Dateline NBC S32E07 65 Seconds H 264

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00:00:09Tonight on Dateline.

00:00:15I'll never forget it till the day I die.

00:00:22This home invasion, a young woman shot and killed, a man injured.

00:00:26It was beyond tragic.

00:00:27Did you feel for him?

00:00:28Yes, I did.

00:00:29What was Nick telling you?

00:00:30That they pushed and pulled back and forth with a shotgun.

00:00:33The gun went off.

00:00:34No way hit Heidi.

00:00:35And she went straight down.

00:00:39There's a lot of pain there.

00:00:41There was a lot of pressure on the police department.

00:00:44You guys essentially hit a brick wall.

00:00:45Yeah, it was extremely frustrating trying to track down this intruder and figure out who had done this.

00:00:51You're with a man whose wife had just been recently murdered.

00:00:54You had a lot of questions.

00:00:56Yeah, I think that anybody would.

00:00:58I started to do my own investigating.

00:01:00I feel like I don't know the full truth.

00:01:03She made those recordings.

00:01:04She risked a lot.

00:01:06She wanted to know once and for all what happened to Heidi.

00:01:09Who killed Heidi?

00:01:12Who killed Heidi?

00:01:12Secrets and lies in a Minnesota mystery.

00:01:15I'm Lester Holt.

00:01:17This is Dateline.

00:01:24My NBC News colleague, Blaine Alexander, joins us tonight with 65 Seconds.

00:01:36Sunday morning in St. Paul, Minnesota is so often a picture of peace.

00:01:44But not that Sunday morning, April 25th, 2010.

00:01:50The call came in just after 6.30 a.m.

00:01:55State Patrol 911.

00:01:57A young woman, Heidi Furcus, was on the line.

00:02:00Someone's trying to break into my house.

00:02:02What city are you in?

00:02:03St. Paul?

00:02:04I'm in St. Paul.

00:02:04Seconds later, there was a loud noise.

00:02:09The call dropped.

00:02:11Then Heidi's husband, Nick, called 911.

00:02:14Frantic.

00:02:15911.

00:02:19Wait, you've been shot?

00:02:21Yes, please.

00:02:22What's your name?

00:02:26No.

00:02:27Nick?

00:02:27No.

00:02:28Nick?

00:02:29Stay on the phone with me, okay?

00:02:31You said your wife is shot off her?

00:02:34Yeah.

00:02:34She's not moving.

00:02:36Oh, please.

00:02:37Please.

00:02:37Nick?

00:02:39Nick, listen to me.

00:02:40I've got help coming.

00:02:41Heidi.

00:02:42Heidi.

00:02:46Seven minutes passed before officers went into the house with guns drawn.

00:02:51The intruder was nowhere to be seen.

00:02:55I got the call Sunday morning.

00:02:56My boss told me that there had been a home invasion shooting.

00:03:00St. Paul Police Sergeant Jim Gray raced to the scene.

00:03:04How fresh was the scene at this point?

00:03:07The officers who initially responded commented that they could smell the gunpowder in the air.

00:03:13What do you remember when you first arrived here at this house?

00:03:16Crime scene tape was up.

00:03:17There was a lot of officers coming and going.

00:03:19The St. Paul fire medics had already transported Nick to Regent's Hospital.

00:03:23So by the time you got here, Nick wasn't even in the house anymore?

00:03:25No.

00:03:26He had been shot, so he was in a lot of pain.

00:03:28He was quite hysterical.

00:03:30Gray stepped inside the tidy entryway.

00:03:34Just a few feet away was the shotgun that was used to shoot both Heidi and Nick laying on the

00:03:39ground.

00:03:41And then if you look further into the house, you can see towards the kitchen, and then that's where Heidi

00:03:46was laying there.

00:03:47What did you think when you first saw Heidi lying there on the ground?

00:03:51It was beyond tragic.

00:03:53Obviously, it looked like they were sleeping and they were woken up by this intruder trying to gain entry into

00:03:58their house.

00:04:00Heidi, just 25 years old, was dead.

00:04:04Her last words uttered in panic.

00:04:07Someone's trying to break into my house.

00:04:08She was obviously scared.

00:04:10You could hear it in her voice.

00:04:11Anything about that call that stood out to you?

00:04:13That's her last moments on this earth, and we're trying to figure out who is responsible for that.

00:04:20Gray figured an intruder might have seen the house as the perfect target.

00:04:24It's got the enclosed porch in it, which makes that if somebody was trying to attempt an entry into the

00:04:30house, it made it a little more difficult to see or hear if you were walking by.

00:04:34Make it a little easier for somebody to possibly break into this house.

00:04:37Yes.

00:04:37He took a closer look and noticed tool marks on the door frame.

00:04:42What sorts of evidence were you trying to lift from the house in that initial walkthrough?

00:04:45You're obviously determining, okay, we need the fingerprint and trying to get DNA evidence from the door, the door lock

00:04:51itself, and then also get DNA evidence from that shotgun to try to locate this intruder.

00:04:56When you did that, were you able to lift fingerprints from the shotgun, from the lock, from the door jam?

00:05:01Yeah.

00:05:03The manhunt was on.

00:05:05Our main primary focus is trying to find that individual and get him into custody as quick as possible.

00:05:10What were officers doing to find this guy?

00:05:13The initial officers, along with the K-9 team, tried to track this intruder, then started knocking on the doors

00:05:19in the neighborhood to see if anybody had seen or heard anybody running through the neighborhood.

00:05:24But Gray was already facing tough odds.

00:05:28While the house does sit on a main road, an alleyway in the back was a perfect route for someone

00:05:34to escape.

00:05:36Home security cameras were not common then, and it was early on a Sunday.

00:05:43A lot of people were either asleep or else just waking up.

00:05:46The neighbors didn't have a lot of information for us.

00:05:49We're kind of stuck.

00:05:50Yes, stuck before we even got started.

00:05:53Maybe Nick could get the investigation unstuck.

00:05:56He was at the hospital, alive, getting treatment for a horrific-looking wound, telling investigators about his fight with the

00:06:05intruder.

00:06:05The gun went off again, and that's what I got hit.

00:06:23At the hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, Nick Furcus was getting urgent care for the shotgun blast that tore through

00:06:30his thigh.

00:06:32Even so, he fought through the pain to give investigators bits and pieces about the intruder he said broke into

00:06:39his home.

00:06:40He was a lot bigger than me.

00:06:42When you got shot, can you describe when you were wrestling with a gun with him?

00:06:46He was stressed.

00:06:47He just came in, and I tried to push him away.

00:06:52That's when the gun went off, and that's when Heidi fell down.

00:06:58Just five miles from the hospital, Heidi's dad was arriving at church.

00:07:03A grim-faced pastor, who had been called by police, was waiting.

00:07:08The pastor had pulled him aside to let him know.

00:07:12Heidi's dad called her brother Pete and his wife Jolene.

00:07:16I could tell something was not good.

00:07:18He was really upset.

00:07:21What did he tell you?

00:07:22He told us that there had been a home invasion at Heidi and Nick's house, and that they had both

00:07:28been shot, and that Heidi was dead.

00:07:30He told you Heidi was gone?

00:07:32Yeah.

00:07:33Did you even believe him in that moment?

00:07:36No.

00:07:38Heidi's close friend Krista got a call from her dad, too.

00:07:42He had told me that something had happened at the house, and that Heidi didn't make it.

00:07:51This is somebody that you've known since your earliest memories.

00:07:55I was in shock, and I dropped the phone.

00:07:59I was devastated.

00:08:01It didn't seem real.

00:08:04Meanwhile, Sergeant Gray was busy ramping up his search for the killer, and learning more about the young couple.

00:08:11They were in love.

00:08:12They seem happy together?

00:08:13Yes, very happy.

00:08:15Everybody we came into contact had nothing but good things to say about both Heidi and Nick.

00:08:20Growing up in St. Paul in the late 1980s, Heidi was the youngest of three siblings and the only girl.

00:08:27When people see Heidi, what's the first thing they notice about her?

00:08:31I think her smile.

00:08:33And she brought a lot of joy everywhere she went.

00:08:37She was always very caring, outgoing, quirky, spunky.

00:08:43And with a maturity well beyond her years.

00:08:47She always pushed us to think a little bit deeper.

00:08:50What did family mean to her?

00:08:52I would say Heidi put family before anything.

00:08:55Pete found that out after he moved away from Minnesota.

00:08:58Heidi wasn't happy, and she let him know.

00:09:01She wanted to have a little come-to-Jesus talk about that.

00:09:06She thought you weren't spending enough time with the family.

00:09:09Yeah, and kind of caught me off guard, having my younger sister kind of calling me out.

00:09:13Like she was getting you in line.

00:09:14Oh, yes, yeah.

00:09:16Another centerpiece of Heidi's life was her deep Christian faith.

00:09:21The faith that she had radiated to other people.

00:09:25Did you see that drive her in a lot of the things that she did, that faith?

00:09:29I did.

00:09:29She spent a lot of time in the youth group, Sunday school, volunteering.

00:09:34It was while volunteering that Heidi met Nick,

00:09:37the son of a successful local businessman with a home improvement company.

00:09:42His desire to uplift everyone around him was at the heart of who he is.

00:09:47Nick's longtime friend, Preston.

00:09:49Nick loves people, and he's very good with people.

00:09:53What types of things did he like growing up?

00:09:55The outdoors, blue sky, nature.

00:09:57An ideal companion on a fishing trip, says Erica, also in Nick's circle of close friends.

00:10:03There were things I didn't want to do.

00:10:05I didn't want to touch the fish.

00:10:06That was his job.

00:10:08Nick and Heidi's relationship blossomed.

00:10:11They were deeply in love, and from very early on,

00:10:14they were interested together in growing as a couple.

00:10:17Heidi Marie Erickson.

00:10:19After Heidi graduated from high school,

00:10:22she began studying at the University of Northwestern in St. Paul,

00:10:26taking courses in graphic design along with Bible and theology.

00:10:31Krista took classes there, too.

00:10:33We were getting lunch together, and she had told me during lunch.

00:10:38That he proposed.

00:10:39Yes.

00:10:40And she said yes.

00:10:41Yes.

00:10:41She was very excited.

00:10:42They tied the knot in 2005.

00:10:46Nick was 22, Heidi just 20.

00:10:49She ended up working with her dad at a financial services firm

00:10:53while Nick ran the carpet cleaning division of his dad's company.

00:10:57Never too busy for others, says his friend Andrew.

00:11:00He was volunteering with Urban Homeworks,

00:11:02and he was on the board of a couple of different nonprofits

00:11:05and taught some classes in the evenings

00:11:07to people coming out of incarceration.

00:11:11In 2007, Heidi and Nick bought a home

00:11:14in an up-and-coming neighborhood of St. Paul.

00:11:17So she was excited to get started on that.

00:11:19I felt like a big first step in this new chapter, yes.

00:11:23But Heidi was on edge about crime.

00:11:26I think that was a concern of her in general,

00:11:29you know, how we all have our own little personal fears.

00:11:33Heidi told friends she wanted a new place,

00:11:37somewhere she could feel safer.

00:11:39She was a planner and started looking at apartments

00:11:42here in Minneapolis, preparing for a new chapter.

00:11:45They were looking to move so that they could start a family.

00:11:49Did Heidi want to be a mom?

00:11:50She did.

00:11:52But in April 2010, those plans were in pieces.

00:11:56And Nick was in the hospital,

00:11:58suffering from that gunshot wound.

00:12:00In spite of his trauma, he was about to sit down

00:12:04with Sergeant Gray, determined to play his part

00:12:07in tracking down Heidi's killer.

00:12:09He's a victim and also a living witness to this incident.

00:12:13He's the key to this whole case.

00:12:28Three hours after Heidi's death,

00:12:30Nick Furcus had been treated for that close-range shotgun blast.

00:12:34And even though he was hobbling on crutches,

00:12:37he went straight to the St. Paul Police Department

00:12:39to speak with investigator Jim Gray.

00:12:43Did you feel for him?

00:12:45Yes, I did.

00:12:46Obviously, he's been through a traumatic incident

00:12:48with his wife being shot and then him being shot as well.

00:12:51I tried to put him at ease.

00:12:53Noah, this is a very traumatic situation, okay?

