But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! They were married two years later. 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 . Sign up for notifications from Insider! "I am not guilty," says Nickell. One of the bottles happened to be purchased by Snow. (CBS) Thirteen years ago, in Washington state, Stella Nickell was convicted of killing her husband Bruce, and Sue Snow, a bank manager, by putting cyanide in Excedrin capsules. Although the defense challenged her credibility, the jury believed her and convicted Stella of fatally poisoning her husband and Sue Snow. Her husband, Bruce, died after taking cyanide-laced Excedrin tablets in 1986. [1], In January 1987, Stella's now-grown daughter, Cynthia Hamilton, approached police with information: her mother had spoken to her repeatedly about wanting Bruce dead, having grown bored with him after he quit drinking. 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. "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. 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. She failed and investigators narrowed their focus to her even further. Find your friends on Facebook. #inline-recirc-item--id-a607eb04-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-a607eb04-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d { Both were found to contain cyanide-laced capsules. The Food and Drug Administration soon announced that Extra Strength Excedrin capsules found at Snow's home contained cyanide. She maintains her innocence, claiming her daughter lied for the reward money. The detectives discovered an FBI memo that seems to support Rider's account. The FBI found Stella's fingerprints on several books. Around the time Stella failed a FBI polygraph, her daughter from a previous marriage, Cindy Hamilton, 27, came forward. Two more insurance policies on Bruce's life now came to light. Records from the Auburn Public Library showed Stella had checked out numerous books on poisoning. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Stella Nicholls. 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 . [7], Both Stella and Webking were asked to take polygraph examinations. Correction: Death By 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. Find Nicholls's address, hospital affiliations and more. She told police that her husband had recently died suddenly after taking pills from a 40-capsule bottle of Excedrin with the same lot number as the one that had killed Snow. Farr and Ciolino believe that finding Hamilton is the key to their case. She asked for compassionate release due to bad health, but where was her compassion when she murdered her own husband and another women? She will be eligible for parole in 2017. She wanted to stay home. Stella says she researched cyanide after her husband died. She told authorities that her mother had done extensive research at the library. But why would she bring the poisoning to police attention in the first place? Stella Maudine Stephenson was a native of Colton, Oregon. Rider, says that she was with Stella when she bought two bottles of Excedrin at a store called Albertson's. Her release date is set for July 10, 2040, when she will be almost 97 years old. Stella handed two bottles of Excedrin over to police -- supposedly bought at two different times from two different stores. 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 chemistry, a cyanide (from Greek kyanos 'dark blue') is a chemical compound that contains a CN functional group.This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom.. [6][note 1] Bruce died shortly thereafter at Harborview Medical Center, where treatment had failed to revive him. Detective Mike Dunbar, who worked on the case, says she wanted insurance money. Noonan claimed she bought so much algae destroyer, he had to special order it just for her. She told authorities that her husband had died suddenly after taking Excedrin. Ramn Morales : If you're serious about being a writer, it's not going to happen here. Stella Nicholls is the main protagonist of the 2019 film, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. as well as other partner offers and accept our. There was nothing wrong with her. She stands by her testimony that her mother had talked about killing Bruce, though she never said Stella confessed. [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". Bruce was a heavy equipment operator with a drinking habit, which suited her lifestyle,[3] and the two were married in 1976. Judge wont release WA woman serving 90 years for planting poisoned pills, Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. See Photos. The teen called 911. 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 crime was chillingly similar to the Chicago Tylenol murders four years earlier. [1], A second death, less than a week later, forced authorities to reconsider the cause of Bruce's death. Still, hard evidence against her was hard to come by until January 1988. They turned out to be algae destroyer, a product used to kill algae in fish tanks. She too was taken to Harborview Hospital by helicopter, where she also died. Background Report for Stella Chen. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. She also planted other bottles of cyanide-tainted Excedrin in local stores to divert suspicion, authorities said. She originally called police and turned over two bottles of Excedrin. Bruce worked as a heavy equipment operator and had a fondness for alcohol. Sign Up. 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. Olsen says Hamilton and her mother had a combative relationship. The revised cause of death made a difference to Stella Nickell. The other victim was Susan Katherine Snow, 40, also of Auburn, who authorities said had bought the poisoned capsules. Hamilton went on to testify against Nickell at her trial two years later. She claimed Stella admitted to researching poisons and told her of an unsuccessful attempt to poison Bruce with foxglove. [5], Records from the Auburn Public Library, when subpoenaed, showed that Stella had checked out numerous books about poisons, including Human Poisonings from Native and Cultivated Plants and Deadly Harvest. Stella Nickell had three life insurance policies on her husband. Now, 13 years later, private detective Al Farr and his partner Paul Ciolino are on a mission to prove what they both firmly believe: Nickell is innocent. The reward money came from a drug manufacturer's trade association. Nearly two weeks later, she heard about Sue Snow. When detectives investigated, they found that Stella had borrowed, but never returned, a book called Human Poisoning. [1][2], Stella finally consented to a polygraph examination in November 1986. They were married two years later. She told them her mother had often spoken of wanting Bruce dead. Police arrested her the same day, and she went on trial in April 1988. Authorities became suspicious because she told them she had bought two bottles of Excedrin at different times, probably in different places. One of the jurors had been a plaintiff in a case involving a pill baked into Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers. Reports said Snow died after swallowing cyanide-laced Excedrin. ", If you have information regarding this case, please contact Al Farr at, The Tylenol Mafia: Marketing, Murder and Johnson & Johnson. [20] Her release date is given as July 10, 2040, when she will be 96 years old. When investigators came to Nickells home to pick up the Excedrin bottle, she told them that there were two bottles and that she had purchased them on different days at different places. When she saw a news report about a woman dying from Excedrin capsules filled with cyanide, she called the police. 