02x09 - Something's Fishy

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: it was a typical

Wednesday morning in the snow

Household.

Sue snow was preparing for

Another long day as

Vice-president at a local bank.

Morning, mom.

Morning, hayley.

How you doing?

Narrator: and her daughter

Hayley was running a little

Late, rushing to take a quick

Shower before heading off to

School.

Well, I hope you know it.

I know it.

Narrator: over the sounds of

The running water, hayley

Couldn't hear when her mother

Collapsed.

[ Loud thud ]

Mommy?

Narrator: it was a tragedy,

Then a medical mystery -- one

Which sent shock waves

Throughout the world.

Oh, god. Mama.

Narrator: susan snow was a

Successful banking executive and

The mother of two young

Daughters.

She had recently remarried and

Was well known in the small

Suburb of seattle, washington.

She was very well liked.

She liked to flirt, I think,

With men, and probably used it

To her advantage.

She was in the banking industry,

And I think that she had a lot

Of clients that dealt with her

Bank because they liked sue snow

And liked dealing with sue snow.

Narrator: sue snow was only



Health on the day she collapsed.

I realized something was

Wrong.

Her eyes were open and they were

Rolled sort of back and her

Fingers were very stiff.

And she looked terrified.

She looked very scared.

Narrator: sue snow was rushed

To a nearby hospital,

Unconscious and near death.

She died shortly after arrival.

Dr. Corrine fligner performed

The autopsy, attempting to

Identify the cause of death.

The initial part of the

Autopsy revealed what we would

Call no anatomic cause of death.

That means that there wasn't a

Definite pathologic finding that

Could explain ms. Snow's death.

Narrator: but dr. Fligner's

Assistant in the autopsy room

Noticed a tiny clue.

It wasn't anything she could

See.

It was something she thought she

Smelled.

When janet miller opened

Sue snow's chest cavity, she

Noticed the faint smell of

Bitter almonds.

It was a clue that cyanide was

Present, and a clue that, under

Different circumstances, might

Have gone undetected.

It's just such a distinct

Odor.

It's like when you're driving

Down the road and you smell

Skunk.

That's a very distinct odor, and

You say, "oh, a skunk was near

Here.

Something happened near here

Involving a skunk."

It just leaves an impression in

Your brain that you don't

Forget.

Narrator: now with the

Suspicion of cyanide poisoning,

Sue snow's blood sample was sent

For a special test -- one not

Usually performed in a routine

Autopsy.

An acid solution separated the

Blood from any possible cyanide

Molecules.

After mixing, the test tube was

Sealed with a special reactive

Paper and then heated.

The paper on the vial turned

Blue -- proof that sue snow had

Been poisoned with cyanide.

Cyanide is one of the deadliest

Poisons because it kills the

Enzymes that transport oxygen

Throughout the body.

Death occurs within minutes of

Ingestion, literally starving

The body of oxygen.

But how did sue snow ingest

Cyanide?

It was her twin sister, sarah,

Who made the initial discovery.

On the day of sue's funeral,

Sarah looked for some headache

Medication in her sister's

Kitchen and found something

Suspicious.

Sue and I both took excedrin

Tablets.

When we got there, I went to the

Kitchen to get her excedrin to

Take, and it was capsules.

And she never took capsules.

Narrator: lab tests confirmed

Sarah's worst fears -- cyanide

Was found in nine excedrin

Capsules in sue snow's kitchen.

Sarah webb came within inches of

Ingesting the tainted capsules

Herself.

The family suspected that sue's

New husband, paul webking, put

The cyanide in the excedrin.

He was very uptight and very

Nervous and made crude jokes, it

Seems, occasionally.

And it was just the way he was

Dealing with the situation.

And it just rubbed me wrong.

I was dealing with it

Differently.

Narrator: paul webking had

Been married three times before

And had been married to sue snow

For just six months.

He was a long-haul trucker with

A hard, gruff demeanor and was

Not as financially successful as

His wife.

Shortly before their marriage,

Sue discovered that paul was

Still dating an old girlfriend.

Sue knew about it, and they

Had a lot of trouble over it.

And finally he told sue, "well,

I'm not gonna see this girl

Anymore.

Let's get married."

And they got married, and six

Months later, she's dead.

Narrator: paul webking

Admitted that it was his idea to

Switch from headache tablets to

Capsules but said he had nothing

To do with the tampering of the

Capsules.

The manufacturer of excedrin

Capsules wasn't taking any

Chances.

They issued an immediate recall

Of extra-strength excedrin from

All store shelves.

Health officials feared that the

Death of sue snow was not an

Isolated incident.

In auburn, washington,

Extra-strength excedrin capsules

Are being pulled from the store

Shelves.

This after authorities confirmed

That a cyanide-laced capsule

Caused the death last week of a



Narrator: when news reports

Of sue snow's death were

Broadcast throughout the

Country, one seattle viewer,

Stella nickell, took more than a

Passing interest.

Stella nickell told police that

Her husband had taken some

Excedrin capsules shortly before

He died.

