 In January 1987 , Stella Nickell 's adult daughter , Cynthia Hamilton , approached police with information : Nickell had spoken to her daughter repeatedly about wanting her husband dead . He was a bore , Nickell said , who after having gotten sober , preferred to stay home and watch television rather than go out to bars . Nickell , Hamilton claimed , had even told her that she had tried to poison Bruce previously with foxglove . When that failed , she had begun library research into other methods and hit upon cyanide . Cynthia also claimed that Nickell had spoken to her about what the two of them could do with the insurance money if Bruce Nickell were dead . 
