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Nicholas Firkus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It sounded like someone was downstairs, trying to break into his home. So he woke his wife, Heidi, asked her to call 911, and grabbed his shotgun. The couple moved quickly, hoping to get downstairs and out the back door before the person broke in. But they didn’t make it. To hear Nick tell it, the intruder broke in and wrestled him for control of the gun. The gun went off twice — hitting Nick and Heidi in the process. Heidi didn’t survive the shooting, so that left Nick to tell police what happened that morning.

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Kristin read a bunch of articles, then spat them back out in her very limited vocabulary. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

“A Stranger in the house” episode of 20/20

“Second wife’s suspicions confirmed with ex-husband’s arrest for murder,” by Blue Browning, Brooke Strangeland, Meghan Mariani, Lexi Leib, Greta Morris, Ivan Pereira for ABC News

“Nicholas Firkus gets life sentence for wife Heidi’s murder he blamed on intruder,” by Mara H. Gottfried for the Pioneer Press

“Husband locked up for life after blowing away first wife with shotgun, blaming murder on nonexistent Black man, remarrying,” by Matt Naham for Law and Crime

“State of Minnesota vs. Nicholas James Firkus” court document

“Husband sentenced to life in prison in wife’s 13-year cold case murder,” by Brooke Strangeland for ABC7NY

“How was the Heidi Firkus case closed after so long? Meet the trio who did it.” by Mara H. Gottfried for the Pioneer Press

“Nicholas Firkus found guilty of murdering wife Heidi Firkus,” by Nick Ferraro for the Pioneer Press

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