Bruce was a heavy equipment operator with a drinking habit, which suited her lifestyle,[3] and the two were married in 1976. 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. But why would she bring the poisoning to police attention in the first place? 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. Nickell says her husband walked out on the deck to watch the birds, and suddenly collapsed. But he took a polygraph, passed, and was eliminated as a suspect. [5] Investigators were also able to verify that Stella had purchased Algae Destroyer from a local fish store; it was speculated that the algaecide had become mixed with the cyanide when Stella used the same container to crush both substances without washing it in between uses. Investigators verified that Stella had bought Algae Destroyer from a local aquarium supply store. The detectives say they simply don't know who the killer is. Over a few weeks, Farr met with her twice. 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. 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 was having a hard time breathing." Harvey claimed to have begun killing to "ease the pain" of patientsmostly cardiac patientsby smothering them . Milford Haven, Dyfed, SA73. 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. The other victim was Susan Katherine Snow, 40, also of Auburn, who authorities said had bought the poisoned capsules. Stella Nicholls is the main protagonist in the 2019 film based on the book Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. That case moved Congress to enact tough tampering laws. "Stella was desperate because she murdered her husband and got nothing out of it," Olsen said. [5] On June 27, Washington State put into effect a 90-day ban on the sale of non-prescription medication in capsules. Noonan, the fish store manager, was paid a $15,000 reward. We offered the rewards as a deterrent because we feel that the best way to deter tampering is to catch the tamperers, said John T. Walden, a senior vice president of the Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Assn. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. [20] Her release date is given as July 10, 2040, when she will be 96 years old. She said that she didnt testify for the reward. She will be eligible for parole in 2017. Seven people died in that case, which was never solved. The jury convicted Stella on all counts on May 9, after five days of deliberation. They asked the family if Snow had any enemies. ", If you have information regarding this case, please contact Al Farr at, The Tylenol Mafia: Marketing, Murder and Johnson & Johnson. Still, hard evidence against her was hard to come by until January 1988. Paramedics found her unconscious and gasping for breath. Check Writing Quality. [6] Further FBI investigation showed that Bruce's purported signatures on at least two of the insurance policies in his name had been forged. [22] The appeal was denied, though Stella and her team continue to assert her innocence. The bottle had the same lot number as the bottle in Sue Snows home. Sign up for the newsletter today. 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? Stella's payoff now totaled $175,000. 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. Stella Nickell was convicted two years later. The Free Encyclopedia of Washington State History. "It's entirely possible that the real killer is walking around somewhere out there," says Farr. [13], On December 9, 1987, Stella was indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of product tampering, including two which resulted in the deaths of Bruce and Snow,[6][14] and arrested the same day. display: none; She failed and investigators narrowed their focus to her even further. Sues husband also took two capsules from the bottle for his arthritis before leaving for work. They speculated she used the same container to crush both the Algae Destroyer and the cyanide without washing it. They arrested me and I was only in jail overnight.". The doctors said it was emphysema, but Stella says that never made sense, because he didn't have that disease. 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.. READ MORE: How Americans Became Convinced Their Halloween Candy was Poisoned, Woman convicted of killing two in Excedrin tampering, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/woman-convicted-for-tampering-with-excedrin. "48 Hours": Brooke Skylar Richardson case What happens next? But why would she bring the poisoning to police attention in the first place? Stella Nicholls is the main protagonist of the 2019 film, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Federal prosecutors said they opposed her release. In these documents, there are reports about other possible suspects and mysterious fingerprints on Sue Snows bottle. 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, 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. Make her serve the whole sentence or until she dies. 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. 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. 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. 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Although the defense challenged her credibility, the jury believed her and convicted Stella of fatally poisoning her husband and Sue Snow. [12] The FBI identified her fingerprints on cyanide-related pages of a number of the works she had checked out during this period. When Cindy was 9, Stella was charged with hitting her with a curtain rod, bruising her legs. 