And she is completely capable of murdering again at 78 yrs old. He died, as did Auburn woman Sue Snow, who apparently picked up a bottle of the tainted tablets from a grocery store, according to news reports and court records. Investigators exhumed Bruce Nickells body and found evidence of cyanide. [5] According to Stella, he took four extra-strength Excedrin capsules from a bottle in their home for his headache and collapsed minutes later. Stella Nickell, then 75, had been sentenced to 90 years in prison in 1988, after she was found guilty of product tampering. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine during World War II. Her husband, Bruce, died after taking cyanide-laced Excedrin tablets in 1986. She said she had a bottle of Excedrin in her home with the same lot number as the bottle that had killed Sue Snow. Nickell hatched another plot within a week. She is evil. The drift toward war with Mexico had begun a year earlier when the U.S. annexed the Republic of Texas as a read more, In 1975, John Sebastian, former member of the beloved '60s pop group the Lovin Spoonful, was asked to write and record the theme song for a brand-new ABC television show with the working title Kotter. Stella claimed that her daughter, Cynthia Hamilton, lied about her involvement in the case in order to reap the $300,000 of reward money being offered. Hamilton testified. Your email address will not be published. She told them that she thought that he'd been poisoned, too. Strength Excedrin is a safe medication. Name Stella Nicholls Occupation Student Gender Female Species Human Age 15-17 Status Alive Birth date c. 1951-1953 Appearances Film (s) Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Actors/Actresses Portrayed by Zoe Colletti Stella Nicholls is a fictional character appearing in the 2019 film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The company was incorporated in California eighteen years ago and is no longer active. The Food and drug administration and the manufacturer, Bristol - Meyers, moved quickly to remove all Extra - Strength Excedrin bottles from the shelves across the, The victims had taken it as a regular pill and did not realized it had Cyanide. Stella had two of them. Stella resented Bruces newfound sobriety because it deprived her of their visits to bars. Written by Gregg Olsen, the book includes interviews with Klein and Nickell's daughter, Cindy Hamilton. These included convictions for fraud and forgery and a charge of beating Cindy with a curtain rod. In 1985, Stella took out a life insurance policy on Bruce that included a substantial indemnity payment for accidental death. She claimed Stella admitted to researching poisons and told her of an unsuccessful attempt to poison Bruce with foxglove. Because of product tampering legislation passed in response to the Chicago killings, these murders became a federal case. }, First published on June 4, 2001 / 12:09 PM. [2] Further tests showed that the substance was an algaecide used in home aquariums, sold under the brand name Algae Destroyer. The bottle had the same lot number as the bottle in Sue Snows home. But the plot backfired. On May 8, 1864, Yankee troops arrive at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia, to find the Rebels already there. "American Mother: The True Story of a Troubled Family, Motherhood and the Cyanide Murders That Shook the World.". [1] By the summer of 1987, even Stella's attorneys acknowledged that she was the prime suspect in the case. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. "She didn't want notoriety," Olsen said. May 9, 1988, U.S. Marshall Merry Moore leads Stella Nickell from the federal courthouse after a jury convicts her on five counts of product tampering. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. Olsen told Insider that Snow was a random victim who "paid for Stella's greed with her life." Stella Nicholls. Like cyanide poisoning. Her release date is set for July 10, 2040, when she will be almost 97 years old. The doctors said it was emphysema, but Stella says that never made sense, because he didnt have that disease. Joanna R Nicholls. "I think that she probably killed Bruce and expected them to find out that he died from cyanide poisoning," he says. Following that failure, Stella had begun library research into other methods and hit upon cyanide. She was the first person to be found guilty of violating the Federal Anti-Tampering Act after putting cyanide. