Casefile True Crime - Case 93: Susan Snow & Bruce Nickell

Episode Date: August 25, 2018

When 40-year-old bank manager Susan Snow collapsed in her shower after complaining of a headache, the cause of her sudden death wasn’t clear. In a bid for answers, an autopsy was conducted, during which the medical examiner notices a distinct smell that immediately alerts her to the possibility that Susan was poisoned. ---  Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host Episode researched and written by Milly Raso For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-93-susan-snow-and-bruce-nickell

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Headaches were a semi-regular occurrence for Susan Snow. They came with little surprise or concern for the 40-year-old. Susan was the assistant vice president at Pugin Sound National Bank and the manager of the bank's Auburn branch in Washington State. Through her work over the years, Susan had become well-known and highly regarded within her small, close-knit community. Bank customers were drawn to her warm and charming personality and often asked to deal with Susan exclusively.

Recently, she closed the deal on a $5 million account with a local trucking firm. But her immense success and popularity did little to alleviate the pressure and stress that came with her job. On most days, it wasn't unusual for Susan to get a headache. But they were never bad enough to warrant a sick day. Instead, Susan would just take a few pills of her preferred brand of over-the-counter pain-relief medication. Extra strength, Excedrin. Another dull headache greeted Susan as she woke on the morning of June 11, 1986. At 6 o'clock, she climbed out of bed and headed straight to the kitchen

to retrieve a bottle of Excedrin from its usual spot in a cabinet above the sink. The bottle was already open and its lid was missing. Needing to take painkillers so often, Susan developed the habit of discarding the bothersome safety caps, saving her from having to wrestle with them constantly. There were still plenty of the red gelatin shell capsules inside. After shaking out a couple into her hand, Susan swallowed them, then returned the bottle back to the cabinet. Extra strength, Excedrin, boasted of relief from headaches within 15 minutes. 15-year-old Haley Snow greeted her mother with a hug.

It was just the two of them home at the time. Susan's husband, 45-year-old Paul Webb King, was a long-hauled trucker. He left for work earlier that morning. Susan's eldest daughter, 23-year-old Excer, spent the night before out on the town and had yet to come home. Shortly before 6.30am, Susan headed down the hallway leading to the master bedroom to get ready for work. On the way, she gave Haley a quick kiss and told her she loved her. Haley went to take a shower before school. Whilst in the bathroom, she could hear the muffled sound of running water through the walls.

It was coming from the master bedroom's en suite where her mother was completing her morning routine. During her shower, Haley was startled by a loud thump as though something heavy dropped somewhere in the house. She worried her mother might have been the source of the noise. Perhaps she tripped or fallen. After waiting, listening and hearing nothing else, Haley dismissed her concern. Convinced she was just being over-dramatic. After her shower, Haley stood before the mirror to apply makeup. Her attention was once again drawn to the faint sound of running water.

Familiar with her mother's morning routine, Haley knew Susan should have been out of the en suite by now. Yet, the water from the en suite continued to flow, uninterrupted, for an unusually long time. Sensing something wasn't right, Haley went to check on her mother. Her parents' bedroom was empty. The sound of flowing water continued from behind the en suite door. Haley couldn't hear her mother moving about in there, and calling out was met with no response. So she looked inside. The vanity sink was near overflowing as the tap above flooded it with water. Lying on the floor at its base was Susan in her purple bathrobe.

Susan was on her back, her head resting awkwardly on the doorframe of the shower. Her eyes were wide open, fixed and dilated. Her body was pale and unnaturally stiff. A frightened expression was frozen across her face. Haley had never seen her mother in such a state. She rushed in and attempted to rouse her, but Susan didn't react. At 6.43am, an emergency call came through to 9-1-1. Haley's snow struggled to get the words out.

I think my mother fell while I was in the shower. She's breathing and everything, but something's wrong with her. When asked by the dispatcher if her mother could talk, Haley responded. I don't know, it's like she's sleeping with her eyes open. By 7am, paramedics had arrived to the house. Susan's state appeared consistent with a head injury. It was assumed she slipped whilst getting into the shower. Haley quickly dismissed this explanation, clarifying that her mother only took showers in the evening.

Furthermore, Susan didn't have any noticeable wounds, fractures, bumps or bruises. Located by the vanity sink was Susan's curling iron used to style her hair. Yet, the possibility Susan was electrocuted didn't seem likely. There were no visible burn marks on her body and the power in the bathroom was still on. Had she suffered an electric shock powerful enough to render her unconscious, it seemed probable the power would have shorted and shut down. Bottles of medication were shaken to determine if Susan overdosed, but all were reasonably full. Questions raised about Susan's mental health were quickly clarified by Haley,

who insisted her mother was neither depressed nor suicidal. When the words recreational drugs were mentioned, Haley responded defensively. My mother's not a druggy. Haley informed the medics that her mother woke up with one of her usual headaches and took some pain relief medication for it. She retrieved the bottle of extra strength excedrin from the kitchen. The 60 pill bottle looked to be missing only a few capsules. Doubting any suspicions, Susan took an excessive amount.

It didn't seem likely she was having a reaction to the excedrin either. It was her preferred brand. She had taken it many times before without issue. Susan's breathing pattern was abnormal. Every few minutes she would give a laboured, ineffective gasp for air as though she was suffocating. Her bag mask was placed over her nose and mouth and squeezed to facilitate breathing, but it didn't relieve her condition. More desperate measures were applied. Her tube was put down Susan's trachea to serve as an airway.

But that didn't help either. Struggling to breathe and pulse fading, Susan was flown by helicopter 30 miles north to Harbourview Medical Centre in the city of Seattle. Prior to her collapse Susan was in good health with no pre-existing illnesses or conditions that would render her unconscious. Doctors considered if her headaches indicated a serious undiagnosed health problem, perhaps a tumour, stroke or aneurysm. But it was hard to tell.

Collectively, her symptoms didn't line up perfectly with any suggested diagnosis. Doctors were baffled, finding it difficult to treat her. Making matters worse was the sheer speed Susan was deteriorating. News of Susan's hospitalisation reached her family. Husband Paul, eldest daughter Exa and ex-husband Connie Snow, whom she maintained a friendly relationship, arrived to the hospital. From what they understood, Susan fell or fainted. Knowing she was otherwise healthy, their concerns were easily brushed off.

But arriving one by one, each was shocked to discover just how dire Susan's condition really was. She was in a coma and on life support. Doctors pronounced her brain dead and concluded there was absolutely no hope for her to recover. By midday, Susan Snow had died. The loss of one's twin is a profound grief said to be unlike any other. Sarah would attest to that. After receiving the call that her identical twin Susan was in a coma, she was rushing to the airport, flying from her home in Denver, Colorado, to Seattle.

By the time Sarah arrived, Susan had already passed. Sarah was born 15 minutes before Susan on April 13, 1946. From that day onwards, the twins were inseparable. Throughout their lives, the pair always remained close, despite being polar opposites. Sarah was the logical and careful twin. She followed her head. Susan, on the other hand, followed her heart. She was the adventurous, spontaneous risk-taker.

By age 16, Susan was pregnant. In preparation for motherhood, she dropped out of high school, married her baby's father, and moved into his farmhouse. She gave birth on June 30, 1963 to her girl, Exa. Susan took well to being a mother and doted on her baby girl. But she longed to do more with her life than settling straight into marriage and living a simple, quiet farm life. Susan's brother-in-law was a man named Connie Snow.

