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

car on a bridge.

“A search gets underway for the missing driver, 19-year-old Sarah Stern.”

Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point, nobody knows. 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 and ABC Audio. Listen now to Bridge of Lives, wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Today we're going to take a look at one of our most talked about episodes. It was called 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 Furcus, 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. She's a troll 911. Can we take a break into my home? What city are you in? St. Paul? What address are you at?

What are you at? Mini-haw, everything. Mini-haw, not someone trying to... 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.

What? What's wrong with you? You said shot? Yes. Okay, I'm a family, okay? Okay.

No, Nick, no, no, Nick, stay on the family for a shot. I don't know what to look at. No! I need to hear that. I really don't know about that right now, go ahead.

Yeah. You said you liked the shot, aren't they? Yeah. He's not going to be stupid. Oh, please.

Okay. 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 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 the 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 going to 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. Hi. 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.

“Because people often ask me, how do you get these stories?”

Yeah. And oftentimes, it's folks like you who heard about a story and you are 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.”

Yeah. 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 and telling the story.

And she's just an incredible mother and human.

And I knew when I met her that that there was something she is something different. Yeah. Yeah. 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 know, 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. But what did you learn about the two of them when you first started digging? Yeah, I think faith is sort of a character in the story almost.

It wasn't a Sunday thing. It was a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Thing. It was all of their friendships were based in the church. They were leaders in their church.

“Let's go back to the morning of the murder.”

The two of them was 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 or alerter, 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, you know, 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 here's, and then we hear something downstairs in a very shivalrous way, I'm going to think he's going to 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 that thought it was strange. The front of him, he's armed. She is not armed. There's potentially, you know, 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, that the logic is missing there. And even the police said in his interrogation, like you would have a right to defend yourself. Or someone is breaking into your home.

So that was like the first of many things that was like this.

It didn't sound right. And the fact that he was grazed, she was shot dead. I mean, he's grazed. But we just found that a little bit strange too, right? 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, it was suspicious. 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. Well, what's so interesting about this is the police wanted Nick to come in and set with their

sketch artist. He refused to do that. He wanted to do it on his term. So he did it with his defense attorney. And if you Google break-ins in this area at 6 a.m.

This man's, this man's base comes up. Yeah. He had been arrested for breaking and entering at 6 a.m. In this neighborhood. So he, he was very thoughtful in in and how he did this intentionally because he knew that it would be believable.

Because here's a guy who has been arrested for it. And thankfully, that man was happy to have been incarcerated. Yeah, because otherwise he might have been picked up for this. He would have. Yeah.

He absolutely would have. So police discovered this guy's already in jail. So that doesn't fly. Yeah. And it was also very interesting that Nick had already gotten an attorney.

Yeah. 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 of stories not adding on.

And he lawyers up and then he lawyers up and then he won't talk. No. And that didn't help police at all. So they're looking. There's no suspect.

Heidi Ferguson's dead. Her husband to police look a little suspicious. Yeah. But so far they have nothing. All right, Brooke.

We got more to cover. Yes. More to cover. Yes.

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 winner 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. 2020 is partnering with vibes. Open your wireless headphones.

That's Vy BZ. If you listen to a lot of true crime, you probably like to listen with a good pair of headphones. But it can be tricky to find a pair that provides great sound quality that's not too immersive. Because when you're out with a podcast during a late night dog walk or a pre-do on run, you don't necessarily want noise cancellation that blocks out the sounds around you.

“That's why you want to get yourself a pair of vibes.”

Your perfect companion in audio. They're designed for maximum comfort with ultra lightweight ear buds that just sit outside the ear canal. And they offer crystal clear audio. No matter what you're listening to, whether it's your favorite song or a sound rich true crime podcast, it'll come across loud and clear and silky smooth.

The battery lasts up to 10 hours per charge and they come in a range of sleek modern colors and styles.