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. [15][16], Stella's legal team sought a mistrial on grounds of jury tampering and judicial misconduct. Find Nicholls's address, hospital affiliations and more. Farr says that there is no credible evidence against her. Her May 1988 conviction and prison sentence were the first . Stella Nickell used Cyanide to kill her victims. Police initially focused on Snow's husband Paul Webking. So she put poisoned painkillers in stores, they say, hoping someone else would die and the tainted capsules would be discovered. Authorities ruled his death to be from natural causesemphysema, the attending physicians said. After the war, he opened a haberdashery in Kansas City. Ramn Morales : Hospitals have records. Stella Nicholls is the main protagonist of the 2019 film, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Sue Snow collapsed in her bathroom of her home in the Seattle, Washington, suburb of Auburn. When Cindy was 9, Stella was charged with hitting her with a curtain rod, bruising her legs. "The case brought the whole pharmaceutical industry to its knees," Olsen said. Nickell is the subject of a new book, "American Mother: The True Story of a Troubled Family, Motherhood and the Cyanide Murders That Shook the World." View more. Stella Nickell, 78, has served 34 years of her sentence and last month filed a petition arguing that her failing health and nearly spotless record should qualify her for early release. Stella Nicholls : They locked her away because she was different. Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Prosecutors said Stella Nickell put cyanide in capsules of Extra-Strength Excedrin and gave them to her husband. She said she had bought the bottles on two occasions, one somewhere in Auburn, the other at Johnny's Market in Kent. Cindy Hamilton was paid a $250,000 reward for her help in the case against her mother. [29][30] The murders are discussed in the Jodi Picoult novel House Rules, published in 2010. "It's entirely possible that the real killer is walking around somewhere out there," says Farr. The FBI laboratory determined that the contaminated capsules contained small particles of an algicide called Algae Destroyer. But U.S. District Judge James Robart on Thursday found that Nickell, who has already twice been denied parole, doesnt qualify for compassionate relief. The detectives say they simply don't know who the killer is. Olsen said that Nickell laced Bruce's Excedrin with cyanide so that the authorities would think his death was accidental, which would allow her to claim his $100,000 life-insurance policy. A second autopsy proved her right. Her husband, heavy-equipment operator Bruce Nickell, 52, was in distress in their single-wide trailer home just off Lake Moneysmith Road in the town of Auburn. Social Profiles. Gradually suspicion hardened on Stella Nickell. [21] A second appeal, beginning in 2001, was filed by her new attorney, Carl Park Colbert, based on evidence obtained by private detectives Al Farr and Paul Ciolino, requesting a new trial on the basis of new evidence having been discovered that the FBI may have withheld documents from the defense. Stella appealed her conviction but none of her appeals succeeded. display: none; During the trial, the reward was never brought into evidence. The detectives also question how she first became a suspect. Estella had 4 sisters: Edith A. However, the motion was denied. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. DARLING (born NICHOLLS) and 3 other siblings. Farr and Ciolino say that is not true. Her fingerprints were also found all over other books on cyanide. After searching for months, they found her in Southern California. When emergency personnel arrived, she told them that Bruce had taken Excedrin capsules and fallen unconscious. According to Olsen, the police theory is that Stella Nickell crushed the algae tablets in a bowl, and then later, when she mixed the cyanide, used that same bowl without cleaning it. At 16, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia. Elizabeth was born on July 31 1868. Snow died a few days later, after also taking Excedrin pills laced with cyanide. Nickell says her husband walked out on the deck to watch the birds, and suddenly collapsed. May 08, 2013 12:00 AM. See Photos. She lived with the Nickells months before Bruce died. [4], Stella met Bruce Nickell in 1974. ER . The deaths sparked a nationwide tampering scare and prompted Excedrin manufacturer Bristol-Myers Co. to recall its over-the-counter capsule medications. [2] Tests by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed the presence of cyanide in her husband's remains and in two Excedrin bottles Stella had turned over to police. Gregg Olsen, Bitter Almonds: The True Story of Mothers, Daughters, and the Seattle Cyanide Murders (New York: Warner Books, 1993); "Update 2002" in St. Martin's Press Paperback edition, 2002. As of April 2019, Stella Nickell is housed at female-only low security/minimum security Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin in California, just east of San Francisco. They also recalled that Stella Nickell had several fish tanks in her trailer home. Noonan claimed she bought so much algae destroyer, he had to special order it just for her. display: none; Stella Nickell was sentenced to. Her fate was sealed when Hamilton told the FBI that her mother had repeatedly talked about killing Bruce in different ways. At 16, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia. Olsen says Hamilton and her mother had a combative relationship. FBI document examiners determined that Bruce's signature on the applications had been forged. While it was deemed to be a manufacturing error, the defense thought that it involved product tampering and therefore should have been disclosed during jury selection. Whites hosting gig came about, in read