Connie was 11-year-Susan's senior, an oil-filled worker who spent his career in and around the Texas Panhandle. 19-year-old Susan found herself drawn to the older man, and as she always did, Susan followed her father. She divorced her husband and began a relationship with Connie. Not wanting Susan to rush into yet another marriage, her parents told her to wait a year first. After that, if she still loved Connie and wanted to wed him,

then they would not stand in her way. This was a big ask for the impulsive Susan, but both her and Connie respected her parents' request. Susan's love for Connie strengthened her relationship with Connie. Susan's love for Connie strengthened over the following year, and on the final day of her parents' deadline, 20-year-old Susan and 4-year-old Exo went to live with him. They settled in a mobile home park in Sumner,

a small town close to Warburn, where Connie worked at the time. The couple married the following year. In 1969, Susan started work at Puget Sound National Bank as a teller. Her colleagues believed she was too smart to stay behind the teller's window, and she proved them right, hastily climbing the corporate ladder. She spent time in credit and moved on to her least enjoyable role in repossessions. Stealing property from the community for the bank didn't sit well with kind-hearted Sue. On April 24, 1971, Susan and Connie had a daughter, Haley.

For Connie, his relationship with Susan was truly wedded bliss. She treated him like a king, and he felt on top of the world with her. Yet, Susan's feelings for Connie waned over the years. As he got older, he slowed down, becoming a homebody who would fall asleep on the couch after work. Susan, on the other hand, was in the prime of her life. She was outgoing, clever, and popular, making leaps and bounds through a successful career with the bank. She outgrew Connie, and their marriage fell apart.

Susan then moved with her daughters to New Mexico to look after her ailing father. The separation was hard for Connie. He felt he couldn't love anyone else as much as he loved Susan. Around a year and a half after they split, he sent her money to return to Washington in hopes they would rekindle their relationship. Susan did return to the state, and the pair remained close over the years, mainly for the children. But they never officially got back together. Eventually, they filed for divorce.

Susan settled with her girls in an apartment in nearby Puyallup, and it was there she was introduced to Paul Webb King. By the time he met Susan Snow, Paul had been married and divorced three times. He was a Roma. He switched homes, relationships, and jobs constantly. He dug ditches, worked customer service, did bar work, and eventually became a long-haul trucker. The day he met Susan, Paul took her out to get pizza. Not long after that, they became a couple. Others weren't fully convinced at the pairing.

Susan herself was a successful career woman who typically dated doctors and lawyers. Paul was a shy, blue-collar type who was unapologetically apathetic. He often aired his annoyance at the human race, which he considered lazy and selfish. Although Susan was seen as Paul's opposite with an optimistic and outgoing nature, Paul's attitude actually settled well with her. In a way, Paul's indifference and cynicism allowed her to finally relax. Susan used up a lot of energy maintaining her cheerful facade and struggled to say no to demanding requests.

With laid-back Paul, she could just be herself and be honest. It was therapeutic for Susan to come home from work and vent to her husband. Paul took on a domestic role in the relationship as Susan focused more on her career. He got along well enough with Susan's youngest daughter Hailey, who aimed to please. The eldest daughter, Axel, was more free-spirited and independent. She didn't respond well to strict parenting. At times, she butted heads with both Paul and her mother. Susan's strictness manifested from her own experiences.

She didn't want her daughters to take the same life path as she did and become young mothers. She encouraged them to find their full potential to study and earn career success. Axel followed her mother's advice. After graduating high school, she moved into state to attend university and study tax law. That had an added bonus for everyone. Axel's move eased the tension in the household and gave her the full autonomy she desired. Throughout her life and all her ups and downs, Susan always sought advice from her twin, Sarah. Even though the sisters had gone their separate ways, they spoke on the phone almost daily

and visited each other whenever they could. They traded stories, secrets and advice. Their bond was near unbreakable and they were each other's pillars of support. What exactly caused Susan Snow's sudden death remained a medical mystery. Seeking answers, her family agreed for the medical examiner's office to conduct an autopsy. Assistant medical examiner for King County, Dr. Corinne Fligner, led the procedure. Assisted by pathologist Janet Miller. As an incision was made to open the chest cavity,

Janet Miller detected a distinct odor emanate from Susan's body. Years prior, a colleague of Miller's committed suicide by ingesting cyanide, a highly toxic salt and rapidly acting poison. Cyanide stopped cells of the body from absorbing oxygen, giving the sensation of suffocation. Fatal quantities resulting cardiac arrest. Depending on the dosage, cyanide can take hours or just minutes to kill. Janet Miller was aware cyanide was often described as having a smell like bitter almonds. She noticed the unique scent, faint as it was, during Susan Snow's autopsy.

Miller informed Dr. Fligner of the odor and its implication. However, Fligner failed to detect the odor herself. Furthermore, Susan's flesh was glaringly pale. Victims of cyanide poisoning tend to have unnaturally pink to bright red skin tone. Uncertain of herself, Miller didn't push the matter. Later, a doctor entered the room asking if anything turned up explaining Susan's death. Dr. Fligner was under the impression Susan died from natural causes, specifically cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat that in serious cases can result in stroke or heart failure.

But Dr. Fligner's assistant Janet Miller was unable to shake the scent of almonds lingering in the air. She spoke up about its presence once more, but still, no one else could smell it. Prompted by Miller's assertions, a sample of Susan's blood was sent to the lab to receive a specific toxicology assessment, one not routinely performed in standard autopsies. Susan's blood was mixed with an acid solution that separated blood from any possible cyanide molecules. After this, a special reactive paper was sealed in a tube with the blood and acid solution mixture. As the tube was heated, the reactive paper inside turned blue. The blue colouring indicated Miller's instincts were correct.

There was cyanide present in Susan's bloodstream. Additional tests revealed Susan consumed a fatal amount of cyanide. The amount of poison in her bloodstream would have taken effect approximately 10 minutes after ingestion. In hindsight, her symptoms lined up perfectly with those associated with cyanide poisoning. Susan experienced a rapid onset of dizziness leading to her collapse, struggled to breathe, and eventually fell into a coma, all of this occurring within a short time frame. Susan's skin was not unnaturally pink or bright red, but this characteristic was not present in all cases. Examiners knew how lucky they were.

The ability to smell cyanide is genetic. Between 20 and 40% of the population don't carry the gene required to detect the odor of cyanide. To those people, it has no odor at all. This was the case during Susan Snow's autopsy. No one except for pathologist Janet Miller picked up the almond-like odor of the cyanide, but she was the only one with the genetic ability to do so. Had Miller not been present during Susan Snow's autopsy, the cyanide that killed her would have gone undetected.

Cyanide toxicity is considered to be a rare form of poisoning. In most cases, it occurs from smoke inhalation during house or industrial fires, but this clearly wasn't the case in Susan Snow's death. Cyanide is used in the metal trades, mining, jewelry manufacturing, photography, agriculture, and pest control, none of which were relevant activities or interests to Susan. It is also present in certain fruit seeds and stones, though the average adult would need to consume anywhere from hundreds to thousands of them to be at risk of cyanide poisoning. With that in mind, it seemed highly unlikely Susan accidentally poisoned herself.

Examiners wondered if Susan intentionally poisoned herself. Suicide by cyanide is very uncommon. It typically involves healthcare or laboratory workers, persons who have access to cyanide salts. Susan's behavior prior was not alike someone anticipating their death. The morning she collapsed, Susan began preparing herself for work. It was clear she intended to go into the office that day. The medical examiner's office contacted Susan's family to report on the results of her autopsy. Her cause of death was listed as acute cyanide poisoning.

At the same time, the medical examiner's office contacted Orban Police. Hundreds of Orban residents attended the memorial service held for Susan Snow. During the service, a long-time friend of Susan's recalled with admiration her frankness and sense of humour. A song written by Connie Snow called Darling Sue was played along with music by the band The Judges, Susan's favourite musicians. A pervasive feeling lingered over the event, different from what it was before. Susan's family were aware she had been poisoned. Not only were they having to come terms with her death, but also her murder. Like her twin, Sarah also suffered from semi-frequent headaches.

