Day 3: Murder trial underway for former Valley nurse accused of killing husband

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - There are new developments in the murder trial of former nurse Nikki Cappello. She’s accused of fatally poisoning her husband Jim with insulin. He was not a diabetic.

On day three of the trial, the prosecution called Huntsville Police investigators, crime scene experts and the doctor who performed Jim’s autopsy to the witness stand.

Investigators spent several hours answering questions, walking the jury through the crime scene with shocking photos, and opening up evidence on the stand.

In a new, never before seen video of the crime scene back in 2018, investigators with the Huntsville Police Department say Jim’s body was found near a yellow corvette.

Portions of his legs were inside the car, which was in the garage of his Huntsville house.

Wednesday we also saw Nikki’s interrogation video. She was asked if she killed Jim and asked why she didn’t want investigators checking the garage. Her response, quote, “I don’t know.”

We also heard from Dr. Green who performed Jim’s autopsy and examined the body. She says because insulin needles are so small, it’s pretty much impossible to find the injection site.

When it comes to Jim’s cause of death, Dr. Green said it’s undetermined. But she could not rule out insulin toxicity. She performed the autopsy several days after Jim was found in the garage.

Nikki’s attorneys have not yet called any of their witnesses to testify; that will take place Thursday, May 18.

Huntsville attorney Will League is representing Jim’s family in the civil trial. He’s suing Nikki and Nikki’s former employer.

“Our theory of liability in a civil case is that she got insulin from her employer, illegally and then administered that to Jim Cappello to cause his death. There’s going to be some testimony in the civil case that she was actually being investigated at her prior employer for misappropriating controlled substances. We feel like her current employer, or the employer she worked for at the time, failed to investigate her background and failed to monitor and secure the drugs she had access to,” said attorney Will League.

Copyright 2022 WAFF. All rights reserved.