The After Show: Heidi Firkus Case Update (Stranger in the House)

Summary

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20/20 AFTER SHOW: HEIDI FIRKUS CASE UPDATE (STRANGER IN THE HOUSE)

Podcast: 20/20 After Show | Host: Deborah Roberts (ABC News)
Producer Guest: Brooke Stanglin
Release Date: March 30, 2026

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Overview: Revisiting the Heidi Firkus Case

This After Show episode offers a fascinating and emotional look behind the scenes of the 20/20 “Stranger in the House” episode, focused on the tragic murder of Heidi Firkus in St. Paul, Minnesota. Host Deborah Roberts and producer Brooke Stanglin discuss not only the events of the case, but also the meticulous, decade-long investigation, the pivotal role of Nick Firkus’s second wife Rachel, and recent legal updates. Listeners also hear exclusive details and secret recordings never aired before, shedding new light on how justice was finally served.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Setting the Scene & Early Case Details

• Deborah’s Introduction to the Case
  • Deborah Roberts recounts her reporting trip to St. Paul to investigate the murder of Heidi Firkus, a 25-year-old woman described as bubbly, caring, outgoing, and deeply faithful.
  • Heidi and Nick Firkus married in 2005 after meeting as youth group leaders.
  • On April 25, 2010, Heidi made a frantic 911 call reporting a home intruder. Within 65 seconds, another call came—this time Nick reporting his wife had been shot.
  • [03:19]: Police arrived to find Heidi dead and Nick injured by a gunshot wound to the leg.
• Early Suspicions
  • Initial narratives suggested a tragic break-in, but police were immediately suspicious of the circumstances, especially Nick’s version of events.

Faith and Community

• Brooke’s Insight on the Couple and Faith
  • “Faith is sort of a character in this story almost. It wasn’t a Sunday thing… All of their friendships were based in the church. They were leaders in their church.” [06:03]

Red Flags in Nick’s Story

• Breakdown of Nick’s Account
  • Nick claimed an intruder broke in, and he brought Heidi downstairs (contrary to typical protective instincts).
  • Police questioned the logic and noted the oddity of the injury pattern—Heidi was killed, while Nick only sustained a graze.
  • Brooke: “He’s armed, she is not armed. There’s potentially a intruder with a weapon. At that point, you have no idea what they have. And I think that was something that tipped investigators off initially, right away… The logic is missing there.” [07:20]
• Nick’s Suspect Description
  • Nick described the intruder as a black man in his 30s wearing a hoodie—matching a known local homeless man with a criminal record.
  • Nick provides police with a composite sketch through his defense, not with their artist.
  • Brooke explains: “He was very thoughtful in, in how he did this intentionally because he knew that it would be believable because here’s a guy who has been arrested, right, for [similar crimes]. And thankfully that man was happened to have been incarcerated.” [08:40]
  • This alibi quickly falls apart.

Nick Moves On – The Role of Rachel

• Nick’s New Relationship
  • Within months of Heidi’s death, Nick starts a relationship with Rachel, Heidi’s friend’s sister, also recently traumatized.
  • “They had a trauma bond, essentially… Rachel was seen by people who believed Nick was the victim… as sort of an angel coming in and helping him.” [13:16]
  • They marry in 2012 and have three children.
• Rachel’s Discoveries & Growing Doubts
  • Over time, Rachel discovers Nick was hiding significant unpaid bills and unpaid taxes.
  • This shock mirrors what Heidi may have experienced—the couple had been facing eviction, which Nick said Heidi knew but which texts and calls later proved false.
  • “She thought, ‘If he’s capable of lying about this, he’s capable of—he could be capable of killing his ex wife and he could be capable of killing me.’ And she took her kids in the middle of the night and left.” [15:07]