Susan's death ushered in a grief-induced headache Sarah couldn't show. Having visited Susan often, she knew her sister kept painkillers in a kitchen cupboard above the sink. When Sarah found the open bottle of extra strength excedrin in there, she was immediately suspect. The issue wasn't the missing lid. She was aware her sister threw those away for ease of access. She also knew her sister had been poisoned. The issue wasn't the missing lid. She was aware her sister threw those away for ease of access. It was the capsules inside. Sarah knew her twin better than anybody.

Susan never took capsules. She preferred tablets. It was a preference the sisters shared. Ever since the Chicago Tylenol murders four years earlier, where seven people died after consuming cyanide-laced pain relief capsules, the sisters had developed a mistrust of capsules. Capsules consist of a medicinal powder or jelly encased in a dissolvable gelatin shell. As in the case of the Chicago Tylenol murders, these shells can be easily opened and tampered with. Tablets, on the other hand, are compressed medicinal powder in a solid form, far harder to interfere with. As such, Susan and Sarah only ever took tablets.

Sarah raised the point with her brother-in-law, Susan's husband, Paul Webb King. According to Paul, Susan purchased the capsule variety of excedrin by mistake, but came to realize she preferred them over tablets as they were easier to swallow. A sense of uneasiness compelled Sarah not to take any of the excedrin capsules that day. Instead, she put the bottle on the cupboard's highest shelf, hiding it behind some spice jars. Detective Mike Dunbar and his partner arrived to the Snow Webb King residence in the late morning of June 16. He would have arrived sooner, but Susan's nose family were at Mountain View Cemetery overseeing her burial. The house was full of people, all friends and family of Susan's.

The detectives recalled the atmosphere within was bizarre. It seemed like a party, even pizzas were being ordered. The detectives met Susan's husband, Paul Webb King. He permitted them to search the home in an attempt to find the source of the cyanide that killed his wife. Only Susan, Paul and Haley lived in the house at the time of Susan's death, and they were occasionally visited by Susan's eldest daughter, Exa, who happened to be in town at the time. Detectives spoke with Susan's family to determine her actions, behavior and state of mind leading up to the fateful morning. The night before Susan's death on June 10, Paul cooked up a barbecue dinner for the family, and afterwards they climbed into the hot tub to relax.

The mood was pleasant and there were no disturbances. This was confirmed by Exa, who briefly visited the house that night to collect some belongings. She didn't sense any animosity and said her mother was her same old self. The morning of, Paul left for work before Susan got up. He drove 25 miles north from Auburn to Safeway's distribution center in Bellevue, where he began loading up his truck for his next haul. During the morning, word reached him of Susan's hospitalization. He knew Susan was otherwise in good health, but was overworked and overstressed.

He presumed she suffered an anxiety attack or something similar, harmless and recoverable. He hitched a ride to the hospital with his boss. If Paul harbored any worry about his wife, he hid it well. The trip was leisurely and the conversation between the pair light-hearted. When Paul finally arrived to the emergency department, Hailey noted her stepfather's demeanor was casual. It wasn't until doctors informed him of Susan's critical condition when Paul appeared rattled. The color drained from his face. When asked about his marriage with Susan, Paul insisted the couple were getting along well

and hadn't argued since September 1985. He recalled the date specifically as it was the moment he confessed his infidelity. Whilst away on a work trip, Paul had an affair with an ex-girlfriend named Mary. Paul maintained that after seeing a counselor, he and Susan were back on track. So much so, in the following months, they surprised everyone by announcing their engagement. They exchanged of hours on Thanksgiving Day 1985, around seven months before Susan's death. Even though Paul insisted he and Susan were better off, others saw things differently. Susan was elated about her marriage to Paul, but his affair with Mary was all she talked about.

She even told her daughters about it. They knew she kept the photograph of Mary in a kitchen drawer. Hailey remembers her mother showing it to her once and saying, look at this bitch. Susan also wanted to phone Mary and have it out. A notebook belonging to Susan featured a message she scrolled that read, fuck Paul, I hate Mary, I hate Paul. Hailey revealed her mother and stepfather were prone to heated arguments. During one, Paul threw a phone in anger. Susan once contemplated tossing Paul's belongings on the front lawn and throwing him out of the house, but never went through with it.

As she always did, Susan confided in her sister. She admitted wanting to hate Paul but couldn't. The thought of losing him devastated her. She still loved him and didn't want to leave him. Sarah considered Paul a master manipulator who had full control over her sister. With information gathered so far, it wasn't a stretch for Detective Dunbar to look at Paul Webb King with great suspicion. In his opinion, Paul's personality lacked positive traits and he spoke of his dead wife with little emotion. He appeared uptight and nervous and even made crude jokes, making others uncomfortable given the situation.

The only time he showed emotion was when his face turned red with anger after realizing he was being viewed as a suspect in Susan's death. But the detective wasn't the only one who drew issue with the man. Paul wasn't popular. Those who knew him considered him a possessive and jealous type who seemed bothered his wife earned more than him. Others noted Paul had a tendency to bottle up his emotions and implode in anger when it all became too much. Then there was his odd behavior in the days following Susan's death. Paul seemed perfectly fine and unfazed. He walked around in Hawaiian shirts and shorts as though on holiday, looking and behaving as anything but a grieving husband.

Detectives found out the household garbage was on the curb and collected the day Susan died, ideal timing for anyone wanting to dispose of evidence. Nevertheless, they took from the house anything them like contained cyanide, including chemicals and incesticides. Of particular interest was the open bottle of extra-strength excedrin in the kitchen cabinet. Timing-wise, the painkillers lined up as a feasible murder weapon and detectives knew from past experiences that capsules could be used to kill. Analysis of the excedrin bottle was completed by 8 o'clock that night. Of the 60 pill bottle, 56 remained. Nine of those capsules were found to contain four times the lethal dose of cyanide. The capsules as well as the bottle were tested for fingerprints.

None were found on the capsules themselves, but there was a clear one on the bottle that belonged to Sarah, Susan's sister. This wasn't surprising as she already admitted defining the bottle in the cupboard, handling it, then hiding it up on a top shelf. The test results confirmed what was widely suspected, not just for examiners and investigators, but for Paul Webb King. Apparently, the excedrin already raised his suspicions. During Susan's autopsy, the medical examiner's office phoned Paul. They discussed possible causes of death, but Paul rejected all. He then asked Dr. Fligner if Susan could have died of capsule poisoning. The question baffled Fligner. It was an unusually specific suggestion she hadn't and probably would never have considered. Paul explained a freshly opened bottle of capsules was found in a kitchen cupboard, and it was known Susan took some prior to her death.

Fligner dismissed the suggestion at the time, stating it was far-fetched. With the revelation Susan had in fact been poisoned via the excedrin capsules, Paul was proven right. When Paul was informed of the poisoned capsules, he was not surprised, stating it was exactly as he suspected. Paul gave detectives his own incredible story about the excedrin. In the days before Susan's death, he took two painkillers to relieve his arthritis. The bottle was near empty, and he mentioned it to Susan, who added the medicine to her shopping list. During the following days, Susan purchased the new bottle of excedrin. On the morning of her death, before he left for work, Paul went to the kitchen cupboard.

The new bottle was in there and the cap already missing. He took two capsules and headed off. A short time later, Susan took pills from the same bottle, resulting in her death. No one saw Paul take the capsules, but there were enough missing from the bottle to imply he had taken some. So whether Paul was the luckiest person alive and somehow avoided the poisoned ones, or he knew the capsules were tainted. Detectives considered the possibility Paul removed a couple and trashed them to bolster his story later. As the investigation shifted to one involving a homicide, police came through Susan's life, looking for all possible suspects. This included an angry bank customer Susan turned in for embezzlement some six months before her death. Then there were the circumstances surrounding a note left for Susan at her work years ago that read,

To the whore of Puget Siam Bank. The author was never identified. Detective Dunbar questioned all of her previous admirers, partners and lovers, but all liaisons ended amicably long ago. No potential suspects caught the attention of Detective Dunbar quite like Paul Webb King. He was convinced the man killed his wife. Tensions within Susan's family rose, boiled by the suspicion someone amongst them was her killer. Susan was the glue that held her family together. With her gone, the family split in two.

