Stella Nickell
Stella Maudine Nickell | |
---|---|
Born | Stella Maudine Stephenson August 7, 1943 [ Incarcerated |
Spouse |
Bruce Nickell
(m. 1976; murdered 1986) |
Children | 2 |
Motive | Insurance payout |
Conviction(s) | Tampering with consumer products (18 U.S.C. § 1365) (5 counts) |
Criminal penalty | 90 years imprisonment |
Imprisoned at | FCI Dublin |
Stella Maudine Nickell (
Early life
Stella Maudine Stephenson was born in
Stella met Bruce Nickell in 1974. Bruce was a heavy equipment operator with a drinking habit, which suited her lifestyle,[3] and the two were married in 1976.[1] In the course of their 10-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".[2] When her bar visits were curtailed by Bruce's sobriety,[3] she began requesting evening shifts at her security screener job at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport and cultivated a home aquarium as a new hobby.[1][2]
Deaths
On June 5, 1986, the Nickells were living in
A second death, less than a week later, forced authorities to reconsider the cause of Bruce's death. On June 11, Sue Snow, a 40-year-old bank manager, took two Excedrin capsules for an early-morning headache.[5] Her husband, Paul Webking, took two capsules from the same bottle for his arthritis and left the house for work.[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. Paramedics were called and transported Snow to Harborview Medical Center, but she died later that day without regaining consciousness.[5]
Investigation
Initial investigation
During an autopsy on Snow, Assistant Medical Examiner Janet Miller detected the scent of bitter almonds, an odor distinctive to cyanide.[5] Tests verified that Snow had died of acute cyanide poisoning.[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. Three capsules out of those that remained in the 60-capsule bottle were found to be laced with cyanide in toxic quantities.[7]
A murder by cyanide was sensational news in Washington state. When another tainted bottle from the same lot was found in a grocery store in nearby
In response to the publicity, Nickell came forward on June 19. 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.[2] Tests by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed the presence of cyanide in her husband's remains and in two Excedrin bottles Stella had turned over to police.[5][7]
Initial suspicions were directed at Bristol-Myers, with Nickell and Webking filing
Examination of the contaminated bottles by the
Focusing the investigation
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. The FBI began an investigation into possible
Both Nickell and Webking were asked to take polygraph examinations. Webking did so, but Nickell, who had started drinking heavily,[2] declined. A lawyer representing Nickell told reporters that she was too "shaken up" to be subjected to the examination.[9] Investigators' suspicions began to turn to Nickell when they discovered that she claimed that the two contaminated Excedrin bottles that she had turned over to police had been purchased at different times and different locations.[2] A total of five bottles had been found to have been contaminated in the entire country, and it was regarded as suspicious that Nickell would happen to have acquired two of them purely by chance.[10]
With investigatory focus turned to Nickell, detectives uncovered more circumstantial evidence pointing to her as the culprit. 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.[2] She was also known to have, even before Snow's death, repeatedly disputed doctors' ruling that her husband had died of natural causes.[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] Investigators were also able to verify that Nickell had purchased Algae Destroyer from a local fish store; it was speculated that the algaecide had become mixed with the cyanide when Nickell used the same container to crush both substances without washing it in between uses.[1][2]
Nickell finally consented to a polygraph examination in November 1986. She failed and investigators narrowed their focus to her even further.[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.[1] Further proof of Nickell's involvement was determined when her name was found on library records showing she borrowed a book on botany, which contained a chapter about poisonous plants.
Breaking the case
In January 1987, Nickell's now-grown daughter, Cynthia Hamilton, approached police with information: her mother had spoken to her repeatedly about wanting her husband dead, having grown bored with him after he quit drinking.
Records from the
Arrest and trial
On December 9, 1987, Nickell 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.[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]
Nickell's legal team sought a
Nickell 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. All sentences were to run concurrently, and the judge ordered Nickell to pay a small fine and forfeit her remaining assets to the families of her victims.[18] She was denied parole in 2017.[19]
As of April 2019, Stella Nickell is housed at female-only
Appeals and subsequent petitions
Nickell continued to maintain her innocence after her trial. An
FDA regulations
After the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders, new FDA regulations went into effect which made it a federal crime—rather than just a state or local crime—to tamper with consumer products. Local and state authorities are not, however, prevented from also filing charges in such cases.[25] 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.[2] The possibility of state charges for the actual murders of Bruce and Snow continues to exist.[26]
In popular culture
Seattle author
The 2000 TV film Who Killed Sue Snow? was to be made about the Nickell case to air on
References
Informational notes
- ^ TruTV's website gives Bruce's date of death as June 6, which contradicts all other sources available, which specify June 5.
- ^ Sources vary as to the exact amount. Some cite $71,000, some $75,000, and some $76,000. Gregg Olsen's Bitter Almonds provides $76,000 as the amount, based on actual trial testimony.
Citations
- ^ 48 Hours Mystery. CBS News. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Case 93: Sue Snow and Bruce Nickell – Casefile: True Crime Podcast". Casefile: True Crime Podcast. 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2018-08-25.[permanent dead link]
- ^ People Magazine. Archivedfrom the original on February 3, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- 48 Hours (Interview). Interviewed by Troy Roberts. CBS. Archived from the originalon January 25, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Poisoned Painkiller Panic: The Snow-Nickell Cyanide Murders". Historylink.org. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Bell, Rachel. "The Tylenol Terrorist". TruTV Crime Library. TruTV. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Seattle, Washington. United Press International. June 19, 1986. Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- United States Food and Drug Administration. Archivedfrom the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Husband of cyanide poisoning victim questioned". Tri-City Herald. Seattle, Washington. Associated Press. July 5, 1986. pp. B1. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- The History Channel. Archivedfrom the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Olsen, pg. 487
- ^ Olsen, pg. 398
- Spokane Chronicle. Seattle, Washington. Associated Press. Jul 15, 1987. pp. A1. Archivedfrom the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ "Woman is Held in Deaths from Excedrin Laced with Cyanide". Chicago Sun-Times. Dec 10, 1987. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ "Woman Guilty of Killing 2 With Poisoned Excedrin". The Washington Post. May 10, 1988. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Tibbits, George. "Woman Guilty of Killing 2 in Poisoned Excedrin Case". The Boston Globe. Seattle, Washington. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ "Possibility of Mistrial Raised In Product-Tampering Case". The Washington Post. May 14, 1988. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- Albany Times Union. Seattle, Washington. Archived from the originalon January 26, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ "Stella Nickell, serving 90 years for planting poisoned pills, killing 2, seeks release from prison". 10 May 2022.
- ^ "Find an inmate". Federal Bureau of Prisons. Archived from the original on May 31, 2018. Retrieved Dec 7, 2018.
- ^ a b Times, Mike Carter The Seattle. "Judge won't release WA woman serving 90 years for planting poisoned pills". Yakima Herald-Republic. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- UPI. August 30, 1989. p. 12. Archivedfrom the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Johnson, Tracy (June 5, 2001). "AUBURN WOMAN SERVING 90-YEAR TERM SEEKS NEW TRIAL IN HUSBAND-POISONING CASE". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Kohn, David (February 11, 2009). "Bitter Pill Pt. II: Retracing The Case". CBS News. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ "The Federal Anti Tampering Act: Criminal Offense To Tamper With Consumer Products". Musick & Musick, LLP. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- Tri City Herald. Associated Press. June 18, 1988. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Medstar TV. "Something's Fishy". Forensic Files. Season 2. TruTV. Archived from the original on 2021-02-01. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ New Dominion Pictures. "Deadly Chemistry". The New Detectives. Season 1. Archived from the original on 2012-07-03.
- ^ Dir. Erin Althaus (Dec 4, 2005). "Stella Nickell". Snapped. Season 3. Episode 10. Oxygen. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ Dir. John Mavety (Nov 6, 2008). "Bad Medicine". Deadly Women. Season 1. Investigation Discovery. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
- ^ "In Cold Blood". Deadly Women. Season 4. Oct 7, 2010. Investigation Discovery. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "Kill Pill | in Plain Sight". Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
- ^ Eller, Claudia and Sallie Hofmeister (December 7, 2000). "TV film canceled after drug maker objects". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Claudia Eller; Sallie Hofmeister (6 December 2000). "USA Network Pulls Movie After Advertiser Protests". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
Bibliography
- Olsen, Gregg (2002). Bitter Almonds: The True Story of Mothers, Daughters and the Seattle Cyanide Murders. Macmillan. ISBN 0312982003.