So what are you waiting for? Order now and you'll be listening to better sound with better headphones before you know it. For a limited time, our listeners can get more than 60% off a pair of vibes wireless headphones. Just go to abcsecretsavings.com/2020. Again, that's abcsecretsavings.com/2020.

Abcsecretsavings.com/2020. Do you have any questions about the story? Do you have any questions about the story? Or do you have any questions about the story? No, not at all.

Do you have any questions about the story? Do you have any questions about the story? No. Yes, exactly. As a story, it's a story of the story that I just understand.

A girl at the studio, a job, or a girl at the house. A girl at the house? I don't feel like a story. A story of the story? Save?

With this story. Hi there and welcome back to 2020 The After Show. I am sitting here with Brookstanglin, one of our 2020 producers who helped book this story that we worked on. We are taking a closer look at the case of Heidi Furcus. Her husband, Nick Furcus, was shot, she was killed and 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, I'm suspect, was hiding much closer to home. So Nick is this guy who's mourning, you know, reportedly. 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, to get married in 2012. Yeah.

How did no one think this was strange? 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. I'm pretty tumultuous relationship to traumatic for her. And so they had a trauma bond, essentially.

And 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 bonded over that. And I think it was, it just became accepted. It wasn't really frowned upon by anyone in Nick Circle that he was moving on. 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. 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. 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.

Yeah. 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. 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.”

Yeah. And he just didn't want to talk and wanted to hide. And he was actually hiding a lot more than she thought. Well, and she discovered what he was hiding in in the soft drawer of all things.

Yeah. But she is she discovers. I mean, her life kind of explodes in her face when she discovers what unpaid bills. 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 he's capable of lying about this, he's capable of this.

He's capable of that. And 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 an eye and left.

“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. 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, she had no idea. Yeah.

She had no idea. No idea. So this case has, you know, gone on for a while in terms of the unsolved murder. Yes. 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.

And it would be a woman detective, which I always love.

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

Truly. Well, this happens in our stories a lot where somebody new hits the scene. And they look at the evidence again. And they look at the story. So sergeants, 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. Yeah. Nikki Sipes is amazing. And she remembers the crime because she was a beat cop at that time. But she, in that area, so she remembered it.

And now she's in homicides. And she was determined to get pull in resources from the FBI. Yeah, she brought the FBI to the case. She did not previously correct and bombed. 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. It's quite 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 that. They had nowhere to live. There's no evidence that they were being evicted or that she knew about it. No, absolutely nowhere. They did they talk about where they were moving.

And so that really was when she was able to look at everything and see it. That stuck out. 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.

And the other thing is Nick wasn't really pressing police to try to solve this murder over the years. He did not call to check what's the status that happened to my life. And if we believe his theory on what happened, there is a person on the loose that killed somebody and shot him. Yeah. And so that was also very troubling to her.

So she starts thinking about him in a very different way. Yeah. Everybody had clamped up around him. Nobody was actually giving anything, but she's looking. So then the biggest bomb show in this case and in what we revealed in our story were these secret recordings.

So Rachel and with Sergeant Sykes 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? 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. We revealed some of these recordings.

They were never heard in court by the way, but we revealed some of these in our 2020 episode.

What you might have heard, but then they're also little clips that you have not heard. Including this one. Take a listen. That was a period of my life when I was a liar and God transformed me.

And that's what I believe today.

This is pretty incredible stuff, bro.

When you think about it because he was a guy who's very religious guy, very much of faith. And he's talking about how he's not honest, which was quite an admission. 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. 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 was pretty brave stuff that she's actually recording him. Anything could have happened. Exactly. She's doing this and she had not spoken out before.

So when we began digging into the story and you were able to convince her to sit down and speak with us. This was a pretty big deal. This is a woman who is not only just scared and worried that her marriage had blown up and all of that,

“but how are you able to convince her to sit down with us?”

Because I was so impressed when she did. 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. Her psyche had been injured prior 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 answer is about what happened to Heidi Furigas. 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.

“Yeah, yeah, and I think that's why it became easy for people to believe his version of event.”