On one side stood Paul Webb King, and on the other, everyone else. Detective searched Paul's work truck but failed to find anything of note. After this search, Paul admitted to both Sarah and his brother that he kept excedrin in the truck, but police didn't find it. He retrieved the meds, and Sarah recalled the bottle was gone. He just had the capsules. Obviously sensing their suspicions, Paul offered for the others to take the pills to the police if they felt they were important. But neither took him up on the offer, giving Paul the benefit of the doubt. Afterwards, Paul hurried into the bathroom, locked the door, and Sarah heard the toilet flush. Thinking Paul just disposed of evidence, she called the authorities to report it.

When police questioned Paul about it, he denied flushing the pills down the toilet. Instead, he admitted he ground them up in the garbage disposal. When asked why, Paul answered he knew possessing the same type of pill that killed his wife made him out to look guilty, so he destroyed them. Although he strongly denied any involvement in Susan's death, Paul's strange statements and behaviour were perceived as signs of a guilty man. At one stage, he tried to dissipate the suspicion on him by spreading it amongst others. He warned his teenage stepdaughter Haley to get ready, being the only one home at the time of Susan's death. She was a prime suspect. Haley wasn't the only stepdaughter to feel the heat. Exa was in town at the time, but opted to stay at the Pony Soldier Inn with a friend, George Sanchez.

The night before Susan's death, Exa said she went to Seattle City with Sanchez, and they returned to the hotel in the early hours. The following morning, Exa attempted to contact her mother at the bank as the pair had made plans to meet up for lunch. But by then, Susan was already in a coma. It was no secret Exa and Susan clashed in the past. Susan worried about Exa and wanted her daughter to exercise better judgement. Exa's friendship with George Sanchez was one example. Susan took issue with Sanchez. He was in the midst of a drug treatment program, and Exa barely knew the guy. Exa, like everyone else in Susan's immediate circle, supplied police with a statement. But when asked to come to the station for a second interview, she arrived with an attorney. After waiting around for just a minute, she abruptly left and never took part in the interview.

Detectives understood every member of Susan's family had opportunity. All had access to the house in the days leading up to the murder, and none would raise suspicion rummaging around the kitchen to plant the poisoned drugs. Motive was less clear-cut, but only one stood the profit from Susan's death. At the time of her death, Susan had a $20,000 life insurance policy, and her very basic will left everything to Paul. Paul maintained he was going to use the money to pay off some credit card bills, and the rest would go to Susan's daughters. Yet Haley and Exa didn't receive a dime. When they confronted him about it, Paul said money was tight. The girls also noticed several pieces of Susan's jewellery had disappeared. Meanwhile, Paul changed before them. He swapped Hawaiian shirts for more professional, expensive clothing, and even purchased a new car.

Then he started seeing another woman. News of the cyanide-laced capsules was relayed to Bristol Myers, the manufacturers of Excedrin. Internal discussions revolved around the similarities between Susan's nose death and the Chicago Tylenol murders, right down to the use of cyanide in capsules, raising concerns of a potential copycat. Police were confident Susan's murder was an isolated incident, committed by someone she knew. But not wanting to take any risks, Bristol Myers released a heavily publicized nationwide recall of all their extra strength Excedrin products. A decision costing the company millions. The recall became sensational news, thrusting Susan's nose murder into the public eye. Pharmacies and supermarkets were busier than usual, as nervous customers returned previously purchased Excedrin, and staff quickly pulled the product from store shelves.

Investigators assisted in the recall, collecting the mass amount of product and sending it away for testing. Yet, they were certain Susan Snow was not a victim of a pharmaceutical terrorist. But then, on June 19, police received a call. The female caller was frantic, hysterical, and near unintelligible. As publicity surrounding Susan Snow's death hit headlines and primetimes, the woman caller claimed to have noticed strong similarities between the bank manager's death and the death of her husband a week earlier. It was six days before Susan's death, June 5, 1986. 52-year-old Bruce Nicholl spent the day at work, where he laboured as a heavy equipment operator for the State Department of Transportation. By the time he clocked out, drove home and walked through the front door. It was 4.10pm.

He greeted his wife, 43-year-old Stella, who was in the midst of preparing dinner. Bruce complained of a headache. Given he toiled and strained all day around a loud machinery, it wasn't unusual for him to feel rough by the end of it. He hoped having a shower would clear his head. When that didn't work, he decided to take painkillers. Bruce took extra strength excedrin exclusively for his eggs and pains. Two capsules was the recommended dosage, but Bruce theorised the meds would work quicker and be more effective if he doubled that, so he took four. All he had to do now was wait. Bruce wandered out onto the back patio, where he took in the fresh air and peaceful surrounds of his five-acre countryside property. All the while eagerly awaiting for the capsules' contents to kick in. Minutes later, Stella Nicholl was startled by her husband calling out for her. She found Bruce leaning in the frame of the patio door, light-headed and feeling as though he was about to faint. Stella guided him towards the nearby couch. Bruce reached out to brace himself, but as he went to sit, his legs buckled and he crumpled to the floor.

At 5.02pm, an emergency call came through to 911. Stella Nicholl attempted to explain what was happening. My husband's gone into some kind of fit. His breathing extremely hard. His eyes are rolled back. He told me he was going to pass out. I tried to get him on the couch and he hit the floor. When the dispatcher asked if her husband was conscious, Stella replied, I don't think so. His breathing has slowed down. Paramedics rushed to the scene. They found Bruce sprawled on the living room floor, unresponsive to stimuli. Every 20 seconds or so, he'd gasp awkwardly for air. It was Bruce's skin tone that perplexed first responders. His body was ghostly pale, except for his head, which was bright red. Having never seen such a symptom exhibited before, the paramedics had no idea what it signified. As they attempted to resuscitate Bruce, Stella rattled off her husband's medical history. Bruce was a recovering alcoholic and a chain smoker, but with that considered, he was in relatively good health. He wasn't prone to anxiety attacks, fainting or seizures. Every so often, he'd get a mild headache, including the one he had that afternoon.

Stella retrieved the bottle of excedrin from the kitchen. The medics were quick to inspect and discount the pills as the cause of Bruce's critical state. It was just an over-the-counter product, one that Bruce took regularly without issue. There was little time to consider the possible causes of his collapse. Bruce's blood pressure was plummeting and attempts to stabilize him were failing. A helicopter airlifted Bruce to Harborview Medical Center. By midnight, Bruce Nickel had died. In June 1934, after 14 emotional years of trying to conceive, Walter and Ruth Nixson, There's a Molson with your name on it. Canadian Ultra XL Molson. Everyone in. Must be legal drinking age. In June 1934, after 14 emotional years of trying to conceive, Walter and Ruth Nickel visited a Seattle maternity home. They left with their newly adopted son, a weak old baby they named Bruce. Walter and Ruth were finally parents. It didn't matter to them how Bruce came into their world. He was very much their son. When Bruce was 16 years old, he overheard his father talking about his adoption. The revelation came as a shock.