00:12:56Gray began by asking Nick what he and Heidi did

00:12:59the day before the shooting.

00:13:00What time did you wake up on Saturday morning?

00:13:03I think we got up around 10 a.m.

00:13:05She went with one of her coworkers

00:13:06and then they went shopping at the Mall of America.

00:13:10Nick said when Heidi got home,

00:13:12they ordered burgers, delivery,

00:13:14then watched the movie Avatar

00:13:16and ended up going to sleep after midnight.

00:13:19Did you lock up the house or anything?

00:13:21If I'm honest, I don't know if I remember

00:13:23to throw the bolt back to the delivery.

00:13:24I think I just shut the door.

00:13:26At about 6 a.m. on Sunday, Nick said he woke up.

00:13:31So I got up and went and got a glass of water

00:13:36from the bathroom.

00:13:37Go back to sleep and just kind of fitfully sleep

00:13:40and then I hear our, I heard the screen door open.

00:13:45Nick told me he heard somebody fiddling

00:13:48with the front doorknob

00:13:49and then he then woke up Heidi

00:13:51and told her that somebody was trying

00:13:52to break into the house.

00:13:53What happened after that?

00:13:54Nick went and grabbed his shotgun

00:13:58that he was storing in the closet of their bedroom,

00:14:01loaded it with two shells

00:14:02and then he escorted Heidi down the stairs

00:14:05as she's trying to call 911 on her cell phone.

00:14:08So Heidi was going first down the stairs

00:14:10and then he was following behind her.

00:14:12I said, let's go out to the garage,

00:14:13let's get out of here.

00:14:14Why go to the garage?

00:14:16Because that's where our car is.

00:14:18Nick said they were passing through the entryway,

00:14:21heading to the back door to escape

00:14:23when the intruder pushed open the front door.

00:14:26And so I try to shut the door shut

00:14:28but it gets forced open.

00:14:30What did this guy look like?

00:14:32He was a black guy

00:14:33with a dark hooded sweatshirt

00:14:36that was drawn up pretty tight.

00:14:38So how much did you think you waited?

00:14:39Maybe it was 215, 220.

00:14:42And more than six feet tall,

00:14:44Nick said the intruder,

00:14:45who was wearing gloves,

00:14:47grabbed the shotgun.

00:14:49At one point, you pick up one of his crutches.

00:14:51I wanted to have a better idea

00:14:53how Nick and this intruder struggled over the shotgun.

00:14:56What was Nick telling you?

00:14:57That they pushed and pulled back and forth

00:14:59with each other in the shotgun.

00:15:00He pushes it up against my chest

00:15:02and the gun went off.

00:15:05I know it hit Heidi.

00:15:06I don't know where it hit her,

00:15:07but I know it, I know it hit him.

00:15:09She was running away

00:15:09and she went straight down

00:15:12and that's what went off the second time

00:15:14and hit me in the leg.

00:15:17After you get shot,

00:15:19what happens next to him?

00:15:20He's gone.

00:15:21He takes off?

00:15:21I fall down.

00:15:23He's gone.

00:15:23Nobody deserves anything at all like this

00:15:26and to be violated in your home like this

00:15:28is just absolutely horrible.

00:15:30As the nearly three-hour interview progressed,

00:15:33Sergeant Gray switched gears

00:15:35and asked Nick about his marriage.

00:15:37Any problems you guys have had going on?

00:15:39Just our level of intimacy in our relationship.

00:15:43Are you stepping out at all by chance?

00:15:45To other women?

00:15:46Yeah.

00:15:46No, absolutely not.

00:15:47Any concerns that she was stepping out at all?

00:15:50No, absolutely not.

00:15:51We had a lot of trust in that part of our relationship.

00:15:54You guys got insurance policies on each other?

00:15:55No, we don't.

00:15:56You guys have any problems or anything like that?

00:15:59Just the normal stuff like, you know,

00:16:03stresses about finances.

00:16:06Nick told the investigator he and Heidi,

00:16:08like so many who had been beaten down by the 2008 recession,

00:16:13had gotten deep into debt that their home had been foreclosed on

00:16:17and they'd been preparing to move out.

00:16:19We're both kind of dealing with the shame of the whole thing

00:16:22because we're embarrassed.

00:16:25So embarrassed, he said, that he and Heidi hadn't told anyone.

00:16:30None of our parents are none of our friends.

00:16:32No one knows about this except you and Heidi.

00:16:34And Heidi.

00:16:35That's right.

00:16:37Still, despite all of the stress,

00:16:39he told Gray, he and his wife were rock solid.

00:16:42We're still best friends.

00:16:44We're having a great time Saturday night.

00:16:46During his interview, Nick seemed to be in denial.

00:16:50He spoke about Heidi in the present tense

00:16:52and seemed to avoid asking about her condition

00:16:55until the interview was winding down.

00:16:57Did he think there was a chance that his wife was still alive?

00:17:00I think he was hoping.

00:17:01I just want to know the final answer on Heidi.

00:17:04Well, this is, you know,

00:17:06there's a couple parts of my job that I really hate

00:17:08and this is one of them.

00:17:11And she didn't make it.

00:17:15I figured that.

00:17:17He started crying a little bit

00:17:19and it was at that time that I decided to take a little break

00:17:21to let him obviously process that information.

00:17:25Police often look at the husband first

00:17:28and even though Nick had no criminal record

00:17:31and had been shot himself,

00:17:33Gray felt he had to ask the tough question.

00:17:36If I don't ask that question,

00:17:38I might not get another chance to ask it.

00:17:40You decided to ask it.

00:17:41Yes, I did.

00:17:43Did you have anything to do with this?

00:17:45No.

00:17:45No, absolutely not.

00:17:47Okay.

00:17:48Absolutely not.

00:17:49As the interview wrapped up,

00:17:51Nick's family was allowed into the room.

00:17:54I can't believe this guy.

00:17:56I hugged his mother,

00:17:57started crying in her arms for several minutes.

00:18:05Lots of tears.

00:18:07Yes, a lot of tears.

00:18:10As emotional as he was,

00:18:12after Nick left the police station,

00:18:14he decided to do something extraordinary.

00:18:19Something that would change the trajectory

00:18:21of the entire investigation.

00:18:24This is kind of your first big lead at this point.

00:18:26Yes.

00:18:27You now have somebody to look for.

00:18:28Yes.

00:18:44Just outside St. Paul is Calvary Church.

00:18:47It's large,

00:18:49able to seat about 600 people.

00:18:52But five days after Heidi's murder,

00:18:55the church was overflowing.

00:18:58That's how many people came to say goodbye.

00:19:01I didn't even realize it until we walked out.

00:19:04Heidi's friend, Krista.

00:19:06The whole sanctuary was full,

00:19:08and the lobby was full,

00:19:09and down the hallways were full.

00:19:12And it was all the people that she had impacted.

00:19:16Was it amazing to you to see

00:19:18how many people your friend had touched?

00:19:20It was.

00:19:23That was part of Heidi.

00:19:25She was a best friend to a lot of people.

00:19:28A church that for years had given so much comfort and joy to Heidi's family

00:19:34was now holding so much of their pain.

00:19:37I remember hugs from friends and family when we got married there and, you know,

00:19:42when Nick and Heidi got married there.

00:19:44And on that day, like, it was a lot of the same people were giving us, you know,

00:19:48were giving us hugs for, you know, the...

00:19:51To comfort you.

00:19:52Yeah.

00:19:53Yeah.

00:19:53For the worst scenario.

00:19:57Nick's friend, Preston, recalls watching Nick put on a brave face

00:20:01to put others at ease.

00:20:03How was Nick that day?

00:20:05I know he spoke.

00:20:06It was very difficult for him,

00:20:07and what he wanted to do was just tell the story of Heidi.

00:20:11And I think he did that quite well under the circumstances.

00:20:14He does have a tremendous ability to say,

00:20:17okay, this is what I need to do for the next hour.

00:20:19And for the next hour, I'm going to be what I need to be here.

00:20:23And alone in private, when he gets home,

00:20:27something else.

00:20:28He may break down.

00:20:29Yes.

00:20:30It was that emotional seesaw that worried Nick's family.

00:20:34They thought, at the very least, he should have legal counsel.

00:20:38They hired attorney Joe Friedberg.

00:20:41Take me back, if you would.

00:20:42Do you remember your first conversation with Nick?

00:20:45It was unequivocal denial of being involved in his wife's death,

00:20:49other than as a co-victim and a witness.

00:20:52Do you remember his demeanor in those early days?

00:20:55How did he appear to you?

00:20:57Appropriate with being a victim.

00:20:59I think he was in shock.

00:21:01His affect was flat at some times,

00:21:05and other times he was very mournful about the death of his wife,

00:21:10who it's apparent he dearly loved.

00:21:14To Friedberg, it was obvious Nick was in no state to talk with Sergeant Gray.

00:21:20If you remember that he was shot,

00:21:23violence and trauma screws up people's memory and their perceptions.

00:21:28I told him that he'd be crazy if he talked to him again.

00:21:31He wanted to continue cooperating with the police.

00:21:34He wanted to keep talking.

00:21:36Sure he did.

00:21:36And it wasn't easy to convince him not to continue with the police.

00:21:41Friedberg says Nick grudgingly took his advice,

00:21:44but insisted on helping in other ways.

00:21:47When police asked for fingerprints and DNA, Nick gave them.

00:21:51When they wanted him to sit down with a sketch artist,

00:21:53he agreed to that too.

00:21:55But Friedberg had some conditions.

00:21:58I thought that was a good idea,

00:22:00as long as it wasn't the police sketch artist,

00:22:04because the cops would be there and they would use that

00:22:07as another opportunity to get into details and contradictions.

00:22:15You thought they'd use that to question him.

00:22:16They'd use it to question him, and that's their job.

00:22:20Instead, Friedberg and his team reached out to Nancy Molnar,

00:22:24a veteran courtroom sketch artist.

00:22:26He said, well, Nick is a client of ours,

00:22:29and we'd like to have a sketch drawn of the suspect.

00:22:33Nancy says she agreed to take the job,

00:22:35in part because she felt bad for Nick.

00:22:38To me, he was a man who had just lost his wife

00:22:42and was trying to help the police to get this suspect,

00:22:47this intruder, to get him captured.

00:22:50You were thinking that you were helping them

00:22:52solve this crime, possibly.

00:22:53Yep, I was thinking that I was helping justice.

00:22:56The session took place at Nancy's house.

00:22:59As she worked at her easel, Nick stood over her shoulder.

00:23:02Again, he described the intruder as black,

00:23:06around six feet tall, over 200 pounds, and wearing a hoodie.

00:23:11Nick told me that the eyes needed to be a certain way

00:23:15and that I didn't have them there yet.

00:23:18Nick said they needed to be more wide open than I had them.

00:23:23He also wanted her to tweak a few key features,

00:23:27like the man's nose and skin.

00:23:29He asked for more age, and that the skin was not smooth.

00:23:34It was pockmarked and kind of rugged.

00:23:37Very distinctive features.

00:23:39Very distinctive features.

00:23:39Do you think that that helped make this portrait,

00:23:43make this sketch more recognizable?

00:23:45That was the goal.

00:23:47That this could be used to find a murderer?

00:23:50Right.

00:23:51The description he gave me would result in a sketch

00:23:53that the police department could use

00:23:55to find this person who did this terrible thing.

00:23:59About two weeks after his wife's murder,

00:24:02Nick, still on crutches from his gunshot wound,

00:24:05came back to the police station

00:24:07and gave the sketch to Sergeant Gray.

00:24:09How significant was that sketch in your investigation?

00:24:12It was pretty imperative,

00:24:14the individual that we were looking for,

00:24:16who was allegedly responsible for this crime.

00:24:19And with that, Nick's lawyer said,

00:24:21that's it.

00:24:22That's all Nick could offer to the investigation.

00:24:25I almost had to twist his arm to stop him

00:24:28from cooperating with the police.

00:24:30He wanted to help.

00:24:31Yes.

00:24:32I told the police,

00:24:35I'm making these decisions.

00:24:37He's talked to you three times already.

00:24:40That's enough.

00:24:42He says his client needed to be left alone to heal,

00:24:45needed to surround himself with family and friends,

00:24:48old and new,

00:24:50including a woman who surprised just about everyone.

