00:00:05
Narrator: IT WAS A TYPICAL WEDNESDAY MORNING IN THE SNOW HOUSEHOLD. SUE SNOW WAS PREPARING FOR
00:00:11
ANOTHER LONG DAY AS VICE-PRESIDENT AT A LOCAL BANK. MORNING, MOM. MORNING, HAYLEY.
00:00:17
HOW YOU DOING? Narrator: AND HER DAUGHTER HAYLEY WAS RUNNING A LITTLE LATE, RUSHING TO TAKE A QUICK
00:00:22
SHOWER BEFORE HEADING OFF TO SCHOOL. WELL, I HOPE YOU KNOW IT. I KNOW IT. Narrator: OVER THE SOUNDS OF
00:00:30
THE RUNNING WATER, HAYLEY COULDN'T HEAR WHEN HER MOTHER COLLAPSED. [ LOUD THUD ]
00:00:40
MOMMY? Narrator: IT WAS A TRAGEDY, THEN A MEDICAL MYSTERY -- ONE WHICH SENT SHOCK WAVES
00:00:48
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. OH, GOD. MAMA. Narrator: SUSAN SNOW WAS A SUCCESSFUL BANKING EXECUTIVE AND
00:01:20
THE MOTHER OF TWO YOUNG DAUGHTERS. SHE HAD RECENTLY REMARRIED AND WAS WELL KNOWN IN THE SMALL
00:01:26
SUBURB OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON. SHE WAS VERY WELL LIKED. SHE LIKED TO FLIRT, I THINK,
00:01:34
WITH MEN, AND PROBABLY USED IT TO HER ADVANTAGE. SHE WAS IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY,
00:01:39
AND I THINK THAT SHE HAD A LOT OF CLIENTS THAT DEALT WITH HER BANK BECAUSE THEY LIKED SUE SNOW
00:01:44
AND LIKED DEALING WITH SUE SNOW. Narrator: SUE SNOW WAS ONLY 40 YEARS OLD AND IN PERFECT
00:01:49
HEALTH ON THE DAY SHE COLLAPSED. I REALIZED SOMETHING WAS WRONG. HER EYES WERE OPEN AND THEY WERE
00:01:56
ROLLED SORT OF BACK AND HER FINGERS WERE VERY STIFF. AND SHE LOOKED TERRIFIED. SHE LOOKED VERY SCARED.
00:02:03
Narrator: SUE SNOW WAS RUSHED TO A NEARBY HOSPITAL, UNCONSCIOUS AND NEAR DEATH. SHE DIED SHORTLY AFTER ARRIVAL.
00:02:14
DR. CORRINE FLIGNER PERFORMED THE AUTOPSY, ATTEMPTING TO IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF DEATH.
00:02:20
THE INITIAL PART OF THE AUTOPSY REVEALED WHAT WE WOULD CALL NO ANATOMIC CAUSE OF DEATH.
00:02:26
THAT MEANS THAT THERE WASN'T A DEFINITE PATHOLOGIC FINDING THAT COULD EXPLAIN MS. SNOW'S DEATH.
00:02:33
Narrator: BUT DR. FLIGNER'S ASSISTANT IN THE AUTOPSY ROOM NOTICED A TINY CLUE.
00:02:39
IT WASN'T ANYTHING SHE COULD SEE. IT WAS SOMETHING SHE THOUGHT SHE SMELLED. WHEN JANET MILLER OPENED
00:02:48
SUE SNOW'S CHEST CAVITY, SHE NOTICED THE FAINT SMELL OF BITTER ALMONDS. IT WAS A CLUE THAT CYANIDE WAS
00:02:57
PRESENT, AND A CLUE THAT, UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES, MIGHT HAVE GONE UNDETECTED.
00:03:04
IT'S JUST SUCH A DISTINCT ODOR. IT'S LIKE WHEN YOU'RE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND YOU SMELL
00:03:10
SKUNK. THAT'S A VERY DISTINCT ODOR, AND YOU SAY, "OH, A SKUNK WAS NEAR HERE.
