Stella Nickell

American woman convicted of murder

Stella Maudine Nickell (née Stephenson; born August 7, 1943) is an American woman who was sentenced to ninety years in prison for product tampering after she poisoned Excedrin capsules with lethal cyanide, resulting in the deaths of her husband Bruce Nickell and Sue Snow, a stranger. Her May 1988 conviction and prison sentence were the first under federal product tampering laws instituted after the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders.

Stella Maudine Stephenson was born in Colton, Oregon, to Alva Georgia "Jo" (née Duncan; later changed her name to Cora Lee) and George Stephenson. She grew up in a poor family. At age 16, following the birth of her first daughter, Cynthia Hamilton, she moved to Southern California, where she married and had another daughter. Bruce died shortly thereafter at Harborview Medical Center, where treatment had failed to revive him. in insurance coverage on her husband's life, with an additional payout of $100,000 if his death was accidental. As of April 2019, Stella Nickell is housed at female only low security/minimum security Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin in California, just east of San Francisco. She will be eligible for release in 2040, with credit given for good behavior, by which time she will be 96 years old. Nickell petitioned for compassionate early release in 2022, stating that her health is failing, and this request was denied. The case was referenced in an episode of In Plain Sight titled "Kill Pill", which aired November 23, 2018 on the Investigation Discovery channel. The 2000 TV film Who Killed Sue Snow? was to be made about the Nickell case to air on USA Network, but it was cancelled shortly before production began. One factor was strong objections from advertisers, including Johnson & Johnson, owner of the Tylenol brand of painkillers which had been affected by the 1982 Chicago case. Additionally, network executives feared the film would inspire copycat crimes. The film was to have been directed by Jeff Reiner and starring Katey Sagal as Stella Nickell.