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. [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. Nearly two weeks later, she heard about Sue Snow. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. Olsen said that Nickell told her daughter, Cindy Hamilton, about the scheme, despite their fractious relationship, and how she was inspired by the Tylenol deaths. Stella Nicholls : I can't leave my dad. "And I won't quit fighting until I prove it.". Then Stella Nickell's daughter, Cindy Hamilton, began talking to police. Stella Nicholls is the daughter of Roy . [6], With contamination of the Excedrin at the source having been ruled out, investigators began to focus their investigation on the end-users of the product. Prosecutors: Security video discredits cosplay model's story of self-defense The doctors said it was emphysema, but Stella says that never made sense, because he didnt have that disease. At 16, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia. 2011 Update: New book presents compelling case that the murderous capsules were prepared within the manufacturer's facilities, not at the retail level. Stella Nicholls was presumably born in the early 1950s, and when Stella was young, her mother would leave her for an unknown reason. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. They also recalled that Stella Nickell had several fish tanks in her trailer home. During the autopsy, an assistant medical examiner noticed the odor of bitter almonds, a tell-tale indicator of cyanide. [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. Investigators concluded they were dealing with product tampering. Less than a week later, Sue Snow, a 40-year-old bank manager took two extra-strength Excedrin capsules for an early-morning headache. (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. 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. Stella had two of them. The defense agreed not to cross-examine Cindy about the reward. Local and state authorities are not, however, prevented from also filing charges in such cases. Nickell took a lie detector test and failed. Background Report for Stella Chen. She asked for compassionate release due to bad health, but where was her compassion when she murdered her own husband and another women? Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. Prosecutors said Stella Nickell put cyanide in capsules of Extra-Strength Excedrin and gave them to her husband. Nickell poisoned Bruce so she could pocket his life insurance, and Snow died the same way in a foiled effort to cover her tracks, Olsen said. [6] Concrete evidence proving that she had ever purchased or used cyanide was lacking, and despite their relative certainty that she had orchestrated the poisonings as either an elaborate cover-up for an insurance-motivated murder of her husband or a desperate attempt to force her husband's death to be ruled an accident to increase her insurance payout, they were unable to build a strong case supporting arrest. 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. But U.S. District Judge James Robart on Thursday found that Nickell, who has already twice been denied parole, doesnt qualify for compassionate relief. She lived with the Nickells months before Bruce died. The Chicago Tylenol incident (which was never solved) had a lasting impact on Stella, who decided that cyanide would be a good method of murder. 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. [32][33], Sources vary as to the exact amount. Sign up for notifications from Insider! Stellas lawyer said nothing about the reward because a deal was made. On June 24th, a fifth bottle of cyanide-laced pills appeared on retail shelves in South King County. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. Stella Nicholls. had offered the rewards for information leading to an arrest in the June, 1986, killings, which led to the nations first trial in a product-tampering death. [2] Investigators examined the contents of the Snow-Webking household and discovered the source of the cyanide: the bottle of Excedrin capsules that both Snow and Webking had used the morning of Snow's death. At 16, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia. Six days later, Susan Snow took one of these capsules and died instantly. He joined the army at the relatively advanced age of 33 in 1916 to fight in World War I. 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. They exhumed her husband's body and determined that he too, had been poisoned. }, First published on June 4, 2001 / 12:09 PM. But then they found out that he was an organ donor and a sample of his. He died in the hospital, but doctors did not detect the cyanide and ascribed the death to emphysema. Her May 1988 conviction and prison sentence were the first under federal product tampering laws instituted after the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders. Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Paramedics rushed her to Harborview, but she died without regaining consciousness. But they found Cyanide in the pills. Her first lawyer also asked to see it, and never did. According to Cindy, Stella had pointed out that if Bruce died, she and Cindy would have the cash they wanted to open a tropical fish store, or perhaps a ceramics store, another of Stella's hobbies. [6] She went on trial in April 1988 and was found guilty of all charges on May 9, after five days of jury deliberation. The Auburn Public Library, responding to an FBI subpoena, revealed that Stella had checked out titles such as Deadly Harvest and Human Poisoning from Native Plants. In June 1986, two Auburn residents were killed by painkillers laced with cyanide. DARLING (born NICHOLLS) and 3 other siblings. To fill the now empty hours at home, she began keeping a home aquarium. Stella and Bruce Nickell married in 1976, shortly after seven people were killed in Chicago, Illinois, from poisoned Tylenol pills. Farr says that there is no credible evidence against her. She told authorities that her mother had done extensive research at the library. Paramedics rushed to the home at 1404 N Street NE in Auburn. Then Stella Nickell's daughter, Cindy Hamilton, began talking to police. Gradually suspicion hardened on Stella Nickell. That case moved Congress to enact tough tampering laws. Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. The son of a farmer, Truman could not afford to go to college. 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. A year and half after Bruce Nickell died, Stella Nickell was arrested and stood trial in federal court. Police arrested her the same day, and she went on trial in April 1988. In early 1974, when she was 32, she met Bruce Nickell. May 08, 2013 12:00 AM. Suspicious investigators, noting that $100,000 of that would only be paid out because the cause of death was now known to be cyanide, wondered if Stella had randomly killed Sue Snow by planting the bottle that killed her on the Pay-N-Save shelf, simply to bring attention to the fact Bruce had been poisoned and increase her take. 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. She wanted to stay home. Estella had 4 sisters: Edith A. Her release date is set for July 10, 2040, when she will be almost 97 years old. 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. [7], Both Stella and Webking were asked to take polygraph examinations. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. In early 1974, when she was 32, she met Bruce Nickell. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. The Old Crime is New Again newsletter is a monthly email covering a topic that has not appeared in the blog. 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. Bruce worked as a heavy equipment operator and had a fondness for alcohol. According to Stellas daughter from a previous marriage, Stella had begun planning Bruces murder almost from the honeymoon. The killer in that case has never been caught. By CYNTHIA FLASH. Noonan claimed she bought so much algae destroyer, he had to special order it just for her. Nickell was the first to be convicted under it. Authorities became suspicious because she told them she had bought two bottles of Excedrin at different times, probably in different places. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. Rider was never called to testify. Bruce's insurance paid an extra $100,000 if he died by accident, including poisoning. She later moved to Southern California where she married and had another daughter. 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. I sent her to school; she told the nurse I had beat her that morning. Another memo mentions that Stella's two Excedrin bottles came from one store, Albertsons. Around the time Stella failed a FBI polygraph, her daughter from a previous marriage, Cindy Hamilton, 27, came forward. Stella is not perfect: She once served four months in jail for check fraud. Stella's friend A.J. Rewards authorized for two other drug-tampering cases remain unpaid. They were married two years later. After all, it had been less than four years since the unsolved Tylenol poisonings in the Chicago area. 4 Stella J Nicholls. Farr and Ciolino believe that finding Hamilton is the key to their case. The company followed this on June 20 with a recall of all their non-prescription capsule products. She deserves no compassion. The convicted killer stood before a parole board in 2017, while Klein watched the proceedings on closed-circuit TV. In early 1974,. She was paid $7,500. 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). The FBI laboratory determined that the contaminated capsules contained small particles of an algicide called Algae Destroyer. win all terms to run concurrently. 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. She told authorities that her husband had died suddenly after taking Excedrin. Police initially focused on Snows husband Paul Webking. Nickell, who kept tropical fish in a large tank, had crushed the cyanide in the same bowl that she used to turn the algaecide into powder. Bristol-Myers and the industry were following in the footsteps of Johnson & Johnson, whose swift reaction to the 1982 Tylenol case has been held up as a model of corporate responsibility and good public relations. She bought nine more bottles of Excedrin and cut through the protective film with a razor blade. She claimed to have bought the two bottles at different times in different stores. She also planted other bottles of cyanide-tainted Excedrin in local stores to. [5] Stella, Hamilton claimed, had even told her that she had tried to poison Bruce previously with foxglove hidden in capsules. She even searched Stella's home for algae destroyer. LISTENER DISCRETION ADVISED & Stella Nickell - The Seattle, Washington Excedrin Cyanide Murders | Listen Notes Stella . "I think that she probably killed Bruce and expected them to find out that he died from cyanide poisoning," he says. Sue Snows husband, Paul Webking, agreed to undergo a polygraph examination and passed. Stella Chen has been associated with one company, according to public records. 