more, On May 8, 1541, south of present-day Memphis, Tennessee, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, one of the first European explorers to ever do so. (Note: Polygraph tests are not evidence and failing or refusing to take one is not evidence of guilt). Klein laments the fact that her mother missed every milestone in her life, like her wedding and the birth of her son, over the past 36 years. The film was to have been directed by Jeff Reiner and starring Katey Sagal as Stella Nickell. Although investigators were sure they had the right person, they had very little to take to a jury: No fingerprints, nor any way to prove that Stella Nickell ever bought or possessed cyanide. The FBI found Stella's fingerprints on several books. Stella Nickell's small-time world was one of big-time dreams. The other victim was Susan Katherine Snow, 40, also of Auburn, who authorities said had bought the poisoned capsules. Stella's payoff now totaled $175,000. Stella Nickell, 78, has served 34 years of her sentence and last month filed a petition arguing that her failing health and nearly spotless record should qualify her for early release. Detective Mike Dunbar, who worked on the case, says she wanted insurance money. Although investigators were sure they had the right person, they had very little to take to a jury: No fingerprints, nor any way to prove that Stella Nickell ever bought or possessed cyanide. After her death was reported in the news, Stella called police to tell them that she thought her husband had also been poisoned. That case moved Congress to enact tough tampering laws. The FBI refused to comment. Rat poison found in Taco Bell takeout order, authorities say, Twitter auctioning its bird statue and other office trinkets, Need a new cookware set for the new year? Coryn I. Nicholls (Mayerson) is a Physician Assistant in Walnut Creek, CA. At the end of the movie, she won the prize for the scariest story ever. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. SEATTLE -- A federal jury convicted Stella Nickell Monday of lacing pain relief capsules with cyanide, killing her husband and a random victim, in the nation's first fatal . She claimed to have bought the two bottles at different times in different stores. Like last weeks case, this week deals with murder by poison. She'd told the staff that she needed it to kill ants. [5], During an autopsy on Snow, Assistant Medical Examiner Janet Miller detected the scent of bitter almonds, an odor distinctive to cyanide. The detectives discovered an FBI memo that seems to support Rider's account. After all, it had been less than four years since the unsolved Tylenol poisonings in the Chicago area. At 16, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia. The FBI found Stella's fingerprints on several books. They turned out to be algae destroyer, a product used to kill algae in fish tanks. The judge sentenced her to two 90-year terms for tampering with the bottles that caused the deaths of Bruce and Sue Snow. "Rock star" reptile breeder murdered; Coroner: "Not a random act" Investigators found it remarkable that of only five tainted bottles out of the 15,000 that had been screened, Stella Nickell had turned in two of them, saying she had purchased them two weeks apart at separate locations. In 1986, her biggest one came true when her husband died during a seizure, making her the beneficiary of a $175,000-plus insurance payoff until authorities discovered Bruce Nickell's headache capsules had been laced with cyanide. Stella Maudine Stephenson was a native of Colton, Oregon. [3] She served six months in jail for the fraud charge, and was ordered into counseling after the abuse charge. Tests confirmed that Snow had died from acute cyanide poisoning. Stella also had more than her share of legal troubles. He joined the army at the relatively advanced age of 33 in 1916 to fight in World War I. Stella Nickell Fast forward to 1986. [5] Tests verified that Snow had died of acute cyanide poisoning. Stella Nickell has spent more than a decade in prison for poisoning her husband. Then Stella Nickell's daughter, Cindy Hamilton, began talking to police. Prosecutors said Stella Nickell put cyanide in capsules of Extra-Strength Excedrin and gave them to her husband. The media was riveted because of its similarity to the notorious Chicago "Tylenol murders," less than four years earlier, when seven people died in fall 1982 after taking cyanide-tainted Tylenol pills. But the policy would pay an additional $100,000 if he died from accidental causes. Still, hard evidence against her was hard to come by until January 1988. The crime was chillingly similar to the Chicago Tylenol murders four years earlier. She had taken out a total of about $76,000[11][note 2] in insurance coverage on her husband's life, with an additional payout of $100,000 if his death was accidental. Her May 1988 conviction and prison sentence were the first under federal product tampering laws instituted after the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders. Donald Harvey (April 15, 1952 - March 30, 2017) was an American serial killer who claimed to have murdered 87 people, though official