00:03:17
SOMETHING HAPPENED NEAR HERE INVOLVING A SKUNK." IT JUST LEAVES AN IMPRESSION IN
00:03:21
YOUR BRAIN THAT YOU DON'T FORGET. Narrator: NOW WITH THE SUSPICION OF CYANIDE POISONING,
00:03:28
SUE SNOW'S BLOOD SAMPLE WAS SENT FOR A SPECIAL TEST -- ONE NOT USUALLY PERFORMED IN A ROUTINE
00:03:34
AUTOPSY. AN ACID SOLUTION SEPARATED THE BLOOD FROM ANY POSSIBLE CYANIDE MOLECULES.
00:03:40
AFTER MIXING, THE TEST TUBE WAS SEALED WITH A SPECIAL REACTIVE PAPER AND THEN HEATED.
00:03:49
THE PAPER ON THE VIAL TURNED BLUE -- PROOF THAT SUE SNOW HAD BEEN POISONED WITH CYANIDE.
00:03:59
CYANIDE IS ONE OF THE DEADLIEST POISONS BECAUSE IT KILLS THE ENZYMES THAT TRANSPORT OXYGEN
00:04:05
THROUGHOUT THE BODY. DEATH OCCURS WITHIN MINUTES OF INGESTION, LITERALLY STARVING
00:04:12
THE BODY OF OXYGEN. BUT HOW DID SUE SNOW INGEST CYANIDE? IT WAS HER TWIN SISTER, SARAH,
00:04:20
WHO MADE THE INITIAL DISCOVERY. ON THE DAY OF SUE'S FUNERAL, SARAH LOOKED FOR SOME HEADACHE
00:04:27
MEDICATION IN HER SISTER'S KITCHEN AND FOUND SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS. SUE AND I BOTH TOOK EXCEDRIN
00:04:34
TABLETS. WHEN WE GOT THERE, I WENT TO THE KITCHEN TO GET HER EXCEDRIN TO TAKE, AND IT WAS CAPSULES.
00:04:42
AND SHE NEVER TOOK CAPSULES. Narrator: LAB TESTS CONFIRMED SARAH'S WORST FEARS -- CYANIDE
00:04:50
WAS FOUND IN NINE EXCEDRIN CAPSULES IN SUE SNOW'S KITCHEN. SARAH WEBB CAME WITHIN INCHES OF
00:04:58
INGESTING THE TAINTED CAPSULES HERSELF. THE FAMILY SUSPECTED THAT SUE'S NEW HUSBAND, PAUL WEBKING, PUT
00:05:07
THE CYANIDE IN THE EXCEDRIN. HE WAS VERY UPTIGHT AND VERY NERVOUS AND MADE CRUDE JOKES, IT
00:05:14
SEEMS, OCCASIONALLY. AND IT WAS JUST THE WAY HE WAS DEALING WITH THE SITUATION. AND IT JUST RUBBED ME WRONG.
00:05:21
I WAS DEALING WITH IT DIFFERENTLY. Narrator: PAUL WEBKING HAD BEEN MARRIED THREE TIMES BEFORE
00:05:27
AND HAD BEEN MARRIED TO SUE SNOW FOR JUST SIX MONTHS. HE WAS A LONG-HAUL TRUCKER WITH
00:05:34
A HARD, GRUFF DEMEANOR AND WAS NOT AS FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL AS HIS WIFE. SHORTLY BEFORE THEIR MARRIAGE,
00:05:40
SUE DISCOVERED THAT PAUL WAS STILL DATING AN OLD GIRLFRIEND. SUE KNEW ABOUT IT, AND THEY
00:05:46
HAD A LOT OF TROUBLE OVER IT. AND FINALLY HE TOLD SUE, "WELL, I'M NOT GONNA SEE THIS GIRL
00:05:52
ANYMORE. LET'S GET MARRIED." AND THEY GOT MARRIED, AND SIX MONTHS LATER, SHE'S DEAD.