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. Nickell tampered with five additional bottles of Excedrin and placed them on store shelves in the Seattle area. The FBI refused to comment. 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. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. See Photos. 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. But by the time of the trial, Rider says, the FBI had convinced her that her friend was the killer. But Tom Noonan, manager of the local fish store, says she did buy algae destroyer. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Im afraid for her life: Riverside CC womens coach harassed after Title IX suit, Want to solve climate change? Now 27, Hamilton had been in and out of Stella's life for years. [5], In response to the publicity, Stella came forward on June 19. Stella also had more than her share of legal troubles. 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. Olsen says Hamilton and her mother had a combative relationship. [1][2], On June 5, 1986, the Nickells were living in Auburn, Washington, when Bruce, 52, came home from work with a headache. 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. Under her husband's insurance policy, which paid out more for accidental death, she stood to receive an extra $100,000. "And I won't quit fighting until I prove it.". Comments can only be made on article within the first 3 days of publication. Nickell hatched another plot within a week. Despite the Soviet statement, it was obvious that the boycott was a response to the decision of the read more, On May 8, 1792, Congress passes the second portion of the Militia Act, requiring that every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years be enrolled in the militia. They also posted a $100,000 reward. Stella Maudine Stephenson was a native of Colton, Oregon. Three capsules out of those that remained in the 60-capsule bottle were found to be laced with cyanide in toxic quantities. Are you a "motivated dater"? Investigators in Seattle say her plan was foiled when Bruce's death was attributed to emphysema - a natural cause. 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. [2] She was also known to have, even before Snow's death, repeatedly disputed doctors' ruling that her husband had died of natural causes. Webking did so, but Stella, who had started drinking heavily,[2] declined. Bruce Nickell was rushed by helicopter to Harborview Hospital in Seattle, where he soon died. She had a history of abusing drugs. Stella denies this, and says she told them she didn't know where she had bought the bottles. [15][16], Stella's legal team sought a mistrial on grounds of jury tampering and judicial misconduct. Authorities ruled his death to be from natural causesemphysema, the attending physicians said. Estella May McILMOYLE (born NICHOLLS) was born on month day 1898, to Joseph NICHOLLS and Elizabeth Ann NICHOLLS (born McILMOYL). The film was to have been directed by Jeff Reiner and starring Katey Sagal as Stella Nickell. The odds of her selecting two contaminated bottles by random chance were astronomical. Farr and Ciolino say that is not true. How Americans Became Convinced Their Halloween Candy was Poisoned. 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. 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. As the investigation continued, the FBI lab found an important clue: green crystals mixed in with the cyanide. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! "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. 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. [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. Colbert says that he has never seen the polygraph graph, although he has asked to. Ramn Morales : If you're serious about being a writer, it's not going to happen here. Klein is featured in "American Mother," a book about Nickell published this week. [2] The former was marked as overdue in library records, indicating that she had borrowed but never returned it. The case was also featured in episodes of Autopsy, Forensic Files,[26] The New Detectives,[27] Mysteries at the Museum, and Snapped,[28] as well as two episodes of Deadly Women. 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. Hamilton went on to testify against Nickell at her trial two years later. or. This California farm kingdom holds a key, Six people, including mother and baby, killed in Tulare County; drug cartel suspected, These are the 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles, New Bay Area maps show hidden flood risk from sea level rise and groundwater. She said she had bought the bottles on two occasions, one somewhere in Auburn, the other at Johnny's Market in Kent. "She never talks about my mom," Klein said. 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. Cindy told the FBI that her mother had wanted to kill recovering alcoholic Bruce because after he had gone through rehab and sobered up, he had become a bore. 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. Klein was 15 when she found her 40-year-old mother lying on the bathroom floor in June 1986. Stella denies abusing her children: "(Hamilton) wasn't feeling good. "It was a means to an end," the author said.