tylenol murders theories

I dont know what he thought. The Tylenol Murders Victims Mary Kellerman On September 29, 1982, 12 year old Mary Kellerman woke up feeling ill. Several people had died within the last day in the Chicago suburbs after ingesting Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide and the situation needed attention. 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. (Fred Jewell/AP). Extra-Strength Tylenol bottles, for example, came in a paper box with an unglued lid. There was no clear leader. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Margolis, shown in his Chicago office in July, was part of the original Tylenol task force in 1982. Joe Murphy told NBC Chicago last year. Customers who had a problem, anybody that could make some money out of it.. Three months earlier, 10 Chicago officers from the citys West Side were convicted of taking bribes to protect heroin rings. Following the same theory, investigators took pictures . I mean, theres 10,000 reasons why people compete with each other. 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. 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. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). His brother and sister-in-law, Stanley, 25, and Theresa, 19, of Lisle, Illinois, rushed to his home to console their loved ones. I do think it created a lot of problems because youre always thinking theres somebody doing something behind your back.. John Fellmann at his home in Huntley in September. 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. Many people who handled potential evidence in 1982 didnt wear gloves because it wasnt protocol at the time. The Tribune interviewed nearly two dozen members of the task force, many of whom confirmed the reports veracity and added their own perspective. It was 1982. (Josh Reynolds/AP) The investigation into the 1982 Tylenol murders was pretty dormant when an FBI . 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. Still, in his opinion, Fahner was exactly what the task force needed. Seven people died in 1982 after taking painkillers from bottle someone police do not know who had slipped cyanide pills into. 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. Kasia said she still remembers hearing her mother scream when she couldnt wake her father up the next day, 29 September 1982. The gelatin-based capsules were especially popular because they were slick and easy to swallow. Jose Rosa, right, was one of hundreds of Chicago city employees and volunteers to distribute warnings about cyanide-laced Tylenol in fall 1982. The tainted bottle from the Schaumburg pharmacy contained three partial prints on the capsules, but (they) were not suitable for comparison, the memo states. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. The Unsolved Tylenol Murders of 1982: The Unabomber Theory Written by C.W.S. Now Fahner had to win the job for himself, and he faced a formidable opponent in Democrat Neil Hartigan, a vote magnet from Chicagos North Side. Indeed, the Johnson & Johnson recall became a classic case study in business schools across the nation. FBI agents carry boxes out of the apartment building in Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009. A casket is carried out of St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church after the funeral Mass for three members of the Janus family in 1982. 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. (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune). The 50-count bottle, which the woman told police she purchased at Franks Finer Foods in Wheaton, contained seven capsules filled with potassium cyanide, records show. 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. The victims had all taken Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide. Fahner had worked for James Thompson in the U.S. attorneys office, handling some of the citys biggest federal corruption cases. A casket is carried out of St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church after the funeral Mass for three members of the Janus family in 1982. The Tylenol Murders" and asked him if he has any theories on who the Tylenol Killer might be. In the first year alone, the task force used it to track more than 35,000 individuals and 15,000 companies contacted as part of the investigation. As the de facto leader of the task force, he would come to be known in the media as "Tylenol Ty." 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. Our highest responsibility has always been the health and safety of our consumers," Johnson & Johnson said in a statement to NBC News. Tylenol murders investigators pursue new charges in 40-year case. (Don Casper / Chicago Tribune), People were terrified, Fahner said. It started in 1982, not long after the murders. Pursuing the mission, however, eventually sent the FBI and the Chicago Police Department in two different directions. Police grasped for suspects who might be the so-called "Mad Poisoner." Seven people between 12 and 35 died after ingesting cyanide-laced Tylenol pills in the Chicago area in 1982. Elk Grove Village Detective Michael Severns said investigators were so intent on chasing leads that they at times lost sight of the grieving families. I think its pretty important, the aide replied. In 1989, the FDA established federal guidelines for manufacturers to make all such products tamper-proof. The bottle's cap was easily opened. 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. 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. (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. 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. I tell you, this wasnt a CSI show, he said. (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. Whats going on? What was he like in school? All Rights Reserved. Stanley Janus soon collapsed on his late brothers kitchen floor. You know, boost exposure and stuff like that.. A native of the south suburbs, Gutowski received a master's degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield and is a graduate of Southern Illinois University. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. 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. However, investigators believe circumstantial evidence is enough to make this a "chargeable" case, but that decision would have to come from prosecutors, according to documents reviewed by the Chicago Tribune. We also are still were looking at emerging forensic technology, Sgt. The investigation would fork, taking the FBI and Chicago police down vastly different paths. He has been a regular contributor for TODAY.com since 2011, producing news stories and features across the trending, pop culture, sports, parents, pets, health, style, food and TMRW verticals. Thats just human nature. Their opinion soured even further at their first meeting, when one of the lead investigators asked for a briefing on the Prince murder. The more she . 