00:24:55One of their best friends just died.

00:24:57And here I come.

00:24:58I know enough to know that

00:25:00that was probably super hurtful

00:25:02and hard for them to watch.

00:25:17Nick Furcus had just handed police

00:25:20a detailed sketch of the man he said

00:25:22attacked him and killed his wife Heidi

00:25:25roughly two weeks earlier.

00:25:27Sergeant Jim Gray hoped it would lead to a break in the case.

00:25:31It was released both in the print for the newspaper

00:25:34and then also released through the local news stations

00:25:37here in St. Paul.

00:25:38Nick gave police this detailed sketch

00:25:41of a black man in a hoodie.

00:25:43Did that give them a sense of hope?

00:25:46Her parents?

00:25:47Yes.

00:25:47They were looking at the sketch thinking,

00:25:49okay, this is a person

00:25:51who might have killed their daughter.

00:25:54Now Gray just had to wait for it to generate leads.

00:25:58Meanwhile, Nick tried to put the whole investigation

00:26:01on the back burner

00:26:03and focus on rebuilding his life.

00:26:06How did he seem to be processing everything?

00:26:08Quietly.

00:26:10After Heidi's murder,

00:26:12Nick's closest friends say

00:26:13the way he handled the tragedy

00:26:15was classic Nick in a crisis.

00:26:17He put his head down and powered through.

00:26:20He was grieving, and he was grieving inside.

00:26:24Is that characteristic of your friend?

00:26:27That is.

00:26:28Another of Nick and Heidi's friends

00:26:30came up with a plan to help him.

00:26:32She knew that her best friend's husband

00:26:35was mourning his wife, Heidi,

00:26:38and Rachel, her younger sister,

00:26:41was in the process of divorce and separation

00:26:45and just her own personal life.

00:26:47Rachel Sanchez.

00:26:49Erica says they encouraged Nick

00:26:51to spend time with Rachel.

00:26:53She was also newly single and struggling

00:26:56after leaving a difficult marriage.

00:26:58She needed to find her voice,

00:27:00and in her finding her voice

00:27:01was through this relationship,

00:27:03through this friendship.

00:27:04What did Rachel represent for Nick?

00:27:08What did Rachel bring to Nick?

00:27:09I mean, new life.

00:27:11It made all of the feelings

00:27:15that him losing his wife, losing Heidi,

00:27:19it gave him validity of,

00:27:21I still am a human being.

00:27:23You connected with Nick less than three months

00:27:26after his wife was killed.

00:27:28This is Rachel.

00:27:30Did he seem like somebody

00:27:31who was still very much in mourning?

00:27:33He didn't talk about it much.

00:27:35He was told that he wasn't allowed

00:27:36to talk about what happened,

00:27:38so there wasn't really a question and answer ever.

00:27:42Did you ever get the sense

00:27:43that maybe that was his trauma response

00:27:46or how he was dealing with this loss?

00:27:49Oh, for sure.

00:27:50I think that I didn't see anything of it,

00:27:53so my perspective was

00:27:54all these people are dealing with this death

00:27:57and some people deal with it differently than others.

00:28:02As weeks passed,

00:28:04Rachel found herself quite unexpectedly falling in love.

00:28:08Was there ever a voice or a thought

00:28:10in the back of your head that said,

00:28:12maybe it's too soon for him

00:28:14to be getting involved with somebody

00:28:16after his wife's death?

00:28:18I think that more than anything,

00:28:19it was other people saying that to me.

00:28:22I was just like,

00:28:23I don't understand why you're not happy that he's happy.

00:28:26You were kind of defensive

00:28:27of what you guys had found with each other.

00:28:30And yet, she says she couldn't help

00:28:33but feel a twinge of guilt

00:28:34when she thought about Heidi's friends and family.

00:28:38They were still grieving that,

00:28:39and here I come,

00:28:41and I know enough to know

00:28:43that that was probably super hurtful

00:28:47and hard for them to watch.

00:28:50I didn't know what to make of it.

00:28:53I probably just wasn't ready to go there.

00:28:58For you guys,

00:28:59was it painful to see Nick seemingly moving on

00:29:02with his life so soon after Heidi's death?

00:29:06Yeah, it didn't feel fair.

00:29:09Down at the police station,

00:29:11Nick's new relationship

00:29:13certainly raised some eyebrows.

00:29:15It was quite a surprise for us.

00:29:18I figured,

00:29:19well, here's a person who just lost his wife.

00:29:22I don't know if he's trying to find a replacement

00:29:24or if this is a rebound,

00:29:26that kind of a thing.

00:29:28But Gray says it really didn't have any bearing

00:29:31on the investigation,

00:29:32which by that point was stagnating.

00:29:35There were no fingerprints or DNA

00:29:37recovered from the crime scene

00:29:39other than those belonging to Nick and Heidi.

00:29:42And Nick's sketch, detailed as it was,

00:29:45did not generate a single useful lead.

00:29:47I spent the next,

00:29:49from the day of the murder until I left homicide,

00:29:52probably three months looking for that person.

00:29:54All based on that sketch?

00:29:56Correct.

00:29:56We received a few tips,

00:29:58but nothing panned out, unfortunately.

00:30:01Three months into the investigation,

00:30:04Gray moved to another division

00:30:06and handed over Heidi's case.

00:30:08By 2012,

00:30:10two years had passed without an arrest,

00:30:13really no developments at all.

00:30:15Nick and Rachel's relationship had developed.

00:30:18They quietly got married.

00:30:22It was in his parents' backyard.

00:30:23Some family, some friends.

00:30:25It felt like beauty from ashes.

00:30:29Like a phoenix rising.

00:30:31Yeah, just like two horrible stories

00:30:33that now can have hope.

00:30:38Rachel says she and Nick

00:30:40found their own version of domestic bliss.

00:30:43We found a church that we loved

00:30:46and we would go Sundays

00:30:47and we had friends,

00:30:49we had community within that church.

00:30:51Did you feel like that kind of gave you guys a grounding,

00:30:54just a group around you?

00:30:56Yeah, I mean,

00:30:57the people at my church

00:30:58were the ones that have always grounded me

00:31:01and stuck by and all of that.

00:31:03A year after their wedding,

00:31:05the couple welcomed the first

00:31:07of their three children,

00:31:09Nick's friends, Brian and Dina.

00:31:11Was Nick a good father?

00:31:12Yes.

00:31:13So good.

00:31:14He looks them in the eye,

00:31:16spends time with them.

00:31:17He loves to fish

00:31:18and so he taught his kids to fish

00:31:20and he found so much delight

00:31:22in watching them catch a fish.

00:31:25But those closest to Nick

00:31:26were concerned for him,

00:31:28especially as more time passed

00:31:30without an arrest in Heidi's case.

00:31:32His friend Eric says

00:31:34local media coverage

00:31:35often casts doubt

00:31:37on Nick's account of the murder.

00:31:38Rachel would specifically tell us

00:31:40and other friends,

00:31:42like, hey,

00:31:43there's stories coming out

00:31:44just so you know.

00:31:45And also she would say,

00:31:47don't click on the story

00:31:50on the internet

00:31:51because the more clicks that come up,

00:31:53the higher the story goes on.

00:31:55The more attention.

00:31:57Whatever.

00:31:57The more attention.

00:31:58So was she defending him?

00:31:59Yes.

00:31:59Trying to shield him

00:32:00from any accusations?

00:32:02She was trying to protect him.

00:32:02Yeah, because the stories

00:32:05would put Nick in a bad light

00:32:09and she wholeheartedly believed

00:32:12that no, he was incapable

00:32:13of doing this

00:32:14and didn't want that for Nick

00:32:16and for her and her family.

00:32:18Heidi's family,

00:32:19on the other hand,

00:32:20didn't need sporadic news stories

00:32:22for painful reminders.

00:32:24For them,

00:32:25the past was always present.

00:32:27They were grieving a great deal

00:32:29and there was a lot of pressure

00:32:30on the police department

00:32:31to try to figure out who did this.

00:32:33In 2012,

00:32:35two years after Heidi's murder,

00:32:37Sergeant Jake Peterson

00:32:38became the third police officer

00:32:41to lead the investigation.

00:32:43Even though that sketch

00:32:45hadn't yielded any results,

00:32:47he thought it was still the best way

00:32:48to keep Heidi's case alive.

00:32:51I wanted to continue running with that

00:32:53and that's one of the things

00:32:54that I did over the course

00:32:55of the next couple of years

00:32:56was try to get that sketch

00:32:57out into the public

00:32:59and is this a person

00:33:00in our community

00:33:00that we could be looking for.

00:33:01So you guys really put a lot of effort

00:33:03in trying to get that sketch

00:33:04in front of as many eyes

00:33:06as you could at this point.

00:33:07We did.

00:33:08We met with the news media regularly

00:33:10and we did frequent news releases

00:33:13with our local newspaper.

00:33:15He says every year,

00:33:17a few tips would trickle in.

00:33:19None panned out.

00:33:21In 2015,

00:33:22on the fifth anniversary

00:33:24of Heidi's death,

00:33:25Peterson,

00:33:26his expectations low,

00:33:27once again released the sketch

00:33:29to the media

00:33:30and once again,

00:33:32his phone rang.

00:33:33I remember it pretty clearly.

00:33:35This time,

00:33:37the caller told Peterson

00:33:38she knew the man in the sketch.

00:33:41It appeared Nick's detailed description

00:33:43of Heidi's killer

00:33:44was about to pay off.

00:33:46It was fantastic.

00:33:48We thought maybe this was it.

00:33:49Maybe this was kind of

00:33:50that one puzzle piece

00:33:51that we were missing.

00:34:07It was 2015,

00:34:10five years after Heidi's murder

00:34:12and for her family,

00:34:13five years of a tortured existence.

00:34:19Nobody has been arrested.

00:34:21Nobody's been charged.

00:34:22Nobody's been found at fault

00:34:24for for killing your sister.

00:34:26What are these days like for you?

00:34:28The not knowing.

00:34:30Yeah.

00:34:31It felt helpless

00:34:31and frustrating

00:34:32kind of altogether.

00:34:35I think there was just

00:34:36a low-grade anxiety

00:34:38about it too.

00:34:40Just the unfinishedness of it.

00:34:46But I also feel like,

00:34:48you know,

00:34:48our faith really helped us along.

00:34:51Sergeant Jake Peterson

00:34:52and his team

00:34:53were still working the case.

00:34:55All they had

00:34:56was that intruder sketch,

00:34:58the one based on Nick's description.

00:35:01One day,

00:35:02Peterson got a phone call

00:35:03from a woman.

00:35:05And she had said,

00:35:06are you the detective

00:35:08that's working on this case?

00:35:09I said, yes.

00:35:10She says,

00:35:11well, I know who is in that sketch.

00:35:13I know who that is.

00:35:14What did you say

00:35:15when you heard that?

00:35:16I was a little bit shocked

00:35:18at the time,

00:35:19but of course,

00:35:20I grabbed my notepad

00:35:21and said, well,

00:35:22who are you?

00:35:23You're madly scribbling.

00:35:24Absolutely.

00:35:24This is the first time

00:35:25in five years

00:35:27that you've gotten

00:35:28any sort of tip.

00:35:29This is really the biggest tip

00:35:30you've gotten at this point.

00:35:31Yes, it was.

00:35:32And what did she tell you?

00:35:33I met with her

00:35:34and she said,

00:35:35I know who's in the sketch.

00:35:37His name is Michael Pye.

00:35:39I know him

00:35:40from the downtown St. Paul area.

00:35:42She had very great,

00:35:44detailed information

00:35:45and she was very certain of it.

00:35:46How groundbreaking

00:35:47was this for you

00:35:48and for this investigation?

00:35:49It was fantastic.

00:35:51We thought maybe this was it.

00:35:52Maybe this was kind of

00:35:54that one puzzle piece

00:35:54that we were missing.

00:35:56Finally,

00:35:57some good news

00:35:58for Heidi's family.

00:36:00And I remember calling

00:36:01to say,

00:36:03hey, we got a good tip.

00:36:04Like, I couldn't wait

00:36:05to share it with them

00:36:06that the newspaper article

00:36:08had worked

00:36:08and maybe we had something.