Investigative Breakthrough

• Sergeant Nicole “Nikki” Sipes
  • A new detective and former beat cop on the case, Sipes reopens the Firkus file with fresh eyes.
  • She brings in the FBI, investigates digital records, and finds no evidence Heidi knew about the eviction—there are “no boxes, no moving plans, nothing.”
  • “Not a single mention of, we have to move out of our home. Not. ‘Hey, babe, did you get the boxes?’ ...They had nowhere to live.” [17:37–18:07]
• Nick Never Pushed for Justice
  • Sipes notes Nick never followed up with police about the murder over the years, despite claiming a killer was on the loose: “He did not call to check what’s the status of what happened to my late wife. And… if we believe his theory, there is a person on the loose…” [18:32]

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Turning Point: Secret Recordings

• Rachel’s Undercover Effort
  • Sipes asks Rachel to secretly record conversations with Nick.
  • “So brave of her to do this… it shows a pattern. Right. He was doing the same thing that he had done with Heidi now to Rachel, which is he was hiding financial information. They were at risk of foreclosure, and she had no idea.” [19:20]
• Notable Recording:
  • Nick Firkus (recording):
    • “There was a period in my life when I lied and I was a liar and God transformed me. That’s what I said to my parents last night, and that’s what I believe today.” [19:52]
  • The hosts discuss the disturbing contradiction of Nick’s faith and honesty.
  • Brooke: “So you’re dishonest about this, but you’re honest about this, or you’re dishonest… Like he is admitting that he’s capable of being, and that he was deeply dishonest.” [20:19]

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Emotional Impact & Community Shaken

• Rachel’s Perspective
  • Rachel, who had never spoken publicly before, agrees to sit for a 20/20 interview after meeting with producer Brooke at her school.
  • “She had been silenced for so long and she is a person, she has a lot of feelings … she realized that it was something that would be really helpful for her soul and her journey. And it was. And she was so grateful.” [21:04]
• Faith as a Shield
  • Nick’s standing in the church had long protected him from suspicion:
    • “We do stories all the time on people who almost got away with something. Typically they’re not people who are deeply involved in the church. And in this case he was.” [22:34]

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Trial & Courtroom Drama

• Courtroom Details
  • The trial was emotional, with the courtroom packed—church community split between supporting Nick and Heidi.
  • Rachel sat behind Heidi’s family.
  • Brooke: “There was a lot of tears… it was like a church divided.” [24:37]
• Case Was Not a Slam Dunk
  • Largely circumstantial evidence: “He admits he was… he had his hand on the trigger, so the DNA is irrelevant… There was definitely concern and it wasn’t a slam dunk case.” [25:33]
• Conviction
  • Nick Firkus is convicted of his wife’s murder.
  • “He sobbed. Yeah, he sobbed. And he put his head down and sobbed. And Heidi’s family… crying tears of a very different origin. They… were relieved that after a decade, justice was finally coming for their daughter.” [26:20]

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Aftermath & New Developments

• Rachel and Her Children
  • Rachel faces difficult decisions about her children’s relationship with Nick’s family.
  • “There are so many victims in this case, and the kids are victims here, too… Rachel is hesitant, understandably, as a mother, and she’s really torn. And I think it’s a heartbreaking place for her to be.” [27:13]
• Legal Update (March 2026)
  • Nick Firkus’s appeal is denied—the conviction is upheld.
  • “If it were to be overturned, he would have walked out of prison that day and he could have never been tried again… It was a majority [decision] and so the conviction was upheld. So at this point, his only real option is clemency...” [28:13]
• Current Status
  • Nick serves life in prison without parole.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 06:03 | Brooke Stanglin | “Faith is sort of a character in this story almost. It wasn’t a Sunday thing…” | | 07:20 | Brooke Stanglin | “He’s armed, she is not armed… The logic is missing there.” | | 08:40 | Brooke Stanglin | “He was very thoughtful… intentionally because he knew that it would be believable…” | | 13:16 | Brooke Stanglin | “They had a trauma bond, essentially… Rachel was seen… as sort of an angel…” | | 15:07 | Deborah Roberts | “If he’s capable of lying about this… he could be capable of killing me…” | | 17:37 | Brooke Stanglin | “There’s not a single mention of, we have to move out of our home…” | | 19:52 | Nick Firkus (recording)| “There was a period in my life when I lied and I was a liar and God transformed me…” | | 20:19 | Brooke Stanglin | “He is admitting that he’s capable of being, and that he was deeply dishonest.” | | 24:37 | Brooke Stanglin | “There was a lot of tears… it was like a church divided.” | | 26:20 | Brooke Stanglin | “He sobbed. Yeah, he sobbed. And he put his head down and sobbed.” | | 28:13 | Brooke Stanglin | “If it were to be overturned, he would have walked out of prison that day…” |

