By the time he reached his house in Evanston, he was the de facto leader of what had quickly become the countrys highest-profile murder case. What was my dads favorite color? They knew the locations. The substance was grainier than the untainted Tylenol on the left. After just one or two task force meetings, Ford and Gildea told their boss they werent going back. Retired FBI agent Roy Lane Jr., shown in August, is the only member of law enforcement who has been part of the Tylenol investigation in its entirety. He didnt get in our way. Employees of the Chicago City Health Department continue to test Tylenol medication for the presence of deadly cyanide at the Department's lab on Oct. 7, 1982. Im absolutely sure about that. Written by a high-ranking Illinois state police supervisor in April 1983, the document describes the wide net authorities cast in the hopes of solving the mystery. (Chicago Tribune), If you are the Tylenol killer, though, you may be harboring just the vaguest curiosity about the people on the other end of your plan: The people who were unfortunate enough to purchase the bottle you had touched, Greene wrote. Lab technicians Nlada Marzette, left, and Lynn Pilaggi inspect the contents of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules for cyanide contamination at the Illinois Department of Public Health in 1982. In work that would later be heralded in scientific journals, the scientists also tested the cyanide kept at the Tylenol plant to see if it somehow got into the production process. As the de facto leader of the task force, he would come to be known in the media as "Tylenol Ty." He would gravitate toward someone with a blue suit and red tie, the quintessential 1980s-style power suit. Thats because nobody was keeping track of who was buying cyanide, Wolnik said. A theory emerged: What if the Mad Poisoner was actually the Unabomber? It was 1982. Former Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner stands on the former site of the Tylenol task force headquarters in Des Plaines, now an empty parking lot. I think after a day or two, the state police realized theyre on their own. Police reports mention several former Johnson & Johnson employees, though none was ever considered a serious suspect. Helena Tarasewicz, mother of Tylenol victim Theresa "Terri" Janus, weeps over the casket containing her daughter's body during graveside services at Maryhill Cemetery in Niles in 1982. That box had been turned in, along with an unused bottle, a couple weeks after the murders by the wife of a DuPage County judge. Severns, who had two young children, heard the undeserved guilt in her voice. And everyone in the meeting is aware of one undeniable truth: There is no physical evidence linking a suspect to the poisonings. The best suspect for the Tylenol murders has always been James William Lewis, who sent an extortion letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to stop the murders. It marked the first mass recall in U.S. history, involving more than 31 million bottles. Everyone who had access to the box including the judge and his wife provided fingerprints for comparison. Tylenols parent company, Johnson & Johnson, also saw its stock price drop after the news about the tainted capsules broke. I mean, it just got to me, Severns said. Seven people between the ages of 12 and 35 years old died in 1982 after ingesting extra-strength Tylenol capsules that were found to have been laced with. Because all the other possibilities had been eliminated.. In those early days, there were so many agencies involved, so many people desperate to solve the case. Police Officer Michael Miljan leaves an Arlington Heights pharmacy after making sure bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol were being removed from shelves. A new book by a former Johnson & Johnson employee suggests the Tylenol poisonings, which killed seven people in the Chicago area in 1982, took place in the company's production or distribution. Authorities already considered the womens deaths to be cyanide related by the time they contacted Fahner during his campaign event. By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. The Soviets were willing to assist, but their satellites werent trained on the Chicago suburbs at the time. Each participant has a packet of information that authorities use to explain their findings. In reality, some task force members still accuse their colleagues of secretive behavior 40 years later. In 1989, the FDA established federal guidelines for manufacturers to make all such products tamper-proof. Fahner ordered his staff to work through the night, calling local police, sheriffs, coroners, the FBI, the FDA, prosecutors and public health officials. And I would wake them up just to say good night, you know?. It would likely be someone with gray hair. "As you can see, it is easy to place cyanideinto capsules sitting on store shelves," he wrote in the letter. What was he liked as a boss?, She added: Good and bad, I want to hear those stories, because its a reflection of who I am., Hurricane Ian: South Carolina and Florida comb wreckage to assess deadly toll, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Records show law enforcement has spent the past several years dealing almost entirely with forensic evidence. Hearing that threat, the detectives said, they banged on the door and announced themselves as police. Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. The pills were sold at stores in suburban Chicago, and bottles of Tylenol were immediately pulled from shelves to be tested by health departments for the presence of cyanide. . And as soon as we got the word out that Tylenol had been laced, people said, What do we do? I said, Well, if youve got any in your medicine cabinet either put it in a plastic bag and keep it or throw it away. So whatever fits or doesnt fit the storyline, that didnt happen. The Tylenol Murders Victims Mary Kellerman On September 29, 1982, 12 year old Mary Kellerman woke up feeling ill. His task force partners the FBI and state police had blindsided the Elk Grove Village detective, and he was angry. When that happened, the suspect would make contact with an investigator and offer to help solve the case. Congress eventually criminalized tampering with medications and other consumer products, classifying that as a federal crime that could carry up to life imprisonment in cases involving a death. It all goes to them, and you get nothing in return., Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek talks about the Tylenol investigation on Oct. 7, 1982, about a week after the seven deaths. (Josh Reynolds/AP) The investigation into the 1982 Tylenol murders was pretty dormant when an FBI . No one has ever been charged with the murders. To this day, however, the perpetrators of these murders have never been found. Back then, bottles of pills did not have tamper-proof seals, just a cotton ball stuffed inside. Among those questioned was a clerical worker who was fired for repeatedly missing work. he answered. The Chicago detectives shared that worry. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration then cautioned the public against taking the pain reliever in capsule form. The Tylenol case, however, would loom largest over his professional life. That wasnt there.. The task force didnt know who or why.. Investigators assumed the culprit was a man, though records indicate they didnt automatically rule out anyone based on gender. Details about the seven victims, how they obtained the tainted bottles and their final moments were outlined in a confidential police memo obtained by the Tribune. 1: Poisoning the Well: Directed by Travis Clark. These other men were all worried about his chances. As for the ongoing case, sources familiar with the investigation told the Chicago Tribune that charges are not imminent and may not come at all because the case lacks physical proof. As Fahners team made calls, a DuPage County deputy coroner named Pete Siekmann sat in an office at the Illinois Department of Public Healths toxicology lab in Chicago and waited to see if the Tylenol capsules taken by Mary Lynn Reiner and Mary Sue McFarland were poisoned. The Tylenol Murders Pt. I knew how to organize things.. We had gloves in our car and basically used them on decomposed bodies. The Tribune interviewed nearly two dozen members of the task force, many of whom confirmed the reports veracity and added their own perspective. The task force opted to work out of an Illinois state police bunker in Des Plaines, a central location that would be home to a tip line, twice-a-day investigator briefings and news conferences for the scores of reporters camped outside the building. For example, Johnson & Johnson quickly established that the cyanide lacing occurred after cases of Tylenol left the factory. The death toll now stood at five: Reiner, McFarland, Adam Janus of Arlington Heights, his brother Stanley Janus of Lisle and 12-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village. Shari Kouba, shown in July at an FBI office in Mount Prospect where she used to work, ran a tips desk as part of the Tylenol task force. The Tylenol murders launched a massive criminal investigation. Complaining of a sore throat and a stuffy nose, her parents gave Mary one Extra Strength Tylenol capsule and let her stay home from school. They would work the case in Chicago and send someone else to Des Plaines to play nice with the others. Six suburbanites had already died from cyanide poisoning by that time, but this was Chicagos first and, in the end, only victim. And, in the decades since, scientific advances have allowed investigators to detect DNA profiles