00:05:58
Narrator: PAUL WEBKING ADMITTED THAT IT WAS HIS IDEA TO SWITCH FROM HEADACHE TABLETS TO
00:06:03
CAPSULES BUT SAID HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE TAMPERING OF THE CAPSULES. THE MANUFACTURER OF EXCEDRIN
00:06:10
CAPSULES WASN'T TAKING ANY CHANCES. THEY ISSUED AN IMMEDIATE RECALL OF EXTRA-STRENGTH EXCEDRIN FROM
00:06:17
ALL STORE SHELVES. HEALTH OFFICIALS FEARED THAT THE DEATH OF SUE SNOW WAS NOT AN
00:06:25
ISOLATED INCIDENT. IN AUBURN, WASHINGTON, EXTRA-STRENGTH EXCEDRIN CAPSULES ARE BEING PULLED FROM THE STORE
00:06:36
SHELVES. THIS AFTER AUTHORITIES CONFIRMED THAT A CYANIDE-LACED CAPSULE CAUSED THE DEATH LAST WEEK OF A
00:06:42
40-YEAR-OLD WOMAN, SUE SNOW. Narrator: WHEN NEWS REPORTS OF SUE SNOW'S DEATH WERE
00:06:47
BROADCAST THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, ONE SEATTLE VIEWER, STELLA NICKELL, TOOK MORE THAN A
00:06:52
PASSING INTEREST. STELLA NICKELL TOLD POLICE THAT HER HUSBAND HAD TAKEN SOME EXCEDRIN CAPSULES SHORTLY BEFORE
00:06:59
HE DIED. SHE CALLED THE KING COUNTY POLICE AND SAID THAT HER HUSBAND HAD DIED A COUPLE WEEKS EARLIER
00:07:07
AND THAT SHE HAD DISCOVERED THAT HE HAD TAKEN EXCEDRIN FROM THE SAME LOT NUMBER AS THE EXCEDRIN
00:07:13
THAT HAD KILLED SUE SNOW. DO YOU HAVE THOSE CAPSULES? YEAH, SURE DO. MAY I SEE THEM, PLEASE?
00:07:18
Narrator: A POLICE DETECTIVE VISITED STELLA NICKELL'S HOME TO PICK UP THE BOTTLES OF EXCEDRIN
00:07:24
CAPSULES BRUCE NICKELL HAD BEEN USING. STELLA ASKED THAT THE BOTTLES BE TESTED TO DETERMINE WHETHER
00:07:32
CYANIDE WAS PRESENT. IT'S JUST A SHAME ABOUT THAT WOMAN. YES, IT CERTAINLY WAS.
00:07:36
WELL, I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE CHECKING EVERY LEAD. Narrator: SHE ALSO WANTED THE
00:07:41
CORONER TO REOPEN HER HUSBAND'S CASE TO TEST HIS BLOOD SAMPLES FOR CYANIDE -- A TEST WHICH
00:07:47
HADN'T BEEN PERFORMED DURING HIS AUTOPSY. WHEN BRUCE NICKELL'S BLOOD SAMPLE WAS ANALYZED, THE
00:07:55
REACTIVE PAPER ON THE VIAL TURNED BLUE. BRUCE NICKELL DIED OF CYANIDE POISONING.
00:08:02
AND CYANIDE-LACED EXCEDRIN CAPSULES WERE DISCOVERED IN THE TWO BOTTLES FOUND IN HIS HOME.
00:08:09
POLICE CONTINUED TO INVESTIGATE THEIR FIRST SUSPECT, SUE SNOW'S HUSBAND, PAUL WEBKING.
00:08:15
HE CAN BE AGGRESSIVE. AND THE FACT THAT HE REMARRIED SHORTLY AFTER SUE HAD DIED, THAT
00:08:20
WAS ANOTHER THING THAT MADE THE FAMILY UNCOMFORTABLE, AND THEY WANTED TO BLAME HIM FOR WHATEVER
00:08:24
HAD HAPPENED. Narrator: WEBKING OFFERED TO TAKE A LIE DETECTOR TEST TO CLEAR HIS NAME.
