00:00:06
It was a typical Wednesday morning in
00:00:08
the Snow household. Sue Snow was
00:00:11
preparing for another long day as vice
00:00:13
president at a local bank.
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>> Morning.
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>> Morning Haley. How you doing?
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>> And her daughter Haley was running a
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little late, rushing to take a quick
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shower before heading off to school.
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>> Well, I hope you know it.
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>> I know it. I'll be fine. Over the sounds
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of the running water, Haley couldn't
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hear when her mother collapsed.
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[Music]
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>> Mommy.
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>> It was a tragedy, then a medical
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mystery, one which sent shock waves
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throughout the world.
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[Music]
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Susan Snow was a successful banking
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executive and the mother of two young
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daughters. She had recently remarried
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and was well known in the small suburb
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of Seattle, Washington.
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>> She was very wellliked. She liked to
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flirt, I think, with men. And probably
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used it to her advantage. She was in the
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banking industry, and I think that uh
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she had a lot of clients that dealt with
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her bank because they like Sue Snow and
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like dealing with Sue Snow.
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>> Sue Snow was only 40 years old and in
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perfect health. On the day she
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collapsed,
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>> I realized something was wrong. Her eyes
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were open and her they were rolled sort
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of back and her fingers were very stiff
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and she looked terrified. She looked
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very scared.
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>> Sue Snow was rushed to a nearby hospital
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unconscious and near death.
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She died shortly after arrival.
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Dr. Karen Flegner performed the autopsy
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attempting to identify the cause of
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death.
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>> The initial part of the autopsy revealed
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what we would call no anatomic cause of
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death. That means that there wasn't a
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definite pathologic finding that could
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explain Miss Snow's death.
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>> But Dr. Fner's assistant in the autopsy
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room noticed a tiny clue. It wasn't
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anything she could see. It was something
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she thought she smelled. When Janet
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Miller opened Sue Snow's chest cavity,
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she noticed the faint smell of bitter
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almonds. It was a clue that cyanide was
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present and a clue that under different
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circumstances might have gone
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undetected.
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>> It's just such a distinct odor. It's
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like when you're driving down the road
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and you smell skunk.
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That's a very distinct odor and you say,
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"Oh, a skunk was near here. Something
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happened near here involving a skunk."
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It's it just leaves an impression in
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your brain that that you don't forget.
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>> Now, with the suspicion of cyanide
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poisoning, Sous Snow's blood sample was
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sent for a special test, one not usually
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performed in a routine autopsy. An acid
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solution separated the blood from any
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possible cyanide molecules.
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After mixing, the test tube was sealed
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with a special reactive paper and then
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heated.
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The paper on the vial turned blue. Proof
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that Sue Snow had been poisoned with
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cyanide.
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Cyanide is one of the deadliest poisons
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because it kills the enzymes that
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transport oxygen throughout the body.
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Death occurs within minutes of
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ingestion. literally starving the body
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of oxygen. But how did Sue Snow ingest
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cyanide? It was her twin sister Sarah
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who made the initial discovery.
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On the day of Sue's funeral, Sarah
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looked for some headache medication in
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her sister's kitchen and found something
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suspicious.
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>> S and I both took Eedin tablets. When we
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got there, I went to the kitchen to get
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her Exedan to take and it was capsules
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and she never took capsules. Lab tests
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confirmed Sarah's worst fears. Cyanide
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was found in nine eedran capsules in Sue
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Snow's kitchen. Sarah Webb came within
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inches of ingesting the tainted capsules
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herself. The family suspected that Sue's
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new husband, Paul Webbking, put the
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cyanide in the eedrin.
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>> He was very uptight and very nervous and
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made crude jokes it seems occasionally
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and just it was just the way he was
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dealing with the situation and it just
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rubbed me wrong. I was dealing with it
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differently.
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>> Paul Webb King had been married three
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times before and had been married to Sue
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Snow for just 6 months. He was a
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longhaul trucker with a hard, gruff
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demeanor and was not as financially
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successful as his wife. Shortly before
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their marriage, Sue discovered that Paul
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was still dating an old girlfriend.
