Stella Bradham, an 85-year-old resident of North Horizon Nursing Home in St. Petersburg, Florida, died on November 26, 1984, under circumstances that were later found to be homicidal. Her family had been troubled by the suddenness of her decline after she slipped into a coma, and her granddaughter said Stella did not look like herself at the funeral. An autopsy after exhumation showed a fractured hyoid bone consistent with manual strangulation; investigators believe an initial insulin injection failed to kill her and she was then strangled.

November 1984 saw an unusual cluster of deaths at North Horizon: seven residents died between November 13 and 23, then five more within 24 hours beginning on November 26. A nurse, Bobbie Sue Dudley, was present for all twelve deaths, had access to a locked insulin cabinet, and Anna Larson survived an insulin overdose. Dudley was indicted for four murders, including Stella’s, and the attempted murder of Larson; she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a lengthy prison sentence. Investigators suspected Dudley in all twelve deaths at the facility.