Where is Nick Firkus now? Details explored ahead of 48 Hours on ID 

Nick Firkus, not so long ago, was painted as a husband in grief. However, things took quite a turn and he is currently serving life in prison without possibility of parole on charges relating to the murder of his wife, Heidi Firkus. In April 2010, Heidi was found dead from a shotgun wound in her home in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Nick had initially said that an intruder entered their home, and a struggle had ensued, during which a shotgun went off, shooting Heidi to death. But after several years of suspicion and a re-opening of evidence by the Saint Paul Police Department later, Nick had been charged with her murder in 2021.

In January 2023, he was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Firkus has maintained his innocence and has appealed his conviction, keeping the story in the news as the true-crime show 48 Hours is set to delve deeper into the tragic events surrounding Heidi's death.

On August 29, 2024, ID will rebroadcast the episode of 48 Hours titled Death at the Front Door: Who Shot Heidi Firkus? at 11 p.m.

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The fateful morning of April 25, 2010

On the morning of April 25, 2010, Heidi Firkus called 911 to say that someone was breaking into her home. Within minutes, another call came in from the husband, Nick, claiming that an intruder had entered the home, committed a burglary, and shot Heidi and him.

Heidi was shot (image via Unsplash)

Heidi was pronounced dead upon arrival, while Nick was admitted to the hospital for a gunshot wound in his leg. Nick described the intrusion incident: in the scuffle between himself and the alleged burglar, his finger slipped onto the trigger, shooting Heidi in the back. Although he said that, no neighbors reported a fleeing figure.

One of the neighbors recounted having heard a muffled argument, then gunfire. This discrepancy in Nick's version threw up suspicion and ushered in, years later, a renewed investigation.

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Financial secrets unveiled

The investigation that unfolded made one thing clear: Nick Firkus had been keeping serious financial problems from his wife. Their home was in foreclosure at the time, and the couple were set to leave the house the day after Heidi's death. In 2019, investigator Nichole Sipes took over the case and found evidence to show that Heidi probably didn't know how bad their financial situation had gotten.

Nick was convicted of two murders (Photo by cottonbro studio/pexels)

That Nick Firkus didn't open up about his finances became crucial to the case, showing a probable motive for murder. Suspicions only deepened when it was learned that, following Heidi's death, Nick had remarried, and his second wife found herself the victim of the same kind of situation, underscoring the behavior of a man who would go to great lengths to save face from financial failure.

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Nick Firkus's trial and conviction

It wasn't until more than a decade later that prosecutors in 2021, charged Nick Firkus with his wife's murder. They argued there was no intruder on the day Heidi died and that Nick had shot himself in the leg to complete his story. During the trial in January 2023, the jury found Nick guilty of two counts of murder. His sentence was life in prison with no parole.

Representative image of the trial (Photo by Sora Shimazaki /Pexels)

Nick Firkus has never stopped proclaiming his innocence, despite having a mountain load of evidence against him. His continuous appeals insinuate that he is not willing to accept the court's verdict and therefore keeps the case alive in the courts of law.

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A case of several years of suspicion and investigative breaks finally led to Nick Firkus's conviction last year in 2023.