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). But why would she bring the poisoning to police attention in the first place? 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. Rider was never called to testify. "Rock star" reptile breeder murdered; Coroner: "Not a random act" 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. Stella Nickell's small-time world was one of big-time dreams. [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. Snows suspicious death triggered an autopsy. Snow's daughter, Hayley Klein, told Insider about her years of heartache following the crime. The Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Assn. During the autopsy, an assistant medical examiner noticed the odor of bitter almonds, a tell-tale indicator of cyanide. 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. Seven people died in that case, which was never solved. A subsequent test of the deceased Bruce Nickell's blood sample showed that he, like Sue Snow, had died of cyanide poisoning. Hamilton eventually collected $250,000 of that money. She said that she acted in self-defense as a victim of domestic violence. "She never talks about my mom," Klein said. The government says all required documents were handed over. They exhumed her husband's body and determined that he too, had been poisoned. It was also featured in episode 93 of Casefile True Crime Podcast in August 2018. Then Stella Nickell's daughter, Cindy Hamilton, began talking to police. 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. Nickell hatched another plot within a week. Cynthia Hamilton, Stellas daughter, came forward (possibly in order to obtain reward money) with her account of Stellas plan to kill her husband. Olsen says Hamilton and her mother had a combative relationship. She deserves no compassion. DARLING (born NICHOLLS) and 3 other siblings. He died in the hospital, but doctors did not detect the cyanide and ascribed the death to emphysema. Stella Nicholls is the daughter of Roy . [9], Examination of the contaminated bottles by the FBI Crime Lab found that, in addition to containing cyanide powder, the poisoned capsules also contained flecks of an unknown green substance. 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. An additional $50,000 will be shared by eight others who helped convict Stella Nickell of Auburn, Wash., in the deaths of her husband and another woman, the spokesman said. Nearly two weeks later, she heard about Sue Snow. Your email address will not be published. Stella Nicholls : I can't leave my dad. Joanna R Nicholls. Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Stella Nickell is convicted on two counts of murder by a Seattle, Washington, jury. "Stella was desperate because she murdered her husband and got nothing out of it," Olsen said. In early 1974, when she was 32, she met Bruce Nickell. Stella continued to maintain her innocence after her trial. [1][2], On June 5, 1986, the Nickells were living in Auburn, Washington, when Bruce, 52, came home from work with a headache. Over a few weeks, Farr met with her twice. Like last weeks case, this week deals with murder by poison. display: block; Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. Comments can only be made on article within the first 3 days of publication. Six days later, on June 11, just after 6:30 a.m., 15-year-old Hayley Snow found her mother, bank manager Sue Snow, 40, collapsed in the bathroom with a faint pulse. I sent her to school; she told the nurse I had beat her that morning. May 08, 2013 12:00 AM. "48 Hours": Brooke Skylar Richardson case Colbert says that he has never seen the polygraph graph, although he has asked to. In the face of the publicity blitz, Stella Nickell came forward on June 19. Her husband, Bruce, died after taking cyanide-laced Excedrin tablets in . Stella Nichols. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Stella Maudine Stephenson was born in Colton, Oregon, to Alva Georgia "Jo" (ne Duncan; later changed her name to Cora Lee) and George Stephenson. In the unlikely event she is paroled, at age 73, she could still face state murder charges, which have never been filed. 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." Tests confirmed that Snow had died from acute cyanide poisoning. Stella Nickell, then 75, had been sentenced to 90 years in prison in 1988, after she was found guilty of product tampering. This, in turn, brought in the FBI. In 1988 in Washington state, Stella Nickell was convicted of killing her husband Bruce, and Sue Snow, a bank manager, by putting cyanide in Excedrin capsules. Farr says that there is no credible evidence against her. } "But more importantly, I know who didn't do it and that's Stella Nickell. He died shortly after arriving. 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. At the time, Excedrin was packaged in plastic bottles with the mouth of the bottle sealed with foil and the lid secured to the bottle with plastic wrap. 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. Investigators verified that Stella had bought Algae Destroyer from a local aquarium supply store. Then Stella Nickell's daughter, Cindy Hamilton, began talking to police. Cindy subsequently received $250,000 of the $300,000 drug industry award. FBI detectives knew that it was an unlikely coincidence that Nickell had purchased two of four known contaminated bottles purely by chance. Brian Walshe, accused of killing wife, allegedly looked up ways to dispose of body, Helicopter crash near Ukraine kindergarten kills children, top officials, UPenn asked for info on Biden think tank donors, visitor logs, U.S. lawyer who died in Mexico was "victim of a brutal crime," family says, Matt Schlapp sued by former Herschel Walker aide alleging sexual battery, 200 millionaires say inequality is "eating the world alive". Manufacturer Bristol-Myers initiated a nationwide recall of Extra Strength Excedrin capsules, and immediately stopped making the product. [2] The possibility of state charges for the actual murders of Bruce and Snow continues to exist. 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