Friday's Felons
A Weekly Round-up of True Crime News and Justice Delivered
If you’re a faithful crime follower, odds are you’ve been following the Lori Vallow trial. I don’t think a murder has ever unfolded so publicly; most of us knew the names Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell before we even knew there was a crime. I won’t cover it here; I talked about some of the mental health issues previously, and some fantastic journalists are listening to every minute of the trial. Here’s where to go to stay up to date.
But a lot has been happening besides this trial. Here are three of the most interesting happenings that have occurred over the past week:
Nick Firkus: Thirteen long years after he shot her and blamed an intruder, Nick Firkus received life without parole for the murder of his wife, Heidi. On April 10, 2013, Firkus called 911 and told dispatch that there had been a break-in at the family home. He and an intruder allegedly struggled over a gun, and, in the skirmish, the gun had gone off, grazing his thigh and hitting Heidi in the upper back. Heidi died at the scene.
At the time of Heidi’s murder, the couple was deeply in debt and about to be evicted from their home. There was no evidence, however, that anyone knew about this except for Nick Firkus - not Heidi, not extended family, and not friends. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Furtis killed Heidi to escape the embarrassment of facing up to their financial future. Additional evidence that convinced the jury (they only deliberated for four hours) was
There was no sign of an intruder or a break-in.
There was no sign of a struggle (everything was tidy and undisturbed).
Nick Furkis’ gun was the murder weapon.
The gun only had his DNA on it.
Before Furkis’ arrest, investigators learned a chilling tidbit from his second wife. Rachel Watson, who met a few months after Heidi died and married in August 2012. Rachel knew the backstory of her husband’s previous marriage, or at least the version he told her. She was aware that the two had had financial issues, although she did not believe they had anything to do with Heidi’s death.
Rachel had never doubted her husband’s innocence, she told investigators, until she found a notice that said they were delinquent on their property taxes and the house was at risk of foreclosure. As far as she knew, Rachel said, their finances were fine. Nick’s parents had bought a home for the family of five and had arranged for Nick and Rachel to pay the monthly mortgage to Nick’s parents. Nick was responsible for paying the property taxes directly to the county. Rachel Firkus said she immediately thought of Heidi Firkus. She divorced him in 2018. Her discovery might have saved her life.
Fifty-six-year-old Louis Bernard Gaskin, convicted of the 1989 robbery and murders of Robert and Georgette Sturmfels, was executed in Florida on Thursday, April 13, 2023. The devoted couple, in their mid-fifties, was visiting Florida from New Jersey when Gaskin broke into their residence. What did he get in exchange for the two lives he took? A clock, two lamps, and a VCR.
He was also convicted for the armed robbery, burglary, and attempted murder of another couple on the same night. His execution put the total at 100 since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Flynn Thomas Gruidl. What would cause a forty-something son to beat his disabled, seventy-three-year-old father to death with a baseball bat? The medical examiner said that Tom Gruidl suffered “blunt force trauma” during an incident at home where he was bludgeoned between forty and one hundred times. A man who identified himself as a family friend found the father’s body on November 20, 2020, while visiting to check in on him. On April 13, 2023, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a sentence of twenty-three to thirty-eight years behind bars.
What precipitated this horrendous event depends on who you as. Gruidl claims he was abused as a child and developed “multiple personalities” as a result. He said an alter named “Lester Green” had taken over during an argument and murdered his father. Prosecutors said the motive for the murder was cold, hard cash, as he had already transferred $134,000 from his mother’s account without her authorization to a joint account.
Gruidl reportedly has a lengthy history of mental health issues and, as part of the plea agreement, will be able to get mental health treatment in jail. But he was evaluated by mental health professionals and was found criminally responsible at the time of the murder.
As always, thanks for reading. Please share with your fellow true crime readers. If there’s a case you’d like me to cover, please let me know!