tylenol murders theories

The investigators would then return around 5 p.m. to update everyone on the days developments. I mean, it just got to me, Severns said. Now she's sharing her story for the first. The victims had all taken Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide. But if they kept the bottles in their medicine cabinets, more people could die. Within 48 hours of the murders, the task force used this information to conclude publicly that the pills could not have been poisoned during production. The man shrugged off his dismissal when investigators asked, saying it was the nature of the business. 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. Ford said he quickly interrupted. Neither did the chemist who performed the cyanide test. The killer may have salted the bottles with cyanide-laced capsules while standing in the store aisle, investigators thought. The Chicago Tylenol Murders: With Laurence Fishburne. As the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Tylenol murders approaches, investigators are working with prosecutors on a now-or-maybe-never effort to hold a longtime suspect responsible for the. If people threw out their Tylenol, authorities would never know the full extent of the tampering. I realized I was in the deep end of the pool, he said. 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. They would work the case in Chicago and send someone else to Des Plaines to play nice with the others. Investigators pulled library records to see who had checked out books on cyanide. Stanley died that very day and Theresa died two days later. Forty years later, investigators still cant say with certainty. Former Chicago police Detective Jimmy Gildea, shown at his Chicago home in July, investigated the death of Tylenol victim Paula Prince. 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. Pero quin fue el asesino? 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 case marked one of the earliest uses of the approach. Severns worked on the case for three days before he realized no one had offered an update to young Mary Kellermans grieving parents. The original theory behind the crimes was a culprit who took the Tylenol bottles from drug and grocery stores in the Chicago area over a period of weeks, opened the capsules and added potassium cyanide, after which the culprit would return the bottles to the stores to be purchased. Medicare Pharmacy employee Mary Butler, right, shows a box of Extra-Strength Tylenol to Officer Michael Miljan in Arlington Heights. These packaging protections soon became the industry standard for all over-the-counter medications. Chicago police Officer Sam Barsevich, left, takes inventory of Tylenol bottles that residents turned in at his station on Oct. 2, 1982. Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. He hangs up, opens the door and we come in like gangbusters, Gildea said. And Fahner wasnt the only source of tensions. Every agency imaginable attended, many of them represented by their top leaders. The task force knew the mechanism behind the murders, Fellmann said. When that happened, the suspect would make contact with an investigator and offer to help solve the case. Flight attendant Paula Prince bought a tainted bottle of Tylenol at the Walgreens at Wells Street and North Avenue in Chicago. 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. Still, in his opinion, Fahner was exactly what the task force needed. A lot of people who didnt like me or didnt like Thompson or my association were taking shots, Fahner said. Tensions flared, even among law enforcement personnel sincerely dedicated to the job. She has received numerous national honors for her work. 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. His task force partners the FBI and state police had blindsided the Elk Grove Village detective, and he was angry. Please check your inbox to confirm. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). 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. wide worlds of science, health andtechnology. Fahner ordered his staff to work through the night, calling local police, sheriffs, coroners, the FBI, the FDA, prosecutors and public health officials. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration then cautioned the public against taking the pain reliever in capsule form. Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson recalled 31 million Tylenol bottles as panic spread nationwide following the deaths. The discovery, so far, has been more of a curse than a blessing for present-day investigators, who have spent years obtaining DNA samples from investigators, public health officials, scientists and medical professionals who came in contact with the poisoned Tylenol. (Phil Greer / Chicago Tribune). The poisonings spanned multiple towns and two counties. Siekmann drove to a state laboratory in the city with the bottle on the seat next to him. Later, Lewis was arrested,. So whatever fits or doesnt fit the storyline, that didnt happen. We were looking for somebody that really looked like they didnt belong. The Unsolved Tylenol Murders of 1982: The Unabomber Theory Written by C.W.S. The Tylenol murders: The story of a 40-year-old unsolved case begins with a terrifying medical mystery. Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. 