the fact remains, the Tylenol murders of 1982 . So whatever fits or doesnt fit the storyline, that didnt happen. And everyone in the meeting is aware of one undeniable truth: There is no physical evidence linking a suspect to the poisonings. 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. Stanley Janus soon collapsed on his late brothers kitchen floor. Following the same theory, investigators took pictures of everyone who attended the victims funerals and set up time-lapse cameras at grave sites to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. But their deaths did inspire a series of important moves to make over-the-counter medications safer (albeit never 100 percent safe) for the hundreds of millions of people who buy them every year. I stepped off that dais, Fahner told the Tribune this year. It didnt take long for the Tylenol murders to become national news. But on this unseasonably warm October morning, during a separate meeting between the FBI and state police, Lane was one of several investigators who gathered to brainstorm possible motives behind the crime. After eliminating the possibility that the poisonings happened at the plant level, investigators scoured the backgrounds of workers at trucking companies and storage warehouses involved in the distribution of the tainted bottles, as well as other company records. Theories The first suspect is 48 year old dock worker Roger Arnold, who said some suspicious things about the Tylenol murders at a bar one night. You werent there. With no apparent motive and little evidence to go on, it was a tough task. Members of the Illinois State Police join, as well. The killer may have salted the bottles with cyanide-laced capsules while standing in the store aisle, investigators thought. Many of the task force members interviewed by the Tribune recounted difficulties as more than 100 people tried to work as a team. (Earl Gustie / Chicago Tribune). He investigated the Tylenol poisonings in the Janus family and later served as police chief in Island Lake. Security cameras were scarce in 1982, but investigators checked the images that existed, including this photograph from a drugstore camera showing Paula Prince, center, buying a bottle of tainted Tylenol. Tylenol murders: A nationwide panic, a family tragedy Her dad, aunt and uncle were killed in the notorious unsolved poisonings that terrorized Chicago. Stacy St. Clair joined the Chicago Tribune in 2007. The task force investigating the Tylenol killings doubted that James Lewis would be reckless enough to stay in Manhattan after mailing an extortion letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million . Come to 1425 Armstrong Lane.. Thank you. (Charles Osgood / Chicago Tribune). (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune). You know, because Ty was just a classy lawyer, and he never was a politician, he said. The task force questioned stock boys, managers, disgruntled former employees and problematic customers at the hot locations, the teams name for the stores that sold the tainted Tylenol. Over the next several months, Fahners task force would do groundbreaking police work, generate 19,000 pages of investigative reports, be accused of playing politics and, ultimately, fail to hold anyone accountable for the murders. They knew the locations. Thats being made out of whole cloth all these years later. Among them was Lane, a well-respected federal agent who would help put away all kinds of criminals during his nearly 30-year career, including mob boss Sam Carlisi, former Illinois Gov. Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson recalled 31 million Tylenol bottles as panic spread nationwide. The tip line received more than 6,000 calls within the first few weeks. Some of those interviews may have gone to an agent who didnt do a good job., 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. Among those questioned was a clerical worker who was fired for repeatedly missing work. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). Michael Petros, DrPH Wednesday, September 29, 1982 at 6:30am CDT, the nightmare that was to be known as the "Tylenol Murders" began 1. Im absolutely sure about that. At first, the story focused in the Chicago/Cook County . Tylenols parent company, Johnson & Johnson, also saw its stock price drop after the news about the tainted capsules broke. The FBIs involvement puzzled some because, as far as anyone knew, the federal agency didnt have jurisdiction in the case. Roger Arnold worked at a jewel warehouse with the father of one of the victims named Mary Reiner. No, Oscar Wilde probably didnt die of syphilis. He believed Thompson was behind the move, though Fahner denied it. And only months later, it changed the way we purchase and consume over-the-counter medications. Stacy has a journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with minors in American politics and Spanish. Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics Police grasped for suspects who might be the so-called "Mad Poisoner." 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. Arlington Heights police Chief Rodney Kath, second from left, works with other members of the Tylenol task force at its Des Plaines headquarters in 1982. Only really frivolous things went in that other pile, she said. The company also introduced price reductions and a new version of their pills called the caplet a tablet coated with slick, easy-to-swallow gelatin but far harder to tamper with than the older capsules which could be easily opened, laced with a contaminant, and then placed back in the older non-tamper-proof bottle. You understand? Ford said he told Stein. Oct. 2, 1982: CBS 2's Phil Walters reports on the investigation into the Tylenol poisonings. Im just being honest, Siekmann said. Photo by Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images. Forty years later, Ford shook his head at the memory. Fahner looked at all the power brokers on the platform U.S. Sen. Charles Percy, Gov. 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. I think we ended up charging that guy with a misdemeanor, some disorderly conduct or some nonsense, he said. Every Tylenol bottle had a lot number that offered specific details about the batch those capsules came from. And Fahner wasnt the only source of tensions. It started in 1982, not long after the murders. 