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [03:19] – Police arrive at the Firkus home; scene described.
• [06:03] – Discussion of faith in the Firkus marriage and community.
• [07:20] – First inconsistencies in Nick’s account discussed.
• [08:40] – Nick’s suspect profile and police investigation details.
• [13:16] – Nick’s rapid remarriage to Rachel and social context.
• [15:07] – Rachel discovers financial secrets mirroring those before Heidi’s death.
• [17:37] – Detective Sipes and the new investigative approach.
• [19:52] – Secret recordings: Nick Firkus on his dishonesty.
• [21:04] – Rachel’s decision to speak with ABC News.
• [24:37] – Emotional courtroom scenes at Nick’s trial.
• [28:13] – Details of Nick’s failed appeal and current status.

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Final Notes

This episode provides a powerful and revealing look not only at a haunting true crime case, but also at community dynamics, the complexity of faith, and the courage of those who fight for truth—both investigators and loved ones. It highlights how tireless reporting, a courageous second wife, and the fresh perspective of a female detective ultimately ensured justice for Heidi Firkus.

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Transcript

[911 Operator]

911. Where is the emergency?

[Juju Chang]

It's the middle of the night in a small town on the Jersey shore. Someone reports an abandoned car on a bridge. A search gets underway for the missing driver, 19 year old Sarah Stern.

[Deborah Roberts]

Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point, nobody knows.

[Juju Chang]

Old friendships, buried cash, and a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie plays out in real life. I'm juju chang from 2020 abc audio. Listen now to Bridge of Lies, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Deborah Roberts]

Hello Everybody. Welcome to 2020 the After Show. I'm Deborah Roberts and as always, I am so delighted that you're spending some time with us as we pull back the curtain on the stories that we're doing here at 2020 and let you get an idea of how we put these things together. Now today we're going to take a look at one of our most talked about episodes. It Stranger in the House. And I reported on this story. I went to Minnesota to talk about it and the details have just stuck with me. This one centers on the really sad and tragic death of Heidi Firkus, a 25 year old woman from St. Paul, Minnesota. Her friends described her as bubbly and caring and outgoing and she was deeply dedicated to her faith. Heidi and her husband Nick, both pretty religious people, were married in 2005, but they met as youth group leaders in their church. They were young. And then a few years later they got married and bought a house together and began what looked like it was going to be a bright future. But that future was cut short on the morning of April 25, 2010, after Heidi frantically makes a 911 call to authorities to report someone she said was an intruder in her home.

[911 Operator]

State Patrol 91 1. Someone trying to break it. What city are you in? St. Paul. I'm in St. Paul. What address are you at? Minnehaha Avenue. Minnehaha. Someone's playing.

[Deborah Roberts]

Then a minute later, 65 seconds to be exact, another frantic call from inside the home to 911. But this time it was Nick saying that his wife had been shot.

[911 Operator]

Okay, hold on. Hold on a sec. Are you in a house or an apartment? A house. What's the. What's the problem? Wait, you've been shot? Yes. Please. Okay, stay on the phone with me, okay? Okay. Next. Next. Next. Stay on the phone with me. Who shot you? I am the only broken right hand. No, I need something out there right now. Go ahead. You said your wife is shot off her? Yeah. She's not moving. She's not freezing. Nick, Take a smoked brass. I've got a lot of help coming.