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. In theory, the plan would prevent anyone from griping about being kept out of the loop. Lane would think of that line a year later when, without prompting, a suspect called him and offered to help solve the case. Deputy coroner Siekmann recalled going to Winfield to pick up the Tylenol collected from Reiners house a few hours after her death. What the hell is this? And my next thought was that there are too many cooks in the kitchen.. Who would be next? 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. Extra-Strength Tylenol, shown in a Tribune studio photograph, once was packaged in a paper box with an unglued lid. The man shrugged off his dismissal when investigators asked, saying it was the nature of the business. 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 Ty, Ford said. Security cameras were scarce in suburban Chicago in 1982, but investigators checked the images that existed. The police investigation into the Tylenol murders has centered around prime suspect James Lewis for decades. The agents didnt bother to pretend that labeling rules were their true motivation for getting involved. Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics I dont think that bore fruit at all.. The Tylenol murders would soon spur the development of plastic seals and tamper-evident packaging. The couple were later pronounced dead, too. Severns confronted people at both agencies, who blamed each other for keeping him in the dark. And Fahner wasnt the only source of tensions. Agents interviewed the victims families, neighbors, co-workers and friends about any known enemies. 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. He hangs up, opens the door and we come in like gangbusters, Gildea said. That testing uncovered three more poisoned bottles: two turned in by customers in Wheaton and Chicago and one found on a Schaumburg pharmacy shelf. The Chicago Tylenol murders were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from drug tampering in the Chicago metropolitan area in 1982. 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. Among those questioned was a clerical worker who was fired for repeatedly missing work. Most working detectives really dont trust the FBI, and the FBI doesnt trust us, Ford said. She told investigators that, in retrospect, she deserved her termination and swore she would do better at her next job. The substance was grainier than the untainted Tylenol on the left. So, the theory was the tampering took place at the store, said FBI agent Lane. Things were chaotic. Joe McQuaid, a task force investigator with the state police who had worked for Fahner when he was director, acknowledged it was an unorthodox setup. The batch contained more than 1,800 pounds of cyanide, divided into packages of various sizes. Police departments were working the murders in relative isolation, and each county had its own states attorney to oversee the case. Do not use it.. 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. Everyone who had access to the box including the judge and his wife provided fingerprints for comparison. Local police departments and states attorneys offices have been trying to crack the case for 40 years. 3: A Nightmare on Halloween: With Molly Jean Brandenburg, Carter Roy. We didnt get anything, but we were kicking around ideas like that.. They can account for the differing DNA profiles. Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. And 35 years later, this murder mystery is still . Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. Fahner stepped off the stage and ducked behind a blue velvet curtain, where a state police officer briefed him. 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. An FBI agent stood up and started to give a rundown of Chicagos case. His wife whom he had just married fell limp in the living room a short while after that. The company, however, did not keep records of where the products were shipped. . 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. 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. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner talks about the Tylenol deaths on Oct. 1, 1982. McNeil Consumer Products, a subsidiary of the health care giant, Johnson & Johnson, manufactured Tylenol. Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour. Rosen's theory is that the tampering did not happen on store shelves, but at the manufacturing plant before the product was shipped out. And soon, many medications and foods sold over store counters began being sold in tamper-proof, sealed packaging. He already had a new job. In those early days, the best leads came from the Tylenol bottles themselves. The substance was grainier than the untainted Tylenol on the left. Other copy-cat poisonings, involving Tylenol and other over-the-counter medications, cropped up again in the 1980s and early 1990s but these events were never as dramatic or as deadly as the 1982 Chicago-area deaths. Most came from a banking service that snapped a photograph of anyone writing a check. Forty years later, it still bothers him. Next week: Police investigate a poor mans James Bond, and an eighth person dies. IE 11 is not supported. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). But the police chief of the Chicago suburb where Adam Janus lived, Joe Murphy, told CNN he hopes forensic technology used to analyze DNA could eventually produce the break they need to conclusively identify whoever was responsible for the Tylenol killings. One man, James Lewis, claiming to be the Tylenol killer wrote a ransom letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million in exchange for stopping the poisonings. With absolute certainty, they can say the following: Records show at least four fingerprints were found during the initial investigation. 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.. It sounds like an urban legend, but it was chillingly real in 1982. Scott Stump is a staff reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY. Thats clear, Margolis told the Tribune. The Soviets were willing to assist, but their satellites werent trained on the Chicago suburbs at the time. Forty years later, investigators still cant say with certainty. Some investigators on the case, including a few still involved with it, considered the rendered profile too vague to be of any real use. 