00:08:31
TO THE SURPRISE OF ALMOST EVERYONE, HE PASSED. THERE WAS ENOUGH CIRCUMSTANTIAL THINGS POINTING
00:08:37
AT PAUL WEBKING THAT I PERSONALLY WAS A LITTLE SURPRISED WHEN HE TOOK A POLYGRAPH EXAMINATION THAT WAS
00:08:43
ADMINISTERED BY THE FBI AND PASSED IT AND WAS ELIMINATED AS A SUSPECT. Narrator: WITH WEBKING NOW
00:08:51
CLEARED, AUTHORITIES FEARED THEY HAD A RANDOM KILLER ON THEIR HANDS, SOME SORT OF
00:08:56
PHARMACEUTICAL TERRORIST. ALL OF THE EXCEDRIN CAPSULES REMOVED FROM STORE SHELVES WERE
00:09:03
ANALYZED WITH AN X-RAY MACHINE. SINCE CYANIDE IS MORE DENSE THAN PAIN RELIEVER, TAINTED CAPSULES
00:09:10
SHOW UP AS DARK AREAS INSIDE THE BOTTLE. TWO MORE BOTTLES OF CYANIDE-LACED PAIN RELIEVER WERE
00:09:17
FOUND ON STORE SHELVES. NEWSPAPERS AND TELEVISION STATIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD REPORTED THE DISCOVERY OF THE
00:09:25
TAINTED CAPSULES IN SEATTLE. THE FBI FEARED THAT THIS CASE WOULD WIND UP LIKE THE CHICAGO
00:09:33
TYLENOL MURDERS JUST A FEW YEARS EARLIER -- A CASE WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SOLVED. Narrator: ALL OF THE TAINTED
00:09:45
EXCEDRIN CAPSULES WERE SENT TO THE FBI LAB IN WASHINGTON, D.C., FOR ANALYSIS. EACH TAINTED CAPSULE CONTAINED
00:09:52
700 MILLIGRAMS OF CYANIDE -- FOUR TIMES MORE THAN A LETHAL DOSE. THE FBI ALSO FOUND SOMETHING
00:10:01
ELSE INSIDE THE CAPSULES -- SOME MYSTERIOUS GREEN CRYSTALS MIXED IN WITH THE CYANIDE.
00:10:08
THE GREEN CRYSTALS WERE ANALYZED USING A MASS SPECTROMETER, A DEVICE WHICH CAN IDENTIFY THE
00:10:15
EXACT CHEMICAL COMPONENTS OF AN UNKNOWN SAMPLE. AFTER THE CRYSTALS WERE LIQUEFIED, A BEAM OF HIGH-ENERGY
00:10:23
ELECTRONS COLLIDED WITH THE MOLECULES, BREAKING THEM DOWN INTO THEIR SMALLEST POSSIBLE
00:10:29
UNITS. THIS PRODUCES A FINGERPRINT OF EVERY IDENTIFIABLE SUBSTANCE IN THE CRYSTALS.
00:10:36
THE GREEN CRYSTALS WERE MADE UP OF FOUR COMMON CHEMICALS -- ATRAZINE, DICHLONE, MONURON, AND
00:10:43
SIMAZINE. TWO OF THESE CHEMICALS ARE USED TO KILL ALGAE IN FISH AQUARIUMS. AN FBI CHEMIST VISITED ALL OF
00:10:53
THE FISH STORES NEAR HIS HOME HOPING TO FIND A COMMERCIALLY PRODUCED ALGAECIDE WITH THE SAME
00:11:00
FOUR COMPOUNDS. DO YOU HAVE ANY ALGAECIDE? SURE. THIS AISLE RIGHT HERE -- OTHER SIDE OF THE BIG FISHTANK.
00:11:06
THANK YOU. Narrator: AFTER LOOKING THROUGH HUNDREDS OF PRODUCTS, ONE ALGAECIDE IN PARTICULAR
00:11:14
CAUGHT HIS EYE. THE PRODUCT WAS CALLED ALGAE DESTROYER AND WAS SOLD IN GREEN, SPECKLED TABLETS.
00:11:23
THE PRODUCT HAD THE SAME FOUR COMPOUNDS IN THE EXACT SAME AMOUNT AS THE GREEN CRYSTALS
00:11:30
FOUND IN THE CYANIDE. THE FBI HAD NO IDEA WHY A FISH ALGAECIDE WOULD BE IN THE CYANIDE BUT REPORTED THIS
00:11:39
DISCOVERY TO SEATTLE AUTHORITIES. ONE OF THE DETECTIVES IN SEATTLE RECALLED AN INTERESTING
00:11:46
COINCIDENCE -- WHEN HE VISITED STELLA NICKELL'S HOME TO PICK UP THE EXCEDRIN CAPSULES, HE
00:11:54
REMEMBERED SEEING AN AQUARIUM PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED IN HER LIVING ROOM. WAS IT POSSIBLE THAT
00:12:02
STELLA NICKELL PLAYED SOME ROLE IN THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND AND IN THE DEATH OF SUE SNOW?
