Defense attorneys on Thursday will begin to call witnesses as the Nicholas Firkus murder trial moves into its ninth day in Ramsey County District Court.
Firkus, 39, stands accused of fatally shooting his wife, Heidi, in their St. Paul home 13 years ago. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree murder with intent in connection with her death on April 25, 2010.
Prosecutors on Wednesday called their final witness, St. Paul Sgt. Nichole Sipes, who took over the case in 2019 after it had sat quiet for nearly a decade.
"I thought the case should be brought to fruition, that he either be charged or the case closed permanently," she said.
Prosecutors also showed the jury a string of emails between Firkus and his wife in the months leading up to her death. Prosecutors have contended that the couple's financial problems and pending eviction drove Firkus to kill her.
The emails supported the prosecution's theory that Heidi Firkus was unaware of the couple's plight, but had expressed worry when she started receiving calls from creditors.
"It just scares me that I got that call and it has to be messing up our credit at this point and it needs to be fixed," she wrote in an email.
"Three calls already this morning," she wrote in another email, to which Firkus replied, "I'll take care of it today."