[Deborah Roberts]

Well, police get to the scene, and Heidi is lying dead on the floor in a doorway at the back of the house. Nick is also suffering from a gunshot wound to his leg. He survives, and, of course, you can only imagine the community is stunned. And it would take 10 years before police would finally make an arrest in the case. And in the process, they began to unravel something we just couldn't believe. An investigation that proved that you really never truly know what's going on behind closed doors. As I mentioned, I went to St. Paul to dig into this story, to visit the crime scene, to talk to detectives who wouldn't give up on this case. But most important, Nick's second wife, Rachel, the woman who knew him pretty well and met him just a few months after his wife's murder. And then they got married. Then she actually wound up helping police crack this case in the most devastating way. You may have seen it on our episode on 2020, but today there are portions of this story that we're going to bring to you that you did not get a chance to see or to hear. There's some secret recordings that you have not heard before, and we're gonna tell you all about them and how authorities were able to track down Heidi's killer. It's a lot to untangle, and who better to help me do it than 2020 producer Brooke Stanglin? Hi, Brooke.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Hi.

[Deborah Roberts]

You and I have worked on a lot of stories together, and one of the things I enjoy about this podcast is people get a chance to know how these stories come together, who the folks are behind the scenes and passionate folks like you who book a lot of these stories. Cause people often ask me, how do you get these stories? And oftentimes it's folks like you who heard about a story and just on it like a dog with a bone. And you kind of have a spidey sense, I think, about what feels like a good story, don't you?

[Brooke Stanglin]

Yeah. I mean, I originally am from the Midwest, so I actually had some people who knew the couple at the center of this story. And it had all of the elements of a very mysterious, lots of twists and turns. But also, there's a real soul to this story in Rachel, who was, you know, the through line for us in telling this story. And she's just an incredible mother and human. And I knew when I met her

[Deborah Roberts]

that it would be something. She is something different.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Deborah Roberts]

Well, let's go back to Heidi and Nick. So you're from the Midwest, as you said. Usually we have not or I have not heard of these stories, and you all bring them to us. And this story you learned about, pretty early on, you understood this whole world of the religious community. Young couple who met in church. And what did you learn about the two of them when you first started digging?

[Brooke Stanglin]

Yeah, I think faith is sort of a character in this story almost. It wasn't a Sunday thing. It was a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday thing. It was. It was. All of their friendships were based in the church. They were leaders in their church.

[Deborah Roberts]

Let's go back to the morning of the murder. The two of them were supposed to be in church. They didn't show up. And that was the first tip off to people that something was wrong. So we go back to the home and as I said, you know, this 911 call, police are alerted, something has happened. And right away, when we were talking about this story, a little red flag went up for me because Nick told police that there was somebody at the house that seemed somebody was trying to break into the house. And then he comes down the stairs with his wife and he's got a gun, he's got a shotgun, and he says there was a little bit of a struggle and the gun goes off and, you know, his wife winds up getting hit and then he gets hit later. My first thought when we were talking about this story was as someone, and maybe this is very old fashioned, but if my husband hears and we hear something downstairs in a very chivalrous way, I'm gonna think he's gonna go down and investigate it and then tell me to go hide or stay put. But Nick talks about bringing her downstairs with him, and that had to be kind of strange to police right away. I know when you heard it, you

[Brooke Stanglin]

thought it was strange in front of him. He's armed. She is not armed. There's potentially a intruder with a weapon. At that point, you have no idea what they have. And I think that was something that tipped investigators off initially, right away, because it. The logic is missing there. And even the police said in his interrogation, like you would have a right to defend yourself if someone is breaking into your home. So that was like the first of many things that were like, this doesn't.

[Deborah Roberts]

Didn't sound right. It didn't add up. And the fact that he was grazed. It was, she was shot dead and then he's grazed. Police found that a little bit strange too, right?

[Brooke Stanglin]

Yes, yes. Yeah. And it was, you know, later on we realized that the way in which he said it happened couldn't have happened. So that the trajectory of the bullets and all of that. But it was suspicious.

