"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. Webking did so, but Stella, who had started drinking heavily,[2] declined. Prosecutors: Security video discredits cosplay model's story of self-defense Some cite $71,000, some $75,000, and some $76,000. Authorities became suspicious because she told them she had bought two bottles of Excedrin at different times, probably in different places. 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. Find out in Part II, Retracing The Case. Your email address will not be published. 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. Her lawyers have also petitioned, unsuccessfully, for a new trial. Farr and Ciolino talked to other people who were also rewarded for their role in the case. 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. Snow died a few days later, after also taking Excedrin pills laced with cyanide. 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. Four years later, the scenario seemed to be playing itself out again in King County Washington. Seven people died in that case, which was never solved. In 1986, the Nickells lived in Auburn, Washington, a suburb south of Seattle not far from SEA-TAC airport. "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. 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. At 16, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia. The teen called 911. The detectives say they simply don't know who the killer is. Coryn I. Nicholls (Mayerson) is a Physician Assistant in Walnut Creek, CA. Stella Nickell's small-time world was one of big-time dreams. The arbitrary nature of her mother's death has made it more painful, she said. When both turned out to contain contaminated capsules, investigators grew suspicious. On June 11, Sue Snow, a 40-year-old bank manager, took two Excedrin capsules for an early-morning headache. DARLING (born NICHOLLS) and 3 other siblings. [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. At the end of the movie, she won the prize for the scariest story ever. 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. Comments can only be made on article within the first 3 days of publication. [2] The case was referenced in an episode of In Plain Sight titled "Kill Pill", which aired November 23, 2018 on the Investigation Discovery channel. On June 5, 1986 at 5:02 p.m., Stella Nickell called an emergency volunteer fire department on the Kent-Black Diamond Road. A few years later, though, she had a change of heart. The case made headlines across the world. [2] The possibility of state charges for the actual murders of Bruce and Snow continues to exist. 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. See Photos. The son of a farmer, Truman could not afford to go to college. Nickell watched Bruce die in agony on June 5, 1986, a few days after buying the cyanide at a chemical-supply company. With Snow dead, Stella could step forward and notify police. Explore historical records and family tree profiles about Stella Nicholls on MyHeritage, the world's family history network. There Stella Nickell poisoned two people trying to get her husbands life insurance money. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. Estella had 4 sisters: Edith A. 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. 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. "Stella was desperate because she murdered her husband and got nothing out of it," Olsen said. Farr says that there is no credible evidence against her. 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. She lived with the Nickells months before Bruce died. She found none, something the jury never heard. Sue Snows husband, Paul Webking, agreed to undergo a polygraph examination and passed. Rewards authorized for two other drug-tampering cases remain unpaid. See Photos. 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. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. A subsequent test of the deceased Bruce Nickell's blood sample showed that he, like Sue Snow, had died of cyanide poisoning. Noonan claimed she bought so much algae destroyer, he had to special order it just for her. She originally called police and turned over two bottles of Excedrin. 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 paid $7,500. Stella Nickell had three life insurance policies on her husband. 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. View this record View. She asked for compassionate release due to bad health, but where was her compassion when she murdered her own husband and another women? They have a history of helping people they feel have been unfairly convicted. She said that she didnt testify for the reward. She bought nine more bottles of Excedrin and cut through the protective film with a razor blade. 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. The records tended to confirm at least that part of Hamiltons story. A sweep of grocery and pharmacy shelves in King County produced another tainted bottle from Johnny's Market in Kent, and the lot number of the bottle recovered from Sue Snow's home was publicized. Bruce was a heavy equipment operator with a drinking habit, which suited her lifestyle,[3] and the two were married in 1976. She told authorities that her mother had done extensive research at the library. 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. 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. [1][2], On June 5, 1986, the Nickells were living in Auburn, Washington, when Bruce, 52, came home from work with a headache. When another bottle of contaminated Excedrin turned up at a grocery store in Kent, the manufacturer, Bristol-Myers launched an immediate recall of all Excedrin in the Seattle area. Paramedics found her unconscious and gasping for breath. But police investigators and the federal government still firmly believe she is guilty. Stella had an aquarium, but says she never bought algae destroyer. They then looked toward Nickell. Never-before-seen photos and details about accused Idaho killer Stella Nickell has spent more than a decade in prison for poisoning her husband. After all, it had been less than four years since the unsolved Tylenol poisonings in the Chicago area. Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. In June 1986, two Auburn residents were killed by painkillers laced with cyanide. They then looked toward Nickell. Make her serve the whole sentence or until she dies. 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. At age 16, following the birth of her first daughter, Cynthia Hamilton, Stella moved to Southern California, where she married and had another daughter. She wanted to stay home. Cindy told FBI investigators that Stella had researched toxic local plants and other poisons at local libraries. Snows suspicious death triggered an autopsy. The detectives discovered an FBI memo that seems to support Rider's account. "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. Paramedics rushed to the home at 1404 N Street NE in Auburn. Farr and Ciolino say that is not true. Nickell took advantage of the panic created by Snow's death and asked police to consider Bruce's case as part of their investigation. Stella resented Bruces newfound sobriety because it deprived her of their visits to bars. They arrested me and I was only in jail overnight.". 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.". But in 1986, when two Seattle-area people died after ingesting Excedrin laced with cyanide, Stella Nickell was nabbed for the. 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. or. [6] Further FBI investigation showed that Bruce's purported signatures on at least two of the insurance policies in his name had been forged. [5], In response to the publicity, Stella came forward on June 19. Following that failure, Stella had begun library research into other methods and hit upon cyanide. And she is completely capable of murdering again at 78 yrs old. They also recalled that Stella Nickell had several fish tanks in her trailer home. 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. I think, 'Say her name, lady.'". Hamilton testified. Nixon reaffirmed his promise to withdraw 150,000 read more, On May 8, 1884, Harry S. Truman is born in Lamar, Missouri. Investigators in Seattle say her plan was foiled when Bruce's death was attributed to emphysema - a natural cause. "She didn't want notoriety," Olsen said. FBI document examiners determined that Bruce's signature on the applications had been forged. Authorities ruled his death to be from natural causesemphysema, the attending physicians said. She added that "as negative as it is, I have chosen to learn from it and not become bitter. [7], Both Stella and Webking were asked to take polygraph examinations. Nickell never admitted to the crimes, but during her first appeal for early release, she finally took responsibility for murdering Bruce. The Old Crime is New Again newsletter is a monthly email covering a topic that has not appeared in the blog. } [25], Seattle author Gregg Olsen wrote about the Nickell case in his 1993 book Bitter Almonds: The True Story of Mothers, Daughters and the Seattle Cyanide Murders. They were married two years later. Now some top sleuths are trying to prove her innocence. The clincher came when Stellas oldest daughter, Cindy Hamilton, contacted police. They asked the family if Snow had any enemies. Find your friends on Facebook. When she saw a news report about a woman dying from Excedrin capsules filled with cyanide, she called the police. In the face of the publicity blitz, Stella Nickell came forward on June 19. 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 will be eligible for parole in 2017. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. Joseph was born on July 27 1873. But then they found out that he was an organ donor and a sample of his. Stella Maudine Stephenson was a native of Colton, Oregon. Less than a week later, Sue Snow, a 40-year-old bank manager took two extra-strength Excedrin capsules for an early-morning headache. Police arrested her the same day, and she went on trial in April 1988. [5] Tests verified that Snow had died of acute cyanide poisoning. Nickell was the first to be convicted under it. Stella and Bruce Nickell married in 1976, shortly after seven people were killed in Chicago, Illinois, from poisoned Tylenol pills. 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 was dirt poor, she lived in a small trailer with her husband, grown daughter Cynthia, and grandchild; Stella's her mother lived next door. display: block; #inline-recirc-item--id-a607eb04-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { Nearly two weeks later, she heard about Sue Snow. During the trial, the reward was never brought into evidence. Cindy Hamilton was paid a $250,000 reward for her help in the case against her mother. [3] The FDA inspected the Morrisville, North Carolina, plant where the tainted lot had been packaged, but found no traces of cyanide to explain its presence in the Washington bottles. She also planted other bottles of cyanide-tainted Excedrin in local stores to. But why would she bring the poisoning to police attention in the first place? But U.S.. 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. These included convictions for fraud and forgery and a charge of beating Cindy with a curtain rod. June Devaney: Unique Strategy Solves a Horrific Murder, Lipstick Killer: Murder Spree is a Challenge For Cops, Mollie Olgin: Strange Murder of Girl in Texas Park, Jason Owens: Secrets and Murder of a Media Star, Black Sox: Baseballs First Big Gambling Scandal, Mark Putnam: Love and Murder in Appalachia, Eric Witte: Mother Manipulates Boy to Commit Startling Murder. 48 Hours reports on the search. [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. He died shortly after arriving. Stella Nickell about the time of the poisonings. You have permission to edit this article. She also planted other bottles of cyanide-tainted Excedrin in local stores to divert suspicion, authorities said. Local and state authorities are not, however, prevented from also filing charges in such cases. 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. Cindy subsequently received $250,000 of the $300,000 drug industry award. Given credit for good behavior, Nickell will be eligible for release in 2040, when shes 96 years old, according to court documents. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. 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. Noonan, the fish store manager, was paid a $15,000 reward. That case moved Congress to enact tough tampering laws. 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. [18] She was denied parole in 2017.