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>> Sue knew about it and they had a lot of
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trouble over it. And finally, he told
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Sue, "Well, I'm not going to see this
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girl anymore. Let's get married." And
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they got married and 6 months later,
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she's dead. Paul Webb King admitted that
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it was his idea to switch from headache
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tablets to capsules, but said he had
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nothing to do with the tampering of the
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capsules. The manufacturer of Eedrin
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capsules wasn't taking any chances. They
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issued an immediate recall of extra
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strength eedrin from all store shelves.
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Health officials feared that the death
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of Sue Snow was not an isolated
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incident.
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In Auburn, Washington, extra strength
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eedrin capsules are being pulled from
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the storeshelves. This after authorities
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confirmed that a cyanide laced capsule
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caused the death last week of a
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40-year-old woman. Sue Snow.
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>> When news reports of Sue Snow's death
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were broadcast throughout the country,
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one Seattle viewer, Stella Nickel, took
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more than a passing interest. Stella
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Nickel told police that her husband had
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taken some eedrin capsules shortly
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before he died.
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>> She called the King County police and
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said that her husband had died a couple
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weeks earlier and that she had
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discovered that he had taken eedrin from
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the same lot number as the eedrin that
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had killed Sue Snow.
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>> You have those capsules?
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>> Yeah, sure do.
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>> May I see them, please?
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>> Sure. A police detective visited Stella
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Nichols home to pick up the bottles of
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eedran capsules Bruce Nickel had been
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using.
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Stella asked that the bottles be tested
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to determine whether cyanide was
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present.
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>> It's just a shame about that woman.
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>> Yes, it certainly was. Well, I assure
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you we're checking every lead.
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She also wanted the coroner to reopen
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her husband's case to test his blood
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samples for cyanide, a test which hadn't
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been performed during his autopsy.
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When Bruce Nichols blood sample was
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analyzed, the reactive paper on the vial
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turned blue. Bruce Nickel died of
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cyanide poisoning and cyanide laced
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eedran capsules were discovered in the
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two bottles found in his home.
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Police continued to investigate their
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first suspect, Sue Snow's husband, Paul
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Webb King.
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>> He can be aggressive and fact that he
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remarried shortly after uh Sue had died,
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that was another thing that made the
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family, you know, uncomfortable and they
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wanted to blame him for whatever had
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happened.
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>> Web King offered to take a lie detector
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test to clear his name. To the surprise
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of almost everyone, he passed. There was
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enough circumstantial things pointing at
00:08:36
Paul Webb King that I personally was a
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little surprised when he took a
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polygraph examination was administered
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by the FBI and passed it and was was
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eliminated as a suspect. With WebKing
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now cleared, authorities feared they had
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a random killer on their hands, some
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sort of pharmaceutical terrorist. All of
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the eedrin capsules removed from store
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shelves were analyzed with an X-ray
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machine. Since cyanide is more dense
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than pain reliever, tainted capsules
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show up as dark areas inside the bottle.
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Two more bottles of cyanide laced pain
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reliever were found on store shelves.
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Newspapers and television stations
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throughout the world reported the
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discovery of the tainted capsules in
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Seattle. The FBI feared that this case
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would wind up like the Chicago Tylenol
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murders just a few years earlier. A case
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which has never been solved.
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All of the tainted eedrin capsules were
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sent to the FBI lab in Washington DC for
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analysis. Each tainted capsule contained
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700 mg of cyanide, four times more than
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a lethal dose. The FBI also found
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something else inside the capsules. Some
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mysterious green crystals mixed in with
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the cyanide. The green crystals were
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analyzed using a mass spectrometer, a
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device which can identify the exact
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chemical components of an unknown
00:10:17
sample. After the crystals were
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liquefied, a beam of high energergy
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electrons collided with the molecules,
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breaking them down into their smallest
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possible units. This produces a
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fingerprint of every identifiable
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substance in the crystals. The green
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crystals were made up of four common
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chemicals, atrizine, dicone, monuron,
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and simine. Two of these chemicals are
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used to kill algae in fish aquariums.
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An FBI chemist visited all of the fish
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stores near his home, hoping to find a
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commercially produced algicide with the
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same four compounds.
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>> Do you have any algicide?
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>> Sure. This aisle right here, other side
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of the big fish tank. Thank you.
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>> After looking through hundreds of
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products, one algicide in particular
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caught his eye.
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The product was called Algae Destroyer
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and was sold in green speckled tablets.
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The product had the same four compounds
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in the exact same amount as the green
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crystals found in the cyanide.
