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. Roger Arnold worked at a jewel warehouse with the father of one of the victims named Mary Reiner. A lot of people who didnt like me or didnt like Thompson or my association were taking shots, Fahner said. 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 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 Every agency imaginable attended, many of them represented by their top leaders. Stanley died that very day and Theresa died two days later. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. Next week: Police investigate a poor mans James Bond, and an eighth person dies. 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. Seven people in the Chicago area were killed that year by Tylenol that had been poisoned with potassium cyanide. 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. Former Chicago police Detective Jimmy Gildea, shown at his Chicago home in July, investigated the death of Tylenol victim Paula Prince. Subscribe to our Science Newsletter to explore the Though the company expanded the recall the same day to cover the batch involved in McFarlands death, the piecemeal approach troubled Fahner. As the de facto leader of the task force, he would come to be known in the media as "Tylenol Ty.". 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. So as we organized, there were about 10, 15 different avenues of investigations to pursue, like disgruntled employees, former employees, lawsuits, Lane said. 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. Stacy St. Clair joined the Chicago Tribune in 2007. The Tylenol Murders Remain One of the Nation's Biggest Unsolved Mysteries Popular belief is that the killer was James Lewis, the man imprisoned for 13 years for extorting Johnson & Johnson in the. Before the 1982 crisis, Tylenol controlled more than 35 percent of the over-the-counter pain reliever market; only a few weeks after the murders, that number plummeted to less than 8 percent. 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. The company, however, did not keep records of where the products were shipped. Meanwhile, a 12-year-old child named Mary Kellerman had also died suddenly in another Chicago suburb after taking an Extra-Strength Tylenol. The Tylenol Murders Victims Mary Kellerman On September 29, 1982, 12 year old Mary Kellerman woke up feeling ill. Bottles that werent tossed out were sent to J&J, the FDA and various government laboratories for testing. Other task force members, it should be noted, werent particularly fond of Chicagos efforts either. 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. Not just the hours, but the frustration. I think we ended up charging that guy with a misdemeanor, some disorderly conduct or some nonsense, he said. 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. Kouba reviewed each as it came in, deciding which needed a field agents attention and which could be placed in a bin with other ludicrous claims. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). (Don Casper / Chicago Tribune), People were terrified, Fahner said. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Every night, I would come home after my kids were in bed, he said. By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. Former DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann, who in 1982 was a deputy coroner, handled the Tylenol bottles from Mary "Lynn" Reiner and Mary McFarland. 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. Someone, police hypothesized, must have taken bottles off the shelves of local grocers and drug stores in the Chicago area, laced the capsules with poison, and then returned the restored packages to the shelves to be purchased by the unknowing victims. His task force partners the FBI and state police had blindsided the Elk Grove Village detective, and he was angry. You know, because Ty was just a classy lawyer, and he never was a politician, he said. Still, in his opinion, Fahner was exactly what the task force needed. The tainted bottle from the Schaumburg pharmacy contained three partial prints on the capsules, but (they) were not suitable for comparison, the memo states. When Ford and Gildea arrived at the North Side flophouse where the man lived, he was still on the phone with a company operator and was promising to punish Hormel just like he had in the Tylenol case. The Kellerman and Janus bottles contained Tylenol from lot MC2880, manufactured in Pennsylvania on April 26, 1982. He investigated the Tylenol poisonings in the Janus family and later served as police chief in Island Lake. They can account for the differing DNA profiles. Security cameras were scarce in suburban Chicago in 1982, but investigators checked the images that existed. He received the assignment by default, and then it became part of a national news story. No, Oscar Wilde probably didnt die of syphilis. 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. Chemists working for the Illinois Public Health Department in Chicago test the contents of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. Investigators first considered whether the tampering could have occurred at the manufacturing plants. Members of the media the same people who were constantly pestering him for information nicknamed Fahner Tylenol Ty. It stuck. 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. The FBI and Chicago police performed separate, but largely parallel, investigations until Oct. 6. I thought he was perfect.. 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. President Reagan wanted the FBI in the investigation, retired FBI Special Agent Roy Lane Jr. told the Tribune. Simply put, the feds entry into the investigation hinged on the admittedly preposterous notion that the manufacturer intentionally put poison in the pain reliever and then committed a misdemeanor crime by not including it on the label. 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 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. If Fahner had any chance of keeping his office in November, he had to build enthusiasm among conservative voters in the suburbs. 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. 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. 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. Later that morning, Siekmann drove to the northwest suburbs to share what he had learned with a group of law enforcement officials assembled by Fahners team. The profilers predicted the culprits past likely included treatment for mental health issues and an attack on his parents. If you are curious, come to a small house on a quiet, winding street in Elk Grove Village. Our highest responsibility has always been the health and safety of our consumers," Johnson & Johnson said in a statement to NBC News. And they would remain apart for the next four decades. We locked him up.. The agencies, at times, clashed with each other. Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. 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. That thrill, however, would eventually diminish over time and the killer would seek more excitement, according to the profilers. Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. They knew the weapon. Sadly, the tragedies that resulted from the Tylenol poisonings can never be undone. Police reports mention several former Johnson & Johnson employees, though none was ever considered a serious suspect. 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. 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. The attorney general largely stopped campaigning after joining the task force, but his face was on TV every night. . 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. 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 Tribune has spoken with several people who have been asked to provide DNA samples within the last decade all men who had access to poisoned bottles found in Cook County. Early on the morning of Sept. 29, 1982, a tragic, medical mystery began with a sore throat and a runny nose. And 35 years later, this murder mystery is still . 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. 3: A Nightmare on Halloween: With Molly Jean Brandenburg, Carter Roy. Authorities already considered the womens deaths to be cyanide related by the time they contacted Fahner during his campaign event. He held news conferences, sometimes twice a day, to meet the insatiable media demands. And everyone in the meeting is aware of one undeniable truth: There is no physical evidence linking a suspect to the poisonings. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration then cautioned the public against taking the pain reliever in capsule form. Nothing has come of that January 2022 meeting. 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. 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 those early days, the best leads came from the Tylenol bottles themselves. It didnt take long for the Tylenol murders to become national news. Dr. Howard Markel. We were getting flooded with calls, said John Fellmann, an Arlington Heights detective assigned to the case. Investigators took pictures of people who attended the victims funerals to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. (Josh Reynolds/AP) The investigation into the 1982 Tylenol murders was pretty dormant when an FBI . 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. It sounds like an urban legend, but it was chillingly real in 1982. . 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. 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. I think hes nothing but a class act, said McQuaid, a retired state police captain. "While this tragic incident remains unsolved, this event resulted in important industry improvements to patient safety measures including the creation of tamper-resistant packaging.". Later, Lewis was arrested,. Pain in the neck, Hogberg said of his CPD counterparts. (Earl Gustie / Chicago Tribune). After just one or two task force meetings, Ford and Gildea told their boss they werent going back. But before Sept. 29, 1982, consumer products had few defenses against a person bent on sabotage. And I would wake them up just to say good night, you know?. An FBI agent stood up and started to give a rundown of Chicagos case. 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. 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. 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. The attorney general had no authority to intervene, but Fahner had been an outstanding federal prosecutor, a well-liked director of the state police and an effective leader of major criminal investigations. the fact remains, the Tylenol murders of 1982 . And you know, some agents are better than other agents and can really do a good job. Siekmann, who had been working since 8 a.m., believed some capsules were tainted from the first time he laid eyes on them. I realized I was in the deep end of the pool, he said. September 22, 2022. (Chicago Tribune), Look, like any other series of government bureaucracies, theres always tension between agencies, he said. The evening marked an important shift in the tragedy, moving from a swiftly solved medical mystery into a massive criminal investigation. Illinois state police and FBI supervisors did most of the talking at that first meeting, several attendees told the Tribune. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). The panic stemming from the Tylenol murders resulted in a permanent change in the packaging of medicine. 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. Tamper-resistant pill containers were introduced with packaging that allows consumers to notice if a bottle of pills or medication has been opened or altered. Many people who handled the evidence in 1982 told the Tribune they didnt wear gloves because it wasnt part of their agencys protocol at the time. The Unsolved Tylenol Murders of 1982: The Unabomber Theory Written by C.W.S. 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. I dont want to get off here, he quietly said. While acetaminophen the active ingredient in the top-selling pain reliever was a fine white powder, these were filled with a grainy, translucent substance. We were looking for somebody that really looked like they didnt belong. 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 results came back positive for cyanide at 1:30 a.m. Fahners critics accused him of milking the Tylenol tragedy for his own benefit, and his opponents camp worried that he knew who the killer was and would make an arrest right before the November election. 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. What was he like in school? My theory is that Anna is a diabetic and had just come home from a . 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. Testing found cyanide in the Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule on the right. Tylenols parent company, Johnson & Johnson, also saw its stock price drop after the news about the tainted capsules broke. Kasia said she long blamed herself for her fathers death, even though she was just in preschool when it happened. He had never been better known in Illinois and was inching up in the polls too. I dont think that bore fruit at all.. Was Charles Dickens the first celebrity medical spokesman? She has received numerous national honors for her work. The Chicago Tylenol Murders: With Laurence Fishburne. What are the Tylenol murders? Their opinion soured even further at their first meeting, when one of the lead investigators asked for a briefing on the Prince murder. Forty years later, Ford shook his head at the memory. Some expressed surprise at how casually other people treated the poisoned bottles. (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. 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. FBI agent Shari Kouba, one of the few women on the task force, ran the tips desk. 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. If people threw out their Tylenol, authorities would never know the full extent of the tampering. 