[Deborah Roberts]

What got me in this story, and we've seen this happen in a lot of these stories too, where the person who police are sort of suspecting gives a description. And so Nick gives them a description of this alleged intruder. And it's a black man in his 30s who's wearing a hoodie. A very specific description of this guy. And ultimately, you know, it does sort of pan out that there is a person who sort of fits this description, a homeless guy. And you know, police go to look into this and then they discover like there's no way.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Well, what's so interesting about this is the police wanted Nick to come in and sit with their sketch artists. He refused to do that. He wanted to do it on his terms. So he did it with his defense attorney. And if you Google break ins in this area at 6am this man's. This man's face comes up. He had been arrested for breaking and entering at 6am in this neighborhood. So he, he was very thoughtful in, in how he did this intentionally because he knew that it would be believable because here's a guy who has been arrested, right, for. And thankfully that man was happened to have been incarcerated.

[Deborah Roberts]

Ye otherwise he might have been picked up for this.

[Brooke Stanglin]

He would have. Yeah, he absolutely would have.

[Deborah Roberts]

So police discovered this guy's already in jail, so that doesn't fly. And it was also very interesting that Nick had already gotten an attorney. And oftentimes in these stories, you know, when police are first questioning the spouse, you know, they're just like talking, right? But then Nick starts to his story, they're talking to him and he's. The police are starting to think his story's not adding up and he lawyers up, and then he lawyers up and he won't, he won't talk. And that didn't help police at all. So they're looking. There's no suspect. Heidi Firkus is dead. Her husband to police look a little suspicious. But so far they have nothing. All right, Brooke, we got more to cover. Yes, more to cover. As I said, there's no suspect, no real evidence to help police find the intruder. So what next? Heidi's family wants answers, her friends want answers, and police just don't have them. But within months, Nick is actually moving on with his life. And we're going to talk about that. The widower meets a new woman who would actually ultimately play a key role in identifying Heidi's killer. When we come back, you're going to hear from her and secret recordings. You don't want to miss this, so don't go anywhere.

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[Deborah Roberts]

Hi there and welcome back to 2020 the After Show. I am sitting here with Brooke Stanglin, one of our 2020 producers who helped book this story that we worked on. And we're taking a closer look at the case of Heidi Firkus. Her husband, Nick Furkas was shot. She was killed in a burglary inside the couple's home back in 2010. Police are looking. There are no suspects, no real evidence. The husband story isn't quite adding up yet. It would take 10 years before they would finally make an arrest in this case. And it turns out prime suspect was hiding much closer to home. So Nick is this guy who's mourning, you know, reportedly but yet he meets this woman, and within no time, within months, they have got a serious relationship. They're talking about getting married. I mean, they get married in 2012. How did no one think this was strange?

[Brooke Stanglin]

Well, so Rachel is actually the sister of one of Heidi's very good friends. So she was coming out of a relationship and coming back to St. Paul.

[Deborah Roberts]

A pretty tumultuous relationship. Too traumatic for her.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Traumatic. And so they. They had a trauma bond, essentially. And, you know, Rachel was seen by people who believed Nick was the victim. Rachel was really seen as sort of an angel that was coming in and helping him through this really rough time. And I think she was sort of in shock with, you know, coming out of a difficult relationship herself. So they. They bonded over that. And I think it was. It just became accepted. It wasn't really frowned upon by anyone in Nick's circle that he was moving on.

[Deborah Roberts]

And what was interesting is that she said he didn't talk much about Heidi. He wouldn't talk about his ex wife or late wife. Rachel found it a little strange, but just thought maybe he was just an uptight guy. But then she had been through a lot, as you said, so they sort of trauma bonded. And so the family just thought it was really lovely that he had found somebody and he was moving on. And she seemed to be just as happy to move on and get married.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Yeah, I think she definitely started to have those little whispers that then turn into, you know, get louder and louder if we don't listen to them.

[Deborah Roberts]

So they get married, they have three children, they're moving on with their lives. But then within seven years, I mean, things don't last, things don't go well. So now she's thinking divorce. She's thinking that he's not quite who she thinks he is, but she doesn't think anything sinister. She doesn't think he's capable of anything horrible.

