"48 Hours": Brooke Skylar Richardson case There was nothing wrong with her. 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. Background Report for Stella Chen. "It all just kind of dawned on me, wait a minute, this was a whole setup," she says. [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. Detectives later found traces of algaecide a chemical used to clean fish tanks in the Excedrin pills. 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. Bruce Nickell was rushed by helicopter to Harborview Hospital in Seattle, where he soon died. She is portrayed by Zoe Colletti . [1][2], On June 5, 1986, the Nickells were living in Auburn, Washington, when Bruce, 52, came home from work with a headache. Klein told them that her mom, who was a bank manager in Auburn, Washington, was "popular and had a big personality.". Stella Nickell was convicted two years later. 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. A $250,000 reward will be paid to a Garden Grove woman whose testimony helped convict her mother in two killings with cyanide-laced Excedrin, a spokesman for a pharmaceutical group said Friday. But they found Cyanide in the pills. DARLING (born NICHOLLS) and 3 other siblings. Records from the Auburn Public Library showed Stella had checked out numerous books on poisoning. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. She told authorities that her husband had died suddenly after taking Excedrin. After the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6), Ulysses S. Grants Army of the Potomac marched south in the drive to take Richmond. [5] Stella, Hamilton claimed, had even told her that she had tried to poison Bruce previously with foxglove hidden in capsules. In June 1986, two Auburn residents were killed by painkillers laced with cyanide. May 08, 2013 12:00 AM. "She didn't want notoriety," Olsen said. A consortium of drug companies, alarmed about product tampering, posted a $300,000 reward. [4], Stella met Bruce Nickell in 1974. Stella's friend A.J. Bruce's insurance paid an extra hundred thousand dollars if he died by accident, including poisoning. Social Profiles. [5], During an autopsy on Snow, Assistant Medical Examiner Janet Miller detected the scent of bitter almonds, an odor distinctive to cyanide. Some cite $71,000, some $75,000, and some $76,000. Dont miss out! That case moved Congress to enact tough tampering laws. Nearly two weeks later, she heard about Sue Snow. The doctors said it was emphysema, but Stella says that never made sense, because he didnt have that disease. 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. Like cyanide poisoning. 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She maintains her innocence, claiming her daughter lied for the reward money. [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. Snows suspicious death triggered an autopsy. In these documents, there are reports about other possible suspects and mysterious fingerprints on Sue Snows bottle. In 1985, Stella took out a life insurance policy on Bruce that included a substantial indemnity payment for accidental death. However, the motion was denied. Gradually suspicion hardened on Stella Nickell. A second autopsy proved her right. The same amount is offered in the 1982 Chicago-area deaths of seven people, who also were killed with tainted Tylenol capsules, he said. 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. She'd heard a thump and the sound of water running over the sink. Farr and Ciolino say that is not true. She told Farr that she is not sure her mother is really guilty. Six days later, Susan Snow took one of these capsules and died instantly. At 16, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia. 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". A subsequent test of the deceased Bruce Nickell's blood sample showed that he, like Sue Snow, had died of cyanide poisoning. The FBI began an investigation into possible product tampering having been the source of the poison. The bottle had the same lot number as the bottle in Sue Snows home. Stella Nickell is convicted on two counts of murder by a Seattle, Washington, jury. A year later, Stella put cyanide in an Excedrin capsule that Bruce later took for a headache. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. Read. As the investigation continued, the FBI lab found an important clue: green crystals mixed in with the cyanide. "American Mother: The True Story of a Troubled Family, Motherhood and the Cyanide Murders That Shook the World.". View this record View. She failed and investigators narrowed their focus to her even further. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. 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. He was able to do this during his time as a hospital orderly.His spree took place between 1970 and 1987. She continues to maintain her innocence, saying that Cindy lied to get the $300,000 reward money (she received $250,000). Her first lawyer also asked to see it, and never did. The police searched the family home and found an open bottle of Excedrin, a brand that Snow often used, in the kitchen cabinet. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. [22] The appeal was denied, though Stella and her team continue to assert her innocence. See Photos. But why would she bring the poisoning to police attention in the first place? Reports said Snow died after swallowing cyanide-laced Excedrin. 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. Stella Nickell used Cyanide to kill her victims. Stella Nickell's small-time world was one of big-time dreams. She refused to help the defense team. [7] His death initially was ruled to be by natural causes, with attending physicians citing emphysema. Other evidence pointed to Stella. She told authorities that her mother had done extensive research at the library. Stella . 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. Stella denies this, and says she told them she didn't know where she had bought the bottles. 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." She said of Nickell, "She has no regard for what she did to other people's lives I don't know why anybody should have any regard for her now.". Because of product tampering legislation passed in response to the Chicago killings, these murders became a federal case. Olsen told Insider that Snow was a random victim who "paid for Stella's greed with her life." Now, private detective Al Farr and his partner Paul Ciolino are on a mission to prove what they both firmly believe: Nickell is innocent. Joanna R Nicholls. Stella had an aquarium, but says she never bought algae destroyer. Stella's payoff now totaled $175,000. 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. [12] The FBI identified her fingerprints on cyanide-related pages of a number of the works she had checked out during this period. Nickell was convicted after police and FBI agents, following months of investigation, concluded she had laced her husbands Excedrin painkillers with cyanide to collect on his insurance, then planted poisoned pills in stores to throw off investigators. But, Klein told Insider, Nickell didn't mention her mother. Stella Nicholls : I can't leave my dad. Local and state authorities are not, however, prevented from also filing charges in such cases. [2] The former was marked as overdue in library records, indicating that she had borrowed but never returned it. One of the jurors had been a plaintiff in a case involving a pill baked into Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers. 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. Written by Gregg Olsen, the book includes interviews with Klein and Nickell's daughter, Cindy Hamilton. Stella Nickell, then 75, had been sentenced to 90 years in prison in 1988, after she was found guilty of product tampering. Prosecutors said Stella Nickell put cyanide in capsules of Extra-Strength Excedrin and gave them to her husband. An appeal based on jury tampering and judicial misconduct issues was rejected by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in August 1989. When police arrived, Stella handed over two bottles of Excedrin. Cindy subsequently received $250,000 of the $300,000 drug industry award. 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. Paramedics found her unconscious and gasping for breath. 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. 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 . The crime was chillingly similar to the Chicago Tylenol murders four years earlier. Although the defense challenged her credibility, the jury believed her and convicted Stella of fatally poisoning her husband and Sue Snow. [10], With investigatory focus turned to Stella, detectives uncovered more circumstantial evidence pointing to her as the culprit. Two more insurance policies on Bruce's life now came to light. Like cyanide poisoning. [2] She was also known to have, even before Snow's death, repeatedly disputed doctors' ruling that her husband had died of natural causes. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. This dating app might be for you. [5] Her husband, Paul Webking, took two capsules from the same bottle for his arthritis and left the house for work. Farr says that there is no credible evidence against her. 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. 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. Hamilton eventually collected $250,000 of that money. Then Stella Nickell's daughter, Cindy Hamilton, began talking to police. She was sentenced to 90 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. 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. AIM was founded in 1968 by read more, On May 8, 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Rider was never called to testify. Then there was the insurance. 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. }, First published on June 4, 2001 / 12:09 PM. 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. Sign up for notifications from Insider! As the investigation continued, the FBI lab found an important clue: green crystals mixed in with the cyanide. MMII Viacom Internet Services Inc. All Rights Reserved or. Stella resented Bruces newfound sobriety because it deprived her of their visits to bars. 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. Required fields are marked *. 