estimates are between 37 and 57 victims. Another $300,000 was shared by nine people who helped police arrest a Florida man in 1986. The police searched the family home and found an open bottle of Excedrin, a brand that Snow often used, in the kitchen cabinet. This seemed unlikely, because out of thousands of bottles checked in the entire region, authorities found only five with tainted capsules, and Stella had two of them. Farr and Ciolino talked to other people who were also rewarded for their role in the case. Records show agents found five contaminated bottles of medicine during a search of Auburn-area grocery stores and pharmacies, prompting widespread recalls of over-the-counter analgesics in the Northwest and elsewhere as health officials and the FBI sought to uncover the source of the poison. They also posted a $100,000 reward. Your email address will not be published. She refused to help the defense team. He died shortly after arriving. Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. The revised cause of death made a difference to Stella Nickell. It's a notorious case out of Auburn a woman convicted of lacing Excedrin painkillers with cyanide that killed two people in 1986, including her husband. [6][note 1] Bruce died shortly thereafter at Harborview Medical Center, where treatment had failed to revive him. Bruce Nickell was rushed by helicopter to Harborview Hospital in Seattle, where he soon died. They were married two years later. [2] The former was marked as overdue in library records, indicating that she had borrowed but never returned it. [5] On June 27, Washington State put into effect a 90-day ban on the sale of non-prescription medication in capsules. A total of five bottles containing cyanide-laced capsules were recovered: the bottle Sue Snow had purchased, the two bottles Stella Nickell had turned in, the Excedrin found on the shelves at Johnny's Market in Kent, and the Anacin capsules discovered at Pay-n-Save in Auburn. Nickell was the first to be convicted under it. "48 Hours": Brooke Skylar Richardson case Records from the Auburn Public Library showed Stella had checked out numerous books on poisoning. [7], Both Stella and Webking were asked to take polygraph examinations. Stella Maudine Stephenson was born in Colton, Oregon, to Alva Georgia "Jo" (ne Duncan; later changed her name to Cora Lee) and George Stephenson. 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[7] On June 18, Bristol-Myers recalled all Excedrin capsules in the United States, pulling them from store shelves and warning consumers to not use any they may already have bought;[7] two days later the company announced a recall of all of their non-prescription capsule products. She maintains her innocence, claiming her daughter lied for the reward money. By CYNTHIA FLASH. "It all just kind of dawned on me, wait a minute, this was a whole setup," she says. Stella Nicholas. "I started reaing books to find out what plants I might have on the property that would be a danger to kids and pets," Stella says. They then looked toward Nickell. Colbert says that he has never seen the polygraph graph, although he has asked to. In inorganic cyanides, the cyanide group is present as the cyanide anion CN.This anion is extremely poisonous.Soluble salts such as sodium cyanide (NaCN) and potassium . Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Stella had taken out $76,000 of life insurance on Bruce. "Stella was desperate because she murdered her husband and got nothing out of it," Olsen said. When another tainted bottle from the same lot was found in a grocery store in nearby Kent, Bristol-Myers, the manufacturers of Excedrin, responded to the discovery with a heavily publicized recall of all Excedrin products in the Seattle area,[8] and a group of drug companies came together to offer a $300,000 reward for the capture of the person responsible. The case. She also planted other bottles of cyanide-tainted Excedrin in local stores to divert suspicion, authorities said. Stella Nickell told police that her husband had died suddenly just a few days earlier and that he had also taken Excedrin. The FBI began an investigation into possible product tampering having been the source of the poison. [23], After the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders, new FDA regulations went into effect which made it a federal crimerather than just a state or local crimeto tamper with consumer products. Additionally, network executives feared the film would inspire copycat crimes. In early 1974, when she was 32, she met Bruce Nickell. Authorities became suspicious because she told them she had bought two bottles of Excedrin at different times, probably in different places. The next day, Bruce Nickell's widow Stella, a 42-year old raven-haired security screener at Seattle-Tacoma International airport, characterized by a neighbor as "a washed-up honky-tonk girl," called police. He died in the hospital, but doctors did not detect the cyanide and ascribed the death to emphysema. She said that she didnt testify for the reward. [2] A total of five bottles had been found to have been contaminated in the entire country, and it was regarded