[Brooke Stanglin]

No. At that point, no. I mean, he didn't want to talk about anything. And I think they got to the place in the marriage where after seven years, there's things that you have to talk about.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah.

[Brooke Stanglin]

And he just didn't want to talk and wanted to hide. And it was. He was actually hiding a lot more than she thought.

[Deborah Roberts]

Well, and she discovered what he was hiding in the sock drawer, of all things. The sock drawer. But she discovers. I mean, her life kind of explodes in her face when she discovers what unpaid bills.

[Brooke Stanglin]

He hadn't paid their tax bill in so long that they were at risk of eviction. And so all of her Spiny senses go up. Because eviction, we now know, is what Heidi and Nick were facing on the eve of, you know, when she. When she passed. So she thought, oh, my gosh, if. If he's capable of lying about this, he's capable of this, he's capable of that. And he. He could be capable of killing his ex wife and he could be capable of killing me. And she took her kids in the middle of the night and. And left.

[Deborah Roberts]

Well, that was a key point of the story. Let's talk about that. Because Nick would tell police that they were about to be evicted from the first home, he and Heidi. And that was very pivotal in that investigation because their finances were a mess. He says his wife knew about it, but her family and friends said that she didn't know anything about this. And that was. That was key to police.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Absolutely. And that was, you know, later on in the investigation when the FBI got involved, that's when they were really able to take a deep dive into the text messages and the phone calls between Nick and Heidi. And it was like that. She had no idea.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, she had no idea. So this case has gone on for a while in terms of the unsolved murder. Nothing has happened. But now Rachel is kind of ready to move on. She wants to leave him. And it's not an easy thing for her to do. I remember she told us about that. And we'll talk more about her interview. But then a new detective hits the scene. Yes. And it would be a woman detective, which I always love. Nicole Sipes.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Yes. She is fabulous as a detective and a person. She's amazing. And it is because of her that justice was brought to Heidi. Truly.

[Deborah Roberts]

Well, this happens in our stories a lot, where somebody new hits the scene and they look at the evidence again, they look at the story. So Sergeant Sipes starts looking at this case, and she thinks something is odd. Oftentimes these female detectives bring something that is a little bit different to these unsolved murders. And she started looking at it from a female perspective of the women who did not know. And in this case, Rachel, who suddenly now sees something. So talk about how she brought a new breath of air to this case.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Yeah. Nikki Sipes is amazing. And she remembers the crime. Cause she was a beat cop at that time, so she in that area. So she remembered it. Now she's in homicides. And she was determined to pull in resources from the FBI.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yes. She brought the FBI to the case, which had not previously been involved.

[Brooke Stanglin]

And she was determined to look through everything. She went Back through their correspondence, their text messages, their phone calls. And something that struck her is even in their casual conversations, their quiet text between each other, like a husband and wife, there is not a single mention of, we have to move out of our home. Not. Hey, babe, did you get the boxes? Hey, I'm looking at the. They had nowhere to live.

[Deborah Roberts]

There's no evidence that they were being evicted or that she knew about it.

[Brooke Stanglin]

No, absolutely. Nowhere did they talk about where they were moving. And so that really was when she. She was able to look at everything and see it.

[Deborah Roberts]

That stuck out.

[Brooke Stanglin]

That stuck out to her. And then she took a deep dive on their finances and realized there was a lot of money that was missing. There was a lot of things that just didn't add up.

[Deborah Roberts]

And the other thing is, Nick wasn't really pressing police to try to solve this murder over the years.

[Brooke Stanglin]

He did not call to check what's the status of what happened to my late wife. And. And if we believe his theory on what happened, there is a person on the loose that killed somebody and shot him.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, yeah. And so that was also very troubling to her. So she starts thinking about him in a very different way. Everybody had clammed up around him. Nobody was actually giving anything, but she's looking. So then the biggest bombshell in this case and what we revealed in our story were these secret recordings. So Rachel, and with Sergeant Sipes suggestion, begins recording her conversations with Nick. And she's feeling a little uncomfortable about it, but she's now kind of upset and wants to know, is he lying?