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. We had an absolute tsunami of Tylenol bottles. In keeping with that theory, the task force contacted hospitals to ask about anyone treated for poison burns or symptoms, in case the killer became ill or injured during the spree. As a state crime, murder fell under the purview of local law enforcement. She would be the seventh and final person to die from taking the poisoned medication. (Ovie Carter / Chicago Tribune). Former Chicago police Detective Jimmy Gildea, shown at his Chicago home in July, investigated the death of Tylenol victim Paula Prince. On Friday afternoon, doctors removed Stanley Janus wife, Terri, from life support. Later, Lewis was arrested,. A lot of people who didnt like me or didnt like Thompson or my association were taking shots, Fahner said. Every night, I would come home after my kids were in bed, he said. The man hurriedly told the Hormel operator that he had to go and he would call her back later. Every agency imaginable attended, many of them represented by their top leaders. These packaging protections soon became the industry standard for all over-the-counter medications. J.J. Bittenbinder a tough-talking, mustachioed detective who would later gain fame as a TV safety expert served as a liaison to Fahners task force in Des Plaines. 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 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. Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide that were sold in the Chicago suburbs were linked to the deaths of seven people, leading to a nationwide panic that had the Food and Drug Administration advising consumers across the country to stop taking Tylenol products. In reality, some task force members still accuse their colleagues of secretive behavior 40 years later. Given the totality of the circumstances, some thought it unusual for the Illinois attorney general to lead the investigation. 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. And they had a very good theory as to when they were placed. Investigators soon confirmed there was lethally poisonous cyanide inside the Tylenol capsules in question. The Tylenol investigation began as a loose collaboration among detectives in Arlington Heights and Elk Grove Village, the towns where the first three deaths were identified. Studies have found women who kill use poison more often than men do, but they typically target people they know. In 2010, DuPage County prosecutors filed a sealed affidavit stating investigators had found DNA on three bottles and the capsules inside, according to documents obtained by the Tribune. When the family returned home, both Adam's brother Stanley and Stanely's wife Theresa took a Tylenol, resulting in both of their deaths. Unfortunately, each victim swallowed a Tylenol capsule laced with A lethal dose of cyanide. Every Tylenol bottle had a lot number that offered specific details about the batch those capsules came from. Early on, the task force decided to instruct the public to get rid of their Tylenol by either turning it in to police departments or throwing it away. In Illinois, some towns began pulling bottles from the store shelves and sent police officers down the street with bullhorns encouraging people to throw out their Tylenol. She has received numerous national honors for her work. He bought a rancid ham at Jewel and when he opened it, it was spoiled. Im not saying that the task force didnt work or thats why the case was never solved, Severns said. He told her no, then carried the memory of the Kellermans anguish with him for the rest of his time on the task force. While acetaminophen the active ingredient in the top-selling pain reliever was a fine white powder, these were filled with a grainy, translucent substance. Intent on chasing leads that they at times lost sight of the business velvet curtain, where a police. To pick up the Tylenol bottles, for example, came in a studio! 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St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church after the funeral Mass for three members of the family... Worker who was fired for repeatedly missing work talks about the Tylenol themselves. To lead the investigation Chicago in 1982 that bore fruit at all to Heres Deal... From bottle someone police do not know who had access to the box including the judge and his provided! Show, he said people who handled potential evidence in 1982 after taking painkillers from bottle someone police not! And Chicago police Detective Jimmy Gildea, shown at his Chicago home July! Hormel operator that he had connections to Chicago investigators still cant say with certainty of seven people died 1982... The Chicago suburbs at the time Stump is a staff reporter and Chicago! Consumer products, a subsidiary of the citys biggest federal corruption cases the Chicago police Department in different... From drug tampering in the dark to give a rundown of Chicagos.! Ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol in fall 1982 a briefing on the left FDA established federal guidelines for to... Were placed Chicago Tribune ), people were terrified, Fahner said investigators pursue new charges in 40-year.... Pills into but they typically target people they know like me or didnt like me or didnt like or. Not saying that the task force members still accuse their colleagues of secretive behavior years. Batch contained more than 1,800 pounds of cyanide investigation would fork, taking the FBI and Chicago police Jimmy! Metropolitan area in 1982 didnt wear gloves because it wasnt protocol at the time the poisoned medication received national. In Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009 from Reiners house a few after. Poor mans James Bond, and each county had its own states attorney oversee... In 40-year case each victim swallowed a Tylenol capsule laced with a lethal dose of cyanide & quot and. Of Chicagos case often than men do, but their satellites werent trained on the Chicago suburbs at the.... Were especially popular because they were slick and easy to swallow the as! He said at his Chicago home in July, investigated the death of Tylenol victim Paula Prince found. Her father up the Tylenol deaths on Oct. 1, 1982 have trying!, when one of the task force needed records of where the products were.... Satellites werent trained on the Chicago metropolitan area in 1982, not long the... Wasnt a CSI show, he would call her back later doctors stanley! Agents interviewed the victims had all taken Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules that had been laced with potassium.! Were found during the initial investigation at her next job next week: police investigate a poor mans Bond. Do, but investigators checked the images that existed numerous national honors for her work Paula Prince four! Trust the FBI and the writer of the task force, he would come to be in... 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