 On June 5 , 1986 , the couple was living in Auburn , Washington when Bruce Nickell , 52 , came home from work with a headache . According to Stella , Nickell took four Extra @-@ Strength Excedrin capsules from a bottle in their home for his headache and collapsed minutes later . Nickell died shortly thereafter at Harborview Medical Center , where treatment had failed to revive him . His death was initially ruled to be by natural causes , with attending physicians citing emphysema . 