00:36:11Now, Peterson

00:36:12had a new mission

00:36:13to find Michael Pye.

00:36:16Did you go after this

00:36:17with everything that you had?

00:36:19We started to immediately

00:36:20figure out

00:36:20who is Michael Pye

00:36:22and where is he

00:36:23and where can I find him

00:36:24and where can I talk to him?

00:36:25What do you learn about him?

00:36:27We have a database

00:36:28that shows us

00:36:29where people are at,

00:36:31what kind of crimes

00:36:32they've been convicted of,

00:36:33what they look like.

00:36:34And it was perfect.

00:36:36He looked identical

00:36:38to the sketch

00:36:40and he'd been convicted

00:36:42of violent burglary crimes.

00:36:44He had a pretty long rap sheet.

00:36:45He did.

00:36:46And we went to talk to him

00:36:47so that we could

00:36:48find out all about him

00:36:50and what he was doing

00:36:50on the morning

00:36:51that Heidi was killed.

00:36:52Where did you find him?

00:36:53We found him

00:36:54in the Department of Corrections.

00:36:55He was locked up in jail

00:36:56and I went to interview him

00:36:58as soon as I could.

00:37:01Pye was serving time

00:37:02for three counts of burglary

00:37:04and one count of kidnapping

00:37:05when the officers came to visit.

00:37:07And how did that play out?

00:37:09I think he was shocked

00:37:10to have a visitor.

00:37:12We came unannounced

00:37:13and I'm sure that he had no idea

00:37:16why we were there.

00:37:18And here we're wearing suits

00:37:20and we identify ourselves

00:37:21as homicide investigators

00:37:23from St. Paul.

00:37:24So I think he was reeling

00:37:25from the get-go

00:37:26of why are these people

00:37:27here talking to me?

00:37:28He heard homicide.

00:37:29Absolutely.

00:37:30So he was a little bit

00:37:31taken aback, I think, by it.

00:37:33And we introduced ourselves

00:37:34and told him that we were

00:37:35investigating a case

00:37:36that happened in 2010

00:37:38and started to learn

00:37:40a little bit about him.

00:37:41Peterson says Pye gave him

00:37:43a rundown of his criminal history,

00:37:46his burglaries,

00:37:47and how he did them.

00:37:49In 2009, 2010,

00:37:51around that time period,

00:37:52he was breaking into homes

00:37:54when the people were there

00:37:56and he would pound on the doors

00:37:58and he would charge them

00:37:59and attack them.

00:38:00And it was eerily similar

00:38:03to exactly...

00:38:03Almost identical.

00:38:04Almost identical

00:38:04to what had happened to Heidi.

00:38:07Almost identical,

00:38:09except no one was killed

00:38:10in those robberies.

00:38:12Even so,

00:38:13the more Peterson talked to Pye,

00:38:16the more he believed

00:38:17he had found his man.

00:38:18So he decided

00:38:19to try a little test.

00:38:21During the interview,

00:38:22I pulled out the sketch.

00:38:24I had brought a copy with me,

00:38:26a full-size copy with me,

00:38:27and I showed it to him.

00:38:29What did he say

00:38:30when he looked at that picture?

00:38:31He said,

00:38:32that's me.

00:38:33Did that stop you

00:38:34in your tracks?

00:38:35It was fantastic.

00:38:36It was just a lift of hope

00:38:38that you're on the right track here

00:38:40and this is what you live for

00:38:42as a homicide detective.

00:38:43You look for these moments

00:38:45and these clues

00:38:45and these opportunities

00:38:46that now you can charge forward.

00:38:48So you're sitting in the cell

00:38:49with this guy

00:38:50who is a dead ringer

00:38:52for this sketch.

00:38:53Are you thinking,

00:38:54we did it.

00:38:55We got him.

00:38:56Yeah.

00:38:58Did they have him?

00:39:00You've broken into homes.

00:39:01You've committed crimes.

00:39:03Have you ever killed anybody?

00:39:20When Sergeant Peterson first met Michael Pye,

00:39:23he thought he had finally found

00:39:25the man who killed Heidi Furkus.

00:39:28We went to meet him.

00:39:31I was born and raised in Detroit.

00:39:34Pye told us

00:39:35he grew up in a big family there

00:39:37with a fairly happy childhood.

00:39:39But his life of crime,

00:39:41he says,

00:39:42started early.

00:39:43From age 11,

00:39:44he was in and out

00:39:46of juvenile detention.

00:39:47By the time you were

00:39:4817, 18 years old,

00:39:51what did crimes look like

00:39:52for you then?

00:39:53Yeah, it was armed robberies.

00:39:56Armed robbery?

00:39:57Yeah.

00:39:57I only snatched the purse

00:39:59one time.

00:40:00I snatched the purse

00:40:01and got caught.

00:40:03Pye served time

00:40:04for that robbery

00:40:05and others.

00:40:07He says when he got out

00:40:08of prison

00:40:09and moved to St. Paul,

00:40:10he stayed on the right side

00:40:12of the law

00:40:12for about 15 years.

00:40:14But by 2009,

00:40:16he was in his early 50s.

00:40:18Times were rough.

00:40:20I lost my apartment.

00:40:22I lost my car.

00:40:24And it was wintertime

00:40:25on the streets

00:40:26and I just went back

00:40:29to what I knew

00:40:30how to do.

00:40:31You know,

00:40:32that was home invasion.

00:40:34So describe to me

00:40:35what that looked like.

00:40:36I would go up to the door

00:40:37and if it had a screen door,

00:40:38I would cut the screen

00:40:39and unlock the latch

00:40:41and close the screen door back

00:40:43and then ring the doorbell.

00:40:45So they would open up

00:40:46the front door

00:40:47thinking that the screen door

00:40:48is locked.

00:40:50And I would just rush in there

00:40:52and tie them up

00:40:53and rob them.

00:40:54Would you ever bring guns in

00:40:56when you did this?

00:40:57No, no, never.

00:40:58Pai was in the middle

00:41:00of serving a 10-and-a-half-year

00:41:01prison sentence

00:41:02when the officers

00:41:03came to visit.

00:41:05Now, this is familiar to you.

00:41:08Yeah, that's me.

00:41:10Is that you?

00:41:11When you saw that sketch

00:41:12back in 2015,

00:41:15when police laid that down

00:41:16in front of you,

00:41:17what did you think?

00:41:18When they put it on the table,

00:41:19I said, that's me.

00:41:21Well, what y'all trying to do?

00:41:23Give me another case

00:41:23or something?

00:41:24But there's no denying

00:41:25that that was your face.

00:41:26No, no doubt.

00:41:27No doubt.

00:41:28No doubt.

00:41:29Them eyes, them eyes.

00:41:31And that's crazy.

00:41:33And your nose is spot on.

00:41:35Yeah, yeah.

00:41:36Did you think that

00:41:37they were talking about

00:41:38another home invasion

00:41:39or something that you

00:41:40had done in the past?

00:41:43I didn't know,

00:41:44but I knew it was

00:41:45something that I hadn't did

00:41:47because they said

00:41:48they said it was

00:41:49a murder involved.

00:41:50And I said, well,

00:41:51I ain't killed nobody.

00:41:53That's exactly what he said.

00:41:55He said, that's me,

00:41:56but I didn't kill anybody.

00:41:57I never killed anybody.

00:41:59But Peterson wasn't convinced.

00:42:01He couldn't ignore the sketch

00:42:03or Pi's criminal history.

00:42:06We started to dig more

00:42:08into Michael

00:42:08and find out more about him.

00:42:09And we discovered

00:42:11a major problem.

00:42:12He was locked up in jail

00:42:14the day that Heidi was killed.

00:42:16He couldn't have done it.

00:42:17He couldn't have done it.

00:42:18And I remember we actually

00:42:20wanted to double check

00:42:21with the jail records

00:42:22because I just couldn't believe

00:42:24that he was really locked up

00:42:27at that time.

00:42:28He really had the perfect alibi.

00:42:30There was nothing

00:42:31we could do about it.

00:42:32He could not have done this.

00:42:33So in an ironic way,

00:42:35the fact that he was in prison

00:42:36in April of 2010

00:42:40possibly saved his life.

00:42:41Absolutely.

00:42:42Absolutely it did.

00:42:43And kept him from being blamed

00:42:45or wrongly accused

00:42:47or wrongly charged

00:42:49for this crime.

00:42:50Do you think about

00:42:50what would have happened

00:42:51if you were not in prison

00:42:54when that murder happened?

00:42:56Yeah, yeah.

00:42:56I'd have been locked up

00:42:58and everybody would be talking about,

00:43:00you know Mike did that.

00:43:02So, yeah.

00:43:02You think you'd still

00:43:03be in prison today?

00:43:04Yeah, and wouldn't get out.

00:43:05I'd probably be in there

00:43:06the rest of my life.

00:43:08Instead, when Michael Pye

00:43:10walked out of prison

00:43:11in 2017,

00:43:13he never looked back.

00:43:14He says he looked to God,

00:43:16joining a Christian ministry

00:43:18in St. Paul

00:43:19and turning his life around.

00:43:21Do you feel like

00:43:22a whole new person?

00:43:23Oh, I am a new person.

00:43:24Yeah.

00:43:25Peterson felt terrible

00:43:27that the wrong guy

00:43:28almost took the fall.

00:43:30And the whole Michael Pye episode

00:43:32was a tough setback

00:43:33for his investigation.

00:43:34It was really disappointing.

00:43:37It was really sad.

00:43:38But it did lead

00:43:40to a sort of breakthrough

00:43:41as he started wondering

00:43:43more and more

00:43:44about the person

00:43:45who led them to Michael Pye

00:43:47in the first place.

00:43:48Why does somebody

00:43:49release a sketch

00:43:51that looks identical

00:43:53to somebody committing crimes

00:43:54in the community?

00:43:55Why would you do that

00:43:56or where would you get

00:43:57that sketch from?

00:43:58So that kind of opened up

00:44:00a whole new door.

00:44:01Your mind shifted to Nick?

00:44:02Correct.

00:44:19Sergeant Jake Peterson

00:44:20was at his wit's end.

00:44:22He had just seen

00:44:23his best lead

00:44:24in Heidi's murder case

00:44:26fall apart.

00:44:27I know that the guy

00:44:28in the sketch

00:44:29was locked up

00:44:30at the time of this.

00:44:32He wasn't involved

00:44:33in this crime in any way.

00:44:34Peterson's thoughts

00:44:35turned to Nick.

00:44:37You released a sketch

00:44:39of a innocent black man

00:44:41who was locked up

00:44:42at the time

00:44:43of this killing.

00:44:46Nick still wasn't talking,

00:44:48but Peterson learned

00:44:49something interesting.

00:44:51It turned out

00:44:51in the months

00:44:52before Heidi's death,

00:44:54Pye's crimes

00:44:54had been in the news.

00:44:56The investigator suspected

00:44:57that Nick saw those stories

00:44:59and Pye's mugshots

00:45:01and hatched a plan

00:45:02to frame Pye.

00:45:03Did you feel that Nick

00:45:05had led you down

00:45:06this five-year path

00:45:08to nowhere?

00:45:10I think that's what

00:45:11we all thought

00:45:12is we were chasing

00:45:13a ghost that didn't exist.

00:45:15And so now our efforts

00:45:17need to change

00:45:18and go a different direction.

00:45:20But as Peterson

00:45:21shifted his focus to Nick,

00:45:23he found himself

00:45:24hitting the same roadblocks.

00:45:26We had all the physical evidence

00:45:28that we were always

00:45:29going to have.

00:45:31We had no contact

00:45:32with Nick.

00:45:33We had no contact

00:45:34with his family.

00:45:35And we were still

00:45:36left holding nothing.

00:45:40Peterson worked on the case

00:45:42for four more years

00:45:43until he was promoted

00:45:44out of the homicide unit

00:45:46to commander.

00:45:47A new lead investigator

00:45:48was brought in.

00:45:51What I hoped to do

00:45:52was bring it to a conclusion.

00:45:54That was Sergeant

00:45:56Nicky Sipes.

00:45:57You are the fourth detective

00:45:59to take this case.

00:46:00Correct.

00:46:01Three others

00:46:01had been working this

00:46:02for almost a decade.