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The FBI had no idea why a fish algicide
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would be in the cyanide, but reported
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this discovery to Seattle authorities.
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One of the detectives in Seattle
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recalled an interesting coincidence.
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When he visited Stella Nichols home to
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pick up the eedrin capsules, he
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remembered seeing an aquarium
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prominently displayed in her living
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room. Was it possible that Stella Nickel
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played some role in the death of her
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husband and in the death of Sue Snow?
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The FBI visited 57 different fish and
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pet stores near Stella Nichols home.
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Armed with a photo montage which
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included Stella's picture, Tom Nunan
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recognized Stella Nichols photograph and
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recalled selling her the same algae
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destroyer product. The FBI was making
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inquiries if I'd ever remember selling
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her a certain product. And uh I did and
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I I told them just like I told her and
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anybody else that purchased this product
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when they would take it home to crush it
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up to make it more effective because a
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lot of times when you put it in the
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aquarium, it would not dissolve. It
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would remain rather inert in the tank
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and not effectively break down and kill
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the algae that was inside the fish tank.
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I think that that they were very
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suspicious of her and they knew that
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somehow
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Stella and her circle was linked to what
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happened to Sue Snow and the and what
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happened to Bruce.
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>> Bruce Nichols life insurance policies
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revealed that Stella would receive
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$100,000 extra if the death of her
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husband was accidental.
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>> Stella ever say anything about them
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having any um money problems? Well, yes,
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because she was going to school and not
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working there for a while and uh it was
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getting pretty tight.
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>> In fact, the Nicholls were in serious
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financial trouble and had recently
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received a final delinquency notice on
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their home mortgage and on some other
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loans. Just 5 days before Bruce Nichols
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death, Stella Nickel wrote a series of
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letters to her creditors. Dear sir, I
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know that I am tremendously overdue with
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my payments. There is a good reason for
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it. I'm having marital problems and they
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are about solved.
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Bruce is no longer involved.
00:14:02
I will pay you at least $500 per month.
00:14:06
Stella Nickel.
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When FBI handwriting expert Lee Wagner
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studied the life insurance documents, he
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noticed something suspicious. Bruce
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Nichols signature on the life insurance
00:14:19
application differed from his known
00:14:22
signature samples. The N and K were
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different from his normal signature.
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>> The initial stroke of the N begins about
00:14:31
halfway up that N, whereas Bruce's N
00:14:36
begins at the top of that N. The final
00:14:42
stroke on the signature in question ends
00:14:45
up turning to the right below the
00:14:48
baseline of writing in the signature in
00:14:50
question. It does not in the genuine
00:14:54
signatures of Bruce,
00:14:57
>> but it was consistent with the way
00:14:59
Stella Nichols signed her name.
00:15:02
Investigators believed that Stella
00:15:04
forged her husband's signature on the
00:15:07
insurance applications. But money wasn't
00:15:10
the only possible motive. Stella and
00:15:13
Bruce Nickel had always been a very
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social couple, regularly visiting bars
00:15:18
and night spots with friends. But all of
00:15:21
that changed after Bruce entered an
00:15:23
alcoholism treatment program and stopped
00:15:26
drinking altogether. After a period of
00:15:29
time, it got to her. you know, it wasn't
00:15:31
the life that she envisioned because
00:15:33
even though she was 42 or 43 years old,
00:15:37
she saw herself as a hot babe still. She
00:15:41
wanted to be seen and get out there and
00:15:44
Bruce held her back. She spent a lot of
00:15:46
time in bars, you know, driving around,
00:15:50
flirting with different men, that kind
00:15:51
of thing. She had a boyfriend.
00:15:56
You She wasn't u she didn't paint a
00:15:58
picture of being real dedicated to her
00:16:00
husband.
00:16:01
>> The FBI interviewed Cindy and told her
00:16:04
about the circumstantial evidence they
00:16:06
had against her mother.
00:16:08
>> Cindy broke down and she said, "Well,
00:16:12
yes, my mom did kill Bruce. I know for
00:16:15
sure that she did because we had talked
00:16:17
about it." Cindy also told the FBI that
00:16:20
her mother visited the library to
00:16:22
research the subject of poisons. Records
00:16:25
at the Auburn Public Library revealed
00:16:28
that Stella signed out a book entitled
00:16:31
Deadly Harvest, which lists various
00:16:34
sources and methods of poisoning.