Although Bruce loved his adoptive parents and appreciated the life they afforded him, he felt resentment towards his biological mother for giving him up in the first place. These feelings manifested into abandonment issues that impacted his future relationships, resulting in three failed marriages. In helping numb his sorrows, Bruce became heavily reliant on alcohol and soon developed an addiction that led to many missteps throughout his life. By his late 40s, Bruce was a barfly who'd hop from bar to bar drinking long into the night until he passed out or was kicked out, whichever came first. Though he could be rowdy and stubborn, between Bruce's rough edges was gentleness, humor and intelligence, available for anyone willing to look. One afternoon during the early 70s, Bruce entered a tavern in Kent, not far from where he was living at the time. His attention was immediately drawn to a woman sitting at the bar, a dark-haired, elegant beauty he'd never seen in town before. Stella didn't seem the type of woman who'd be drawn to a blue collar rough around the edges kind of guy like Bruce Nickel. Yet, like Bruce, Stella carried her own scars, both emotional and physical. Stella held very few memories of her childhood in Oregon. By the time she was born in 1943, her working-class family had spiraled into abuse and neglect, helmed by a violent and alcoholic patriarch.

Stories had since been passed on to her by older siblings, including the one where their father chased them out of the house whilst firing a shotgun. No one was hit, but the event became the catalyst for her mother to leave, taking the children and resettling in Colorado. Then, there were the two horrific fire accidents. The first resulted in Stella requiring skin grafts. The second caused the death of her baby brother. At age 15, Stella felt pregnant, confiding in others that it was the outcome of a rape. On October 23, 1959, she gave birth to the child, a girl she named Cynthia. Another pregnancy occurred at age 18, which ended in Stella giving the newborn up for adoption. Her life was one spent transitioning between relationships, homes and jobs. By the time she reached Kent, Stella was living out of her car. Throughout the years, Stella surrounded herself in a tough, emotional shell. Those outside of it found Stella to be cold, distant and incredibly hard to get to know. But to those who broke through, such as Bruce Nicholl, they found warmth, humour and passion. Their first meeting left little impression on Stella. A week later, she ran into Bruce on the street and saw the man in a different light. His rough edges softened, and she found him to be intelligent and handsome. She later remarked to a friend that she was going to marry him.

Bruce's endless capacity for heavy drinking didn't initially dissuade Stella. She embraced it. Their romance blossomed in bars where long nights and early mornings were spent playing pool and drinking, and every weekend was a wild party. The relationship was not without problems. There were complicated periods of being off and on again, but the pair would soon reconcile. They married in September 1976 and eventually settled down in a mobile home on the rural Casper, East Orban. By 1977, their marriage was straining under financial pressures, including Bruce's $250 a week drinking habit. Despite enjoying the liberating fun of their alcohol-fueled weekends, Stella pushed Bruce to cut back on alcohol, or at the very least, drink at home, where it would be safer and cheaper. But Bruce struggled to change his ways. In 1979, he went on a two-week bender, skipping work and rarely going home. When Stella confronted him at the bar, it was like a switch flipped in Bruce's mind. In a snap decision, he signed up as an inpatient for a program for alcoholics. Over the following 10 days, Bruce participated in cancelling and aversion therapy. On the 10th day, he walked out of the program, and from that day on, Bruce Nickel never drank alcohol again.

Bruce Nickel's autopsy report ruled his cause of death as hypertension due to cardio-respiratory collapse, a consequence of pulmonary emphysema. Bruce was a habitual cigarette smoker, so death arising from an associated lung disease wasn't an absurd finding. But Stella Nickel had a hard time accepting it. Her husband was healthy. Only recently, Bruce passed a physical examination. Doctors warned Bruce was at risk of developing emphysema in the future, but didn't display signs of it yet. Stella aired her confusion at his autopsy report, questioning if the lung disease could have such a rapid and fatal onset. Nevertheless, from a medical standpoint, the case was closed, and Bruce Nickel was late to rest at Sullivan Cemetery. One week later, Susan Snow's murder made national news. Shortly after 6pm on June 17, police officer Edward Sexton turned his vehicle into a crushed gravel driveway off Lake Money Smith Road in Albans East. He came to a stop at the front of the Nickel's mobile home. Stella Nickel appeared at the screen door.

The recent widow looked worse for wear. Since her husband's death, Stella hit the bottle hard. Friends worried she was drinking herself to death. Doctors prescribed her valium to settle her overwhelming emotional grief. Her home had since become a mess. Even her striking and colourful tropical fish aquariums, which Stella once maintained with pride, were showing signs of neglect. Stella worked as the concourse security supervisor at the Seattle Tacoma International Airport, overseeing the X-ray machines that checked travellers' bags prior to flight. She earned her leadership position based on the seriousness in which she took her work. Stella was direct with travellers, rarely engaged in small talk, and reprimanded colleagues incompetence. But ever since Bruce's death, Stella spent work nights out on the town. She'd wander into work the following morning in yesterday's clothes and makeup, reeking of liquor. Stella apologised to officer Edward Sexton for her frantic phone call to police earlier. She explained her reasoning for it,

the circumstances surrounding her husband's death, the subsequent autopsy findings, and similarities she'd drawn between Bruce's death and the murder of Susan Snow. Officer Sexton asked to say the excedrin Bruce took prior to his collapse. The bottle was near empty. Only eight capsules remained. Stella also handed the officer a second bottle of extra-strength excedrin. Still in its box packaging, she bought that one recently to replace the first bottle once it ran out. The two bottles were purchased about two weeks apart. Unable to recall the exact details, Stella believed she bought the first bottle somewhere in Auburn in one of two stores she frequented, either Albertsons North or Johnny's Market. Being the more recent purchase, she had a clearer memory of buying the second bottle. From Johnny's Market, in Kent. The bottles were sent for testing. In the meantime, officer Edward Sexton contacted Harborview Medical Centre and inquired if Bruce Nickel was tested for cyanide poisoning. The answer was no. At the time, doctors didn't have reason to suspect the man was poisoned. Bruce's remains had since been buried. However, officer Sexton discovered a tube of Bruce's blood taken during his autopsy was still stored at the King County Medical Examiner's office.

It was quickly put through the same toxicology assessment that found the cyanide in Susan Snow's bloodstream. The reactive paper turned to blue. Bruce Nickel had also died from cyanide poisoning. Hours later, lab tests on the two excedrin bottles taken from the Nickel home were in. Of the first 40-pill bottle, only eight remained. Two of those capsules were found to contain cyanide. The second unopened 40-pill bottle only had 35 capsules inside. Four contained cyanide. No foreign fingerprints were found. The cyanide used in the Snow and Nickel murders were compared. It was determined to have come from the same source. Bruce Nickel and Susan Snow were completely unknown to one another. There was no way the two could be connected, other than both being residents of Auburn. News of a second poisoned victim hit airwaves, sweeping terror through the small, otherwise peaceful community. Authorities were once again forced to shift the focus of their investigation, this time to one involving a potential mass murderer. So far, two victims were known, but authorities worried there could be more yet to be identified.

The recall of excedrin-brand products continued, and for Bristol Myers, the damage was immeasurable. Both Paul Webb King and Stella Nickel filed wrongful death suits against the company. Paul fronted the media, demanding all pain medication in capsule form be banned. He also expressed anger in the way Bruce Nickel's death and autopsy were handled, believing if examined correctly, Susan might still be alive. He aired frustration at still being considered a suspect in his wife's murder. To Paul, investigators were wasting time looking into him when they should have been out finding the real killer. Surprisingly, Paul was defended by his trio of ex-wives. They insisted he wasn't the type to murder his wives, just divorce them. It was Paul's eventual participation in a polygraph test that put an end to it all. The test concluded Paul was not being deceptive, and investigators were satisfied he didn't kill his wife. Whatever people thought of the man personally didn't matter. Paul Webb King was officially cleared as a suspect. In total, 15,000 bottles of excedrin were collected and put through an X-ray machine. Compared to the medicinal powder in the capsules, cyanide powder was more dense. Therefore, the cyanide-laced pills would appear darker in X-ray imagery. Of the 15,000 bottles examined, only one more was found to contain cyanide-laced capsules. The 60-pill bottle only had 56 capsules, four contained cyanide.

