ST PAUL, MINNESOTA: In the spring of 2010, the residents of St Paul were left in shock when Heidi Firkus was murdered after a break-in at the residence she shared with her husband.
What aggravated their fears was that no suspect was identified, even after years of investigation.
A decade later, a breakthrough occurred when Heidi's husband, who was the sole known witness to the crime and had pointed to the only other suspect, was found guilty of her murder.
NBC's 'Dateline' will present a special report on the case, featuring exclusive interviews with family members and investigators.
The episode, titled '65 Seconds', is scheduled to air on the channel at 9 pm ET on Friday, October 20.
How was Heidi Firkus killed?
Through an emergency 911 call, it was found that someone had broken into the Firkus' house and had later shot both Heidi and Nick.
Heidi made the first call, while the latter one, about the shooting, was made by Nick.
Nick then reported that an unidentified male had broken into their house, and while he was trying to defend himself and Heidi, Nick's shotgun went off during a scuffle, leaving his wife dead and him injured.
There was a major hunt for the burglar that Nick led the police investigators through, including a sketch drawn by a professional artist.
It took years for the investigation to move forward, but it did land on a man named Michael Pye, who resembled the features seen in the sketch.
However, he was ruled out as a suspect by the investigators as he was imprisoned at the time of Heidi's murder and alleged burglary attempt.
Over the years, several detectives looked into the case but it remained unsolved. It was only in 2019 that a solid lead was found, with Sergeant Nichole Sipes coming into the picture.
Why did Nick Firkus become a suspect?
Sergeant Nichole Sipes eventually took charge of the investigation, with a growing suspicion that there was no evidence of a third person being present at the crime scene aside from the Firkus couple.
"The case always bothered me because the circumstances didn't seem to fit what happened," she told ABC.
There was also a major suspicion over the fact that the Firkus couple was set to be evicted a day after the alleged burglary occurred.
It was also discovered that Nick's second marriage to Rachel Firkus had ended over financial difficulties, leading the investigators to look at the case in a new light.
With no discovery or evidence of a burglar involved and piling evidence against Nick, he was finally arrested in 2021 and later convicted for the murder of his former wife Heidi.