00:12:10
THE FBI VISITED 57 DIFFERENT FISH AND PET STORES NEAR STELLA NICKELL'S HOME, ARMED
00:12:16
WITH A PHOTO MONTAGE, WHICH INCLUDED STELLA'S PICTURE. TOM NOONAN RECOGNIZED
00:12:23
STELLA NICKELL'S PHOTOGRAPH AND RECALLED SELLING HER THE SAME ALGAE DESTROYER PRODUCT.
00:12:30
THE FBI WAS MAKING INQUIRIES IF I'D EVER REMEMBERED SELLING HER A CERTAIN PRODUCT, AND I
00:12:34
DID. AND I TOLD THEM, JUST LIKE I TOLD HER AND ANYBODY ELSE THAT PURCHASED THIS PRODUCT, WHEN
00:12:40
THEY WOULD TAKE IT HOME, TO CRUSH IT UP TO MAKE IT MORE EFFECTIVE, BECAUSE A LOT OF
00:12:44
TIMES, WHEN YOU PUT IT IN THE AQUARIUM, IT WOULD NOT DISSOLVE. IT WOULD REMAIN RATHER INERT IN
00:12:49
THE TANK AND NOT EFFECTIVELY BREAK DOWN AND KILL THE ALGAE THAT WAS INSIDE THE FISHTANK.
00:12:54
I THINK THAT THEY WERE VERY SUSPICIOUS OF HER, AND THEY KNEW THAT SOMEHOW STELLA AND HER
00:13:02
CIRCLE WAS LINKED TO WHAT HAPPENED TO SUE SNOW AND TO WHAT HAPPENED TO BRUCE. Narrator: BRUCE NICKELL'S
00:13:09
LIFE-INSURANCE POLICIES REVEALED THAT STELLA WOULD RECEIVE $100,000 EXTRA IF THE DEATH OF
00:13:16
HER HUSBAND WAS ACCIDENTAL. STELLA EVER SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THEM HAVING ANY MONEY
00:13:22
PROBLEMS? WELL, YES, BECAUSE SHE WAS GOING TO SCHOOL AND NOT WORKING THERE FOR AWHILE.
00:13:27
AND IT WAS GETTING PRETTY TIGHT. Narrator: IN FACT, THE NICKELLS WERE IN SERIOUS
00:13:33
FINANCIAL TROUBLE AND HAD RECENTLY RECEIVED A FINAL DELINQUENCY NOTICE ON THEIR HOME
00:13:39
MORTGAGE AND ON SOME OTHER LOANS. JUST FIVE DAYS BEFORE BRUCE NICKELL'S DEATH,
00:13:44
STELLA NICKELL WROTE A SERIES OF LETTERS TO HER CREDITORS. "DEAR SIRS, I KNOW THAT I AM
00:13:51
TREMENDOUSLY OVERDUE WITH MY PAYMENTS. THERE IS A GOOD REASON FOR IT -- I'M HAVING MARITAL PROBLEMS.
00:13:58
THEY ARE ABOUT SOLVED. BRUCE IS NO LONGER INVOLVED. I WILL PAY YOU AT LEAST $500 PER
00:14:06
MONTH. STELLA NICKELL." Narrator: WHEN FBI HANDWRITING EXPERT LEE WAGONER STUDIED THE LIFE-INSURANCE
00:14:14
DOCUMENTS, HE NOTICED SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS -- BRUCE NICKELL'S SIGNATURE ON THE LIFE-INSURANCE
00:14:20
APPLICATION DIFFERED FROM HIS KNOWN SIGNATURE SAMPLES. THE "N" AND "K" WERE DIFFERENT
00:14:28
FROM HIS NORMAL SIGNATURE. THE INITIAL STROKE OF THE "N" BEGINS ABOUT HALFWAY UP THAT
00:14:34
"N," WHEREAS BRUCE'S "N" BEGINS AT THE TOP OF THAT "N."
00:14:42
THE FINAL STROKE ON THE SIGNATURE IN QUESTION ENDS UP TURNING TO THE RIGHT, BELOW THE
00:14:49
BASELINE OF WRITING -- IN THE SIGNATURE IN QUESTION. IT DOES NOT IN THE GENUINE SIGNATURES OF BRUCE.