00:46:04Did you think

00:46:05that you could solve this case?

00:46:06To be honest,

00:46:07I always thought

00:46:08the case was solved.

00:46:09So you thought

00:46:10you already knew

00:46:10who did it?

00:46:11I believed I did.

00:46:12Who?

00:46:13I believe Nick Furkis

00:46:14killed his wife.

00:46:16She wasn't alone.

00:46:18Both Gray and Peterson

00:46:19thought the same thing.

00:46:21They just hadn't been able

00:46:23to prove it.

00:46:23You really felt

00:46:24a personal connection

00:46:25to this case.

00:46:27I did.

00:46:28I really had a problem

00:46:29with the idea

00:46:30that there was no justice

00:46:32in this case

00:46:33and that someone

00:46:33could do this

00:46:35and just be walking around

00:46:37and living their life.

00:46:38It became very important

00:46:40just for the sake

00:46:42of giving the family

00:46:43a sense of closure.

00:46:46When Sergeant Sipes

00:46:47went to speak

00:46:48with Heidi's family,

00:46:49they told her

00:46:50they'd had questions

00:46:51about Nick

00:46:51from the beginning.

00:46:53I think what we've been taught

00:46:55our whole lives

00:46:56of thinking the best

00:46:57of people,

00:46:58we didn't want it

00:46:58to be Nick.

00:46:59But you already

00:47:00had your suspicions.

00:47:01We had our suspicions.

00:47:03And Heidi's family

00:47:04had some advice

00:47:05for the investigator.

00:47:06Follow the money

00:47:08or the lack of it.

00:47:10Remember,

00:47:10when Nick spoke to police,

00:47:12he told them

00:47:13about the financial problems

00:47:14he and Heidi were having.

00:47:16It's a hard place for us.

00:47:17We foreclosed on our house.

00:47:19Not only that,

00:47:20they were due to be evicted

00:47:22at 12 noon

00:47:23the day after Heidi's murder.

00:47:26Nick told police

00:47:27he and Heidi were embarrassed

00:47:28and kept the news

00:47:30from their loved ones.

00:47:31None of our parents

00:47:32are none of our friends.

00:47:33No one knows about this

00:47:34except you and Heidi.

00:47:35And Heidi.

00:47:36That's right.

00:47:37Heidi's family

00:47:38told Sergeant Sipes

00:47:39that when they learned

00:47:40about the foreclosure

00:47:41after Heidi's death,

00:47:43it was a huge red flag.

00:47:46Super shocking.

00:47:48When you heard that,

00:47:49did that change

00:47:50your thoughts of Nick?

00:47:53Yes.

00:47:54That wouldn't be something

00:47:55that she would be able

00:47:56to keep to herself.

00:47:58She would have told you,

00:47:59her parents,

00:48:00family,

00:48:02somebody.

00:48:03Correct.

00:48:04That was a line

00:48:04in the sand moment

00:48:05for sure.

00:48:06A line in the sand.

00:48:07Mm-hmm.

00:48:08What's more,

00:48:09they say if she knew

00:48:10about the eviction

00:48:11coming the next day,

00:48:13Heidi, the planner,

00:48:14would have packed

00:48:15everything up

00:48:16to move out.

00:48:16But nothing was packed.

00:48:18All their clothes

00:48:19were still in the closet.

00:48:22Sipes says

00:48:23she went through

00:48:23Heidi's texts

00:48:24and emails to Nick

00:48:26in the days

00:48:26before the murder.

00:48:28When you examine

00:48:29that and you see

00:48:31that between a husband

00:48:33and a wife

00:48:34who are losing their home,

00:48:35that there is no communication

00:48:37about moving.

00:48:39Moving is not something

00:48:40you do on a whim.

00:48:41Right.

00:48:41Right?

00:48:41So we were looking

00:48:42for even these tiniest

00:48:43little of clues

00:48:44to say,

00:48:45well, did she know

00:48:46something was up?

00:48:47And we just couldn't

00:48:49find them.

00:48:49What we could see

00:48:51is that she had knowledge.

00:48:53There was something wrong

00:48:55financially

00:48:55with their bank account.

00:48:57We could see that.

00:48:59But we could also see her

00:49:01asking him to take care of it

00:49:03over and over.

00:49:05And what did that tell you

00:49:06about their relationship,

00:49:08about the way

00:49:08that they interacted?

00:49:10It told me everything

00:49:11I needed to know

00:49:11in the fact that

00:49:12Nick was handling

00:49:13the finances.

00:49:14He was telling Heidi

00:49:15what he wanted her to know.

00:49:16And she believed him.

00:49:17He was her husband.

00:49:19They were young.

00:49:20They were in love.

00:49:20She had no reason

00:49:21to doubt him.

00:49:22No reason to doubt him.

00:49:23Once you got all

00:49:23of that information,

00:49:24what did that tell you?

00:49:26How did that impact

00:49:26your investigation?

00:49:27It confirmed to me

00:49:28that Heidi did not know

00:49:29about the mortgage

00:49:30and the foreclosure

00:49:31and the eviction.

00:49:32And this just pokes holes

00:49:33in Nick's story.

00:49:35Correct.

00:49:36Sipes was just getting started.

00:49:39And then in 2020,

00:49:41barely a year after she took

00:49:43on the case,

00:49:44the investigator heard

00:49:45some big news.

00:49:46Nick and his second wife,

00:49:48Rachel, had recently divorced.

00:49:51What do you decide to do?

00:49:53Oh, I want to talk to Rachel.

00:49:55Immediately.

00:49:55I want to do that

00:49:56more than breathe.

00:49:57Yes.

00:49:58Talk to her.

00:49:58Hear what she had to say.

00:50:00Well, now that I know

00:50:00that they're divorced,

00:50:02you know, she's going

00:50:02to be my best person

00:50:04to get some insight

00:50:05into Nick and who he has

00:50:06been for the last 10 years.

00:50:10Still, Sipes didn't know

00:50:11if Rachel would even

00:50:12give her the time of day.

00:50:14But the investigator

00:50:15went by her home,

00:50:17left a business card,

00:50:18and to Sipes' surprise,

00:50:20Rachel called

00:50:21and agreed to a meeting.

00:50:24So she came in

00:50:25in the evening

00:50:26and we spent

00:50:27a couple hours talking.

00:50:29Sounded like she had

00:50:29a story to tell.

00:50:30Yeah, right.

00:50:31And she tells me this story.

00:50:33You know,

00:50:34I'm blown away now.

00:50:48Sergeant Nicky Sipes

00:50:49had finally scored

00:50:50a key interview

00:50:52that could possibly

00:50:53jumpstart her investigation

00:50:54into Heidi's murder.

00:50:56Nick Ferkus' ex-wife,

00:50:59Rachel, was talking.

00:51:00Rachel is a,

00:51:01she's a truth teller.

00:51:02I mean,

00:51:03she will tell you

00:51:03that herself.

00:51:04She is a truth teller.

00:51:05I was pretty straightforward

00:51:06about saying,

00:51:09listen,

00:51:10I'm not a bitter ex-wife

00:51:11to sit here

00:51:12and tell you

00:51:12how I feel about it.

00:51:14I have a lot of feelings

00:51:15about it.

00:51:15I have my own experiences.

00:51:18Rachel told the investigator

00:51:20about falling in love

00:51:21with Nick,

00:51:22marrying him,

00:51:23and raising three kids,

00:51:24all in the aftermath

00:51:26of Heidi's murder.

00:51:28For years,

00:51:29Rachel had been

00:51:29Nick's biggest defender

00:51:31as the cloud of suspicion

00:51:33lingered over him.

00:51:36But as time went on,

00:51:37Rachel says,

00:51:38she started to notice

00:51:39something about Nick.

00:51:41I started to see

00:51:42lying consistently happen.

00:51:45She says at first,

00:51:47they were small lies,

00:51:48like when Nick would say

00:51:50he ate dinner at home,

00:51:51but she found fast food

00:51:52containers in his car.

00:51:54It just seemed

00:51:56so bizarre to me.

00:51:57The times I confronted him

00:51:58were probably

00:52:02around 15 to 20 times.

00:52:04Of those white lies?

00:52:05Of the small things.

00:52:06And there were times

00:52:07where I knew he was lying

00:52:08and I was just like,

00:52:09I can't prove it.

00:52:10There's nothing I can do.

00:52:11How did that make you feel?

00:52:13Insecure?

00:52:13You know,

00:52:14like questioning

00:52:16who you're married to.

00:52:17And it sounds dramatic,

00:52:19but to me,

00:52:21I think being trustworthy

00:52:22is a huge piece

00:52:23in any marriage.

00:52:24That's the father of your kids

00:52:26that, you know,

00:52:27that you've trusted

00:52:28with your stuff.

00:52:29You want to be able

00:52:30to trust that person.

00:52:31And I was beginning

00:52:33to question that.

00:52:34That trust for Nick

00:52:35was faltering.

00:52:37Yeah.

00:52:38Rachel says many of Nick's

00:52:40little lies

00:52:40had to do with money.

00:52:42When they first got married,

00:52:44Nick told her

00:52:45he'd had financial problems

00:52:46in the past,

00:52:47but assured her

00:52:48he'd gotten out of debt.

00:52:50You thought,

00:52:51hey, he's come through it.

00:52:52He's kind of beat

00:52:53that part of his past now.

00:52:55He's better now.

00:52:56Yeah.

00:52:56I thought that.

00:52:59But now,

00:53:00she was starting to wonder.

00:53:03And so I started

00:53:04to do my own investigating.

00:53:06Like,

00:53:06what else could there be

00:53:07if there's so many

00:53:08of these lies?

00:53:10What else could there be?

00:53:11And I would get

00:53:11collection calls

00:53:13and I would confront him

00:53:14about those

00:53:15and he would, you know,

00:53:16lie about those.

00:53:16Like financial collection.

00:53:17Yeah.

00:53:18That we were in collections

00:53:19and he would,

00:53:20I remember,

00:53:22hearing one of his excuses

00:53:24and it was somebody

00:53:25else's fault.

00:53:25It was always

00:53:26somebody else's fault.

00:53:27So it was, you know,

00:53:29I tried to call them

00:53:30but they wouldn't call back.

00:53:32And if anybody's been

00:53:34in collections,

00:53:34you know that

00:53:35you don't have a hard time

00:53:36getting a hold of them

00:53:36because they will get

00:53:37a hold of you

00:53:38every single day

00:53:39until you pay

00:53:40because that's how it works.

00:53:41And so that seemed

00:53:42off to me.

00:53:44Rachel says she kept

00:53:46investigating,

00:53:47trying to find out

00:53:48what else Nick

00:53:49might have been hiding

00:53:50and found a series

00:53:51of unpaid bills

00:53:52that Nick had tucked away.

00:53:54Then came the big discovery.

00:53:57I found a letter

00:53:59in his top drawer

00:54:01that said

00:54:03that we didn't pay

00:54:04our property taxes

00:54:04and that our house

00:54:05was going to be foreclosed on

00:54:06in 2020

00:54:07if we didn't pay them.

00:54:08What did you think

00:54:09when you saw that

00:54:10that your house

00:54:11was facing foreclosure?

00:54:12I was terrified

00:54:13because I honestly,

00:54:15I'm naive

00:54:16to how any of that works

00:54:17because I've,

00:54:18I literally had never

00:54:20had a credit card

00:54:20in my life.

00:54:21I only used the money

00:54:22that I've earned

00:54:24and I didn't do

00:54:25the house process.

00:54:26I don't know

00:54:26a lot of that stuff

00:54:27but I knew foreclosure

00:54:28isn't good

00:54:29and I knew that

00:54:29not paying your bills

00:54:30isn't good.

00:54:31As Sergeant Sipes

00:54:33listened to Rachel,

00:54:34she began piecing

00:54:35it all together.

00:54:36When you look

00:54:37at this pattern

00:54:38of, you know,

00:54:38financial issues,

00:54:40lies,

00:54:41does this shed

00:54:41new light

00:54:42on your investigation

00:54:43into Heidi's death?

00:54:44Well, absolutely.

00:54:46It was just

00:54:47such a road map

00:54:48to us

00:54:49that we were

00:54:49on the right track,

00:54:50right?