[Brooke Stanglin]

So brave of her to do this. And it was helpful because it shows a pattern. Right. He was doing the same thing that he had done with Heidi now to Rachel, which is he was hiding financial information. They were at risk of foreclosure, and she had no idea.

[Deborah Roberts]

We revealed some of these recordings. They were never heard in court, by the way, but we. We revealed some of These in our 2020 episode you might have heard. But then they're also little clips that you have not heard, including this one. Take a listen.

[Nick Furkas (recording)]

There was a period in my life when I lied and I was a liar and God transformed me. That's what I said to my parents last night, and that's what I believe today.

[Deborah Roberts]

This is pretty incredible stuff, Brooke, when you think about it, because here's a guy who's, you know, very religious guy, very much of faith, and he's talking about how he's not honest, which was quite an admission.

[Brooke Stanglin]

So you're dishonest about this, but you're honest about this or you're dishonest. Like he is admitting that he's capable of being and that he was deeply dishonest.

[Deborah Roberts]

So Rachel is kind of, I mean, I don't know, kind of states evidence at this point. I don't know when people go undercover, you know, with wires and all this stuff, I mean, this is pretty brave stuff that she's actually recording him. Anything could have happened.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Exactly.

[Deborah Roberts]

And she's doing this and she had not spoken out before. So when we began digging into this story and you were able to convince her to sit down and speak with us, this was a picture, pretty big deal. This was a woman who was not only just scared and worried that her marriage had blown up and all of that, but how were you able to convince her to sit down with us? Because I was so impressed when she did.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Yeah, well, I first went to Minnesota and met her. She's a teacher and I met her at her school. And you know, I wanted to know what was important for her to share because she had been silenced for so long and she is a person, she has a lot of feelings, she has a lot of things to say. She's very insightful and you could tell she wanted to share. She was very scared and she didn't want to jeopardize her kids, you know, as a mother. So I think once she realized that our intentions were really to give her a safe place to share, we had no hidden agenda. I think she realized that it was something that would be really helpful for her soul and her journey. And it was. And she was so grateful.

[Deborah Roberts]

Her psyche had been injured prior to, to this in another relationship. And just how she wanted to do the right thing, it was actually very powerful for all of us, I think, in the room. So she tells us her story. She talks about how she did these recordings. She talks about her feelings about her husband and how everything changed in 2021 after 10 years and no answers about what happened to Heidi fergus. Her husband, 38 year old Nick, is arrested in connection with his wife's murder. And you said that in a way he had sort of used his faith over all those years to kind of shield him, which was so interesting. You know, we do stories all the time on people who almost got away with something. Typically they're not people who are deeply involved in the church. And in this case he was.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Yeah, yeah. And I think that's why it became easy for people to believe his version of events. Because how could someone like him do the alternative so, yeah, it shook the community for sure.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, it did shake the community. So he's arrested, of course, he's professing his innocence, that he's not guilty. But ultimately, this case goes to trial, and, boy, was that something. You were in that courtroom. So we're gonna talk about that. Don't go anywhere.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Don't go anywhere.

[Deborah Roberts]

And don't you go anywhere, because when we come back, Nick goes on trial. We're gonna take you inside what was a very emotional courtroom. Brooke will tell us all about that. Plus, we're going to bring you up to date on what has happened since then. So stay put. We gather here tonight to bring women back to their rightful place.

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[Brooke Stanglin]

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[Deborah Roberts]

Hi, everybody. Welcome back to 20 20, the After Show. I am sitting here and I'm riveted, and I would hope you are too, because 2020 producer Brooke Stanglin is helping us unravel the case of Heidi Furkas. A case that she and I worked on together took us to St. Paul, Minnesota, and just other places, even right outside the city to tell this story. And Nick Furkas, his wife was shot and killed. He claimed there was an intruder who had come into the house. He goes to court, and you were there and you talked about how the courtroom is packed with people who are supporting him. People are on Heidi's side. There was a lot of emotion just in that courtroom.

