violently while experiencing a period of extreme stress. Petitioner B is currently experiencing a similar level of stress and Petitioner A fears he will harm the children. The children have expressed fear of Petitioner B.



looks like the next hearing is Sept 7. Kids will be in therapy until then and Nicks parenting time is suspended. He still has joint legal custody tho, not sure what that really means if he is not able to see the kids unless it is in therapists office.
My heart goes out to those kids too…..they deserve much better than this!
Click to expand...
"Nicks parenting time is suspended. He still has joint legal custody tho, not sure what that really means"

I hope it means he has to keep paying child support while he's out on $1 million bail.
 
everybodhi said:
"Nicks parenting time is suspended. He still has joint legal custody tho, not sure what that really means"

I hope it means he has to keep paying child support while he's out on $1 million bail.
Click to expand...

His ex-wife is a stay at home mom with no income (you can see all that info in the civil docs) so yes I hope he works hard to provide for his kids while he still can…..! Now they have therapy expenses on top of everything else……
 
Just a docket update. No new hearing date yet.

07/01/2021 Hearing (1:30 PM) (Judicial Officer Charles, Kellie)
Result: Held On the Record
07/01/2021 Hearing Held Using Remote Technology
07/01/2021 Court Clerk Minutes Index # 15

07/06/2021 Order-Other Index # 16 (Judicial Officer: Castro, Leonardo )
07/06/2021 Notice of Filing of Order Index # 17
07/06/2021 Notice of Case Assignment Index # 18

link: https://pa.courts.state.mn.us/CaseDetail.aspx?CaseID=1628945922
 
Niner said:
Still nothing on court site. Only a traffic violation in 2017....
Click to expand...

Scrolling through this thread and saw your post about this, he did let this go to collections (his traffic ticket) as well. The financial problems with Nick seem consistent throughout his life, at least what we have available in the public. The formal complaint had a quote about this, how Nick & Heidi's insurance broker knew Heidi from a young age, and said their payment history changed as soon as those two got married.

In the press conference with the Saint Paul Police Department on 05/20, a reporter asked the prosecution if 'Nick planned the murder', and the prosecution responded with 'we really aren't going to go into anything outside of the formal complaint, we are still working on this case.' Makes me think they have something on this, and are waiting for trial to reveal (or are hoping for a tip from someone who knows).

I will be VERY interested to hear their evidence regarding premeditation, if any.
 
justice4heidi85 said:
Scrolling through this thread and saw your post about this, he did let this go to collections (his traffic ticket) as well. The financial problems with Nick seem consistent throughout his life, at least what we have available in the public. The formal complaint had a quote about this, how Nick & Heidi's insurance broker knew Heidi from a young age, and said their payment history changed as soon as those two got married.

In the press conference with the Saint Paul Police Department on 05/20, a reporter asked the prosecution if 'Nick planned the murder', and the prosecution responded with 'we really aren't going to go into anything outside of the formal complaint, we are still working on this case.' Makes me think they have something on this, and are waiting for trial to reveal (or are hoping for a tip from someone who knows).

I will be VERY interested to hear their evidence regarding premeditation, if any.
Click to expand...

me too!! I have always had questions about that gun, when did Nick buy it and is there evidence that Heidi knew about it being in her home. I’m curious if it was purchased just days or weeks before her death.
 
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