00:54:51Like he's done,

00:54:51I mean, to me,

00:54:52I probably had

00:54:53almost as big

00:54:54of an epiphany

00:54:55as she did, right?

00:54:56When she finds it,

00:54:57I'm like,

00:54:57oh my gosh,

00:54:58he did this

00:54:58a second time?

00:55:01Like now we have

00:55:01a pattern.

00:55:02This wasn't just

00:55:03something that happened.

00:55:04Heidi,

00:55:05it just reaffirms

00:55:06everything to me

00:55:07that I believe

00:55:08to be true

00:55:08up until then.

00:55:09That he did this

00:55:11on his own

00:55:11to Heidi

00:55:12that Heidi didn't know

00:55:13because now he's

00:55:14done it on his own

00:55:15to Rachel

00:55:15and Rachel didn't know.

00:55:17Rachel told the

00:55:18investigator she could

00:55:19see the similarities

00:55:20too.

00:55:21Knowing what had

00:55:22happened to Heidi,

00:55:23Rachel was in a panic.

00:55:26I was stressed.

00:55:27I couldn't believe

00:55:28that was what

00:55:30it came to

00:55:32because I knew

00:55:33about, you know,

00:55:35his finances

00:55:36with Heidi

00:55:37and I don't

00:55:39believe she knew

00:55:41and to me

00:55:42this just showed

00:55:44all of that.

00:55:46She's not here

00:55:47anymore

00:55:47and I'm sitting

00:55:48here dealing

00:55:49with the same

00:55:49things or similar

00:55:51things that she did

00:55:53and now what?

00:55:54I've got three kids.

00:55:56I mean,

00:55:57it was stressful.

00:55:58It was not

00:55:59a fun discovery.

00:56:00Did you start

00:56:00to feel scared

00:56:02for your safety?

00:56:03Um, I did.

00:56:05I, there's so many

00:56:06thoughts in my head.

00:56:07The things that,

00:56:08that reel in your mind

00:56:10when you discover

00:56:11something like that.

00:56:12It was a whirlwind.

00:56:14A whirlwind,

00:56:15she says,

00:56:16that took her

00:56:17to a dark place.

00:56:19I'm questioning

00:56:20whether he killed

00:56:20somebody or not

00:56:21and I personally

00:56:23can't live

00:56:24knowing that

00:56:25I'm questioning that.

00:56:27Rachel told Sipes

00:56:28that after she found

00:56:29those documents,

00:56:30she took the kids

00:56:31and left their home

00:56:32to stay with her sister.

00:56:34But there was something

00:56:35Rachel had not told Sipes.

00:56:38She had documented

00:56:39Nick's lies

00:56:40so friends and family

00:56:42would believe her.

00:56:43I didn't want to be

00:56:44the victim

00:56:46of something anymore.

00:56:49Rachel had confronted

00:56:50Nick and secretly

00:56:52recorded him.

00:56:53Why didn't you tell me that?

00:56:55You could tell you that.

00:56:56I've never heard that

00:56:57once in my life.

00:56:58And for investigators,

00:57:00those recordings

00:57:01would be a gold mine.

00:57:17Rachel Ferkus' story

00:57:19and its similarity

00:57:20to Heidi's

00:57:21was riveting

00:57:22to Sergeant Sipes.

00:57:23But the investigator

00:57:25needed more

00:57:26to arrest Nick.

00:57:27So Sipes

00:57:29turned to the FBI

00:57:30to help her figure out

00:57:32exactly what happened

00:57:33inside the house

00:57:34that Sunday morning.

00:57:36The FBI was

00:57:37beyond helpful

00:57:39with the resources

00:57:40that we would have

00:57:41not had access

00:57:41to otherwise.

00:57:42First,

00:57:43FBI agents

00:57:44focused on

00:57:45Heidi's 911 call.

00:57:47State Patrol 911.

00:57:49They enhanced the audio

00:57:50and the new audio

00:57:52told a different story.

00:57:54Someone's trying to

00:57:55break into my house.

00:57:55There's Heidi's

00:57:56panicked voice.

00:57:57Then,

00:57:58the sound of a gunshot

00:58:00and a scream.

00:58:02But in the background,

00:58:04nothing.

00:58:06Sipes says

00:58:07that told her

00:58:08everything.

00:58:09Where is the struggle

00:58:11between him

00:58:11and this intruder?

00:58:13There's no Heidi run.

00:58:15There's no,

00:58:16no,

00:58:17get out of my house.

00:58:18There's nothing

00:58:19to precipitate

00:58:19that shotgun blast.

00:58:21And that to me

00:58:22is more indicative

00:58:22of Nick Ferkus

00:58:24stepping out

00:58:25behind his wife,

00:58:27raising the shotgun

00:58:27and shooting her.

00:58:30The investigator's

00:58:31suspicion grew

00:58:32when she used

00:58:33a scale model

00:58:33created by the FBI

00:58:35to take a closer look

00:58:37at the story

00:58:38Nick told police.

00:58:39So this figure

00:58:41represents Heidi,

00:58:42the light blue,

00:58:43the dark blue

00:58:43represents Nick

00:58:44and then the gray

00:58:45represents the

00:58:46alleged intruder.

00:58:47And then this is

00:58:49approximately where

00:58:49he and the intruder

00:58:50struggled.

00:58:50Right in front

00:58:51of the table.

00:58:52Correct.

00:58:52In the photos

00:58:53you're able to see

00:58:54that there were

00:58:54a lot of items

00:58:55on this table

00:58:56to include a set

00:58:57of candlesticks,

00:58:58a stainless steel

00:58:59water bottle,

00:59:00even a receipt

00:59:01and none of that

00:59:02was disturbed.

00:59:03I actually was

00:59:04brought to the home

00:59:05just to see it myself.

00:59:07Ramsey County

00:59:08Prosecutor

00:59:09Elizabeth Lamin.

00:59:10And when you

00:59:10step in

00:59:11you do not

00:59:12appreciate

00:59:13how tiny

00:59:14that space is

00:59:15and how it would

00:59:16have been impossible

00:59:17to have a life

00:59:18and death struggle

00:59:19with a shotgun

00:59:20in that table

00:59:21that's in that

00:59:22entryway

00:59:23not be knocked over.

00:59:25For investigators,

00:59:27the FBI's analysis

00:59:28of the crime

00:59:29was the missing piece

00:59:30in a decade-long puzzle.

00:59:32It proved to them

00:59:34once and for all

00:59:35there was no intruder.

00:59:38Finally,

00:59:39the prosecutor

00:59:39was ready to charge

00:59:40Nick with

00:59:42intentionally

00:59:42killing Heidi.

00:59:44I said we cannot

00:59:45wait any longer.

00:59:46We got to get

00:59:47it together.

00:59:47We have to charge

00:59:48immediately.

00:59:49This man cannot

00:59:50be on the street

00:59:50anymore.

00:59:52On May 19, 2021,

00:59:55just before dawn,

00:59:56a SWAT team

00:59:57moved in

00:59:58and arrested

00:59:59Nick Furkus

01:00:00for murder.

01:00:02But so many years

01:00:03after Heidi was killed,

01:00:04the case

01:00:05wasn't a slam dunk.

01:00:07What were some

01:00:08of the weaknesses?

01:00:09One is

01:00:10the question

01:00:10everyone asks, right?

01:00:12What took so long?

01:00:14So just the sheer

01:00:15passage of time

01:00:16was an obstacle.

01:00:17Exactly.

01:00:18People who had

01:00:19just moved on

01:00:19weren't available

01:00:20to come testify.

01:00:22For a variety

01:00:22of reasons, yes.

01:00:24Then, six months

01:00:25later, the case

01:00:26got a massive boost

01:00:28when Rachel Furkus

01:00:29called Sergeant Sipes

01:00:31to tell her something

01:00:32she hadn't told

01:00:33her before.

01:00:34When she called

01:00:35you that day,

01:00:35what did she tell you?

01:00:36She said,

01:00:37I have these recordings

01:00:38that I think you

01:00:39should hear.

01:00:40And I was like,

01:00:41okay, how quickly

01:00:41can you get them

01:00:42to me?

01:00:43I want to believe

01:00:44you.

01:00:45I really do.

01:00:46It turned out

01:00:46in 2018,

01:00:48after Rachel left

01:00:49Nick, she decided

01:00:50to confront him

01:00:51about their finances,

01:00:53Nick's lies,

01:00:54and Heidi's murder.

01:00:55This is really hard.

01:00:57And record it all.

01:00:59Why was it so

01:01:00important for you

01:01:01to have recordings

01:01:02of these conversations?

01:01:04I didn't know

01:01:05how he would respond.

01:01:07And if there was

01:01:08going to be a confession,

01:01:09then I would have it.

01:01:10Did you feel

01:01:11that you could be

01:01:13putting yourself

01:01:14at risk

01:01:15by confronting him?

01:01:17I think before

01:01:18the conversations I did,

01:01:19but going into them,

01:01:21there was something

01:01:22in me

01:01:22that was so determined

01:01:24to be strong

01:01:26for myself for once

01:01:28that I wasn't scared

01:01:30in the moment.

01:01:31Did you struggle

01:01:31with whether or not

01:01:33to turn over

01:01:34those recordings?

01:01:35The recordings

01:01:35were just pieces

01:01:37of my story

01:01:39that I was handing over.

01:01:40It wasn't Heidi's story.

01:01:42It was my story.

01:01:43And it looked similar.

01:01:46You made choices

01:01:47to lead me to this,

01:01:49like to make me question.

01:01:51I feel like you had

01:01:52to have known

01:01:53that the choices

01:01:54you were making

01:01:55about with your money

01:01:56would have caught up

01:01:58with you.

01:01:58I am, yeah, okay.

01:02:03Keep going.

01:02:04She started

01:02:05with the unpaid bills

01:02:07at home.

01:02:08Nick fessed up.

01:02:09He deceived her.

01:02:11I never paid

01:02:13our 2016 property

01:02:14to make sense

01:02:14because we were

01:02:15in that week

01:02:17struggling really hard.

01:02:20And I didn't have

01:02:21the guts to talk

01:02:22to anybody about it.

01:02:23And I ignored it.

01:02:25So Rachel wondered,

01:02:27had Nick also lied

01:02:28back in 2010

01:02:29about his and Heidi's

01:02:31finances

01:02:32and losing their home?

01:02:34I feel like

01:02:35you haven't given me

01:02:36the details

01:02:37that are, like, important.

01:02:39That's such a fuzzy,

01:02:41fuzzy, fuzzy, fuzzy time

01:02:43for me.

01:02:43I don't have vivid memories

01:02:46from back then.

01:02:47I don't.

01:02:48See, that's what

01:02:49doesn't make sense

01:02:50because you did.

01:02:51When you talked about it,

01:02:52it was, like, detailed

01:02:54of what happened.

01:02:56And so that's,

01:02:56you keep saying that,

01:02:57but that's not true.

01:02:58Her parents didn't know

01:03:01and her friends didn't,

01:03:02like, nobody knew.

01:03:03That's just so bizarre

01:03:05to me.

01:03:06Heidi and I decided

01:03:07together

01:03:07that we would figure

01:03:08this out together

01:03:11because for two reasons.

01:03:12One, we thought we could

01:03:15and the other reason

01:03:16is because we were

01:03:17embarrassed.

01:03:19That's when Rachel

01:03:20got to the heart of it.

01:03:22I do not want

01:03:23to think these things.

01:03:24I don't.

01:03:26But that your actions

01:03:27have caused me

01:03:28to just distrust

01:03:29you completely

01:03:30makes me think

01:03:32that I could murder

01:03:33my wife.

01:03:34that you could lie

01:03:35about something.

01:03:36That I could murder

01:03:37my wife.

01:03:37Yes.

01:03:39For all.

01:03:44There was a lot

01:03:44of silence

01:03:46because what I wanted

01:03:47was, okay,

01:03:48if I'm going to say

01:03:48this to you,

01:03:49try and prove me wrong.

01:03:51Even if you have,

01:03:52you know, bitterness

01:03:53or resentment

01:03:54with somebody,

01:03:54you don't want to

01:03:55believe they killed

01:03:55somebody.

01:03:56So I wanted him

01:03:57to convince me

01:03:59otherwise,

01:04:00but it just wasn't

01:04:01happening.

