This is Murder in the Rain, where each week Emily Rowney, Alicia Holland and Josh McCullough

tell true crime stories of the Pacific Northwest.

Murder in the Rain contains graphic content, listener discretion is advised.

Last week I told you about Bruce Nichol, a man who mysteriously collapsed and died.

Then just a few days later, also in Auburn, Washington, 40-year-old mother and banker Sue Snow also collapsed and died.

When her death was ruled a homicide via cyanide poisoning, her husband Paul was looked at as a suspect and the country was terrified to hear there might be another murderer tampering with medication capsules.

With a nationwide recall, those who had bottles of excedrin at home were checking them so they could call in if they were in possession of one from the same lot as those Sue Snow had ingested.

That was when Stella Nichol, Bruce's wife, realized they not only had a bottle from that batch, but Bruce had died right after taking a few pills.

So perhaps his death wasn't caused by infosima after all.

In a panic, Stella called 911 at 5.30pm on June 17th. This time it was to report that her dead husband had been murdered.

A plan was made for the police to come by the following day to interview Stella about her concerns.

To help her get through the stress of the night, Stella had her friend Sandy come over. They drank the night away, Stella more than Sandy, and tried to relax.

Oh no, I'm really worried. Did her friend take some of it? Oh my god. She didn't put tape on it and go this killed my husband.

I'm so nervous. I can tell. Oh, this is terrible. She had a hangover. I'll get to it if you'll stop panicking.

Going to bed, Sandy looked under the bathroom cabinet where she found a bottle of excedrin. Weirded out, she picked it up, then panicked.

Had she touched something poisonous? Had she touched evidence?

The following morning, an officer came back to Stella's house and confiscated the bottles she provided, including the one found under the sink.

She begged them to test and see if they too had been tainted. The officer validated Stella's concerns at the time,

but when he got back to the station, he simply put the pills in his locker and went away. Why? Eventually, he did file them and they were tested.

After weeks of vocalizing her disagreement with the autopsy results, Stella would get her wish granted.

The coroner reopened Bruce's case and was able to test his blood. This was due to the fact that Bruce had donated his eyes, while still at the eye bank, his blood was tested.

And it came back positive for cyanide poisoning. So he shouldn't have been able to donate eyes, right? That's not good. That's what I thought.

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