[19]. Stella appealed her conviction but none of her appeals succeeded. She claimed Stella admitted to researching poisons and told her of an unsuccessful attempt to poison Bruce with foxglove. People named Stella Nicholl. "She was having a hard time breathing." Now, private detective Al Farr and his partner Paul Ciolino are on a mission to prove what they both firmly believe: Nickell is innocent. Investigators in Seattle say her plan was foiled when Bruce's death was attributed to emphysema - a natural cause. Reports said Snow died after swallowing cyanide-laced Excedrin. She told them that she thought that he'd been poisoned, too. Social Profiles. By CYNTHIA FLASH. "It all just kind of dawned on me, wait a minute, this was a whole setup," she says. She said she had a bottle of Excedrin in her home with the same lot number as the bottle that had killed Sue Snow. [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. Sue Snow collapsed in her bathroom of her home in the Seattle, Washington, suburb of Auburn. He joined the army at the relatively advanced age of 33 in 1916 to fight in World War I. He died in the hospital, but doctors did not detect the cyanide and ascribed the death to emphysema. He was able to do this during his time as a hospital orderly.His spree took place between 1970 and 1987. 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. "All she wanted was a tropical-fish store.". Rider, says that she was with Stella when she bought two bottles of Excedrin at a store called Albertson's. ", Klein has watched all three of Nickell's parole hearings, where she's petitioned for release on "compassionate grounds." Nickell hatched another plot within a week. He said that the companies were extra sensitive because the police had found no leads on the Tylenol murders in Illinois. Like last weeks case, this week deals with murder by poison. As the investigation continued, the FBI lab found an important clue: green crystals mixed in with the cyanide. [5], During an autopsy on Snow, Assistant Medical Examiner Janet Miller detected the scent of bitter almonds, an odor distinctive to cyanide. She refused to help the defense team. Trending News After her death was reported in the news, Stella called police to tell them that she thought her husband had also been poisoned. Sign up for the newsletter today. Search for profiles by email and username. 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. 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. A more recent but undated photo of Stella Nickell. Sues husband also took two capsules from the bottle for his arthritis before leaving for work. "It was a means to an end," the author said. She'd told the staff that she needed it to kill ants. Death by cyanide poisoning was big news in Washington. "48 Hours": Brooke Skylar Richardson case The FBI laboratory determined that the contaminated capsules contained small particles of an algicide called Algae Destroyer. After the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6), Ulysses S. Grants Army of the Potomac marched south in the drive to take Richmond. 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. When her mom's autopsy results showed she had died of cyanide poisoning, Klein struggled to process the news. [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. Her husband, Bruce, died after taking cyanide-laced Excedrin tablets in 1986. But he took a polygraph, passed, and was eliminated as a suspect. Detective Mike Dunbar, who worked on the case, says she wanted insurance money. [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. 4 Stella J Nicholls. Stella's payoff now totaled $175,000. When emergency personnel arrived, she told them that Bruce had taken Excedrin capsules and fallen unconscious. She became eligible in 2017 after serving 30 years of her 90-year sentence. 48 Hours reports on the search. She told them her mother had often spoken of wanting Bruce dead. After the war, he opened a haberdashery in Kansas City. 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. Bruce Nickell was rushed by helicopter to Harborview Hospital in Seattle, where he soon died. Instead of partying with Stella, long a regular fixture on the Auburn-Kent tavern circuit, he chose to stay home watching television or talking CB lingo on his citizen's band radio. Stella, who was ordered to go to counseling, says her daughter was jealous of her. Klein was 15 when she found her 40-year-old mother lying on the bathroom floor in June 1986. Investigators speculated she had used the same container to crush algae killer and store cyanide. 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. Nickell took a lie detector test and failed. They also posted a $100,000 reward. Stella Nicholl. They turned out to be algae destroyer, a product used to kill algae in fish tanks. FBI detectives knew that it was an unlikely coincidence that Nickell had purchased two of four known contaminated bottles purely by chance. A second autopsy proved her right. Joanna R Nicholls. 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. Although the defense challenged her credibility, the jury believed her and convicted Stella of fatally poisoning her husband and Sue Snow. The FDA quickly ruled out Bristol-Myers, as the source of the cyanide. The reward money came from a drug manufacturer's trade association. But this time, pathologists smelled the telltale scent of bitter almonds during the autopsy, and determined that cyanide poisoning had killed Sue Snow. May 08, 2013 12:00 AM. The poisonings resulted in widespread public anxiety, as they came just five years after seven people died in Chicago from poisoned Tylenol capsules, leading to the product-tampering law under which Nickell was convicted. The odds of her selecting two contaminated bottles by random chance were astronomical. [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. Klein, who lives with her family in New Mexico, said the loss had taught her "a lot about life." Stella Nicholls is the main protagonist of the 2019 film, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. But they found Cyanide in the pills. Stella . Paramedics rushed her to Harborview, but she died without regaining consciousness. In early 1974, when she was 32, she met Bruce Nickell. Olsen says Hamilton and her mother had a combative relationship. 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. Trusted by millions of genealogists since 2003 Trusted information source for millions of people worldwide Later, however, he entered rehab and gave up the bottle. 2011 Update: New book presents compelling case that the murderous capsules were prepared within the manufacturer's facilities, not at the retail level. Rider was never called to testify. The killer in that case has never been caught. [24] Under this law, Stella Nickell's crime was prosecutable as a federal product tampering case as well as a state murder case, and she was not convicted of murder, but of product tampering that caused death. Stella Nicholls : They locked her away because she was different. "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. At 16, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia.
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