Insurance agent testifies Deb Nicholls laughed, joked during discussion after 3 children's deaths

THE CASE: Three children - ages 3, 5 and 11 - died as a result of a March 7, 2003, fire in their Village Seven home, and investigators in Colorado Springs say their parents plotted the blaze to collect insurance money.

THE SUSPECT: Deborah Nicholls is being tried on three counts of murder in their deaths, accused of wiping down furniture with a flammable solvent before leaving to drink at a bar. Her husband, Timothy Nicholls, was convicted of three counts of murder and is serving three life sentences.

WHAT'S NEW: Wednesday, on the ninth day of testimony, the Nicholls' insurance agent testified that Deborah Nicholls laughed and joked through a March 17 meeting where they were to discuss her insurance benefits.

"It will stay with me for the rest of my life," Mike Burkett of American Family Insurance in Colorado Springs told jurors.

An attorney for Nicholls, Cindy Jones, pressed for specifics, but Burkett said he couldn't remember the topics of her "light-hearted joking." Jones also prompted Burkett to acknowledge that he didn't know Nicholls well and wasn't in a position to judge her personality.

Shyla DeFrancesco, Burkett's assistant, told jurors that Nicholls repeatedly requested that she research whether there were additional death benefits for the children and responded angrily when she learned there were none.

WHAT'S NEXT: Nicholls' trial continues today at 8:30 a.m. It is expected to last through the end of November.

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contact the writer: 636-0366 or lance.benzel@gazette.com