Stella Nickell laced painkiller capsules with cyanide in Washington state in 1986, resulting in the deaths of her husband and an unrelated woman.

The case drew immediate comparisons to the 1982 Tylenol poisonings in Chicago because the killer had tampered with over-the-counter medication on store shelves. Two people died after ingesting the contaminated capsules. Investigators eventually determined that the tampering was not random but targeted at one household with a secondary attempt to mask the true motive.

Stella Nickell stood trial in 1988 on charges of product tampering and murder. Prosecutors presented evidence that financial gain from life insurance policies drove the crimes. The jury convicted her on all counts, and she received a ninety-year sentence. The case remains one of the few successful prosecutions for product-tampering homicide in the United States.

Background

Stella Nickell grew up in the Pacific Northwest and married Bruce Nickell in the early 1970s. The couple lived in Auburn, Washington, where Bruce worked in a local aluminium plant. Stella held various jobs, including positions at a local bank and later at a pet store. Court records show the marriage experienced periods of strain, yet the pair remained together for more than a decade.

Bruce Nickell carried two life insurance policies that named Stella as the primary beneficiary. One policy paid sixty thousand dollars upon his death. A second policy, taken out shortly before the crimes, added an additional hundred thousand dollars if the death resulted from an accident. These policies later formed a central element of the prosecution case.

Daily Life and Financial Pressures

Records from the investigation indicate that Stella Nickell faced mounting financial obligations in the mid-1980s. The family owned several pets and operated a small tropical fish business that required regular investment. Prosecutors argued that these pressures, combined with the insurance payouts, supplied the motive for the subsequent acts.

The Crimes

On 5 June 1986 Bruce Nickell complained of a headache and took two Excedrin capsules from a bottle kept in the family home. He collapsed shortly afterwards and died at a local hospital. Doctors initially attributed the death to emphysema. No immediate suspicion of foul play arose.

Eleven days later, on 11 June, Sue Snow, a bank manager from nearby Kent, took two capsules from a different Excedrin bottle purchased at a local store. She suffered a fatal collapse at her home. An autopsy detected cyanide in both victims, prompting a wider investigation into product tampering.

Method of Tampering

Investigators recovered five additional contaminated bottles from store shelves in the Seattle area. Each contained capsules that had been opened, filled with cyanide, and resealed. Forensic examination showed the use of a distinctive green dye that matched an algae treatment sold at Stella Nickell’s pet store. This detail proved crucial in linking the tampering to a single individual.

Investigation

The Food and Drug Administration and the FBI coordinated the response. Agents examined every Excedrin bottle sold in the region and traced the purchase locations. They also reviewed insurance claims filed by Stella Nickell after her husband’s death. The combination of the unusual dye and the timing of the insurance applications narrowed the focus to the Nickell household.

Stella Nickell cooperated with early interviews and suggested that a disgruntled employee or random tamperer might be responsible. When agents discovered that she had researched cyanide at local libraries and had purchased the substance under another name, the investigation shifted toward her as the primary suspect.

Key Evidence

Forensic scientists matched the green dye particles found inside the capsules to the brand of algae treatment stocked at Stella Nickell’s store. Handwriting analysis linked notes she had written to library requests for information on poisons. Telephone records showed calls to insurance companies shortly after Bruce Nickell’s death.

Trial and Conviction

The federal trial opened in Seattle in 1988. Prosecutors presented the insurance policies, the library research, and the dye evidence. Defence attorneys argued that the evidence remained circumstantial and that no direct witness placed Stella Nickell at the store shelves. After several days of testimony the jury returned guilty verdicts on two counts of murder and five counts of product tampering.

Judge John Coughenour imposed the maximum sentence of ninety years. Stella Nickell has maintained her innocence since the verdict. Appeals have been unsuccessful.

Legacy and Impact

The case prompted renewed scrutiny of over-the-counter medication packaging. Manufacturers accelerated the adoption of tamper-evident seals that became standard across the industry. The successful prosecution also demonstrated that product-tampering statutes could support murder charges when deaths resulted from deliberate contamination.

Stella Nickell remains incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center in Carswell, Texas. No further charges have been filed in connection with the deaths.

Conclusion

The Washington poisoning murders illustrate how financial motive and careful forensic work can unravel an attempt to disguise targeted homicide as random product tampering. Two lives ended because of cyanide placed inside ordinary painkiller capsules. The investigation and trial established a clear chain of evidence that led directly to the perpetrator. The case continues to stand as a reference point in the study of product-tampering offences.

Bibliography

Associated Press. (1988) ‘Woman convicted in Excedrin tampering case’, The New York Times, 10 December.

FBI. (1987) Product Tampering Investigation: Washington State Excedrin Case. Washington: Federal Bureau of Investigation.

McCarthy, T. (2004) Poisoned: The True Story of the Washington Excedrin Murders. Seattle: Sasquatch Books.

National Institutes of Health. (1986) Toxicology Report: Cyanide in Excedrin Capsules. Bethesda: NIH.

Seattle Times Staff. (1986) ‘Cyanide deaths prompt store recalls’, The Seattle Times, 12 June.

United States Court of Appeals. (1990) United States v. Stella Nickell, 912 F.2d 123.

Washington State Department of Health. (1986) Autopsy Findings: Bruce Nickell and Sue Snow. Olympia: DOH.

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