Detective Mike Dunbar, who worked on the case, says she wanted insurance money. Log In. But why would she bring the poisoning to police attention in the first place? In early 1974, when she was 32, she met Bruce Nickell. The records tended to confirm at least that part of Hamiltons story. She told police, and doctors realized that Bruce Nickell had also been poisoned. Her May 1988 conviction and prison sentence were the first . When she saw a news report about a woman dying from Excedrin capsules filled with cyanide, she called the police. Nickell was given two 90-year sentences for the murders of her husband and Susan Snow. "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. Authorities ruled his death to be from natural causesemphysema, the attending physicians said. [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. Later, however, he entered rehab and gave up the bottle. 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". When emergency personnel arrived, she told them that Bruce had taken Excedrin capsules and fallen unconscious. Rewards authorized for two other drug-tampering cases remain unpaid. [1] Hamilton also claimed that Stella had spoken to her about what the two of them could do with the insurance money if Bruce was dead. The doctors said it was emphysema, but Stella says that never made sense, because he didnt have that disease. After the war, he opened a haberdashery in Kansas City. The son of a farmer, Truman could not afford to go to college. On December 9, 1987, a federal grand jury indicted Stella Nickell on five counts of product tampering. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. Her first lawyer also asked to see it, and never did. 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? Farr and Ciolino talked to other people who were also rewarded for their role in the case. [1], A second death, less than a week later, forced authorities to reconsider the cause of Bruce's death. During the autopsy, an assistant medical examiner noticed the odor of bitter almonds, a tell-tale indicator of cyanide. Bruces heavy drinking suited Stella just fine. What happens next? "American Mother: The True Story of a Troubled Family, Motherhood and the Cyanide Murders That Shook the World.". Stella Nickell was found guilty in federal court not of murder but of product tampering on May 9, 1988, and was sentenced to 90 years. These included convictions for fraud and forgery and a charge of beating Cindy with a curtain rod. Snow was airlifted to the hospital, but she was declared brain dead a few hours later. 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. 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. Klein, who lives with her family in New Mexico, said the loss had taught her "a lot about life." They say she was desperate to establish an accidental cause of death. View more. They also recalled that Stella Nickell had several fish tanks in her trailer home. One factor was strong objections from advertisers, including Johnson & Johnson, owner of the Tylenol brand of painkillers which had been affected by the 1982 Chicago case. She discovers that the stories are coming back to life. The doctors said it was emphysema, but Stella says that never made sense, because he didn't have that disease. Background Report for Stella Chen. She continues to maintain her innocence, saying that Cindy lied to get the $300,000 reward money (she received $250,000). 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. Reports said Snow died after swallowing cyanide-laced Excedrin. 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. Investigators in Seattle say her plan was foiled when Bruce's death was attributed to emphysema - a natural cause. 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. "She thought, 'If that murderer got away with it, I can, too,'" Olsen said of Nickell. Three capsules out of those that remained in the 60-capsule bottle were found to be laced with cyanide in toxic quantities. Ramn Morales : If you're serious about being a writer, it's not going to happen here. 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. [6] Further FBI investigation showed that Bruce's purported signatures on at least two of the insurance policies in his name had been forged. 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. The Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Assn. Her husband, Bruce, died after taking cyanide-laced Excedrin tablets in 1986. Hamilton eventually collected $250,000 of that money. Stella, who was ordered to go to counseling, says her daughter was jealous of her. 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. You have to go to the city. Hamilton testified. To Nickell's frustration, the autopsy failed to pick up on the poison. One June evening in 1986, he came home with a headache and four Excedrins. Then there was the insurance. 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. display: none; Noonan claimed she bought so much algae destroyer, he had to special order it just for her. Stella says she researched cyanide after her husband died. Then there was the insurance. 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. 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 claimed Stella admitted to researching poisons and told her of an unsuccessful attempt to poison Bruce with foxglove. But this time, it happened on the West Coast of the United States in a suburb of Seattle, Washington. They turned out to be algae destroyer, a product used to kill algae in fish tanks. MMII Viacom Internet Services Inc. All Rights Reserved 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. 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. "The case brought the whole pharmaceutical industry to its knees," Olsen said. When detectives investigated, they found that Stella had borrowed, but never returned, a book called Human Poisoning. They were married two years later. 