It originated from Johnny's Market in Kent, the same store Stella Nickel purchased one of her tampered bottles. Investigators narrowed in on the store, questioning staff about disgruntled former employees while customers seemed behaving suspiciously. Meanwhile, Bristol Myers manufacturing plants were thoroughly examined. No evidence was found indicating the cyanide was added to the capsules during assembly. Additionally, tampered bottles had so far only surfaced within Washington's King County. The batches were spread nationwide. So, if the tampering occurred during manufacturing, more poisoned bottles would appear elsewhere. On June 24, in an Orb and Pay and Save pharmacy, a store manager noticed something out of place. A bottle of Maximum Strength Anison 3 brand pain relief was sitting on a can of peanuts, two rows away from the medicine aisle. Finding items in aisles they didn't belong wasn't particularly unusual. They were often left behind by customers who changed their minds mid-shot. But the store manager was immediately suspect. Although this bottle wasn't excedrin, the focus of the current recall, he handed the Anison 3 to the FBI. It too was tested. The 50-pill bottle only had 45 capsules, and four of those contained cyanide.

It was the first non-excedrin brand product to contain the poison. This discovery confirmed the tampering occurred within the King County community and not in the production chain of either excedrin or Anison 3, because the two products were from completely different manufacturing plants. Investigators believed the offender lived locally and planted the poisoned products in regional stores, where it was easier and less suspicious for them to do so. The FBI put together a psychological profile of the unknown perpetrator. They speculated the killer may have attended the memorial services of their victims to further avoid suspicion, revel in the chaos they caused, or to mock the police. Realizing the poisoning encompassed different pain relief brands, Washington State affected a 90-day ban on the sale of all non-prescription medication in capsule form. Drug companies impacted by the ban came together and offered a $300,000 reward for the capture of the person responsible. A total of five poisoned bottles had so far been located. Susan Snow had one, Bruce Nickel had two, and two others were found on store shelves in Orban and nearby Kent. The bottles were sent to the FBI in Washington DC for further analysis. None of the capsules inside held fingerprints. The offender likely wore gloves. Even though the bottles were in various states, examiners observed them collectively and were able to piece together how the offender implanted the poison.

The box packaging was carefully opened along seams. Then the safety seal around the neck of the bottles were cut to gain access. A visible alteration, but not immediately obvious to unsuspecting persons. The capsules were opened and their contents poured out. They were refilled with approximately 700 milligrams of cyanide. The casings were then sealed back together. Poisoned capsules were mixed in with the dozens of clean pills. It was impossible to tell the difference between the two. Both the medicinal powder and cyanide were white, and when placed in the transparent red casing, they all looked the same to the human eye. The bottles were placed back in the box packaging, which was glued back together to look as though it had never been opened. The cyanide was extensively examined. Found within the white powder were traces of tiny green crystals, not something usually found in cyanide. Examiners had no idea what it could be. The green crystals were analyzed using a mass spectrometer, a device that can identify the exact chemical components of an unknown sample. The green crystals were determined to be made up of four common chemicals, Atrazine, Simazine, Diaclone, and Monuron.

Together, these four chemicals were known to be components of Algicide, a biocide used for clearing and preventing the growth of algae. Following this discovery, the ingredient lists of hundreds of commercially produced Algicide products were inspected to find any specifically containing Atrazine, Simazine, Diaclone, and Monuron. An FBI chemist scanning the shelves of an aquarium fish store found an exact match. The four chemicals were the ingredients of a brand of Algicide called Algae Destroyer. It came in a blister pack of 18 tablets. Following instructions, the tablets were meant to be dropped straight into aquarium water where they dissolve. The chemicals were distributed and cleared the algae. Each round tablet was green. When crushed into a powder, the tablets became tiny green flecks that were an exact match to those found in the cyanide. FBI Special Agent John Sylvester visited a variety of pet stores throughout King County. He carried a folder of photographs of people well known to Susan Snow and Bruce Nickel. At each store, he questioned staff if they recognized any persons pictured as customers who'd purchased Algae Destroyer. He entered a store called Fish Gallery & Pets. The store's manager, 24-year-old Tom Noonan, confirmed the store stocked Algae Destroyer, but not often, as he wasn't a fan of the product.

Moisture would seep into the pack and harden the tablets, making them near insoluble, essentially useless. He preferred stocking liquid Algicides, but would order in the Algae Destroyer if requested by a customer. Special Agent Sylvester showed Tom his folder of photographs, asking if anyone looked familiar. One photo caught Tom's attention. It was of a woman with long, wavy, dark hair. He couldn't remember her name, but knew her as a frequent, sometimes weekly customer. She was a hobbyist fishkeeper, with several home aquariums stocked with tropical varieties. She spoke to him of her dream to one day open her own tropical fish store. The photo Tom pointed out to Special Agent Sylvester was of Stella Nickel. Tom explained Stella purchased liquid Algicide, but didn't care for it, complaining it didn't work, so she requested Algae Destroyer tablets. Not wanting to lose a loyal customer, Tom put aside his dislike of the product and ordered it in. When Stella bought the Algae Destroyer, Tom warned her of the product's tendency to harden and become insoluble.

To ensure the Algicide dissolved in her tank, Tom advised Stella to crush the tablets first. Evidence pointed towards Stella Nickel. She purchased the Algae Destroyer, the product whose traces were found in the cyanide that killed both her husband and Susan Snow. It appeared the cyanide salt was ground up in the same container that was previously used to crush the Algae Destroyer tablets. Yet, Stella Nickel as the killer didn't make any sense. If she did murder Bruce, she got away with it at the completion of his initial autopsy when his cause of death was ruled as natural causes. The case was closed. All she had to do from that day onwards was to play the part of a grieving widow and stay quiet. Why would she instead call authorities a week later, bring attention to herself, and to let investigators determine Bruce was murdered? And where did Susan Snow fit into the plot?

A thorough investigation into Stella Nickel began. It immediately led to some intriguing discoveries. The Nichols were in deep financial debt. Days before Bruce's death, North Pacific Bank sent the couple a final delinquency notice on their mortgage. Stella Nickel responded in a letter to her creditors. Quote, Stella was the sole beneficiary of about $76,000 in insurance on her husband's life, with an additional payout of $100,000 if his death was ruled accidental. Bruce Nickel's original autopsy report concluded he died as a consequence of emphysema. Therefore, his death was not considered an accident, but as a result of a pre-existing condition caused by his smoking habit.

Stella disputed the report from the moment it was handed down. When the news of Susan Snow's murder by Sinide was publicized a week later, Stella was quick to profess her husband had died under similar circumstances. Her claims were soon confirmed. Afterwards, she was handed her husband's new death certificate. This one stated Bruce died of acute Sinide poisoning. As it was being investigated as a homicide, insurance-wise it was considered an accidental death. Stella was set to collect the $100,000 accident payout. Bruce Nickel signed off on his accidental death policy just six months before his death.

However, an FBI handwriting expert concluded Bruce's name was signed by someone else. There were noticeable differences between the application signature and his other known samples. DN and K specifically. They were not consistent with the way Bruce usually signed his name. But they were consistent with the way Stella signed hers. Stella had a history of falsifying documents. In 1971, she was convicted of a single count of forgery, spending six months in prison before being released for good behavior. A life insurance payout was a well-established motive for murder.

But it didn't prove Stella killed Bruce. A search of her home and workplace found no traces of Sinide. She didn't even have algae destroyer amongst her aquarium supplies. Yet, investigators were aware that right after Bruce's death, Stella took a near three-hour drive east from Auburn to Wenatchee. She claimed to have made the trip to visit Bruce's parents and personally inform them of their son's death. But she never met with them. It was possible Stella used this trip as an opportunity to discard evidence. What investigators did find in the nickel home was yet another bottle of Excedrin.

