(Don Casper / Chicago Tribune), Obviously, Johnson & Johnson didnt put cyanide in their own product. It started in 1982, not long after the murders. 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. Security cameras were scarce in suburban Chicago in 1982, but investigators checked the images that existed. 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. Nothing has come of that January 2022 meeting. Kasia Janus also always verifies products are properly sealed before she buys anything at stores, she said in a recently published series of interviews with CNN that described the gut-wrenching legacy left behind for her by the unsolved Tylenol killings, which made tampering with medications as well as other consumer goods a federal crime but remain unsolved. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Six suburbanites had already died from cyanide poisoning by that time, but this was Chicagos first and, in the end, only victim. 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. Fahner thought state officials needed to be even more aggressive, despite the consequences for the investigation. He already had a new job. (Phil Greer / Chicago Tribune). 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. A casket is carried out of St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church after the funeral Mass for three members of the Janus family in 1982. His boss assigned him to the Janus murders two days earlier because the departments more seasoned detectives were working the fatal beating of a homeless man in a local park. 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. It wasnt a grab for authority. We were looking for somebody that really looked like they didnt belong. 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. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Hearing that threat, the detectives said, they banged on the door and announced themselves as police. And they had a very good theory as to when they were placed. 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. Other task force members, it should be noted, werent particularly fond of Chicagos efforts either. 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. 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 The killer may have salted the bottles with cyanide-laced capsules while standing in the store aisle, investigators thought. Or, at the very least, get them to remember his name. As a result of the crime, makers of Tylenol developed new product protection methods. I do think it created a lot of problems because youre always thinking theres somebody doing something behind your back.. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/tylenol-murders-1982, Why Eleanor Roosevelts civics book for kids is making a comeback. These other men were all worried about his chances. The Tylenol case marked one of the earliest uses of the approach. Finally, in late July, officials from both Cook and DuPage gather for a video conference. Everyone who had access to the box including the judge and his wife provided fingerprints for comparison. Another theory was that whoever poisoned the medication did it at home or in a car, then placed the bottles back on the shelves. 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. . Members of the media the same people who were constantly pestering him for information nicknamed Fahner Tylenol Ty. It stuck. The guy was a little wimpy, but his ham did stink.. Investigators also collected more than 200 cyanide samples from Chicago-area businesses, facilities and institutions and sent them to an FDA research laboratory in Cincinnati. He didnt fit that profile, Hogberg said. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). the fact remains, the Tylenol murders of 1982 . Was Charles Dickens the first celebrity medical spokesman? Members of the Illinois State Police join, as well. And the last point that they wanted to strike home was that the person who committed this is enjoying the attention right now and the fact that he or she had outsmarted the law enforcement, Lane said. Severns confronted people at both agencies, who blamed each other for keeping him in the dark. Johnson & Johnson initially recalled only those products with the same batch number as the Janus and Kellerman bottles. Records show law enforcement has spent the past several years dealing almost entirely with forensic evidence. 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. If people threw out their Tylenol, authorities would never know the full extent of the tampering. . Tylenols parent company, Johnson & Johnson, also saw its stock price drop after the news about the tainted capsules broke. 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 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. You know, boost exposure and stuff like that.. Tylenol murders investigators pursue new charges in 40-year case. Conspiracy theories about motives and suspects for all these heinous acts continue to be bandied about on the Internet to this day. Despite the passage of time and, in a way, because of it the bottles still may offer clues as to who poisoned the capsules. 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. "As you can see, it is easy to place cyanideinto capsules sitting on store shelves," he wrote in the letter. In this op-ed, he reflects on his experiences leading the public health response to the Tylenol murders of 1982. And then there are agents who dont. 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. 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. He hangs up, opens the door and we come in like gangbusters, Gildea said. Now she's sharing her story for the first. Before that she reported for the Daily Herald, the Dayton Daily News and The Topeka Capital-Journal. 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. Given the totality of the circumstances, some thought it unusual for the Illinois attorney general to lead the investigation. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune). Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. I dont think that bore fruit at all.. 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. 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. The panic stemming from the Tylenol murders resulted in a permanent change in the packaging of medicine. He goes, It smells like burnt almonds. . Police departments and fire stations began collecting bottles, as well. 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. 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. James Thompson, Illinois Secretary of State James Edgar and shook his head. 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. Our property guy, he couldnt keep up with it., Chicago police Officer Sam Barsevich, left, takes inventory of Tylenol bottles that residents turned in at his station on Oct. 2, 1982. 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. Eight of them would be three-member squads composed of a federal agent, a state investigator and a suburban detective from one of the towns where the victims lived or tainted bottles were discovered. Local police departments and states attorneys offices have been trying to crack the case for 40 years. It was at this point, early October of 1982, that investigators made the connection between the poisoning deaths and Tylenol, the best-selling, non-prescription pain reliever sold in the United States at that time. Medicare Pharmacy employee Mary Butler, right, shows a box of Extra-Strength Tylenol to Officer Michael Miljan in Arlington Heights. Several victims families told the Tribune they didnt hear much from investigators after those initial interviews. All of them, it turned out, took Tylenol shortly before they died. "Ladies, you ever been harassed for something for 40 years that you had nothing to do with?" Elmhurst police Detective Herb Hogberg interviewed a chemist who had been laid off from the company in recent months. [[Para leer en espaol] Los asesinatos de Tylenol, parte 2: Tylenol mezclado con cianuro fue el arma homicida. 