She called the king county

Police and said that her husband

Had died a couple weeks earlier

And that she had discovered that

He had taken excedrin from the

Same lot number as the excedrin

That had k*lled sue snow.

Do you have those capsules?

Yeah, sure do.

May I see them, please?

Narrator: a police detective

Visited stella nickell's home to

Pick up the bottles of excedrin

Capsules bruce nickell had been

Using.

Stella asked that the bottles be

Tested to determine whether

Cyanide was present.

It's just a shame about that

Woman.

Yes, it certainly was.

Well, I assure you, we're

Checking every lead.

Narrator: she also wanted the

Coroner to reopen her husband's

Case to test his blood samples

For cyanide -- a test which

Hadn't been performed during his

Autopsy.

When bruce nickell's blood

Sample was analyzed, the

Reactive paper on the vial

Turned blue.

Bruce nickell died of cyanide

Poisoning.

And cyanide-laced excedrin

Capsules were discovered in the

Two bottles found in his home.

Police continued to investigate

Their first suspect, sue snow's

Husband, paul webking.

He can be aggressive.

And the fact that he remarried

Shortly after sue had died, that

Was another thing that made the

Family uncomfortable, and they

Wanted to blame him for whatever

Had happened.

Narrator: webking offered to

Take a lie detector test to

Clear his name.

To the surprise of almost

Everyone, he passed.

There was enough

Circumstantial things pointing

At paul webking that I

Personally was a little

Surprised when he took a

Polygraph examination that was

Administered by the fbi and

Passed it and was eliminated as

A suspect.

Narrator: with webking now

Cleared, authorities feared they

Had a random k*ller on their

Hands, some sort of

Pharmaceutical t*rror1st.

All of the excedrin capsules

Removed from store shelves were

Analyzed with an x-ray machine.

Since cyanide is more dense than

Pain reliever, tainted capsules

Show up as dark areas inside the

Bottle.

Two more bottles of

Cyanide-laced pain reliever were

Found on store shelves.

Newspapers and television

Stations throughout the world

Reported the discovery of the

Tainted capsules in seattle.

The fbi feared that this case

Would wind up like the chicago

Tylenol murders just a few years

Earlier -- a case which has

Never been solved.

Narrator: all of the tainted

Excedrin capsules were sent to

The fbi lab in washington, d.c.,

For analysis.

Each tainted capsule contained



Four times more than a lethal

Dose.

The fbi also found something

Else inside the capsules -- some

Mysterious green crystals mixed

In with the cyanide.

The green crystals were analyzed

Using a mass spectrometer, a

Device which can identify the

Exact chemical components of an

Unknown sample.

After the crystals were

Liquefied, a beam of high-energy

Electrons collided with the

Molecules, breaking them down

Into their smallest possible

Units.

This produces a fingerprint of

Every identifiable substance in

The crystals.

The green crystals were made up

Of four common chemicals --

Atrazine, dichlone, monuron, and

Simazine.

Two of these chemicals are used

To k*ll algae in fish aquariums.

An fbi chemist visited all of

The fish stores near his home

Hoping to find a commercially

Produced algaecide with the same

Four compounds.

Do you have any algaecide?

Sure.

This aisle right here -- other

Side of the big fishtank.

Thank you.

Narrator: after looking

Through hundreds of products,

One algaecide in particular

Caught his eye.

The product was called algae

Destroyer and was sold in green,

Speckled tablets.

The product had the same four

Compounds in the exact same

Amount as the green crystals

Found in the cyanide.

The fbi had no idea why a fish

Algaecide would be in the

Cyanide but reported this

Discovery to seattle

Authorities.

One of the detectives in seattle

Recalled an interesting

Coincidence -- when he visited

Stella nickell's home to pick up

The excedrin capsules, he

Remembered seeing an aquarium

Prominently displayed in her

Living room.

Was it possible that

Stella nickell played some role

In the death of her husband and

In the death of sue snow?

The fbi visited 57 different

Fish and pet stores near

Stella nickell's home, armed

With a photo montage, which

Included stella's picture.

Tom noonan recognized

Stella nickell's photograph and

Recalled selling her the same

Algae destroyer product.

The fbi was making inquiries

If I'd ever remembered selling

Her a certain product, and I

Did.

And I told them, just like I

Told her and anybody else that

Purchased this product, when

They would take it home, to

Crush it up to make it more

Effective, because a lot of

Times, when you put it in the

Aquarium, it would not dissolve.

It would remain rather inert in

The t*nk and not effectively

Break down and k*ll the algae

That was inside the fishtank.

I think that they were very

Suspicious of her, and they knew

That somehow stella and her

Circle was linked to what

Happened to sue snow and to what

Happened to bruce.

Narrator: bruce nickell's

Life-insurance policies revealed

That stella would receive

$100,000 Extra if the death of

Her husband was accidental.

Stella ever say anything

About them having any money

Problems?

Well, yes, because she was going

To school and not working there

For awhile.

And it was getting pretty tight.

Narrator: in fact, the

Nickells were in serious

Financial trouble and had

Recently received a final

Delinquency notice on their home

Mortgage and on some other

Loans.

Just five days before

Bruce nickell's death,

Stella nickell wrote a series of

Letters to her creditors.