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 . She laced some of the pills with cyanide, just as she'd done before, and placed the bottles on the shelves of random stores in the area. She even searched Stella's home for algae destroyer. They also recalled that Stella Nickell had several fish tanks in her trailer home. Nickell says her husband walked out on the deck to watch the birds, and suddenly collapsed. She showed them the bottle. One June evening in 1986, he came home with a headache and four Excedrins. Now some top sleuths are trying to prove her innocence. She also planted other bottles of cyanide-tainted Excedrin in local stores to. The Chicago Tylenol case had resulted not only in the 1983 Federal Anti-Tampering Law under which she was charged, but FDA requirements that products be packaged with tamper-resistant technology such as blister-packs, bottle mouth seal covers, shrink wrap bottle covers, visible seals that must be broken to open the bottle, and taped box ends. The odds of her selecting two contaminated bottles by random chance were astronomical. FBI working to identify unknown victims of serial killer But this time, pathologists smelled the telltale scent of bitter almonds during the autopsy, and determined that cyanide poisoning had killed Sue Snow. After an autopsy, the cause of death was declared to be emphysema. They then looked toward Nickell. These included convictions for fraud and forgery and a charge of beating Cindy with a curtain rod. Stella Nicholls : No, Sarah, now it's your turn to hear a story. On May 8, 1864, Yankee troops arrive at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia, to find the Rebels already there. [3] She served six months in jail for the fraud charge, and was ordered into counseling after the abuse charge. Over a few weeks, Farr met with her twice. On June 5, 1986 at 5:02 p.m., Stella Nickell called an emergency volunteer fire department on the Kent-Black Diamond Road. They were married two years later. The crime was chillingly similar to the Chicago Tylenol murders four years earlier. One of the bottles happened to be purchased by Snow. Sue Snow collapsed in her bathroom of her home in the Seattle, Washington, suburb of Auburn. Paramedics rushed to the home at 1404 N Street NE in Auburn. 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. 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. They speculated she used the same container to crush both the Algae Destroyer and the cyanide without washing it. Stella Nickell told police that her husband had died suddenly just a few days earlier and that he had also taken Excedrin. Snow was airlifted to the hospital, but she was declared brain dead a few hours later. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. On the basis of their new findings, Stella's legal team today filed a request for a new trial. But this time, there was a suspect and an arrest. How Americans Became Convinced Their Halloween Candy was Poisoned. This time it was a bottle of Maximum Strength Anacin-3 at the Pay 'n Save store where Sue Snow was thought to have bought her fatal Excedrin. 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[6] She went on trial in April 1988 and was found guilty of all charges on May 9, after five days of jury deliberation. [15][16], Stella's legal team sought a mistrial on grounds of jury tampering and judicial misconduct. On December 9, 1987, a federal grand jury indicted Stella Nickell on five counts of product tampering. Reports said Snow died after swallowing cyanide-laced Excedrin. But, the author said, the poisoner has never cared about the attention. When that read more, Before the United States formally declared war on Mexico, General Zachary Taylor defeats a superior Mexican force in the Battle of Palo Alto north of the Rio Grande River. by Scott McCabe. The FBI refused to comment. "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. Snow died a few days later, after also taking Excedrin pills laced with cyanide. ER 2002-12, 2014-16 Milford Haven, Dyfed, SA73. Authorities alleged he put rat poison in capsules of several SmithKline Beckman Corp. products in Florida and Texas in a failed scheme to manipulate the price of SmithKline stock. She told them her mother had often spoken of wanting Bruce dead. [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. Stella Maudine Stephenson was a native of Colton, Oregon. Farr and Ciolino say that is not true. Her fingerprints were also found all over other books on cyanide. She originally called police and turned over two bottles of Excedrin. Stella Nicholls is the main protagonist of the 2019 film, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Olsen said that Nickell's crimes have been the focus of a number of TV documentaries and books, including his own. The FBI found Stella's fingerprints on several books. In early 1974, when she was 32, she met Bruce Nickell. She had a history of abusing drugs. Stella denies abusing her children: "(Hamilton) wasn't feeling good. 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. [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. "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. She stands by her testimony that her mother had talked about killing Bruce, though she never said Stella confessed.
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