Because how could someone like him do the alternative? So yeah, it shook the community for sure. 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 going to talk about that. Don't go anywhere. Don't go anywhere. And don't you go anywhere.

Because when we come back, Nick goes on trial. We're going to take you inside. What was a very emotional courtroom. Rook 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. You cry, show.

“RJ Preken Decker has that living breathe.”

He's a private eye. It's not a standard murder. Some bigger. And a public mass. Trying to get some back to prison today.

You're going to prison one time. And suddenly, it's all the jokes. RJ Decker series premiere Tuesdays on ABC and stream on Hulu. Hi, everybody. Welcome back to 2020 The After Show.

I am sitting here. And I'm riveted. And I would hope you are, too. Because 2020 producer, Brook Stanglin, is helping us unravel the case of Heidi Fercas. 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 Fercas, 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. 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.

And then it was like a church divided. Yeah. Because the other half was, you know, sitting with Heidi's family and Rachel sat behind Heidi's family. And yeah, it was, there was a lot of tears. There was a lot of nurses.

Yeah. I mean, it was pretty obvious that this case was a little shaky. But it was circumstances. Yeah. And so what were you thinking is you're watching it?

Were you thinking that he was going to be convicted? 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 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. Yeah. So the DNA is irrelevant. So, you know, there was definitely concern.

And it wasn't a slam dunk case. Yeah. This father of three, young man, religious man there with all the church folks there. He is convicted.

“Um, do you remember, like the, the, the, the, was you an exhale with it was your gas?”

But what do you remember? He sobbed. Hmm. Yeah. He sobbed.

And he put his head down and, 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.

Yeah. But yeah, he was, I think he thought he was going to get away with it. Yeah. Did he look at anybody at that moment or what was down there? Yeah.

Yeah. He had 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 sipes too. You've gotten to know a lot of the folks there. Um, that had to be. She had to have mixed feelings about this. I mean, on the one hand, she, she had to do the right thing.

And her mind, she was convinced that he had killed his wife. But on the other hand, it's a father for children. 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, of who their father is and what he's convicted of. Um, and then, you know, the family wants the relationship with the children. And Rachel has a tent, understandably as a mother. Hmm. And she's really torn.

“And, and I think it's a, it's a heartbreaking place for her to, to be.”

You know, understandably, but an update. Things have, uh, 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. Yes. And just recently.

Yes. Some news. What happened weeks ago. Yeah. So, so the conviction was upheld.

You know, I spoke to Nicky and, and the prosecutors. Uh, they were at their computers, refreshing, refreshing, refreshing. Because if it were to be overturned, you would have walked out of prison that day.

And it could have never been tried again.

Wow. And they had a lot on the line. They had a lot on the line. And it was a circumstantial case. And there actually was a holdout.

The chief, um, judge voted that it possibly could have been an intruder. Hmm. 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. Yeah. Um, which I imagine he'll try for the governor would have to. Yeah. Yeah.

Issue that. Yeah. Brooke, it was quite a story. And I know you'll keep us updated. If anything changes.

But wow. Wow. Wow. To be able to sit down a chat with you. Thank you for doing this.

I mean, I think you're going to be coming back. Oh, I see. First of all, we got a lot to talk about. Yeah. I want to regular basis when it comes to any stories that we're doing.

But it's always great to work with you.

And thanks again. Thank you. That's so kind. Well, thank you for being with us as always. Um, we appreciate your popping in to hear about our 2020 stories.

Thank you. Of course for listening. And you can catch the latest 2020 episodes on Friday nights on ABC. You can stream on Disney Plus and Hulu. We'll see you next time.

We gather here tonight to bring women back to their rightful place. The Testaments, a new Hulu original series from the executive producers of the handmade sales, easier to accept a story than believe that the people around you are monsters. The battle isn't over. You'll come to time.

You have to take action.

“When you have to choose your own destiny.”

What's the new Hulu original series? The Testaments. April 8th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply.