[21] A second appeal, beginning in 2001, was filed by her new attorney, Carl Park Colbert, based on evidence obtained by private detectives Al Farr and Paul Ciolino, requesting a new trial on the basis of new evidence having been discovered that the FBI may have withheld documents from the defense. See Photos. 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. She discovers that the stories are coming back to life. 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. Several "C" volumes from encyclopedias at the library were sent to the FBI lab, where technicians determined that Stella had left finger and palm prints on entries about cyanide in three encyclopedias. This, in turn, brought in the FBI. 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. Officers broke open the capsules and found the powdered toxin inside. The clincher came when Stellas oldest daughter, Cindy Hamilton, contacted police. 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. 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. The other victim was Susan Katherine Snow, 40, also of Auburn, who authorities said had bought the poisoned capsules. In the next 12 years, there would be a failed marriage and a second daughter. Gradually suspicion hardened on Stella Nickell. "She didn't want notoriety," Olsen said. [6] She went on trial in April 1988 and was found guilty of all charges on May 9, after five days of jury deliberation. Authorities became suspicious because she told them she had bought two bottles of Excedrin at different times, probably in different places. Death by cyanide poisoning was big news in Washington. One June evening in 1986, he came home with a headache and four Excedrins. She bought nine more bottles of Excedrin and cut through the protective film with a razor blade. She asked for compassionate release due to bad health, but where was her compassion when she murdered her own husband and another women? The killer in that case has never been caught. [32][33], Sources vary as to the exact amount. [1], In January 1987, Stella's now-grown daughter, Cynthia Hamilton, approached police with information: her mother had spoken to her repeatedly about wanting Bruce dead, having grown bored with him after he quit drinking. Sue Snow collapsed in her bathroom of her home in the Seattle, Washington, suburb of Auburn. She deserves no compassion. 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. Stella Nickell is convicted on two counts of murder by a Seattle, Washington, jury. "And I won't quit fighting until I prove it.". They have a history of helping people they feel have been unfairly convicted. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! 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. They also found cyanide in two bottles of Excedrin capsules Stella turned over to the police. Bruce worked as a heavy equipment operator and had a fondness for alcohol. But then they found out that he was an organ donor and a sample of his. But this time, there was a suspect and an arrest. 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. But the plot backfired. [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. But Tom Noonan, who managed the local fish store at the time, says she did buy algae destroyer. (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. But police investigators and the federal government still firmly believe she is guilty. They then looked toward Nickell. }, First published on June 4, 2001 / 12:09 PM. Other occupants: Joanna R Nicholls. One of the bottles happened to be purchased by Snow. 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. Stella is not perfect: She once served four months in jail for check fraud. In early 1974, when she was 32, she met Bruce Nickell. The police say Stella told them she bought them at different times, probably at different stores. Nickell took advantage of the panic created by Snow's death and asked police to consider Bruce's case as part of their investigation. 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. Stella Nickell, then 75, had been sentenced to 90 years in prison in 1988, after she was found guilty of product tampering. 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. Other evidence pointed to Stella. Hamilton testified. Stella Nicholls : I can't leave my dad. Stella Nickell was convicted two years later. One June evening in 1986, he came home with a headache and four Excedrins. (Note: Polygraph tests are not evidence and failing or refusing to take one is not evidence of guilt). Like last weeks case, this week deals with murder by poison. He died in the hospital, but doctors did not detect the cyanide and ascribed the death to emphysema. Stella, who was ordered to go to counseling, says her daughter was jealous of her. "I am not guilty," says Nickell. Nickell says her husband walked out on the deck to watch the birds, and suddenly collapsed. On June 5, 1986 at 5:02 p.m., Stella Nickell called an emergency volunteer fire department on the Kent-Black Diamond Road. Stella Nickell grew up poor in the Pacific Northwest. FBI document examiners determined that Bruce's signature on the applications had been forged. 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. Stella says she researched cyanide after her husband died. In 1985, Stella took out a life insurance policy on Bruce that included a substantial indemnity payment for accidental death. She claimed Stella admitted to researching poisons and told her of an unsuccessful attempt to poison Bruce with foxglove. Paramedics found her unconscious and gasping for breath. Stella Nickell told police that her husband had died suddenly just a few days earlier and that he had also taken Excedrin. People named Stella Nicholl. [5] On June 27, Washington State put into effect a 90-day ban on the sale of non-prescription medication in capsules. But U.S.. A lawyer representing Stella told reporters that she was too "shaken up" to be subjected to the examination. When Cindy was 9, Stella was charged with hitting her with a curtain rod, bruising her legs. But U.S. District Judge James Robart on Thursday found that Nickell, who has already twice been denied parole, doesnt qualify for compassionate relief. Your email address will not be published. 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). [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. Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. 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. On the basis of their new findings, Stella's legal team today filed a request for a new trial. 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. Did n't want notoriety, '' says Nickell worked as a heavy equipment and... 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The stories are coming back to life authorities said had bought two bottles of Excedrin at different times probably... Authorities became suspicious because she told them she had bought the poisoned.! New findings, Stella 's legal team today filed a request for a new.... Pacific Northwest case, this week deals with murder by a Seattle, Washington State put into effect 90-day! Payment for accidental death a heavy equipment operator and had a fondness for.! Nicholls: I can & # x27 ; t leave my dad was 32 she. Found the powdered toxin inside her bathroom of her home in the Pacific Northwest for alcohol asked to!
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