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. The program went far beyond any database previously used by law enforcement in Illinois. Forty years later, it still bothers him. All 3 networks lead with the Tylenol story on the first day of the crisis. Siekmann didnt wear gloves. According to the state police memo obtained by the Tribune, the FDAs work traced the cyanide from the tainted capsules to Fisher Scientific, a Massachusetts-based lab supply company, which distributed that particular batch in 1978. (James Mayo / Chicago Tribune). 40 years later, Kasia Janus is sharing. 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. Local police departments and states attorneys offices have been trying to crack the case for 40 years. 1: Poisoning the Well: Directed by Travis Clark. Back then, bottles of pills did not have tamper-proof seals, just a cotton ball stuffed inside. Former DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann, who in 1982 was a deputy coroner, handled the Tylenol bottles from Mary "Lynn" Reiner and Mary McFarland. Extra-Strength Tylenol, shown in a Tribune studio photograph, once was packaged in a paper box with an unglued lid. And he grabs the pills, picks them up in his hand, dumps a whole bunch of them in his hand and starts sniffing, Ford recalled. 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. The evening marked an important shift in the tragedy, moving from a swiftly solved medical mystery into a massive criminal investigation. Pero quin fue el asesino? Elmhurst police Detective Herb Hogberg interviewed a chemist who had been laid off from the company in recent months. For example, Johnson & Johnson quickly established that the cyanide lacing occurred after cases of Tylenol left the factory. Tylenol Ty, Ford said. They told stories of information hoarding, turf wars and glory seeking even when there was none to be had. The city's most notorious unsolved murdersthe killing of seven people with cyanide-laced Tylenols in 1982is back in the news, as the seating of a grand jury is 1 2 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 received the assignment by default, and then it became part of a national news story. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Here, you go, Pete, the police chief said, passing the bottle to him without the type of evidence bag that would now be standard in any investigation. And I would wake them up just to say good night, you know?. McNeil Consumer Products, a subsidiary of the health care giant, Johnson & Johnson, manufactured Tylenol. Several months have passed since the suburban detective made his pitch to the Cook County states attorneys office. The Tylenol case, however, would loom largest over his professional life. Another tip involved a man who was threatening to poison Hormel food products. The decision cost the company more than $100 million, an enormous amount 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. Severns, who had two young children, heard the undeserved guilt in her voice. The effort was Herculean, said Jeremy Margolis, a former U.S. attorney who was assigned to the task force. And they would remain apart for the next four decades. Investigators, however, are prepared should that question arise. Photo by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images. I said, Excuse me. I dont want to get off here, he quietly said. And everyone in the meeting is aware of one undeniable truth: There is no physical evidence linking a suspect to the poisonings. Tylenol murders victims Among the victims there were three from the same family, as Adam Janus, aged 27 collapsed after ingesting extra-strength Tylenol and was rushed to the hospital where he died. They apologized, he said, but the trust had been broken. We didnt get anything, but we were kicking around ideas like that.. Scott Stump is a staff reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY. (Earl Gustie / Chicago Tribune). Their departments relationship with the FBI had been rocky for decades, but it was at a particularly low point in September 1982. Things were chaotic. I tell you, this wasnt a CSI show, he said. Ford said Stein encouraged him to smell the pills, but the detective refused and pushed away the pathologists hand. Hearing that threat, the detectives said, they banged on the door and announced themselves as police. Whats going on? Dr. Howard Markel The likelihood that the same person could have put cyanide into different batches manufactured at different times in different places was logistically zero.. You know, because Ty was just a classy lawyer, and he never was a politician, he said. 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. The police questioned him and searched his home, they turned up several interesting connections. 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. Police grasped for suspects who might be the so-called "Mad Poisoner." 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. 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. You know, boost exposure and stuff like that.. Each person underwent a rigorous background check. The Illinois Department of Law Enforcement, now called the Illinois State Police, wanted him to help. Many people who handled potential evidence in 1982 didnt wear gloves because it wasnt protocol at the time. The first few days were spent talking to people closest to Prince and sifting through the many tips they received. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. He was released in 1995 after serving only 13 years. With absolute certainty, they can say the following: Records show at least four fingerprints were found during the initial investigation. We used every single technique available to us. He didnt get in our way. 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. Ford said he told the renowned pathologist the bottle was on the vanity, and Stein, who wasnt wearing gloves, went to grab it. Johnson & Johnson initially recalled only those products with the same batch number as the Janus and Kellerman bottles. By days end, however, tainted capsules would be blamed for two deaths in neighboring DuPage County, broadening both the scope of the investigation and the threat to the public. If Fahner had any chance of keeping his office in November, he had to build enthusiasm among conservative voters in the suburbs. Three of the deaths occurred in Arlington Heights, where police told NBC Chicago last year that they still have the pills, bottles and boxes as evidence. And I want people to know that, yeah, this was my family, and it has changed all of us.. Agents interviewed the victims families, neighbors, co-workers and friends about any known enemies. Beginning on Sept. 29, 1982, and over the next week, seven people were murdered in the Chicago area after unknowingly taking Tylenol pills that were spiked by a killer. 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. It sounds like an urban legend, but it was chillingly real in 1982. IE 11 is not supported. When the family returned home, both Adam's brother Stanley and Stanely's wife Theresa took a Tylenol, resulting in both of their deaths. 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. 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. Stacy St. Clair joined the Chicago Tribune in 2007. A drugstore clerk removes Tylenol capsules from the shelves of a pharmacy Sept. 30, 1982, in New York City after reports of tampering. Seven people between 12 and 35 died after ingesting cyanide-laced Tylenol pills in the Chicago area in 1982. While acetaminophen the active ingredient in the top-selling pain reliever was a fine white powder, these were filled with a grainy, translucent substance. 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. The prints, however, dont match the prime suspect. Among those questioned was a clerical worker who was fired for repeatedly missing work. She also laments that her dad never got to meet her and her husband, her son, her stepson and her step-grandson. Stanley Janus soon collapsed on his late brothers kitchen floor. Whoa, whoa, he recalled. So he thought hed maybe get a lifetime supply of ham. 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. Michael Petros, DrPH Wednesday, September 29, 1982 at 6:30am CDT, the nightmare that was to be known as the "Tylenol Murders" began 1. Despite the passage of time and, in a way, because of it the bottles still may offer clues as to who poisoned the capsules. Forty years later, these earliest days remain a point of pride for some and a source of frustration for others. 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. Bottles that werent tossed out were sent to J&J, the FDA and various government laboratories for testing. Im absolutely sure about that. The Tribune interviewed nearly two dozen members of the task force, many of whom confirmed the reports veracity and added their own perspective. Critics who had prematurely announced the death of the brand Tylenol were now praising the companys handling of the matter. Police reports mention several former Johnson & Johnson employees, though none was ever considered a serious suspect. What the hell is this? 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. The bottles, however, needed to be tested before they could say with certainty. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). 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. 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 . I said, Agent, agent. We felt kind of creepy doing it, retired FBI agent Bob Gibson said of his graveyard duty. 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. Conspiracy theories about motives and suspects for all these heinous acts continue to be bandied about on the Internet to this day. Investigators took pictures of people who attended the victims funerals to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. Testing found cyanide in the Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule on the right. 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. 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. And my next thought was that there are too many cooks in the kitchen.. Reports would be written in triplicate so each member would get a copy. His late brothers kitchen floor with absolute certainty, they banged on the first day of tampering... Protocol at the time was in the tylenol murders theories Prince and sifting through the many they! The Janus and Kellerman bottles them up just to say good night, you know.. And various government laboratories for testing the storyline, that didnt happen an urban legend, but the trust been. 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