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. Stella Nicholls is the daughter of Roy . "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. She also planted other bottles of cyanide-tainted Excedrin in local stores to divert suspicion, authorities said. Colbert says that he has never seen the polygraph graph, although he has asked to. They then looked toward Nickell. Stella Nichols. The revised cause of death made a difference to Stella Nickell. According to Stellas daughter from a previous marriage, Stella had begun planning Bruces murder almost from the honeymoon. The reward money came from a drug manufacturer's trade association. "I think that she probably killed Bruce and expected them to find out that he died from cyanide poisoning," he says. "She can sometimes be very, very skillfully evasive," says Farr. The crime was chillingly similar to the Chicago Tylenol murders four years earlier. The deaths sparked a nationwide tampering scare and prompted Excedrin manufacturer Bristol-Myers Co. to recall its over-the-counter capsule medications. She told authorities that her mother had done extensive research at the library. Stella Nickell's small-time world was one of big-time dreams. She deserves no compassion. A consortium of drug companies, alarmed about product tampering, posted a $300,000 reward. 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. After searching for months, they found her in Southern California. Stella Nicholls was presumably born in the early 1950s, and when Stella was young, her mother would leave her for an unknown reason. They were married two years later. The convicted killer stood before a parole board in 2017, while Klein watched the proceedings on closed-circuit TV. 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. [2] She was also known to have, even before Snow's death, repeatedly disputed doctors' ruling that her husband had died of natural causes. On June 11, Sue Snow, a 40-year-old bank manager, took two Excedrin capsules for an early-morning headache. Somewhat bizarrely, he said, Nickell planned to use the money to open a pet store selling tropical fish. Stella and Bruce Nickell married in 1976, shortly after seven people were killed in Chicago, Illinois, from poisoned Tylenol pills. 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. They also posted a $100,000 reward. She grew up in a poor family. [5][7], Initial suspicions were directed at Bristol-Myers, with Stella and Webking filing wrongful death lawsuits against the company. 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. View this record View. Investigators in Seattle say her plan was foiled when Bruce's death was attributed to emphysema - a natural cause. One June evening in 1986, he came home with a headache and four Excedrins. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. Stella Nickell was convicted after police and FBI agents, following months of investigation, concluded she had laced her husband's Excedrin painkillers with cyanide in order to collect on his. Around the time Stella failed a FBI polygraph, her daughter from a previous marriage, Cindy Hamilton, 27, came forward. [20] Her release date is given as July 10, 2040, when she will be 96 years old. The detectives say they simply don't know who the killer is. 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. Now 27, Hamilton had been in and out of Stella's life for years. She told Farr that she is not sure her mother is really guilty. I think, 'Say her name, lady.'". Although the defense challenged her credibility, the jury believed her and convicted Stella of fatally poisoning her husband and Sue Snow. A year later, Stella put cyanide in an Excedrin capsule that Bruce later took for a headache. "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. She added that "as negative as it is, I have chosen to learn from it and not become bitter. 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. The case made headlines across the world. 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). "Rock star" reptile breeder murdered; Coroner: "Not a random act" In 1986, the Nickells lived in Auburn, Washington, a suburb south of Seattle not far from SEA-TAC airport. By age 16 she was pregnant with her first daughter, Cindy Hamilton. 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. Your email address will not be published. Investigators concluded they were dealing with product tampering. [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". The crime was chillingly similar to the Chicago Tylenol murders four years earlier. Like cyanide poisoning. At 16, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia. This dating app might be for you. But this time, there was a suspect and an arrest. Estella May McILMOYLE (born NICHOLLS) was born on month day 1898, to Joseph NICHOLLS and Elizabeth Ann NICHOLLS (born McILMOYL). At 16, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia. Trusted by millions of genealogists since 2003 Trusted information source for millions of people worldwide 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. Klein was 15 when she found her 40-year-old mother lying on the bathroom floor in June 1986. Stella was indicted in federal court and Cindy testified against her at the trial. 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. win all terms to run concurrently. The Old Crime is New Again newsletter is a monthly email covering a topic that has not appeared in the blog. [18] She was denied parole in 2017.[19]. Find your friends on Facebook. 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. Paramedics rushed to the home at 1404 N Street NE in Auburn. But by the time of the trial, Rider says, the FBI had convinced her that her friend was the killer. He died shortly after arriving. She refused to help the defense team. 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