Even if Deborah Nicholls decides not to take the stand in her defense, jurors Monday got to hear her version of the events leading to the fire that killed her three young children.

On the first day of the sixth week of Nicholls' trial on three counts of first-degree murder - and several other felonies - prosecutors played a videotaped recording of an under-oath interview Nicholls gave to her insurance company's investigators.

The March 7, 2003, fire at the family's home at 4107 Undimmed Circle killed the Nicholls children, Jay, 11, Sophia, 5 and Sierra, 3. The children's father, Timothy Nicholls, was convicted of murder last year and is serving three life sentences.

During the October 2003 interview, Deborah Nicholls said the family's bills were paid and their businesses were running well. Prosecutors have presented evidence that the Nicholls were in dire financial straits, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt because of their methamphetamine addictions.

They claim the couple set the fire to collect insurance money to get them out of that debt.

Deborah Nicholls was not home during the fire, she said on the recording, but was instead at a bar interviewing someone to be a karaoke jockey for the couple's karaoke business.

She lit about five candles before she left to create an atmosphere for her husband, she said. When she returned, the street was filled with emergency equipment and she could see her house ablaze, she said in the interview.

The Nichollses were upset to learn that investigators suspected the fire was arson and hired their own investigator, she said. That investigator determined that the fire was caused by an electrical short.

When the interviewer asked, she admitted they never shared that report with her insurance company, American Family Insurance.

She also described her husband's injuries as "critical" and said in the interview that "they were not sure he was going to make it through the night."

Doctors have testified that while Timothy Nicholls suffered some first- and second-degree burns - the least serious kinds - he did not suffer carbon monoxide poisoning and was never near death.

"No one killed my children," Deborah Nicholls told investigators.

The El Paso County coroner is expected to testify today. The jury could start deliberating the case by the end of the week.

-

Contact the writer: 636-0110 or dennis.huspeni@gazette.com