This one was located in a cupboard underneath a bathroom sink. Curiously, the bottle came from batch number 5H102. The same lot Susan Snow's tampered bottle came from. Tests concluded the bottle found in the nickel's bathroom did not contain Sinide laced capsules. Stella insisted she had no idea how the bottle got there. But there was also the matter of the two bottles of Excedrin Stella did know about and had given investigators previously. Out of the 15,000 bottles of Excedrin examined since the death of Susan Snow, only four were found to contain Sinide. Stella Nickel had two out of the four.

She claimed she purchased her two bottles at different stores two weeks apart. Mathematically, the chance of this happening was beyond rare. Investigators considered if anyone could be so unlucky. Holograph testing had done a huge favor for Paul Webb King in eliminating him as a suspect. Yet, Stella Nickel was less inclined to participate in her own. Her lawyer for her wrongful death suit against Bristol Myers advised her not to. The same lawyer told reporters Stella was too shaken up to be subjected to the intrusive examination and the accuracy of the test could be influenced by the prescription tranquilizers Stella was taking at the time.

Yet, Stella did agree to be formally interviewed, just not while strapped to a lie detector. Her answers were direct and responsive. She stuck to her seemingly unbelievable story of having purchased two of the poisoned Excedrin bottles. Regarding her husband's life insurance, Stella claimed Bruce had one policy valued between $25,000 and $35,000. She didn't mention the extra $100,000 she was set to receive over the accidental death cause. She didn't deny forging Bruce's signature on the documents either. According to Stella, Bruce was fully aware and consenting of it. As she took responsibility of the paperwork in the relationship, he gave her permission to sign off on things on his behalf.

Investigators then asked Stella if her fish tanks had algae problems. The question elicited a bizarre reaction. Stella blurted out that she didn't use that product. Confused investigators asked, what product? Rattled, Stella skirted around the question and wouldn't say anything more about it. Stella insisted she was willing to help with further investigations, but when asked again to participate in a polygraph test, she started to cry and questioned why they were doing this to her. Adding, she loved her husband and didn't want to go through such an ordeal.

Upon realizing she was the prime suspect in her husband's murder, Stella relented and finally agreed to the polygraph test. Things had dragged on far too long, Stella said, and she had nothing to hide. Throughout the examination, Stella denied any involvement in her husband's death. The lie detector results determined she was being deceptive. Motive and opportunity were abundant, but evidence was still very much circumstantial. The lie detector results were not indisputable as the machine's accuracy had always been debatable. Investigators knew the test results wouldn't hold up in court. They needed something more conclusive.

And there was still the matter of Susan Snow's murder, a woman Stella Nickel had never met and didn't know. With no evidence to arrest her, Stella Nickel was free to go. But as word spread of Stella Nickel's failed polygraph test, the FBI received a phone call. 26-year-old Cynthia had a strained love-hate relationship with her mother, Stella Nickel. In many ways, the pair were very alike in appearance and personality. Both were wild in spirit and fiercely independent. Cynthia inherited her mother's love for nightlife and rebellious streak. However, from the moment Cynthia was conceived, their relationship with her mother was very different.

From the moment Cynthia was conceived, their relationship was destined to be rocky. During her childhood, Cynthia found out she was a child of rape. As a mother, Stella was a tough disciplinarian. There were talks of abuse, including an incident in 1969 resulting in Stella's arrest for beating Cynthia, who would have been around ten years old at the time. After a night spent in jail, Stella was released. As Cynthia grew older, their tumultuous relationship amplified and the two lived very separate lives. Occasionally they'd weave back together, but very quickly snap apart.

In 1978, 19-year-old Cynthia felt pregnant. Hope her baby would bring the pair closer together faded when Stella responded to the announcement, I'm not ready to be her grandmother. Cynthia did value her mother in some ways. Whenever she needed work, Stella would help her find it. Like in 1986, Stella got her a job at her own workplace, the Seattle Tacoma International Airport. During this period, Stella confided in her daughter about her crippling financial debt. When Stella inquired about drugs, Cynthia thought her mother was so desperate for cash she was considering becoming a dealer.

Stella was most curious about cocaine, specifically how much was needed to cause an overdose. She raised the query without further explanation. Cynthia felt probing for information would be pointless, having learnt long ago not to question her mother. In another conversation, Stella mused about hiring a hitman. She pondered optimal assassination techniques, from hitting runs to cutting car breaks, remaining elusive about who the target of her fantasy murder for hire plot was. Eventually she let it slip. It was her husband, Bruce.

Cynthia was aware the relationship between her mother and stepfather was rocky. Stella regretted Bruce's sobriety as it brought an abrupt end to the couple's fun, social nights of drunken bar hopping. Nowadays, Bruce was a homebody who preferred spending nights settled in front of the TV. To Stella, their new lifestyle was stale and boring. No matter her efforts, Bruce was strong-willed. He refused to give in to temptation and fall back into unhealthy drinking habits. Seeking fun, Stella would disappear for days at a time, pursuing fleeting hookups until Bruce tracked her down. Ending their relationship wasn't an option for Bruce.

He loved Stella and couldn't bring himself to leave her, hoping in time she'd readjust to the new him. But she didn't. Stella aired frustrations about her marriage at work, telling co-workers she loved being on late shift because she didn't have to see much of Bruce. Colleagues listened but offered little advice. They found Stella intimidating. She had a menacing glare that ensured things were always done her way. That told others never to challenge or question her.

To Stella, divorcing Bruce wasn't an option. She'd lose half of everything and she didn't have much to begin with. She often fantasised aloud what she would do with a life insurance payout if and when Bruce died. Opening her own tropical fish store was at the forefront of these fantasies. Cynthia refused to believe her mother was seriously contemplating murder, convincing herself it was all in her head. Her mum was just joking and venting. She agonised over telling Bruce, but her mother's heavy intimidation compelled her to stay quiet. Cynthia hoped if it really came down to ending the relationship, Stella would just initiate a divorce.

When Bruce died, Stella sensed her daughter's suspicion. Stella told Cynthia, I know what you're thinking and it's no. Trusting her mother, Cynthia latched on to the autopsy ruling of emphysema. It silenced her nagging concerns. A medical professional reached the conclusion, therefore it must be correct. When she later found out Bruce was poisoned, she again sensed her mother's involvement. But Cynthia couldn't be sure of it. When questioned by authorities, she defended Stella and said nothing negative about her mother and stepfather's relationship.

It wasn't until Cynthia found out Stella failed her father's relationship that she had a relationship with her mother. She followed her polygraph test when her perception changed. It confirmed her suspicions and a raised lingering doubt. That's when she decided to contact the FBI and tell them the truth about her mother. Agents were wary to act suddenly on Cynthia's statements. Questions were raised regarding Cynthia's credibility, given her tumultuous relationship with Stella and the fact she hadn't come forward sooner. Her statements boiled down to hearsay and only added to the pile of circumstantial evidence they had already amassed. Cynthia's stories were compelling, but investigators needed evidence.

Nevertheless, the FBI maintained communications with Cynthia. Over time, her stories became more damning. She spoke of her mother's study of poison. During visits to the library, Stella researched poisonous plants and learned about foxglove, a tubular flower that blooms on a tall spike. The entire plant is toxic, including its roots and seeds. Foxglove grew abundantly in the wooded area adjacent to the nickel's rural property. Approximately six months before Bruce died, Stella told Cynthia she harvested foxglove seeds and put them into a capsule casing. Two weeks later, she fed it to her unsuspecting husband.

