Wife Charged in Cyanide Deaths of Spouse, Woman

A woman was indicted Wednesday in the cyanide poisoning slayings of her husband and another woman, who died in June, 1986, after taking a pain reliever laced with the deadly compound.

Stella Maudine Nickell, 44, of Auburn was charged with two counts of causing the deaths of Bruce Nickell, 52, and Sue Snow, 40, by means of tampering with a consumer product, FBI spokesman Joe Smith said.

Conviction on such a charge could bring a maximum penalty of life in prison, he said.

In addition to the counts of causing the deaths through tampering, the indictment charged Stella Nickell with tampering with two other containers of Extra-Strength Excedrin and one of Maximum-Strength Anacin-3.

Container in Residence

Two of the pain-reliever containers were removed from area stores and the other was found in her residence, according to a four-page indictment returned Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Seattle.

Smith refused to speculate on a motive, and the indictment did not mention possible reasons for the alleged tamperings.

Because of the grand jury investigation, an insurance company that carried a life policy on Bruce Nickell refused to pay benefits to his wife. She later filed suit against Bristol-Myers, the makers of Excedrin, and against three Seattle-area stores where tainted capsules were found.

Bruce Nickell died on June 5, 1986, of what initially were believed to be natural causes. Five days later, Snow collapsed at her Auburn home and died later that day.

An autopsy found no cause of death, but toxicology tests determined that Snow had died of cyanide poisoning, and poisoned Extra-Strength Excedrin capsules were found in her home.

Two days later, authorities determined that cyanide was in a capsule taken from a bottle used by Nickell before he died. Tests determined that he died of acute cyanide poisoning.