She Killed Her Husband With His Own Pills—And Started a National Crisis

She Killed Her Husband With His Own Pills—And Started a National Crisis

March 2, 2026 · 28 min · Episode 152

About this episode

The episode discusses the Auburn cyanide murders and their impact on product safety regulations in the U.S.

The Auburn cyanide murders shocked a quiet Washington suburb and changed how America seals its medicine bottles. In 1986, Stella Nickell poisoned Excedrin capsules with potassium cyanide, killing her husband and an innocent neighbor in one of the most chilling product tampering cases in U.S. history.

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Excedrin

Places: Washington

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