as suspicious that Stella would happen to have acquired two of them purely by chance. As the investigation continued, the FBI lab found an important clue: green crystals mixed in with the cyanide. The odds of her selecting two contaminated bottles by random chance were astronomical. Search for birth, death, marriage, divorce, US Census, and military records. But in 1986, when two Seattle-area people died after ingesting Excedrin laced with cyanide, Stella Nickell was nabbed for the. Stella, who stood to lose $100,000 if his death wasnt ruled an accident, decided to alter her plan. Stella Nicholls is the daughter of Roy . Trusted by millions of genealogists since 2003 Trusted information source for millions of people worldwide } SEATTLE -- Stella Nickell poisoned her husband with cyanide-laced Excedrin so she could collect on his life insurance and caused the death of an innocent woman to fake 'the work of a random. A lawyer representing Stella told reporters that she was too "shaken up" to be subjected to the examination. Nearly two weeks later, she heard about Sue Snow. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. All sentences were to run concurrently, and the judge ordered Stella to pay a small fine and forfeit her remaining assets to the families of her victims. Farr and Ciolino believe that finding Hamilton is the key to their case. Stella Nickell was convicted two years later. Her husband, Bruce Nickell, collapsed at home in 1986 at the age of 42 after taking several Excedrin tablets for a headache, according to news accounts. Nearly two weeks later, she heard about Sue Snow. [1] In the course of their ten-year marriage, Bruce entered a drug rehab and gave up drinking, which Stella reportedly resented as she later felt he had "turned into a boring man". With Snow dead, Stella could step forward and notify police. He was able to do this during his time as a hospital orderly.His spree took place between 1970 and 1987. "All she wanted was a tropical-fish store.". Since her husband, Bruce Nickells was already dead and buried they could not do anything. Some cite $71,000, some $75,000, and some $76,000. Background Report for Stella Chen. Investigators concluded they were dealing with product tampering. [7] His death initially was ruled to be by natural causes, with attending physicians citing emphysema. In 1986, the Nickells lived in Auburn, Washington, a suburb south of Seattle not far from SEA-TAC airport. She showed them the bottle. When detectives investigated, they found that Stella had borrowed, but never returned, a book called Human Poisoning. They are not sure where the dialogue will lead. I sent her to school; she told the nurse I had beat her that morning. 00:19:08 - Mrs. Stella Nickell might have actually gotten away with it too, if it weren't for her greed and a touch of karma. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. Nobody was ever convicted in the 1982 Chicago Tylenol Murders. 44 year old Stella Nickell, of Auburn, Washington, had been absolutely miserable with her life. She later moved to Southern California where she married and had another daughter. A federal judge has denied a plea for compassionate release from prison by an Auburn woman whos serving 90 years for planting poisoned pills that killed two and prompted national recalls of over-the-counter painkillers. She told police, and doctors realized that Bruce Nickell had also been poisoned. She wanted to stay home. Stella denies this, and says she told them she didn't know where she had bought the bottles. "Why in the world would she have a second bottle of contaminated capsules just sitting there waiting to hand over to law enforcement," asks Farr. Stella handed two bottles of Excedrin over to police -- supposedly bought at two different times from two different stores. Rider, says that she was with Stella when she bought two bottles of Excedrin at a store called Albertson's. In all the tainted capsules, the cyanide was flecked with small green crystals, determined to by an algae killer used to clean the water in aquariums. Correction: Death By Cyanide Police arrested her the same day, and she went on trial in April 1988. Nickell never admitted to the crimes, but during her first appeal for early release, she finally took responsibility for murdering Bruce. Snow's daughter, Hayley Klein, told Insider about her years of heartache following the crime. Stella was indicted in federal court and Cindy testified against her at the trial. Prosecutors said that Nickell had tampered with medication in several stores to cover up her husband's death. Snow was airlifted to the hospital, but she was declared brain dead a few hours later. She was the first person to be found guilty of violating the Federal Anti-Tampering Act after putting cyanide in Excedrin capsules in an effort to kill her husband. Historical Records* 3.9 BILLION RECORDS. Rewards authorized for two other drug-tampering cases remain unpaid. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. Cynthia Hamilton, 30, the Nickells daughter who now lives in Garden Grove, testified that her mother repeatedly talked about ways to kill her husband, Bruce Nickell, who was 52 when he died. [1][2], On June 5, 1986, the Nickells were living in Auburn, Washington, when Bruce, 52, came home from work with a headache. The jury convicted Stella on all counts on May 9, after five days of deliberation. People named Stella Nicholl. Notifications from this discussion will be disabled. She also planted other bottles of cyanide-tainted Excedrin in local stores to. "My belief is that the polygraph was a ruse to try and coerce a confession out of her," says Stella's new lawyer, Carl Colbert. Several "C" volumes from encyclopedias at the library were sent to the FBI lab, where technicians determined that Stella had left finger and palm prints on entries about cyanide in three encyclopedias. Search for profiles by email and username. Investigators verified that Stella had bought Algae Destroyer from a local aquarium supply store. ", If you have information regarding this case, please contact Al Farr at, The Tylenol Mafia: Marketing, Murder and Johnson & Johnson. Stella, who was ordered to go to counseling, says her daughter was jealous of her. A consortium of drug companies, alarmed about product tampering, posted a $300,000 reward. Stella is not perfect: She once served four months in jail for check fraud. Detectives later found traces of algaecide a chemical used to clean fish tanks in the Excedrin pills. Bruce's insurance paid an extra hundred thousand dollars if he died by accident, including poisoning. In these documents, there are reports about other possible suspects and mysterious fingerprints on Sue Snows bottle. A subsequent test of the deceased Bruce Nickell's blood sample showed that he, like Sue Snow, had died of cyanide poisoning. As the investigation continued, the FBI lab found an important clue: green crystals mixed in with the cyanide. President Nixon, at a news conference, defends the U.S. troop movement into Cambodia, saying the operation would provide six to eight months of time for training South Vietnamese forces and thus would shorten the war for Americans. The reward is the second paid by the pharmaceutical group. The doctors said it was emphysema, but Stella says that never made sense, because he didn't have that disease. But this time, pathologists smelled the telltale scent of bitter almonds during the autopsy, and determined that cyanide poisoning had killed Sue Snow. Stella Nickell by Michael Thomas Barry O n May 8, 1988, Stella Nickell is convicted on two counts of murder by a Seattle, Washington, jury. She told the FBI that her mother had talked for years about killing her husband, and went to the library to research poisonous plants and cyanide. But, Klein told Insider, Nickell didn't mention her mother. Sue Snow collapsed in her bathroom of her home in the Seattle, Washington, suburb of Auburn. Cynthia Hamilton, Stellas daughter, came forward (possibly in order to obtain reward money) with her account of Stellas plan to kill her husband. In a panic, Stella Nickell, 43, called police and said that her husband, Bruce, 52, had died on June 5, soon after taking an Excedrin capsule from the same lot as the ones that killed Snow.. Gregg Olsen, whose book "Bitter Almonds" chronicles the case, says that is why the FBI zeroed in on her. But U.S.. Farr and Ciolino say that is not true. She discovers that the stories are coming back to life. One June evening in 1986, he came home with a headache and four Excedrins. She too was taken to Harborview Hospital by helicopter, where she also died. Check Writing Quality. After an autopsy, the cause of death was declared to be emphysema. [6] She went on trial in April 1988 and was found guilty of all charges on May 9, after five days of jury deliberation. America immediately thought of the unsolved 1982 Chicago Tylenol product-tampering murders in which seven people died. The teen called 911. There Stella Nickell poisoned two people trying to get her husbands life insurance money. Stella Maudine Nickell ( ne Stephenson; born August 7, 1943) is an American woman who was sentenced to ninety years in prison for product tampering after she poisoned Excedrin capsules with lethal cyanide, resulting in the deaths of her husband Bruce Nickell and Sue Snow. At 6:30 a.m., Snows 15-year-old daughter, Hayley, found her lying on the bathroom floor, unresponsive and with only a faint pulse. Police initially focused on Snows husband Paul Webking. Let's remember when Stella Nickell was convicted of tampering with Excedrin, on this day in 1988 (May 9) | by Chris Burlingame | Journal of Precipitation | Medium Write Sign up Sign In 500. Klein is featured in "American Mother," a book about Nickell published this week. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. The crime was chillingly similar to the Chicago Tylenol murders four years earlier. Gregg Olsen's, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, "Case 93: Sue Snow and Bruce Nickell - Casefile: True Crime Podcast", "Killing Her Husband Wasn't Enough for Stella Nickell; to Make Her Point, She Poisoned a Stranger", "Mystery Involving Failed Mother-Daughter Relationship, Product Tampering and Murder, CBS", "Poisoned Painkiller Panic: The Snow-Nickell Cyanide Murders", "Poisoned Excedrin Suspected in 2D Seattle Death", "Ninety-year prison term in tampering deaths", United States Food and Drug Administration, "Husband of cyanide poisoning victim questioned", "Woman is Held in Deaths from Excedrin Laced with Cyanide", "Woman Guilty of Killing 2 With Poisoned Excedrin", "Woman Guilty of Killing 2 in Poisoned Excedrin Case", "Possibility of Mistrial Raised In Product-Tampering Case", "Stella Nickell, serving 90 years for planting poisoned pills, killing 2, seeks release from prison", "AUBURN WOMAN SERVING 90-YEAR TERM SEEKS NEW TRIAL IN HUSBAND-POISONING CASE", "The Federal Anti Tampering Act: Criminal Offense To Tamper With Consumer Products", "Nickell gets 90 years for cyanide murders", "TV film canceled after drug maker objects", "USA Network Pulls Movie After Advertiser Protests", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stella_Nickell&oldid=1130965489, People convicted of murder by Washington (state), Articles with dead external links from November 2021, Articles with permanently dead external links, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Pages using infobox criminal with motive parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 January 2023, at 21:57. "I started reading books to find out what plants I might have on the property that would be a danger to kids and pets," Stella says. "She was having a hard time breathing." Stella's neighbor, Sandy Scott, became a spy for the FBI. A year and half after Bruce Nickell died, Stella Nickell was arrested and stood trial in federal court. May 9, 1988, U.S. Marshall Merry Moore leads Stella Nickell from the federal courthouse after a jury convicts her on five counts of product tampering. Judge wont release WA woman serving 90 years for planting poisoned pills, Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. After the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6), Ulysses S. Grants Army of the Potomac marched south in the drive to take Richmond. The Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Assn. Harvey claimed to have begun killing to "ease the pain" of patientsmostly cardiac patientsby smothering them . Bruces heavy drinking suited Stella just fine. After building flatboats, de Soto and his 400 ragged troops crossed the great river under the cover of read more, On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, armed members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) surrender to federal authorities, ending their 71-day siege of Wounded Knee, site of the infamous massacre of 300 Sioux by the U.S. 7th Cavalry in 1890. Examination showed that Bruces signatures on at least two of the policies in his name were forgeries. 48 Hours reports on the search. On June 5, 1986 at 5:02 p.m., Stella Nickell called an emergency volunteer fire department on the Kent-Black Diamond Road. O n this day, May 9, in 1988, a Seattle woman was found guilty of killing her husband and another person by lacing Excedrin capsules with cyanide. For 19 months, Farr and Ciolino have been traveling the country without pay, interviewing witnesses and friends, talking to anyone who may help them re-open this case. read more. Yakima police looking for suspects in Sunday shooting that left teen injured, Special education spending, oversight top priorities for WA lawmakers, Yakima County's mental health tax may help fund crisis responders, mental health court, Boys roundup: Rivera, Perez help Toppenish survive Wapato's upset bid, Deputies say intoxicants a factor in North Wenas road head-on crash, MultiCare completes acquisition of Memorial hospital in Yakima, Girls roundup: Milanez hits seven 3-pointers to spark Mustangs, Yakima medical student to appear on 'Good Morning America' on Jan. 20. Rushed to Harborview Medical Center, Bruce did not respond to doctors efforts to revive him. Johnson & Johnson warned the public not to buy its product, stopped making and advertising it, and recalled more than 30 million bottles worth more than 100 million dollars. [10], With investigatory focus turned to Stella, detectives uncovered more circumstantial evidence pointing to her as the culprit. Joseph was born on July 27 1873. This seemed unlikely, because out of thousands of bottles checked in the entire region, authorities found only five with tainted capsules, and Stella had two of them. Six days later, Susan Snow took one of these capsules and died instantly. Sign Up. Stella Nickell (born August 7, 1943) is an American woman murdered her husband and another and tried to make it look like the work of a serial killer. Gregg Olsen, whose book "Bitter Almonds" chronicles the case, says that is why the FBI zeroed in on her. By age 16 she was pregnant with her first daughter, Cindy Hamilton. Nickell watched Bruce die in agony on June 5, 1986, a few days after buying the cyanide at a chemical-supply company. But they found Cyanide in the pills. To Nickell's frustration, the autopsy failed to pick up on the poison. Olsen says Hamilton and her mother had a combative relationship. View this record View. Noonan claimed she bought so much algae destroyer, he had to special order it just for her. But, the author said, the