01:04:01I feel like you're

01:04:02so shocked for me

01:04:03thinking this,

01:04:05but yet you made

01:04:07choices to lead me

01:04:08to this.

01:04:10Intellectually,

01:04:10I understand what

01:04:11you are saying.

01:04:13I don't, I don't know.

01:04:16There are a hundred

01:04:17things going through

01:04:18my mind right now.

01:04:20Are you wanting

01:04:21to say more?

01:04:21I don't know.

01:04:24I probably need to go home.

01:04:26When you listen to

01:04:27the totality of those

01:04:28recordings, what is it

01:04:30that really kind of

01:04:31was pivotal in this?

01:04:33It was Nick's failure

01:04:35to deny killing Heidi.

01:04:37He's evasive.

01:04:38What he does is,

01:04:39you know,

01:04:39I'm not sure about Heidi.

01:04:41You think I killed her?

01:04:42He doesn't say

01:04:43I didn't kill her.

01:04:43He basically just repeats

01:04:44back to her the things

01:04:45she says to him.

01:04:47Armed with Rachel's

01:04:49recordings,

01:04:49the prosecutor was

01:04:50confident she could

01:04:51convict Nick Fergus

01:04:53of murder.

01:04:55But Nick's defense team

01:04:56was ready,

01:04:57with a blow that

01:04:58threatened the

01:04:59prosecution's case.

01:05:13For 12 years,

01:05:15Nick Fergus insisted

01:05:16he'd had nothing to do

01:05:17with murdering

01:05:18his wife, Heidi.

01:05:20As his case

01:05:21headed to trial,

01:05:22he faced life

01:05:23behind bars

01:05:24if convicted.

01:05:25Show of hands,

01:05:26going into the trial,

01:05:27who believed that Nick

01:05:28was going to be

01:05:28exonerated?

01:05:29I did.

01:05:31Nick's friend,

01:05:32Emily.

01:05:33In order to believe

01:05:34that Nick did this,

01:05:35you have to believe

01:05:37that a good man

01:05:39with no history

01:05:40of violence

01:05:41killed the woman

01:05:42who he loved

01:05:43more than anything

01:05:44for no reason at all.

01:05:47And that's what

01:05:48Nick's lawyer,

01:05:48Joe Friedberg,

01:05:50wanted a jury to see.

01:05:51He recruited

01:05:52defense attorney

01:05:53Robert Richmond,

01:05:53and together,

01:05:54they landed

01:05:55their first punch.

01:05:56In a pre-trial hearing,

01:05:59they argued Rachel's

01:06:00whole story about Nick

01:06:01and her recordings

01:06:02didn't prove

01:06:04that he murdered Heidi

01:06:05and were too prejudicial.

01:06:07The judge agreed

01:06:09and ruled Rachel

01:06:10could not testify.

01:06:12How big was that

01:06:14for you?

01:06:14It was very important

01:06:16because it really had

01:06:18nothing to do

01:06:19with this case.

01:06:22Did you feel like

01:06:23you were being silenced?

01:06:25Yes, 100%,

01:06:26because that's what

01:06:26I knew they wanted.

01:06:27They didn't want my testimony

01:06:28in that trial.

01:06:30It didn't feel good.

01:06:31On top of that,

01:06:33the judge ruled

01:06:34Michael Pye's story

01:06:35and that sketch

01:06:36were also inadmissible.

01:06:40In January 2023,

01:06:42Nick Ferkus

01:06:43went on trial.

01:06:45Prosecutors Rachel Crocker

01:06:47and Elizabeth Lamin

01:06:48laid out their case.

01:06:49They argued

01:06:50Nick killed Heidi,

01:06:52shot himself,

01:06:53and blamed the whole thing

01:06:54on a fictional intruder.

01:06:57We were trying

01:06:58to disprove

01:06:59Nicholas's story

01:07:00about this

01:07:01alleged intruder.

01:07:03He pushes it

01:07:04up against my chest

01:07:05and the gun went off.

01:07:07One of the things

01:07:08that was a crucial

01:07:09piece of evidence

01:07:10was your initial

01:07:11conversation with him.

01:07:12It was one of the

01:07:13foundations to build

01:07:15the rest of the case

01:07:16and showing that

01:07:17obviously things

01:07:18could not have taken place

01:07:19the way Nick told me

01:07:20back in 2010.

01:07:22Remember,

01:07:22Nick told police

01:07:23he was awakened

01:07:24by the sound

01:07:25of an intruder

01:07:26pushing at the front door.

01:07:28Prosecutors said

01:07:29that wasn't possible

01:07:30and played a test

01:07:31conducted back in 2010.

01:07:34When Sergeant Gray

01:07:35tried that door,

01:07:36officers in the

01:07:37upstairs bedroom

01:07:38couldn't hear a sound.

01:07:40You had doubts

01:07:41about that

01:07:41from the beginning.

01:07:42Yes.

01:07:43Yes, we did.

01:07:44Nick's story

01:07:45about a struggle

01:07:46in the entryway

01:07:47likewise didn't make sense

01:07:49said the prosecution

01:07:50and they wheeled out

01:07:51that scale model

01:07:52created by the FBI.

01:07:55Essentially,

01:07:56you wanted to transport

01:07:56the jury

01:07:57into that house.

01:07:58Yeah.

01:07:59I actually made a motion

01:08:00to physically transport them

01:08:01but that wasn't going.

01:08:02They couldn't take

01:08:03a field trip to the house.

01:08:04But this was

01:08:04the next best thing

01:08:05for them to feel this space.

01:08:06It wasn't just

01:08:08the undisturbed items

01:08:09on the table

01:08:10or that there was

01:08:11no sound of a struggle

01:08:12in Heidi's 911 call.

01:08:15Someone's trying

01:08:15to break into my home.

01:08:16An FBI analysis

01:08:18showed the shot

01:08:19that killed Heidi

01:08:20was fired

01:08:20from shoulder height.

01:08:22And it was

01:08:23at the same height

01:08:24and the same angle

01:08:25as if you were actually

01:08:26standing and shooting

01:08:28a target.

01:08:28It didn't indicate

01:08:29somebody who was struggling.

01:08:31It didn't indicate

01:08:32a gun that was going

01:08:32up and down

01:08:33and being tussled over.

01:08:34No.

01:08:35That fed the prosecution's

01:08:37broader theory

01:08:38that Nick planned

01:08:39to kill Heidi.

01:08:40We think it's possible

01:08:42that maybe Nick Furcus

01:08:43did wake Heidi up,

01:08:45tell her about

01:08:46this alleged intruder,

01:08:48but that he was then

01:08:49downstairs waiting for her.

01:08:52That he didn't actually

01:08:53walk down with her

01:08:54at the same time.

01:08:55That he was surprised

01:08:56when she walked

01:08:57down the stairs

01:08:58and he found her

01:08:59on the phone.

01:09:00He then became aware

01:09:02she was talking

01:09:03to someone

01:09:03and maybe didn't

01:09:04know who.

01:09:06They argued

01:09:06he shot her

01:09:07while she was still

01:09:08on the line.

01:09:10Then picked up

01:09:11her phone

01:09:12and scrolled through it

01:09:13to see who she'd

01:09:14been talking to.

01:09:15The evidence does show

01:09:16that he looked at

01:09:19the previously dialed

01:09:20numbers on her phone.

01:09:22The prosecutor said

01:09:24Nick then shot himself

01:09:26and made his own

01:09:27frantic call to 911.

01:09:31His hysteria said

01:09:32prosecutors was all

01:09:34an act.

01:09:35Just hours later

01:09:36in his police interview,

01:09:37he was calm,

01:09:39almost nonchalant.

01:09:40And when the jury

01:09:41was reacting

01:09:42to those moments,

01:09:44it really confirmed

01:09:45for us that they

01:09:47were getting it

01:09:48and that they were

01:09:49starting to doubt

01:09:50Nick Furcus.

01:09:51Krista also testified

01:09:52about Nick's deceit,

01:09:54saying he duped Heidi

01:09:55into believing

01:09:56they had a bright future.

01:09:58She was making plans,

01:09:59thinking that they

01:10:00still owned a home.

01:10:01She didn't mention

01:10:02anything about

01:10:03a foreclosure.

01:10:04Their home had already

01:10:05been foreclosed upon.

01:10:06Right.

01:10:07I don't think

01:10:07she had any idea.

01:10:09So much of this case

01:10:10comes down to

01:10:11what did Heidi know

01:10:12and what did she not know?

01:10:14Right.

01:10:15And you had to

01:10:15comb through

01:10:16every piece of paper,

01:10:18every file,

01:10:19anything that could

01:10:19have possibly given her

01:10:20any indication

01:10:22of what was going on.

01:10:23Yes.

01:10:24They said the fact

01:10:26that Heidi didn't sign

01:10:27any foreclosure documents,

01:10:29didn't show up

01:10:30for an eviction hearing,

01:10:31and didn't tell her

01:10:32family and friends

01:10:33was proof she had no idea,

01:10:36along with the emails

01:10:37and texts between Heidi

01:10:39and Nick that made

01:10:40no mention of moving

01:10:41out of their home.

01:10:43Not about finding

01:10:44a storage unit.

01:10:45Not about where

01:10:46are we going to sleep

01:10:46tomorrow.

01:10:47Not about, hey, honey,

01:10:48can you pick up

01:10:49some packaging tape

01:10:50on the way home from work?

01:10:52The prosecutor said

01:10:53Nick's lies were

01:10:55about to be exposed,

01:10:56and that became

01:10:57his motive for murder.

01:10:59Rather than face humiliation,

01:11:02he killed his wife,

01:11:03shot himself,

01:11:04and blamed an intruder,

01:11:06all to appear

01:11:08as if he were a victim.

01:11:10You're asking a jury

01:11:11to believe that this man,

01:11:14who by all accounts

01:11:16is an upstanding member

01:11:17of the church,

01:11:18a devoted husband,

01:11:19would rather shoot

01:11:20and kill his wife

01:11:21in cold blood

01:11:23than face shame.

01:11:26That's a pretty tall hill

01:11:28to climb.

01:11:28I mean, that was a concern.

01:11:30This isn't about

01:11:31insurance money.

01:11:32This isn't about

01:11:33another lover.

01:11:34At the end,

01:11:35it comes down

01:11:35to embarrassment.

01:11:36It certainly involves

01:11:37embarrassment,

01:11:38but I think that

01:11:39it really comes down

01:11:40down to just that exposure

01:11:43of who Nick Verkus

01:11:46really was.

01:11:47He presents himself

01:11:48as this incredibly,

01:11:50you know,

01:11:51competent,

01:11:52calm,

01:11:53moral,

01:11:54supportive,

01:11:55loving husband,

01:11:55but in fact,

01:11:57he's a narcissist,

01:11:58a liar,

01:11:59you know,

01:12:00someone who's full

01:12:00of shame and guilt.

01:12:03After 10 days

01:12:04of testimony,

01:12:05the prosecution rested.

01:12:07Now it was time

01:12:08for the defense.

01:12:09What story

01:12:10were you trying

01:12:11to tell to the jury?

01:12:12What picture

01:12:13were you trying

01:12:14to paint here?

01:12:15The story

01:12:16was the same story

01:12:17that Nick

01:12:17had told the police.

01:12:20Everyone who knew them

01:12:21knew that Nick

01:12:23and Heidi

01:12:23loved each other,

01:12:25and Nick

01:12:25had no reason

01:12:27to kill his wife.

01:12:29I was confident

01:12:30because it is

01:12:31the state's burden

01:12:33to prove guilt

01:12:34beyond a reasonable doubt.

01:12:35And we don't think

01:12:37that they negated

01:12:38that there was

01:12:39an intruder

01:12:40who shot his wife.

01:12:43The defense attorney

01:12:45said those tool marks

01:12:46on the doorframe

01:12:47indicated an intruder.

01:12:49And as for that

01:12:50undisturbed table,

01:12:52how do you explain that?

01:12:53Is it possible

01:12:54that the struggle

01:12:55could have happened

01:12:56three or four feet

01:12:57away from the front table

01:12:58Yes.

01:13:00By the way,

01:13:01four body-armored

01:13:03armed policemen

01:13:04came charging

01:13:05through that door,

01:13:06and the table

01:13:07wasn't disturbed.