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. She rarely heard how the tips panned out. Forty years later, investigators still cant say with certainty. What happens in most cases, and certainly what happened here beyond any question, was a 100% selfless, unified devotion to a very important mission.. 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. So, the theory was the tampering took place at the store, said FBI agent Lane. The Chicago detectives shared that worry. He investigated the Tylenol poisonings in the Janus family and later served as police chief in Island Lake. As weeks went by without an arrest, detectives started using different doors to avoid the cameras. He was released in 1995 after serving only 13 years. The lot numbers for the McFarland, Reiner and Prince bottles indicated they were manufactured in Round Rock, Texas, and went to different warehouses in the Chicago area before ending up on store shelves. The Kellerman and Janus bottles contained Tylenol from lot MC2880, manufactured in Pennsylvania on April 26, 1982. It was then that Mary Kellerman, a 12-year-old girl from Elk Grove Village, a suburb of Chicago, told her mother and father about her symptoms. McNeil Consumer Products, a subsidiary of the health care giant, Johnson & Johnson, manufactured Tylenol. None matched. Investigators assumed the culprit was a man, though records indicate they didnt automatically rule out anyone based on gender. Bottles that werent tossed out were sent to J&J, the FDA and various government laboratories for testing. Forty years later, it still bothers him. Why was this happening? But no one has ever been arrested in connection with the spate of poisonings that shattered the families of Janus and the others. Advances in technology have allowed investigators to determine the postmark date on the extortion letter written by Lewis that demands $1 million be wired to a bank account "if you want to stop the killing," according to the Chicago Tribune's review of the documents. I mean, it just got to me, Severns said. We still receive tips that are being evaluated and investigated. 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. But I didnt have the gray hair yet.. These packaging protections soon became the industry standard for all over-the-counter medications. The more she . 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. Many people who handled potential evidence in 1982 didnt wear gloves because it wasnt protocol at the time. It was standing room only inside the Arlington Heights Police Department for the first meeting of what would become the Tylenol task force. Pero quin fue el asesino? Chicago police Officer Sam Barsevich, left, takes inventory of Tylenol bottles that residents turned in at his station on Oct. 2, 1982. The task force knew the mechanism behind the murders, Fellmann said. Following the same theory, investigators took pictures . He didnt get in our way. 1: Poisoning the Well: Directed by Travis Clark. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. (Ovie Carter / Chicago Tribune). Only really frivolous things went in that other pile, she 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 cyanide, a deadly chemical. And everyone in the meeting is aware of one undeniable truth: There is no physical evidence linking a suspect to the poisonings. In the meantime, Kasia Janus has said shes dealt with occasionally overwhelming sadness because of the graduations her father couldnt attend. Police Officer Michael Miljan leaves an Arlington Heights pharmacy after making sure bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol were being removed from shelves. 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. He couldnt leave. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). And they would remain apart for the next four decades. And they talked to veterinarians about any unusual animal poisonings, thinking the murderer may have tested the chemical on pets first. Severns, who had two young children, heard the undeserved guilt in her voice. 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 Fahner wasnt the only source of tensions. By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. They can do it, in part, by revisiting the earliest days of the Tylenol investigation, a time when evidence was not always handled according to todays careful standards. Four decades later, task force leaders downplay accusations of tensions among the agencies, suggesting history has been revised in an effort to explain why no one has been charged with the murders. You werent there. But if they kept the bottles in their medicine cabinets, more people could die. Elk Grove Village Detective Michael Severns said investigators were so intent on chasing leads that they at times lost sight of the grieving families. 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. (Fred Jewell/AP). He had never been better known in Illinois and was inching up in the polls too. 3: A Nightmare on Halloween: With Molly Jean Brandenburg, Carter Roy. Customers who had a problem, anybody that could make some money out of it.. 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. From the start, Detectives Ford and Gildea didnt understand the purpose of driving out to Des Plaines each day in rush hour traffic when they had a murder to solve back in the city. Meanwhile, a 12-year-old child named Mary Kellerman had also died suddenly in another Chicago suburb after taking an Extra-Strength Tylenol. There was little evidence to go on, no inkling of a motive and five people dead. 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. Its a one-way street for information back and forth. Im just being honest, Siekmann said. As the de facto leader of the task force, he would come to be known in the media as "Tylenol Ty." 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. Authorities were convinced the killer didnt know any of the victims. They understood the tension between the FBI and local law enforcement some of them shared those same resentments but they thought Chicago didnt even try to be team players. The results came back positive for cyanide at 1:30 a.m. Critics who had prematurely announced the death of the brand Tylenol were now praising the companys handling of the matter. Paramedics came and took Adam Janus to a nearby hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead from what they suspected may have been a heart attack. 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. The Chicago Tylenol Murders: With Laurence Fishburne. What was my dads favorite color? Sadly, the tragedies that resulted from the Tylenol poisonings can never be undone. There wasnt that much tension, Fahner said. 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. The effort was Herculean, said Jeremy Margolis, a former U.S. attorney who was assigned to the task force. Police reports mention several former Johnson & Johnson employees, though none was ever considered a serious suspect. We locked him up.. The man hurriedly told the Hormel operator that he had to go and he would call her back later. 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