00:14:58
Narrator: BUT IT WAS CONSISTENT WITH THE WAY STELLA NICKELL SIGNED HER NAME. INVESTIGATORS BELIEVED THAT
00:15:05
STELLA FORGED HER HUSBAND'S SIGNATURE ON THE INSURANCE APPLICATIONS. BUT MONEY WASN'T THE ONLY
00:15:12
POSSIBLE MOTIVE. STELLA AND BRUCE NICKELL HAD ALWAYS BEEN A VERY SOCIAL COUPLE, REGULARLY VISITING BARS
00:15:20
AND NIGHT SPOTS WITH FRIENDS. BUT ALL OF THAT CHANGED AFTER BRUCE ENTERED AN ALCOHOLISM
00:15:26
TREATMENT PROGRAM AND STOPPED DRINKING ALTOGETHER. AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME, IT GOT TO HER.
00:15:32
IT WASN'T THE LIFE THAT SHE ENVISIONED, BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS 42 OR 43 YEARS OLD, SHE
00:15:38
SAW HERSELF AS A HOT BABE STILL. SHE WANTED TO BE SEEN AND GET OUT THERE, AND BRUCE HELD HER
00:15:46
BACK. SHE SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN BARS, RUNNING AROUND, FLIRTING WITH DIFFERENT MEN, THAT KIND OF
00:15:53
THING. SHE HAD A BOYFRIEND. SHE DIDN'T PAINT A PICTURE OF BEING REAL DEDICATED TO HER
00:16:01
HUSBAND. Narrator: THE FBI INTERVIEWED CINDY AND TOLD HER ABOUT THE CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE THEY HAD
00:16:08
AGAINST HER MOTHER. CINDY BROKE DOWN. AND SHE SAID, "WELL, YES, MY MOM DID KILL BRUCE.
00:16:15
I KNOW FOR SURE THAT SHE DID BECAUSE WE HAD TALKED ABOUT IT." Narrator: CINDY ALSO TOLD THE
00:16:20
FBI THAT HER MOTHER VISITED THE LIBRARY TO RESEARCH THE SUBJECT OF POISONS. RECORDS AT THE AUBURN PUBLIC
00:16:28
LIBRARY REVEALED THAT STELLA SIGNED OUT A BOOK ENTITLED "DEADLY HARVEST," WHICH LISTS
00:16:35
VARIOUS SOURCES AND METHODS OF POISONING. STELLA'S FINGERPRINTS WERE FOUND ALL OVER THE SECTIONS DEALING
00:16:44
WITH CYANIDE POISONING AND WERE ALSO FOUND ON THE PAGES OF VARIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA DESCRIBING
00:16:51
CYANIDE. INVESTIGATORS NOW HAD ENOUGH CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE TO CHARGE STELLA NICKELL WITH THE
00:16:59
MURDER OF HER HUSBAND. AND THE FBI DISCOVERED WHY STELLA NICKELL MURDERED SUE SNOW, A WOMAN SHE DIDN'T
00:17:09
KNOW. Narrator: BY THE SPRING OF 1986, STELLA NICKELL HAD GROWN TIRED OF HER MONEY PROBLEMS AND
00:17:18
WHAT SHE CONSIDERED TO BE A BORING EXISTENCE WITH HER HUSBAND, BRUCE. SHE HATCHED A PLAN TO MURDER HER
00:17:25
HUSBAND AND COLLECT ON HIS LIFE-INSURANCE POLICIES, WHICH WOULD PAY $100,000 EXTRA IF HIS
00:17:31
DEATH WAS ACCIDENTAL. HER LIBRARY RESEARCH LED HER TO CHOOSE CYANIDE, A HIGHLY TOXIC
00:17:39
SALT. BUT STELLA WAS CARELESS. SHE GROUND THE CYANIDE IN THE SAME BOWL SHE USED EARLIER TO
00:17:49
GRIND THE ALGAECIDE TABLETS FOR HER AQUARIUM. BUT SHE NEGLECTED TO WASH THE BOWL BEFORE GRINDING THE
00:17:58