01:13:09The defense called

01:13:10a neighbor to the stand.

01:13:12He'd told police

01:13:13back in 2010

01:13:14that he'd heard

01:13:15a gunshot that morning,

01:13:17then a voice.

01:13:19What he heard

01:13:20after one of the shots

01:13:21was a male voice

01:13:24say,

01:13:25either you shot her

01:13:27or you shot me.

01:13:29If he's telling the truth

01:13:31and he has no reason

01:13:33to lie,

01:13:34there was another

01:13:36person there.

01:13:37It is consistent

01:13:38with the evidence,

01:13:39consistent with what

01:13:40the next-door neighbor

01:13:41heard,

01:13:42consistent with

01:13:43the tool marks

01:13:44on the door,

01:13:45which reflect someone

01:13:47trying to break in.

01:13:49What's more,

01:13:50they argue Nick

01:13:51couldn't possibly

01:13:52have murdered Heidi

01:13:53and made it look like

01:13:54a home invasion

01:13:54because he didn't

01:13:55have enough time.

01:13:57After Heidi was shot,

01:13:58they said Nick

01:13:59didn't stage a crime scene.

01:14:01Instead,

01:14:02wounded and traumatized,

01:14:04he tried to call

01:14:05for help

01:14:05and accidentally

01:14:07dialed numbers

01:14:08in Heidi's

01:14:08recent calls list

01:14:09until he eventually

01:14:11reached 911.

01:14:12He was shot

01:14:14and it was

01:14:15a very painful wound.

01:14:16He's also in

01:14:18complete shock

01:14:18because of the

01:14:19apparent death

01:14:20of his wife.

01:14:21He had gone

01:14:22and turned her over

01:14:23on the floor.

01:14:24You can tell by

01:14:25his emotional reaction

01:14:27on the telephone.

01:14:31It always sounded

01:14:33genuine to me.

01:14:35Finally,

01:14:35as to the state's

01:14:36theory of motive,

01:14:37Friedberg said

01:14:38that didn't make

01:14:39sense either.

01:14:40Heidi would have

01:14:41known about the eviction.

01:14:43Can you imagine

01:14:44how many telephone

01:14:46calls those banks

01:14:48must have made

01:14:49during this time period?

01:14:51She would have had

01:14:52to consciously

01:14:53avoid the notifications

01:14:55that came out

01:14:56and there would be

01:14:57no reason

01:14:58for her to do that.

01:15:00If she was aware,

01:15:01why wouldn't there

01:15:02have been signatures?

01:15:03Why wouldn't she

01:15:04have been present

01:15:04at hearings?

01:15:05There was no hearing

01:15:06at which she was

01:15:08required to be present.

01:15:10and so she wasn't.

01:15:11There was no document

01:15:12that she was required

01:15:14to sign and so he signed.

01:15:17The defense closed

01:15:18with this.

01:15:19Nick loved Heidi.

01:15:21He needed her.

01:15:22Nick's situation

01:15:23did not become better

01:15:25because Heidi was dead.

01:15:28It did not cause

01:15:29an influx of cash

01:15:31to Nick.

01:15:32It did not prevent

01:15:33the foreclosure.

01:15:35He still had to move

01:15:36out of his house

01:15:37but now he didn't have

01:15:38his life partner

01:15:40to do it with.

01:15:42After seeing the defense

01:15:44poke holes

01:15:44in the prosecution's case,

01:15:46Sergeant Sipes

01:15:47was nervous,

01:15:48wondering if she had done

01:15:49enough for Heidi's family.

01:15:51I had a couple of moments

01:15:53where I felt like,

01:15:54have I now set these people up

01:15:55to believe that we're going

01:15:56to get justice

01:15:57and what if it fails?

01:15:59And that was very

01:16:00overwhelming at times.

01:16:02As the defense rested,

01:16:03prosecutors would have

01:16:04one last chance

01:16:06to sway the jury.

01:16:07They decided on a bold move

01:16:09that could either help

01:16:11win the case

01:16:12or completely backfire.

01:16:29In February 2023,

01:16:31as Nick Fergus's murder trial

01:16:33reached its climax,

01:16:34prosecutors had the final say

01:16:36in closing arguments.

01:16:38They attacked the defense's argument

01:16:40that Nick didn't have enough time

01:16:42to commit the crime

01:16:44by trying to prove he did.

01:16:46I think the most important thing

01:16:48for a jury is to answer

01:16:51the most obvious questions

01:16:53that they're going to have.

01:16:54In this case,

01:16:55is there enough time

01:16:56for what the state says happened

01:16:59to have happened?

01:17:01They focused on the alleged

01:17:03window of the murder,

01:17:04the 65 seconds

01:17:06between the end of Heidi's 911 call

01:17:08and the beginning of Nick's.

01:17:10You hear 65 seconds

01:17:12and it sounds like a very,

01:17:14very short amount of time,

01:17:16especially to do something so awful.

01:17:19So Rachel Crocker decided

01:17:21to reenact the crime

01:17:22right there in the courtroom.

01:17:24The move was highly risky

01:17:27because she hadn't rehearsed it

01:17:29and if she got it wrong,

01:17:30it could upend her case.

01:17:33There were no cameras in the court,

01:17:34so the prosecutor showed us

01:17:36what she did

01:17:37when she stepped in front of the jury.

01:17:39I demonstrated

01:17:40as if I were Nick Fergus

01:17:41having a gun raised level

01:17:44towards where an imaginary Heidi

01:17:46would be down the hallway.

01:17:48And when that gunshot went off,

01:17:51Elizabeth started the time clock.

01:17:53So that clock starts

01:17:54and what did you do?

01:17:56So the clock starts.

01:17:58I put the gun down,

01:18:00walk down to where Heidi

01:18:01would have been on the ground,

01:18:06bend down,

01:18:07turn her body over,

01:18:10feel for a pulse,

01:18:11then take her phone,

01:18:13which she had used to call 911,

01:18:16scroll through it,

01:18:17which is what the evidence indicated,

01:18:19put it in my pocket

01:18:20and then come back to the door,

01:18:24grab the shotgun that had been left,

01:18:27brace against the door,

01:18:28hold the shotgun

01:18:29and fire that shot into the left thigh.

01:18:32And all of that

01:18:33was in less than 65 seconds.

01:18:35It was in much less.

01:18:36There was plenty of time

01:18:37for that to occur.

01:18:38And then he calls 911.

01:18:39And then he calls 911.

01:18:41And with that,

01:18:42the jury started deliberations.

01:18:45Pete and Jolene wondered

01:18:46if the prosecution had done enough.

01:18:49We've gotten far enough along

01:18:51in all of this to know

01:18:51that there's so much

01:18:54that's just outside of our control

01:18:55that we had to be open

01:18:58to the possibility

01:18:59that it may not go our way.

01:19:02Were you nervous

01:19:03that he might go free?

01:19:05Yeah.

01:19:06That was definitely

01:19:07a thought of ours.

01:19:09About four and a half hours later,

01:19:11the jurors filed back

01:19:13into the courtroom

01:19:14with their verdict.

01:19:16Pete and Jolene held their breath.

01:19:18Yeah, it was intense.

01:19:19You could hear a pin drop.

01:19:21It was so quiet in there.

01:19:23Nearly 13 years

01:19:25after Heidi was killed in her home,

01:19:27the judge read the jury's decision.

01:19:30Nick Fergus was found guilty

01:19:32of first and second degree murder.

01:19:35Are there any words for that moment?

01:19:37When you finally heard

01:19:39the words guilty.

01:19:41Grateful.

01:19:43Yeah, definitely grateful.

01:19:45Yeah.

01:19:46Were there a lot of hugs,

01:19:47a lot of tears that day?

01:19:48There were.

01:19:49We got onto the elevator

01:19:51with the Erickson's.

01:19:52You know, they started to cry,

01:19:54and we did too.

01:19:55I normally don't do that,

01:19:56but in that particular moment,

01:19:58it just kind of came out.

01:19:59There was just a real

01:20:01shared sense of relief

01:20:04and just a weight being lifted.

01:20:08It felt very real at that point.

01:20:11Ultimately, it will probably

01:20:13be the most important thing

01:20:14that I do in my career.

01:20:16Bringing justice to Heidi.

01:20:18Yes, and I hoped Heidi

01:20:19knew it happened.

01:20:20Nick's close friends

01:20:21were deeply shaken

01:20:23by the verdict

01:20:23and are standing by him.

01:20:25I think some of our tears

01:20:27are from a place

01:20:29where when we believe

01:20:31Nick is innocent.

01:20:32Two months later

01:20:33at his sentencing hearing,

01:20:35Nick Furkus continued

01:20:36to deny he killed Heidi.

01:20:39I do maintain

01:20:39and will maintain

01:20:40to my dying breath

01:20:41my innocence of this crime.

01:20:44Pete spoke for Heidi's loved ones

01:20:46about the years

01:20:47of painful memories.

01:20:49The truth is

01:20:50we've relived them

01:20:50every single day

01:20:51since April 25, 2010.

01:20:54Every birthday,

01:20:56every holiday,

01:20:57each and every family gathering,

01:20:58we recount our memories

01:21:00of Heidi over and over

01:21:01and over again.

01:21:04And while there are

01:21:05plenty of good ones,

01:21:06the evil end to her story

01:21:07has always cast a shadow

01:21:09over what would otherwise

01:21:10be bright.

01:21:11I think my mom

01:21:12said something

01:21:13to the fact that

01:21:14we were all given

01:21:15a sentence of life

01:21:16without Heidi.

01:21:17And I think, to me,

01:21:19that says it perfectly.

01:21:20I wanted them to know

01:21:22we're all missing out

01:21:24on an amazing person,

01:21:26an exceptional person.

01:21:27I'll ask you,

01:21:29Mr. Furkus,

01:21:29to please rise.

01:21:31On April 13, 2023,

01:21:33Nick Furkus was sentenced

01:21:35to life in prison

01:21:36without the possibility

01:21:37of parole.

01:21:39Were you angry

01:21:40at Nick Furkus

01:21:42for creating that sketch

01:21:43of you,

01:21:43for essentially pointing

01:21:44the finger at you?

01:21:46Actually, I was.

01:21:47But then the thought came,

01:21:50I have to forgive Nick

01:21:51because God forgave me.

01:21:54So if I want God's forgiveness,

01:21:56I've got to forgive everybody

01:21:57who did something wrong to me.

01:21:59So I'm good.

01:22:01I want him to do his time

01:22:03because he did the crime,

01:22:04you know,

01:22:05so that's all.

01:22:07You're not upset

01:22:08at him today.

01:22:08Nah.

01:22:09You had to let it go.

01:22:11I did let it go.

01:22:13Nick Furkus

01:22:14is appealing his conviction.

01:22:16He declined

01:22:17our interview request.

01:22:20As for Heidi's family,

01:22:22they say they feel

01:22:24a burden lifted,

01:22:26a sense of freedom,

01:22:28a chance to celebrate

01:22:29that joyful,

01:22:31adventurous,

01:22:32and creative spirit,

01:22:34the spirit of Heidi.

01:22:37I feel like this gives us

01:22:38a new opportunity

01:22:40to move forward

01:22:40and just give our focus

01:22:42to Heidi.

01:22:44Being that light

01:22:44in your family.

01:22:45Yeah.

01:22:46Yeah.

01:22:46She always looked

01:22:47for the best

01:22:49in everything she did

01:22:51and the best

01:22:51that everyone else did.

01:22:53And, yeah,

01:22:55I miss that about her.

01:22:56That was something

01:22:59that no one else had.

01:23:00Yeah.

01:23:01And I can't be replaced.

01:23:07That's all for this edition

01:23:08of Dateline.

01:23:09We'll see you again

01:23:10Thursday at 10,

01:23:119 central.

01:23:12And, of course,

01:23:13I'll see you each weeknight

01:23:14for NBC Nightly News.

01:23:16I'm Lester Holt.

01:23:18For all of us

01:23:18at NBC News,

01:23:20good night.

01:23:26I'm Lester Holt.

01:23:27I'm Lester Holt.

01:23:28I'm Lester Holt.

01:23:29I'm Lester Holt.

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