on at least three of the tainted bottles and the capsules inside. The new timeline suggests Lewis wrote the letter before the public knew the deaths were linked to the tainted Tylenol pills, according to the Chicago Tribune. Kasia said she long blamed herself for her fathers death, even though she was just in preschool when it happened. Testing found cyanide in the Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule on the right. Extra-Strength Tylenol, shown in a Tribune studio photograph, once was packaged in a paper box with an unglued lid. Given the totality of the circumstances, some thought it unusual for the Illinois attorney general to lead the investigation. Another theory was that whoever poisoned the medication did it at home or in a car, then placed the bottles back on the shelves. That same day, a 27-year-old postal worker named Adam Janus of Arlington Heights, Illinois, died of what was initially thought to be a massive heart attack but turned out to be cyanide poisoning as well. I had people dropping dead all over the place.. What are the Tylenol murders? Another tip involved a man who was threatening to poison Hormel food products. Stanley died that very day and Theresa died two days later. There, research chemist Karen Wolnik and her colleagues established a trace element pattern a sort of chemical fingerprint for each sample to determine whether it was identical to the poison used in the Tylenol killings. McNeill and Johnson & Johnson offered replacement capsules to those who turned in pills already purchased and a reward for anyone with information leading to the apprehension of the individual or people involved in these random murders. Local police departments and states attorneys offices have been trying to crack the case for 40 years. And we were able to analyze the cyanide and show that it was not the same (cyanide at the plant) as cyanide in the capsules., Lab technicians Nlada Marzette, left, and Lynn Pilaggi inspect the contents of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules for cyanide contamination at the Illinois Department of Public Health in 1982. When Thompson, a Republican, became governor in 1977, Fahner followed him to Springfield to lead the Illinois state police. (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune). I always wear the blue suit and the red tie, Lane said. Stanley Janus soon collapsed on his late brothers kitchen floor. Seven people between the ages of 12 and 35 years old died in 1982 after ingesting extra-strength Tylenol capsules that were found to have been laced with cyanide, a deadly chemical. (Chicago Tribune), Look, like any other series of government bureaucracies, theres always tension between agencies, he said. Her parents gave permission. Within hours of finding cyanide in the capsules that killed three people in the northwest suburbs, the Cook County medical examiners office held a news conference on the morning of Sept. 30, 1982, to warn people about the potential poison in their medicine cabinets. "Ladies, you ever been harassed for something for 40 years that you had nothing to do with?" A drugstore clerk removes Tylenol capsules from the shelves of a pharmacy Sept. 30, 1982, in New York City after reports of tampering. Thats clear, Margolis told the Tribune. The FBIs counterintelligence unit even reached out to their Soviet counterparts to see if they had any spy satellite images that could help, according to former FBI agent Grey Steed. Flight attendant Paula Prince bought a tainted bottle of Tylenol at the Walgreens at Wells Street and North Avenue in Chicago. Lewis admitted to the FBI that he sent a ransom letter at the time to Tylenol's parent company, Johnson & Johnson, according to reporting by The Chicago Tribune. Dr. Howard Markel In those early days, the best leads came from the Tylenol bottles themselves. Lane would think of that line a year later when, without prompting, a suspect called him and offered to help solve the case. The final Tylenol death was confirmed on the evening of Oct. 1, when 35-year-old flight attendant Paula Prince was found dead in her Old Town condominium. Unfortunately, each victim swallowed a Tylenol capsule laced with A lethal dose of cyanide. The Tylenol task force may be no exception, he said, but the tensions didnt affect the overall effort. I stepped off that dais, Fahner told the Tribune this year. What are you giving this story for? So they ran him off the stage and I got up there.. Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. Her parents gave permission. Both experienced throbbing headaches, a not uncommon response to a death in the family and each took a Tylenol extra-strength capsule or two from the same bottle Adam had used earlier in the day. A lot of people who didnt like me or didnt like Thompson or my association were taking shots, Fahner said. This Oct. 18, 1982, column by Tribune columnist Bob Greene included specific details at the request of the FBI, such as the home address of Tylenol victim Mary Kellerman. The company, however, did not keep records of where the products were shipped. I thought he was perfect.. The decision cost the company more than $100 million, an enormous amount in 1982. Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson recalled 31 million Tylenol bottles as panic spread nationwide following the deaths. Seven people died in 1982 after taking painkillers from bottle someone - police do not know who - had slipped cyanide pills into Ramon Antonio Vargas Sun 2 Oct 2022 02.00 EDT Forty years after the. He needed to be there, no matter how much he hated campaigning. Police departments were working the murders in relative isolation, and each county had its own states attorney to oversee the case. Within a week, her death would panic the entire nation. And I want people to know that, yeah, this was my family, and it has changed all of us.. It didnt take long for Fellmann to recognize the pressures and expectations under which the newly formed task force would operate. Photo by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Ford said he told the renowned pathologist the bottle was on the vanity, and Stein, who wasnt wearing gloves, went to grab it. They apologized, he said, but the trust had been broken. Following the same theory, investigators took pictures . Some investigators on the case, including a few still involved with it, considered the rendered profile too vague to be of any real use. The program went far beyond any database previously used by law enforcement in Illinois. Prince was officially declared dead by the Medical Examiner's office at 6:45 p.m. Investigators discovered a bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol in her bathroom with one capsule missing and a. Whats going on? I thought, well, this is rather impressive, Siekmann said. Things were chaotic. A photograph of a television screen shows the specific lot number for a batch of Extra-Strength Tylenol that was the first to be recalled. Authorities were convinced the killer didnt know any of the victims. The Tylenol murders fundamentally changed the way we consume medication - among other things, leading to tamper-proof pill and bottle designs. See where the eight tainted Tylenol bottles were purchased or discovered. Even after he retired from the FBI in 1996, he didnt let it go. He also laid the foundation to get Extra-Strength Tylenol off store shelves statewide, going beyond the single batch the pain relievers manufacturer had recalled that day. Every night, I would come home after my kids were in bed, he said. Reporters from the Chicago Tribune tracked down Lewis last month as part of the investigative podcast "Unsealed: The Tylenol Murders" and asked him if he has any theories on who the Tylenol Killer might be. A decadeslong investigation has centered around Massachusetts man James Lewis, 76, who was 36 at the time of the murders. The Tylenol murders of 1982,was a pointless killing spree that resulted in the death of seven Chicago area people from Tylenol tablets .The Tylenol poisoning killings was from tampering with over-the-counter Tylenol branded acetaminophen pills laced with potassium cyanide. Ford and his partner Jimmy Gildea both said they tried to stop him because evidence technicians hadnt been to the scene yet, but Stein brushed off their concerns. Severns confronted people at both agencies, who blamed each other for keeping him in the dark. History's Greatest Mysteries looks into the theories regarding the Tylenol Murders in Chicago 1982. There wasnt that much tension, Fahner said. In a surveillance still photo, you can see a man who looks remarkably similar to Lewis standing in the background as one of the victims, Paula Prince, checks out. The 20-year-old would be buried alongside her husband and her brother-in-law Adam in a triple funeral made even more heartbreaking when relatives had to pull Terris mother off her daughters casket before it was lowered into the ground. The Tylenol murders would soon spur the development of plastic seals and tamper-evident packaging. Stores were pulling the product off shelves. Thats being made out of whole cloth all these years later. [[Para leer en espaol] Los asesinatos de Tylenol, parte 2: Tylenol mezclado con cianuro fue el arma homicida. You understand? Ford said he told Stein. She also laments that her dad never got to meet her and her husband, her son, her stepson and her step-grandson. Members of the Illinois State Police join, as well. Flight attendant Paula Prince bought a tainted bottle of Tylenol at the Walgreens at Wells Street and North Avenue in Chicago. (Earl Gustie / Chicago Tribune). 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