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. Thats clear, Margolis told the Tribune. Every night, I would come home after my kids were in bed, he said. The CPD set up its own tip line and organized 35 detectives to work out of what was then Area 6 Headquarters at Belmont and Western. In reality, some task force members still accuse their colleagues of secretive behavior 40 years later. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Several months have passed since the suburban detective made his pitch to the Cook County states attorneys office. He brought personal knowledge (as the former state police director) and experience regarding a criminal investigation. 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. Chicago police Detective Charlie Ford, assigned to the Prince murder, recalled being stunned when Cook County Medical Examiner Robert Stein showed up at the victims Old Town condo and immediately asked to see the Tylenol. The Tylenol Murders Pt. Ford, a Vietnam veteran with a classic Chicago accent and an Irishmans love of storytelling, died of a heart attack a few days after speaking with the Tribune. A drugstore clerk removes Tylenol capsules from the shelves of a pharmacy Sept. 30, 1982, in New York City after reports of tampering. Left: Investigators pulled library records to see who had checked out books on cyanide. The substance was grainier than the untainted Tylenol on the left. . It was the first of two such trips he made that day, initially with the Reiner bottle and later with the one that killed McFarland. The Tylenol murders: How we reported this story. Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. NBC News has not reviewed that evidence. Lewis, who now lives in the Boston area, has long denied any involvement in the murders and has never been charged. Working with FDA officials, they introduced a new tamper-proof packaging, which included foil seals and other features that made it obvious to a consumer if foul play had transpired. With fears mounting, Johnson & Johnson recalled all over-the-counter Tylenol capsule products on Oct. 5, nearly a week after Mary Kellermans death. Marquette 10 is one of a thousand reasons why theres tension, personal jealousy, personal ambition, jurisdictional turf fights. Deputy coroner Siekmann recalled going to Winfield to pick up the Tylenol collected from Reiners house a few hours after her death. Stores were pulling the product off shelves. (Carl Wagner / Chicago Tribune). Tribune reporter Stacy St. Clair told NBC News correspondent Kathy Park on TODAY Friday that a number of law enforcement sources close to the investigation have told her that Lewis is the only person currently described as a target of the investigation. Thats because nobody was keeping track of who was buying cyanide, Wolnik said. The Kellerman and Janus bottles contained Tylenol from lot MC2880, manufactured in Pennsylvania on April 26, 1982. Lane would think of that line a year later when, without prompting, a suspect called him and offered to help solve the case. Among the earliest priorities was 24-hour surveillance outside the victims homes, on the assumption that someone who killed anonymously would want to see the results of their work and might drive by the house. There was no clear leader. The poisonings spanned multiple towns and two counties. So I stopped by the house on the way home, introduced myself and tried to answer any questions they had, he said. For example, Johnson & Johnson developed new product protection methods and ironclad pledges to do better in protecting their consumers in the future. Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. Police Officer Michael Miljan leaves an Arlington Heights pharmacy after making sure bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol were being removed from shelves. The more she . The man hurriedly told the Hormel operator that he had to go and he would call her back later. Fahner had worked for James Thompson in the U.S. attorneys office, handling some of the citys biggest federal corruption cases. Authorities were convinced the killer didnt know any of the victims. I dont want to get off here, he quietly said. Fahner, as head of the task force, quickly became the public face of the investigation. 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. He regaled reporters with all kinds of stories during that final interview, but none seemed to amuse him more than the unhappy Hormel ham man. Forty years after that terrifying period in September 1982, investigators say new evidence and a potential motive may be enough to finally solve the case. Authorities already considered the womens deaths to be cyanide related by the time they contacted Fahner during his campaign event. Forty years later, it still bothers him. Before that she reported for the Daily Herald, the Dayton Daily News and The Topeka Capital-Journal. 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. The program went far beyond any database previously used by law enforcement in Illinois. Conspiracy theories about motives and suspects for all these heinous acts continue to be bandied about on the Internet to this day. I think after a day or two, the state police realized theyre on their own. But for something like this, for looking at a pill, it never would even cross our mind., Former DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann, who in 1982 was a deputy coroner, handled the Tylenol bottles from Mary "Lynn" Reiner and Mary McFarland. They apologized, he said, but the trust had been broken. Johnson & Johnson initially recalled only those products with the same batch number as the Janus and Kellerman bottles. My theory is that Anna is a diabetic and had just come home from a . Joe Murphy told NBC Chicago last year. (Ovie Carter / Chicago Tribune). Daniel Walker and several Chicago aldermen convicted in Operation Silver Shovel. The Tylenol case, however, would loom largest over his professional life. But something more sinister was afoot when Kasias paternal uncle Stanley Janus and his wife, Theresa Tarasewicz Janus, each took pills from the same Tylenol bottle that Adam had bought in an attempt to fight headaches. The tips were written up on 3x5 index cards. I think its pretty important, the aide replied. Within a year, and after an investment of more than $100 million, Tylenols sales rebounded to its healthy past and it became, once again, the nations favorite over-the-counter pain reliever. They would work the case in Chicago and send someone else to Des Plaines to play nice with the others. Pero quin fue el asesino? And by days end, flight attendant Paula Princes body would be discovered and tests would show that a Tylenol bottle inside her home contained four cyanide-laced capsules. Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson recalled 31 million Tylenol bottles as panic spread nationwide following the deaths. He is the director of the Center for the History of Medicine and the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan and the author ofThe Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick and the Discovery of DNAs Double Helix (W.W. Norton, September 21). But on Oct. 1, 1982, he had been a detective for only a year. Subscribe to our Science Newsletter to explore the Hearing that threat, the detectives said, they banged on the door and announced themselves as police. Mary was dead by 7 a.m. 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. To its credit, the company took an active role with the media in issuing mass warning communications and immediately called for a massive recall of the more than 31 million bottles of Tylenol in circulation. The White House, however, had ordered the FBI to find a way into the case amid growing public panic. 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. That thrill, however, would eventually diminish over time and the killer would seek more excitement, according to the profilers. Medicare Pharmacy employee Mary Butler, right, shows a box of Extra-Strength Tylenol to Officer Michael Miljan in Arlington Heights. Because all the other possibilities had been eliminated.. At the time just four, Janus recalls being with her father, Adam, in their Chicago suburb when he bought an Extra-Strength Tylenol bottle that someone had slipped cyanide pills into. Flight attendant Paula Prince bought a tainted bottle of Tylenol at the Walgreens at Wells Street and North Avenue in Chicago. Seven people died in 1982 after taking painkillers from bottle someone police do not know who had slipped cyanide pills into. He didnt fit that profile, Hogberg said. The agents didnt bother to pretend that labeling rules were their true motivation for getting involved. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune), If you stopped a thousand people on the street, youd be lucky if one of them could tell you who Ty Fahner was. Investigators first considered whether the tampering could have occurred at the manufacturing plants. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. Forty years after the infamous Tylenol murders killed her father and two other close relatives, a Wisconsin woman refuses to take the popular pain pills. But she said years of therapy and yoga have helped her overcome her anger and guilt, and shes hopeful there will be justice in the killings of her father as well as her aunt and uncle. The Tylenol Murders In 1982, seven innocent Chicago civilians were boldly murdered. Its a one-way street for information back and forth. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). 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. What was he like in school? Within a week, her death would panic the entire nation. Not just the hours, but the frustration. He bought a rancid ham at Jewel and when he opened it, it was spoiled. 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. 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. Please check your inbox to confirm. Despite the passage of time and, in a way, because of it the bottles still may offer clues as to who poisoned the capsules. Most working detectives really dont trust the FBI, and the FBI doesnt trust us, Ford said. The batch contained more than 1,800 pounds of cyanide, divided into packages of various sizes. The FBI put about three dozen agents on the case, under the premise that the agency needed to determine whether Johnson & Johnson had violated federal law by failing to list potassium cyanide among the active ingredients in Tylenol. He investigated the Tylenol poisonings in the Janus family and later served as police chief in Island Lake. And then there are agents who dont. Some expressed surprise at how casually other people treated the poisoned bottles. Investigators took pictures of people who attended the victims funerals to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. Arlington Heights police Chief Rodney Kath, second from left, works with other members of the Tylenol task force in an old state police bunker in Des Plaines. [Para leer en espaol] Los asesinatos de Tylenol, parte 2: Tylenol mezclado con cianuro fue el arma homicida. Authorities believed they offered clues about who could and who could not have poisoned the capsules. 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. The task force met each morning at the Des Plaines headquarters to discuss leads and get their assignments. The panic stemming from the Tylenol murders resulted in a permanent change in the packaging of medicine. On Friday afternoon, doctors removed Stanley Janus wife, Terri, from life support. 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. 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. 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. To this day, however, the perpetrators of these murders have never been found. Dr. Howard Markel. The company, however, did not keep records of where the products were shipped. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). None matched. What are the Tylenol murders? We still receive tips that are being evaluated and investigated. . The substance was grainier than the untainted Tylenol on the left. And so the Department of Justice just looked up a law and by a little bit of a hook and a crook said the FBI has jurisdiction because of an FDA law (about) truth in labeling.. Or, at the very least, get them to remember his name. McNeil Consumer Products, a subsidiary of the health care giant, Johnson & Johnson, manufactured Tylenol. Next week: Police investigate a poor mans James Bond, and an eighth person dies. Nearly three weeks after the murders, for example, the FBI asked Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene to write a column about Mary Kellerman and include specific details such as the familys home address and the location of the little girls grave, with her parents permission. They had a lot of questions and I didnt have any answers at all., Mike Severns, a former Elk Grove Village police detective assigned to Mary Kellerman's murder, says it still bothers him that officials neglected to update her grieving parents in the early days of the investigation. Medicare Pharmacy employee Mary Butler, right, shows a box of Extra-Strength Tylenol to Officer Michael Miljan in Arlington Heights. You know, its a hackneyed phrase, but we left no stone unturned., Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Margolis, shown in his Chicago office in July, was part of the original Tylenol task force in 1982. They told stories of information hoarding, turf wars and glory seeking even when there was none to be had. 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. Everyone who had access to the box including the judge and his wife provided fingerprints for comparison. President Reagan wanted the FBI in the investigation, retired FBI Special Agent Roy Lane Jr. told the Tribune. After a lengthy cat and mouse game, police and federal investigators determined that Lewis lived in New York and had no demonstrable links to the Chicago events. By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. Investigators took the funeral guest books and jotted down license plates, then entered names into a newly developed computer program that allowed them to cross-check for anyone attending multiple memorials, according to the state police report. Police Officer Michael Miljan leaves an Arlington Heights pharmacy after making sure bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol were being removed from shelves. ]. The publication reported this week that it has obtained video and thousands of documents outlining law enforcement's current case and a possible motive for the killings. 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. Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner talks about the Tylenol deaths on Oct. 1, 1982. The effort was Herculean, said Jeremy Margolis, a former U.S. attorney who was assigned to the task force. Scott Stump is a staff reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY. Security cameras were scarce in 1982, but investigators checked the images that existed, including this photograph from a drugstore camera showing Paula Prince, center, buying a bottle of tainted Tylenol. In this op-ed, he reflects on his experiences leading the public health response to the Tylenol murders of 1982. Their departments relationship with the FBI had been rocky for decades, but it was at a particularly low point in September 1982. Given the totality of the circumstances, some thought it unusual for the Illinois attorney general to lead the investigation. Even after he retired from the FBI in 1996, he didnt let it go. We also are still were looking at emerging forensic technology, Sgt. The state police memo indicates fingerprints were found on at least one of the bottles, as well as a full print on the inside of a different bottles box. NBC News reached out to Lewis and did not receive a response. 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. I was the detective at the scene. Extra-Strength Tylenol bottles, for example, came in a paper box with an unglued lid. Reports would be written in triplicate so each member would get a copy. He would gravitate toward someone with a blue suit and red tie, the quintessential 1980s-style power suit. That testing uncovered three more poisoned bottles: two turned in by customers in Wheaton and Chicago and one found on a Schaumburg pharmacy shelf. But ultimately, three more people Mary Reiner, Mary McFarland and Paula Prince died within days after taking what they thought was an Extra-Strength Tylenol. Fahner left the dinner immediately and made calls throughout the drive home, taking advantage of his position as a statewide official with access to a car phone, then a relatively rare piece of technology. In an attempt to paint a more detailed portrait of the killer, the FBI turned to a relatively new technique at the time called criminal profiling, in which agents try to identify the personality and behavioral characteristics of an offender based on an analysis of the crime. But thats not a problem, the investigators say. The Tylenol case marked one of the earliest uses of the approach. Nothing has come of that January 2022 meeting. Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek talks about the Tylenol investigation on Oct. 7, 1982, about a week after the seven deaths. Former Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek told the Tribune he believed Fahners selection was purely political, done specifically because of the November election. Over the next few days, three more strange deaths occurred: 35-year-old Mary McFarland of Elmhurst, Illinois, 35-year-old Paula Prince of Chicago, and 27-year-old Mary Weiner of Winfield, Illinois.. As a state crime, murder fell under the purview of local law enforcement. An FBI agent stood up and started to give a rundown of Chicagos case. READ: The awful work of the real doctors who inspired M*A*S*H. The case continued to be confusing to the police, the drug maker and the public at large. She also told CNN she had invited many people to a memorial service and celebration of life luncheon honoring her father in hopes that shed learn things she never got the chance to because of the murder. Doctors removed stanley Janus soon collapsed on his late brothers kitchen floor hurriedly told Tribune. ] Los asesinatos de Tylenol, parte 2: Tylenol mezclado con cianuro el. Over-The-Counter Tylenol capsule products on Oct. 7, 1982 authorities already considered the womens deaths to cyanide... 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