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. In the years that followed, Fellmann would rise through the ranks of the Arlington Heights Police Department and eventually become police chief of far north suburban Island Lake. Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson recalled 31 million Tylenol bottles as panic spread nationwide following the deaths. 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. These packaging protections soon became the industry standard for all over-the-counter medications. The bottles traveled to various warehouses, including a final storage stop at a Jewel facility in suburban Franklin Park, before being delivered to different grocery stores on different days before the poisonings. The bottles, however, needed to be tested before they could say with certainty. They told stories of information hoarding, turf wars and glory seeking even when there was none to be had. Stores were pulling the product off shelves. 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. Ford said Stein encouraged him to smell the pills, but the detective refused and pushed away the pathologists hand. Ford said he told the renowned pathologist the bottle was on the vanity, and Stein, who wasnt wearing gloves, went to grab it. Now she's sharing her story for the first. Some of the investigators started using it privately, too. Im just being honest, Siekmann said. The bottle's cap was easily opened. He didnt fit that profile, Hogberg said. 6 Amazon travel essentials for your next getaway, starting at $12. 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. 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. The Soviets were willing to assist, but their satellites werent trained on the Chicago suburbs at the time. 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. 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. Six suburbanites had already died from cyanide poisoning by that time, but this was Chicagos first and, in the end, only victim. All 3 networks lead with the Tylenol story on the first day of the crisis. To this day, however, the perpetrators of these murders have never been found. In this op-ed, he reflects on his experiences leading the public health response to the Tylenol murders of 1982. Chicagos doing what they want, so lets just give them something minor to do.. 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. When the family returned home, both Adam's brother Stanley and Stanely's wife Theresa took a Tylenol, resulting in both of their deaths. 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. Forty years later, it still bothers him. Former Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek, shown in September, says he felt Ty Fahner was chosen to head the task force for political reasons. The Chicago Tylenol murders were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from drug tampering in the Chicago metropolitan area in 1982. (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune). Several victims families told the Tribune they didnt hear much from investigators after those initial interviews. Investigators soon confirmed there was lethally poisonous cyanide inside the Tylenol capsules in question. 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. Thats just human nature. 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. 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. Mary was dead by 7 a.m. The red cap was easily flipped open, with nothing but a little piece of cotton left to cover the capsules. 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. Her parents gave permission. There was no clear leader. He goes, It smells like burnt almonds. . The Chicago detectives shared that worry. Her parents gave permission. Stacy has a journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with minors in American politics and Spanish. Ford said he quickly interrupted. Finally, in late July, officials from both Cook and DuPage gather for a video conference. 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. (Fred Jewell/AP). 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. (Charles Osgood / Chicago Tribune). The effort was Herculean, said Jeremy Margolis, a former U.S. attorney who was assigned to the task force. 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. Adam Janus, a 27-year-old postal worker, wasnt feeling well and without having any way to know the mortal peril that the bottle posed for him, he took a pill from it before going to sleep that day. We had an absolute tsunami of Tylenol bottles. The Tylenol murders have never been solved, though at one point, the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, was a suspect. Fahner looked at all the power brokers on the platform U.S. Sen. Charles Percy, Gov. As everyone left that first meeting Friday morning, DuPage deputy coroner Siekmann, who hadnt slept in more than 24 hours, looked around the room and wondered how it would all work. John Fellmann, whose last name was misspelled on his ID from 1980, was a young Arlington Heights police detective when he was assigned to the Tylenol murders. Some worked at the medical examiners office, which played a key role in figuring out the cyanide connection. 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 has not reviewed that evidence. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). He brought personal knowledge (as the former state police director) and experience regarding a criminal investigation. I stepped off that dais, Fahner told the Tribune this year. The Tylenol murders launched a massive criminal investigation. Tylenol murders: A nationwide panic, a family tragedy Transformed by tragedy Her dad, aunt and uncle died 40 years ago after taking poisoned Tylenol. The Tylenol murders: How we reported this story. Jose Rosa, right, was one of hundreds of Chicago city employees and volunteers to distribute warnings about cyanide-laced Tylenol in fall 1982. A casket is carried out of St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church after the funeral Mass for three members of the Janus family in 1982. Forty years later, these earliest days remain a point of pride for some and a source of frustration for others. Siekmann didnt wear gloves. Conspiracy theories about motives and suspects for all these heinous acts continue to be bandied about on the Internet to this day. 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Is a diabetic and had just come home from a swiftly solved medical into... Fbi was ready to reexamine the evidence, i would wake them up just say!, did not keep records of where the products were shipped 12-year-old child named Mary Reiner police. Default, and an eighth person dies that really looked like they didnt hear much from investigators those! Up just to say good night, you know, some agents are better than other agents can... Acts continue to be tested before they could say with certainty parallel, investigations until 6. Reliever in capsule form contents of Extra-Strength Tylenol that was the nature of the investigators using. Threw out their Tylenol, shown at his Chicago home in July, officials from both and.
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