[Brooke Stanglin]

You know, sometimes in these high profile cases, you'll. The courtroom will be packed, but it'll just be media. And, you know, people have decided that they're not supporting the defendant anymore. But this case was interesting because the courtroom was packed. Yeah, there was only one or two rows that media could sit in, and it was equally packed on both sides. So Nick had a whole slew of family and supporters from the church. And then it was like a church divided because the other half was, you know, sitting with Heidi's family, and Rachel sat behind Heidi's family. And yeah, it was. It was. There was a lot of tears. There was a lot of nurses.

[Deborah Roberts]

What were your thoughts as this was playing out? I mean, it was pretty obvious that this case was a little shaky, but it was circumstantial. Yeah. And so what were you thinking as you're watching it? Were you thinking that he was gonna be convicted?

[Brooke Stanglin]

Well, so Nick hired one of the most well known and respected criminal defense attorneys in the Twin Cities. He was very good at what he. He does. And there was a chance that if they could convince the jury that there was some doubt because it, like you said, it's largely circumstantial. There was. There is no person that saw what happened. There's no. His. You know, he admits he was. He had his hand on the trigger, so the DNA is irrelevant. So, you know, there was definitely concern and it wasn't a slam dunk case.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah. This father of three, young man, religious man there with all the church folks there. He is convicted. Do you remember, like, was there an exhale? Was there a gasp? What do you remember?

[Brooke Stanglin]

He sobbed. Yeah, he sobbed. And he put his head down and sobbed. And. And Heidi's family obviously were crying tears of a very different origin. They. They were relieved that after a decade, justice was finally coming for their daughter.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah.

[Brooke Stanglin]

But, yeah, he was. I think he thought he was going to get away with it.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah. Did he look at anybody at that moment or what was. Yeah.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Head down.

[Deborah Roberts]

Head down. He couldn't believe it was happening. He ultimately was sentenced to life in prison without parole. You stay in touch with Rachel, you said, you know, you've also a sergeant. You've gotten to know a lot of the folks there that had to be. She had to have mixed feelings about this. I mean, on the one hand, she had to do the right thing. In her mind, she was convinced that he had killed his wife. But on the other hand, as the father of her children.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Yeah. There are so many victims in this case, and the kids are victims here, too, because they have to live with the understanding of who their father is and what he's convicted of. And then the family wants a relationship with the children. And Rachel is hesitant, understandably, as a mother, and she's really torn. And I think it's a heartbreaking place for her to be.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, understandably. But an update. Things have sort of shifted in this case, too, because Nick was trying very hard for an appeal. He was arguing that he was convicted on circumstantial evidence. And just recently, some news.

[Brooke Stanglin]

What happened weeks ago. Yeah, so. So the conviction was upheld. I, you know, I spoke to Nikki and. And the prosecutors, they were at their computers. Refreshing, refreshing, refreshing. Because if it were to be overturned, he would have walked out of prison that day and he could have never been tried again.

[Deborah Roberts]

Wow. And they had a lot on the line.

[Brooke Stanglin]

They had a lot on the line. And it was a circumstantial case. And there actually was a holdout. The chief judge voted that it possibly could have been an intruder. The others did not. And it was a majority. And so the conviction was upheld. So at this point, his only real option is clemency, which I imagine he'll try for.

[Deborah Roberts]

The governor would have to issue that. Brooke, it was quite a story. And I know you'll keep us updated if anything changes, but wow, wow, wow, wow. To be able to sit down and chat with you. Thank you for doing this. I mean, I think you're gonna be coming back. First of all, we got a lot to talk about, you and I, on a regular basis when it comes to any stories that we're doing. But it's always great to work with you. And thanks again.

[Brooke Stanglin]

Thank you. That's so kind. Thank you.

[Deborah Roberts]

Well, thank you for being with us as always. We appreciate your popping in to Hear about our 2020 stories. And thank you, of course, for listening. And you can catch the latest 2020 episodes on Friday nights on ABC. You can stream on Disney and Hulu. We'll see you next time.

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