poisoner has never cared about the attention. This has led some to speculate that she may have initially conspired with her mother against her stepfather, then testified against her mother for the reward after her mother failed an FBI polygraph. She is a citizen of Mill Valley and the daughter of Roy Nicholls. "It was a means to an end," the author said. Stella Nickell about the time of the poisonings. On June 11, Sue Snow, a 40-year-old bank manager, took two Excedrin capsules for an early-morning headache. As any songwriter would, Sebastian first tried working that title into his read more, On May 8, 1963, with the release of Dr. No, North American moviegoers get their first lookdown the barrel of a gunat the super-spy James Bond (codename: 007), the immortal character created by Ian Fleming in his now-famous series of novels and portrayed onscreen by the read more, Claiming that its athletes will not be safe from protests and possible physical attacks, the Soviet Union announces that it will not compete in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Over a few weeks, Farr met with her twice. Grant hoped to control the strategic read more, On May 8, 2010, 88-year-old actress Betty White, known for her former roles on The Golden Girls and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, becomes the oldest person to host the long-running, late-night TV sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL). Less than a week later, Sue Snow, a 40-year-old bank manager took two extra-strength Excedrin capsules for an early-morning headache. This information would spread across the town she lived and cause her to start getting bullied because . Then there was the insurance. Stella Nicholls : No, Sarah, now it's your turn to hear a story. Her husband, Bruce, died after taking cyanide-laced Excedrin tablets in . The reward money came from a drug manufacturer's trade association. Sue Snows husband, Paul Webking, agreed to undergo a polygraph examination and passed. She was the first person to be found guilty of violating the Federal Anti-Tampering Act after putting cyanide in Excedrin capsules in an effort to kill her husband. "Mom's eyes were open and her fingers were bent and locked up," Klein said. But this time, there was a suspect and an arrest. "She never talks about my mom," Klein said. Stella also alleges that the evidence actually points to another person as the killer, and that the testimony about various smaller details in the case, such as the store owner who testified about her having purchased Algae Destroyer, was influenced by promises of payment. Manufacturer Bristol-Myers initiated a nationwide recall of Extra Strength Excedrin capsules, and immediately stopped making the product. They arrested me and I was only in jail overnight.". What happens next? It was also featured in episode 93 of Casefile True Crime Podcast in August 2018. But by the time of the trial, Rider says, the FBI had convinced her that her friend was the killer. [3] At 6:30 am, their 15-year-old daughter Hayley found Snow collapsed on the floor of her bathroom, unresponsive and with a faint pulse. #inline-recirc-item--id-a607eb04-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-a607eb04-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d { Nickell was convicted and sentenced to 90 years in jail. [1][2] Stella soon found herself in various legal issues, including a conviction for fraud in 1968, a charge of spousal abuse for beating Hamilton with a curtain rod in 1969, and a conviction for forgery in 1971. Stella Nickell used Cyanide to kill her victims. LISTENER DISCRETION ADVISED & Stella Nickell - The Seattle, Washington Excedrin Cyanide Murders | Listen Notes Pathologists said that her husband died of emphysema; calling it a natural death meant Nickell couldn't collect on the life-insurance policy. They turned out to be algae destroyer, a product used to kill algae in fish tanks. Local and state authorities are not, however, prevented from also filing charges in such cases. "I am not guilty," says Nickell. [17], Stella was sentenced to two terms of ninety years in prison for the deaths of Bruce and Snow, and three ten-year terms for the other product tampering charges. Stella and Steven have lived together in a single family house in Philadelphia, PA. View more. Stella Nickell was found guilty in federal court not of murder but of product tampering on May 9, 1988, and was sentenced to 90 years. She deserves no compassion. [2] The possibility of state charges for the actual murders of Bruce and Snow continues to exist. Three capsules out of those that remained in the 60-capsule bottle were found to be laced with cyanide in toxic quantities. Back to life. difference to Stella Nickell husbands life insurance money, 1864, Yankee troops arrive Spotsylvania. She will be almost 97 years old times in different places poisonings in the Seattle, where had... Prevented from also filing charges in such cases beating Cindy with a curtain rod 10, 2040 when! 'S blood sample showed that the real killer is walking around somewhere out there, '' Olsen said into product. 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