CYANIDE. SHE NEVER SUSPECTED THAT THE TINY GREEN ALGAECIDE CRYSTALS WOULD MIX WITH THE CYANIDE AND
00:18:07
LEAD TO HER CAPTURE. AFTER PUTTING THE CYANIDE INTO THE HEADACHE CAPSULES, SHE PLACED THE BOTTLE AMONG HER
00:18:17
HUSBAND'S OTHER MEDICATIONS. BRUCE SUFFERED FROM CHRONIC HEADACHES AND TOOK PAIN
00:18:23
RELIEVERS ALMOST EVERY DAY. AFTER BRUCE NICKELL'S DEATH, THE CORONER MISTAKENLY RULED THAT
00:18:31
IT WAS DUE TO NATURAL CAUSES, A MISTAKE WHICH DEPRIVED STELLA OF AN ADDITIONAL $100,000 OF
00:18:38
LIFE-INSURANCE MONEY. STELLA NEEDED AN EXCUSE, SOME REASON TO HAVE HER HUSBAND'S
00:18:45
AUTOPSY TISSUES RE-EXAMINED. SO SHE DECIDED TO POISON SOMEONE ELSE TO CREATE THE IMPRESSION
00:18:54
THAT A CYANIDE MURDERER WAS ON THE LOOSE. SHE PLACED THREE MORE BOTTLES OF CYANIDE-LACED PAIN RELIEVER ON
00:19:04
THE SHELVES OF TWO STORES NEAR HER HOME. SOMEONE IN THE SNOW HOUSEHOLD PURCHASED ONE OF THOSE BOTTLES.
00:19:14
YOU KNOW THAT SISTER OF YOURS DIDN'T GET HOME TILL THIS MORNING. Narrator: SUE SNOW TOOK TWO
00:19:18
CAPSULES FROM THAT BOTTLE ONE MORNING BEFORE WORK... I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GONNA
00:19:24
DO WITH HER. Narrator: ...AND DIED A SHORT TIME LATER. WHEN THE CYANIDE WAS DISCOVERED
00:19:30
DURING SUE SNOW'S AUTOPSY AND TRACED TO THE EXCEDRIN CAPSULES IN HER HOME, STELLA NICKELL HAD
00:19:38
THE EXCUSE SHE NEEDED TO ASK THAT HER HUSBAND'S CASE BE REOPENED. SHE GOT AWAY WITH MURDER ONCE
00:19:46
AND TRIED TO GET AWAY WITH IT A SECOND TIME. WHEN THE FBI IDENTIFIED THE TINY GREEN CRYSTALS IN THE CYANIDE AS
00:19:56
ALGAE DESTROYER AND LOCATED A FISH STORE NEAR STELLA NICKELL'S HOME WHICH SOLD HER THE PRODUCT,
00:20:04
THE LIBRARY BOOKS AND FORGED LIFE-INSURANCE POLICIES SEALED THE CASE AGAINST HER.
00:20:11
THE FBI NEVER FOUND THE CYANIDE, THE ALGAE DESTROYER TABLETS, OR THE BOWL USED TO MIX THE CYANIDE
00:20:19
IN STELLA NICKELL'S HOME. AFTER A 4-WEEK TRIAL, ONE IN WHICH HER OWN DAUGHTER TESTIFIED
00:20:26
AGAINST HER, STELLA NICKELL WAS CONVICTED OF TWO COUNTS OF MURDER AND WAS SENTENCED TO 90
00:20:34
YEARS IN PRISON. IT'S HARD FOR ME TO THINK THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO CAN DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT
00:20:42
WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT WHAT KIND OF REPERCUSSIONS THERE ARE ON OTHER PEOPLE. IT'S JUST AMAZING TO ME THAT
00:20:49
THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT SELFISH -- TO TAKE A LIFE. AND NOT ONLY MY MOTHER'S, BUT
00:20:55
HER HUSBAND'S. I MEAN, THAT'S ALMOST MORE UNIMAGINABLE TO ME THAN HER KILLING A PERFECT STRANGER SUCH
00:21:01
AS MY MOM. BUT THAT SHE WOULD KILL HER OWN HUSBAND FOR THAT. HUSBAND FOR THAT. HUSBAND FOR THAT.
00:21:34
HUSBAND FOR THAT.