Police Detain a Man in Minnesota on Suspicion of the Cold Case Murder of His Wife in 2010

More than a decade after a murder case went cold; the police have finally arrested a suspect. Heidi Firkus was killed in her home in 2010 after an alleged intruder broke into her house.

On April 25, 2010, Heidi Marie Firkus, 25, was murdered at her Hamline-Midway, St. Paul home. Her husband, Nicholas James Firkus, then-27, told police that someone had broken into their home at around 6:30 a.m.

He claimed that he grabbed his shotgun and struggled with the intruder before the gun went off. Heidi died when she was shot in the back by the alleged intruder on Minnehaha Avenue near Fairview Avenue.

Nicholas said he was shot in his groin and thigh and was taken to a hospital for treatment. However, a year after Heidi died, a St. Paul police homicide unit supervisor said Nicholas hadn’t been eliminated as a suspect.

On Wednesday, May 19, 2021, some headway was finally made in the case when police arrested Nicholas. Before the recent arrest, no one had been taken in by police concerning the cold case.

However, police revealed that they’d never stopped investigating the matter. Authorities haven’t yet announced what had led them to arrest Heidi’s husband, who’s now 38, after all this time.

According to the Ramsey County attorney's office, the suspect will have his first court appearance on Thursday morning. Heidi’s family released a statement on the day her widower was arrested.

They said they were “extremely grateful” for the people who worked long and hard to get to this point. The deceased’s family also shared their gratitude to the people who prayed and stood by them through the years.

On Twitter, the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) shared that Nicholas was taken into custody at about 5:05 a.m. on a sealed arrest warrant. The SPPD SWAT arrested him at his Minnesota home on suspicion of murder.

After Heidi’s death, her close friends and parents discovered that she and her husband were about to be evicted the day after the shooting because of foreclosure. Police didn’t find anything packed in the house.

The late Heidi had graduated from Roseville Area High School in 2003 before going to the University of Northwestern in Roseville. She met Nicholas while they served as youth group leaders at their church.

In 2005, they got married. However, in August 2012, Nicholas got remarried and had children with his new wife before their marriage ended up in divorce in 2019, according to court records.

Heidi’s best friends remembered her as a person who enjoyed bringing people together for dinner parties. She was an artist who loved watching romantic comedies and spending time outdoors.