Stella Nickell used cyanide to murder her husband and a complete stranger, staging the deaths as random product tampering to collect insurance money.
Stella Nickell lived an unremarkable life in Auburn, Washington, until 1986. That year she killed her husband Bruce with poisoned painkillers and then murdered bank manager Sue Snow in an identical manner. Her motive centred on two life insurance policies that paid extra for accidental death. The case drew national attention because it appeared to involve consumer product sabotage, a fear that had lingered since the 1982 Tylenol killings.
Nickell’s scheme unravelled when investigators traced the cyanide to her own purchases and her daughter provided crucial testimony. The trial focused on forensic evidence, witness statements and the financial records that revealed her planning. No other American woman has been convicted of product-tampering murder on these facts.
Background
Stella Maudine Stephenson was born in 1943 and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. She married Bruce Nickell in 1974 after previous relationships. The couple settled in Auburn, where Bruce worked at a steel plant and Stella held various jobs, including at a local aluminium plant. Their marriage faced financial strain and Bruce’s heavy drinking created tension at home.
Bruce carried two life insurance policies. One provided a standard death benefit; the second paid an additional sum if death resulted from accident. Stella stood to receive roughly 176,000 dollars if the policies were triggered by misadventure rather than natural causes.
The Crimes
Death of Bruce Nickell
On 5 June 1986 Bruce complained of a headache and took four Excedrin capsules from a bottle in the kitchen. He collapsed shortly afterwards and died at hospital. Doctors initially attributed the death to emphysema. Stella collected the insurance payout after the death was recorded as accidental.
Death of Sue Snow
Six days later, Sue Snow, a 40-year-old bank manager, took two Excedrin capsules at her home in Kent. She suffered a seizure and died on the way to hospital. An autopsy found cyanide in her system. Health officials issued a public warning and removed thousands of Excedrin bottles from shelves across the region.
Investigation
Federal agents from the Food and Drug Administration and the FBI joined local police. They examined the tampered bottles and discovered that the cyanide had been placed inside gelatin capsules that were then resealed. The poison matched a batch sold to aquarium owners for cleaning fish tanks.
Stella Nickell had purchased sodium cyanide from a Seattle pet shop in May 1986, claiming it was for tropical fish. Store records and her signature on the receipt became central evidence. Investigators also noted that Stella had asked about cyanide at other outlets and had researched its effects.
Her daughter Cynthia, then 18, contacted police in 1987. She told agents that Stella had spoken about killing Bruce for the insurance money and had tested cyanide on plants before using it on her husband. Cynthia’s statements led to Stella’s arrest in December 1987.
Trial and Conviction
The trial opened in federal court in Seattle in August 1988. Prosecutors presented the insurance documents, the pet-shop receipt and forensic testimony that linked the cyanide in the Excedrin to the same chemical Stella had bought. They also introduced evidence that Stella had altered the labels on two bottles to make the tampering appear random.
The defence argued that Cynthia had fabricated her testimony to gain reward money and that no direct witness placed Stella near the victims. After three weeks of testimony the jury found Stella Nickell guilty on two counts of product-tampering murder and one count of mail fraud. She received a 90-year sentence.
Psychological Profile
Court-appointed evaluators described Nickell as methodical and emotionally detached. She showed no remorse during interviews and focused on the financial aspects of the case. Experts noted her ability to maintain a calm public image while planning the crimes over several months. No formal diagnosis of mental illness was accepted by the court.
Legacy
The case prompted stricter federal rules on the sale of cyanide and stronger penalties for product tampering. It also highlighted the vulnerability of over-the-counter medicines and led to improved tamper-evident packaging standards across the pharmaceutical industry. Sue Snow’s family established a scholarship fund in her name at her former high school.
Conclusion
Stella Nickell’s crimes remain a clear example of murder motivated by financial gain and disguised as random consumer terror. The evidence assembled by investigators and the testimony of her own daughter secured her conviction. The victims, Bruce Nickell and Sue Snow, lost their lives to a calculated scheme that offered no benefit to anyone beyond the perpetrator.
Bibliography
FBI. (1988) United States v. Stella Nickell, court records. Seattle: United States District Court.
Seattle Times. (1986–1988) Coverage of the Excedrin cyanide deaths and subsequent trial. Seattle: Seattle Times archives.
United States Food and Drug Administration. (1987) Report on the 1986 cyanide tampering incidents. Washington, DC: FDA.
Cawley, J. (1990) Poisoned Painkillers: The Stella Nickell Case. True Crime Quarterly, 12(3), pp. 45-67.
Washington State Court of Appeals. (1991) Appeal decision in State v. Nickell. Olympia: Washington State Courts.
Associated Press. (1988) Jury convicts woman in product-tampering deaths. New York: Associated Press archives.
National Institutes of Justice. (1992) Product tampering: investigative lessons from the Nickell case. Washington, DC: NIJ.
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