"Dear sirs, I know that I am

Tremendously overdue with my

Payments.

There is a good reason for it --

I'm having marital problems.

They are about solved.

Bruce is no longer involved.

I will pay you at least $500 per

Month.

Stella nickell."

Narrator: when fbi

Handwriting expert lee wagoner

Studied the life-insurance

Documents, he noticed something

Suspicious -- bruce nickell's

Signature on the life-insurance

Application differed from his

Known signature samples.

The "n" and "k" were different

From his normal signature.

The initial stroke of the "n"

Begins about halfway up that

"N," whereas bruce's "n" begins

At the top of that "n."

The final stroke on the

Signature in question ends up

Turning to the right, below the

Baseline of writing -- in the

Signature in question.

It does not in the genuine

Signatures of bruce.

Narrator: but it was

Consistent with the way

Stella nickell signed her name.

Investigators believed that

Stella forged her husband's

Signature on the insurance

Applications.

But money wasn't the only

Possible motive.

Stella and bruce nickell had

Always been a very social

Couple, regularly visiting bars

And night spots with friends.

But all of that changed after

Bruce entered an alcoholism

Treatment program and stopped

Drinking altogether.

After a period of time, it

Got to her.

It wasn't the life that she

Envisioned, because even though

She was 42 or 43 years old, she

Saw herself as a hot babe still.

She wanted to be seen and get

Out there, and bruce held her

Back.

She spent a lot of time in

Bars, running around, flirting

With different men, that kind of

Thing.

She had a boyfriend.

She didn't paint a picture of

Being real dedicated to her

Husband.

Narrator: the fbi interviewed

Cindy and told her about the

Circumstantial evidence they had

Against her mother.

Cindy broke down.

And she said, "well, yes, my mom

Did k*ll bruce.

I know for sure that she did

Because we had talked about it."

Narrator: cindy also told the

Fbi that her mother visited the

Library to research the subject

Of poisons.

Records at the auburn public

Library revealed that stella

Signed out a book entitled

"Deadly harvest," which lists

Various sources and methods of

Poisoning.

Stella's fingerprints were found

All over the sections dealing

With cyanide poisoning and were

Also found on the pages of

Various encyclopedia describing

Cyanide.

Investigators now had enough

Circumstantial evidence to

Charge stella nickell with the

m*rder of her husband.

And the fbi discovered why

Stella nickell m*rder*d

Sue snow, a woman she didn't

Know.

Narrator: by the spring of



Tired of her money problems and

What she considered to be a

Boring existence with her

Husband, bruce.

She hatched a plan to m*rder her

Husband and collect on his

Life-insurance policies, which

Would pay $100,000 extra if his

Death was accidental.

Her library research led her to

Choose cyanide, a highly toxic

Salt.

But stella was careless.

She ground the cyanide in the

Same bowl she used earlier to

Grind the algaecide tablets for

Her aquarium.

But she neglected to wash the

Bowl before grinding the

Cyanide.

She never suspected that the

Tiny green algaecide crystals

Would mix with the cyanide and

Lead to her capture.

After putting the cyanide into

The headache capsules, she

Placed the bottle among her

Husband's other medications.

Bruce suffered from chronic

Headaches and took pain

Relievers almost every day.

After bruce nickell's death, the

Coroner mistakenly ruled that

It was due to natural causes, a

Mistake which deprived stella of

An additional $100,000 of

Life-insurance money.

Stella needed an excuse, some

Reason to have her husband's

Autopsy tissues re-examined.

So she decided to poison someone

Else to create the impression

That a cyanide m*rder*r was on

The loose.

She placed three more bottles of

Cyanide-laced pain reliever on

The shelves of two stores near

Her home.

Someone in the snow household

Purchased one of those bottles.

You know that sister of

Yours didn't get home till this

Morning.

Narrator: sue snow took two

Capsules from that bottle one

Morning before work...

I don't know what I'm gonna

Do with her.

Narrator: ...and died a short

Time later.

When the cyanide was discovered

During sue snow's autopsy and

Traced to the excedrin capsules

In her home, stella nickell had

The excuse she needed to ask

That her husband's case be

Reopened.

She got away with m*rder once

And tried to get away with it a

Second time.

When the fbi identified the tiny

Green crystals in the cyanide as

Algae destroyer and located a

Fish store near stella nickell's

Home which sold her the product,

The library books and forged

Life-insurance policies sealed

The case against her.

The fbi never found the cyanide,

The algae destroyer tablets, or

The bowl used to mix the cyanide

In stella nickell's home.

After a 4-week trial, one in

Which her own daughter testified

Against her, stella nickell was

Convicted of two counts of

m*rder and was sentenced to 90

Years in prison.

It's hard for me to think

That there are people out there

Who can do something like that

Without thinking about what kind

Of repercussions there are on

Other people.

It's just amazing to me that

There are people that selfish --

To take a life.

And not only my mother's, but

Her husband's.

I mean, that's almost more

Unimaginable to me than her

k*lling a perfect stranger such

As my mom.

But that she would k*ll her own

Husband for that.