00:16:38
Stella's fingerprints were found all
00:16:40
over the sections dealing with cyanide
00:16:43
poisoning and were also found on the
00:16:46
pages of various encyclopedia describing
00:16:49
cyanide.
00:16:51
Investigators now had enough
00:16:53
circumstantial evidence to charge Stella
00:16:56
Nickel with the murder of her husband.
00:17:00
And the FBI discovered why Stella Nickel
00:17:04
murdered Sue Snow, a woman she didn't
00:17:08
know.
00:17:12
By the spring of 1986, Stella Nickel had
00:17:15
grown tired of her money problems and
00:17:17
what she considered to be a boring
00:17:19
existence with her husband, Bruce. She
00:17:22
hatched a plan to murder her husband and
00:17:24
collect on his life insurance policies,
00:17:27
which would pay $100,000 extra if his
00:17:30
death was accidental. Her library
00:17:33
research led her to choose cyanide, a
00:17:37
highly toxic salt. But Stella was
00:17:41
careless.
00:17:43
She ground the cyanide in the same bowl
00:17:46
she used earlier to grind the algicide
00:17:50
tablets for her aquarium. But she
00:17:53
neglected to wash the bowl before
00:17:56
grinding the cyanide.
00:17:58
She never suspected that the tiny green
00:18:02
algicide crystals would mix with the
00:18:04
cyanide and lead to her capture.
00:18:08
[Music]
00:18:10
After putting the cyanide into the
00:18:12
headache capsules, she placed the bottle
00:18:15
among her husband's other medications.
00:18:18
Bruce suffered from chronic headaches
00:18:20
and took pain relievers almost every
00:18:23
day.
00:18:24
After Bruce Nichols death, the coroner
00:18:27
mistakenly ruled that it was due to
00:18:30
natural causes, a mistake which deprived
00:18:33
Stella of an additional $100,000 of life
00:18:37
insurance money.
00:18:39
Stella needed an excuse, some reason to
00:18:42
have her husband's autopsy tissues
00:18:45
re-examined.
00:18:47
So, she decided to poison someone else
00:18:51
to create the impression that a cyanide
00:18:54
murderer was on the loose.
00:18:57
She placed three more bottles of cyanide
00:19:00
laced pain reliever on the shelves of
00:19:03
two stores near her home.
00:19:06
Someone in the Snow household purchased
00:19:10
one of those bottles.
00:19:12
>> You know that sister of yours didn't get
00:19:14
home till this morning.
00:19:15
>> Sus Snow took two capsules from that
00:19:17
bottle one morning before work.
00:19:21
>> I don't know what I'm going to do with
00:19:22
her.
00:19:24
>> And died a short time later. When the
00:19:27
cyanide was discovered during Sous
00:19:30
Snow's autopsy and traced to the eedrin
00:19:33
capsules in her home, Stella Nickel had
00:19:37
the excuse she needed to ask that her
00:19:40
husband's case be reopened. She got away
00:19:43
with murder once and tried to get away
00:19:46
with it a second time.
00:19:49
When the FBI identified the tiny green
00:19:52
crystals in the cyanide as algae
00:19:55
destroyer and located a fish store near
00:19:59
Stella Nichols home, which sold her the
00:20:02
product, the library books and forged
00:20:05
life insurance policies sealed the case
00:20:08
against her. The FBI never found the
00:20:12
cyanide, the algae destroyer tablets, or
00:20:15
the bowl used to mix the cyanide in
00:20:18
Stella Nichols home. After a 4-week
00:20:21
trial, one in which her own daughter
00:20:24
testified against her, Stella Nickel was
00:20:28
convicted of two counts of murder and
00:20:31
was sentenced to 90 years in prison.
00:20:35
It's hard for me to think that there are
00:20:36
people out there who can do something
00:20:39
like that without thinking about what
00:20:42
kind of repercussions there are on other
00:20:44
people.
00:20:46
It's just amazing to me that there are
00:20:48
people that selfish
00:20:50
to to take a life and not only my
00:20:52
mother's, but her her husbands. I mean,
00:20:55
that that's almost more unimaginable to
00:20:58
me than her killing a perfect stranger
00:21:01
such as my mom, but that she would kill
00:21:02
her own husband for that.
00:21:06
[Music]
00:21:15
[Music]
00:21:34
[Music]
