tylenol murders theories

Neither did the chemist who performed the cyanide test. So I stopped by the house on the way home, introduced myself and tried to answer any questions they had, he said. 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. While acetaminophen the active ingredient in the top-selling pain reliever was a fine white powder, these were filled with a grainy, translucent substance. Many people who handled potential evidence in 1982 didnt wear gloves because it wasnt protocol at the time. Investigators took pictures of people who attended the victims funerals to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. Rosen's theory is that the tampering did not happen on store shelves, but at the manufacturing plant before the product was shipped out. 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 Tylenol task force may be no exception, he said, but the tensions didnt affect the overall effort. So he thought hed maybe get a lifetime supply of ham. 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. The task force questioned stock boys, managers, disgruntled former employees and problematic customers at the hot locations, the teams name for the stores that sold the tainted Tylenol. Tylenol murders: A nationwide panic, a family tragedy Her dad, aunt and uncle were killed in the notorious unsolved poisonings that terrorized Chicago. 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. The man shrugged off his dismissal when investigators asked, saying it was the nature of the business. The best suspect for the Tylenol murders has always been James William Lewis, who sent an extortion letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to stop the murders. Jose Rosa, right, was one of hundreds of Chicago city employees and volunteers to distribute warnings about cyanide-laced Tylenol in fall 1982. Ford and Gildea arrived at the campus with hopes of a break in the case, only to find out the so-called professor was a high school boy pretending to work at UIC so he could pick up college girls. The agencies, at times, clashed with each other. Members of the media the same people who were constantly pestering him for information nicknamed Fahner Tylenol Ty. It stuck. Introduction Heading link Copy link. 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. The 18-page investigative summary also provides key evidence, including the names of the three main suspects, during the first seven months of the case. You know, because Ty was just a classy lawyer, and he never was a politician, he said. NBC News reached out to Lewis and did not receive a response. It wasnt a grab for authority. The first tainted Tylenol victim - Mary Kellerman, 12, of Elk Grove Village - collapsed and died on . Former Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek, shown in September, says he felt Ty Fahner was chosen to head the task force for political reasons. It marked the first mass recall in U.S. history, involving more than 31 million bottles. And I would wake them up just to say good night, you know?. A casket is carried out of St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church after the funeral Mass for three members of the Janus family in 1982. 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. 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. Several months have passed since the suburban detective made his pitch to the Cook County states attorneys office. America was gripped by paranoia and fear. In reality, some task force members still accuse their colleagues of secretive behavior 40 years later. (Earl Gustie / Chicago Tribune). The decision cost the company more than $100 million, an enormous amount in 1982. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration then cautioned the public against taking the pain reliever in capsule form. Police Officer Michael Miljan leaves an Arlington Heights pharmacy after making sure bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol were being removed from shelves. Reports would be written in triplicate so each member would get a copy. 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. 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. History's Greatest Mysteries looks into the theories regarding the Tylenol Murders in Chicago 1982. He received the assignment by default, and then it became part of a national news story. The gelatin-based capsules were especially popular because they were slick and easy to swallow. They knew the weapon. The agents didnt bother to pretend that labeling rules were their true motivation for getting involved. I have no idea who gave that one, but it was perfect.. Thats just human nature. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Siekmann drove to a state laboratory in the city with the bottle on the seat next to him. 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. 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. 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. Within a week, her death would panic the entire nation. Oct. 2, 1982: CBS 2's Phil Walters reports on the investigation into the Tylenol poisonings. The Tylenol case marked one of the earliest uses of the approach. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Ford, a Vietnam veteran with a classic Chicago accent and an Irishmans love of storytelling, died of a heart attack a few days after speaking with the Tribune. Records show law enforcement has spent the past several years dealing almost entirely with forensic evidence. Do not use it.. It sounds like an urban legend, but it was chillingly real in 1982. 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. 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. Pain in the neck, Hogberg said of his CPD counterparts. 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. The operation was primarily staffed by female agents who answered phone calls and assessed information while their male counterparts worked in the field. 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. Flight attendant Paula Prince bought a tainted bottle of Tylenol at the Walgreens at Wells Street and North Avenue in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune), Look, like any other series of government bureaucracies, theres always tension between agencies, he said. Others found Fahner the obvious choice. 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 first few days were spent talking to people closest to Prince and sifting through the many tips they received. 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. 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. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Margolis, shown in his Chicago office in July, was part of the original Tylenol task force in 1982. 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. Six suburbanites had already died from cyanide poisoning by that time, but this was Chicagos first and, in the end, only victim. 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. 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. Former Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek, shown in September, says he felt Ty Fahner was chosen to head the task force for political reasons. You know, boost exposure and stuff like that.. 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. Next week: Police investigate a poor mans James Bond, and an eighth person dies. To this day, however, the perpetrators of these murders have never been found. Studies have found women who kill use poison more often than men do, but they typically target people they know. Illinois state police and FBI supervisors did most of the talking at that first meeting, several attendees told the Tribune. 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. Security cameras were scarce in suburban Chicago in 1982, but investigators checked the images that existed. Bottles that werent tossed out were sent to J&J, the FDA and various government laboratories for testing. The Tylenol murders have never been solved, though at one point, the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, was a suspect. 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. Though the company expanded the recall the same day to cover the batch involved in McFarlands death, the piecemeal approach troubled Fahner. 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. Photo by Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images. X27 ; s Greatest Mysteries looks into the Tylenol murders have never been found often than men do but! Staffed by female agents who answered phone calls and assessed information while their male counterparts worked the! Agents who answered phone calls and assessed information while their male counterparts worked in neck! Answered phone calls and assessed information while their male counterparts worked in the city with bottle... Mcfarlands death, the FDA and various government laboratories for testing tainted bottle of at! 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