Her plan was clever. Stella knew Bruce chewed on wild grass he picked outside. If he died from her foxglove seed pill, authorities would be easily fooled into thinking Bruce accidentally poisoned himself by munching on the toxic plant. Bruce was sluggish for a couple of days and reports from his workplace detailed he complained of stomach pains, but he survived. Cynthia recalled her mother was visibly disappointed this plan didn't work. Through her mention of poisoned plants, Cynthia had given investigators a lead. The FBI subpoenaed Stella Nickel's library card. Records showed Stella checked out numerous books from the Orban Public Library prior to her husband's death.

One book she borrowed was titled Deadly Harvest, a guide to common poisonous plants. The book was sent for testing. More than 80 finger and palm prints matching Stella's were discovered throughout. Pages 66 and 67 detailed toxic seeds. Seven of Stella's prints were found on these two pages. Pages 88 and 89 featuring passages on cyanide contained eight prints. In another book, McGraw Hills Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, nine of Stella's fingerprints and a palm print were found on Page's detailing cyanide. Five more of Stella's fingerprints and a palm print were found in the cyanide section of the Merritt students encyclopedia.

According to Stella's library records, a book titled Human Poisonings from Native and Cultivated Plants was marked as overdue, indicating Stella borrowed but never returned it. Cynthia had one last piece of information to provide authorities. As the mother and daughter carpooled into work one day, Stella brought up the Chicago Tylenol murders, remarking how easier it would be to reenact the poisonings. At work, the pair shared a locker for their belongings. In the days before Bruce's death, Cynthia saw capsules and a Tupperware container stored in the locker. The container held white powder, which Cynthia assumed was sugar or salt, but found it odd her mother never used it on meals. Upon reflection, she now believed it was cyanide. After Bruce's death, the container and capsules vanished from the locker.

As investigators pieced together evidence implicating Stella Nickel for the murder of her husband, discussions commenced about where exactly Susan Snow fit into the plot. At a cursory glance, she didn't fit anywhere. Yet, on deeper inspection, Susan's role was pivotal. After Stella poisoned her husband, his death was incorrectly labelled natural causes. This was not the result Stella anticipated. The cyanide needed to be discovered so his death would be ruled an accident, allowing Stella to obtain Bruce's $100,000 accidental death life insurance payout. Demanding his death be reexamined was risky, questions would be raised, suspicions would be felt. Mimicking the Chicago Tylenol murders, Stella tampered with additional excedrin bottles and a single bottle of Anacin-3, inserting several cyanide-laced capsules in each.

Wanting to create the illusion it was the work of a pharmaceutical terrorist, Stella planted these bottles on local store shelves, then waited. Some time between June 8 and 10, 1986, Susan Snow entered her local general store, Albertson's North, to collect items on her shopping list. From a shelf in the medicine aisle, she grabbed a 60-pill bottle of extra strength excedrin. On June 11, Susan woke with one of her usual headaches and took the excedrin to relieve it. Minutes later, Susan collapsed, suffocated and died. Upon Susan's death, Stella Nickel had the reason she needed to ask for her husband's death to be reexamined without drawing attention to herself as a suspect. Creating the illusion there was an unknown mass murderer in town poisoning locals indiscriminately, Stella stood amongst the ensuing chaos, acting the grieving widow. All the while aware the remaining tampered boxes were still sitting on store shelves, waiting to kill another innocent victim.

Investigators understood how fortunate they were when the cyanide was picked up during Susan Snow's autopsy, leading to the product recalls. Who knows how many other people would have died if that had not been the case. Stella's confidence in her plan was not misplaced. It was an otherwise flawless scheme because of its simplicity and anonymity. If Stella's motivation was simply to kill her husband, she had committed the perfect murder. But she was motivated by greed and brought attention to herself. Over time, her plan came unstuck by the small mistakes she carelessly made along the way. She spoke of killing Bruce to her daughter.

She signed his life away on insurance documents. She researched poison in library books, planting her prints across relevant pages. And she crushed the cyanide salt in the same bowl she used to crush her ouchy destroyer tablets. On December 9, 1987, Stella Nickel was indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of product tampering, including two which resulted in the deaths of Susan Snow and Bruce Nickel. Product tampering was a recently enacted federal charge introduced in the wake of the Chicago Tylenol murders. Stella Nickel's trial began in April 1988. Her daughter Cynthia appeared as the prosecution's star witness. In response to her daughter's testimony, Stella Nickel took the stand and rebutted every claim.

She was quick to establish her love for Bruce and how she helped him stop drinking. Boredom wasn't an issue in their relationship, Stella maintained. She was happy her husband was home more often. She denied discussions of hit men, overdoses and poison. According to Stella, the thought of getting rid of Bruce never crossed her mind. Speaking of her aquariums, Stella admitted to shopping at Fish Gallery and Pets and to knowing the store's manager, Tom Noonan. She conceded algae destroyer might have been a topic of conversations they had, but denied ever purchasing it. When confronted with the evidence of her finger and palm prints scattered throughout library books on poison, Stella didn't deny reading them.

It was for research purposes, she insisted. As she did a lot of babysitting, she wanted to identify the types of plants around her property and determine which ones were poisonous. Prosecutors put forth Stella did more than simply read up on plant types. Her palm prints were pressed on pages relating to cyanide, suggesting she didn't just thumb through out of interest, but held the pages open, likely as she was taking notes. Having since come to realise how unbelievable her story was of having purchased two of the four Tainted Excedrum bottles at different stores and times, Stella now claimed she didn't remember where or when she purchased them. She denied shopping at the Pay and Save Pharmacy where one of the Tampard bottles was found. However, seven checks signed by Stella were recovered, all made out to that specific store.

In closing arguments, Assistant United States Attorney Joanne Maider stated, Two people died because Stella Nickel, with cool, chilling deliberation, set out to eliminate them because it behooved her interests to do so. Her acts reflect a human being without social or moral conscience. A hard, icy human being who was willing to adopt a horrendous course of action as it was convenient to accomplishing her purposes. She had attempted to explain away all of her words and conduct, just as she has attempted to explain away every shred of physical evidence in this case presented against her. But she attempts to deny and she attempts to explain away too much. Stella Nickel attempts to escape accountability for decisions which she made which had irrevocable consequences to Sue Snow and to Bruce Nickel. After five days deliberation, on May 9, the jury returned to court with a verdict.

Stella Nickel was found guilty of all charges. During sentencing, Stella's defence team asked for mercy. They argued for a sentence that would allow some hope. The judge, citing Stella's crimes as being of exceptional callousness and cruelty, sentenced her to two 90-year terms for the two product tampering charges relating to the deaths of Susan Snow and Bruce Nickel. Three 10-year terms for the remaining product tampering charges were also handed down. Stella Nickel was also ordered to pay a fine and forfeit her remaining assets to the families of the victims. Stella Nickel was convicted of the federal crime of product tampering causing death.

No one has ever been convicted for the actual murders of Bruce Nickel or Susan Snow. Stella maintained her innocence after her trial. She attempted to appeal her conviction twice but was rejected both times by the court of appeal. Stella Nickel claimed her daughter Cynthia lied about the case in order to reap the $300,000 reward offered by pharmaceutical companies for the capture of the person responsible. Others who knew Cynthia noted she was no fool, adding she had no interest in giving up her mother until she heard of the reward money. It's a claim Cynthia has since denied. She maintains she didn't know about the reward until after she was working with the FBI. After Stella's conviction, Cynthia collected $250,000 of the offered reward money.

The remainder went to various other witnesses whose information helped obtain a conviction, including Tom Noonan, the fish store manager. The FBI maintained Cynthia's motivation was irrelevant. All that mattered was her information led to the discovery of evidence that proved Stella Nickel was responsible for the deaths of Bruce Nickel and Susan Snow. .