He hangs up, opens the door and we come in like gangbusters, Gildea said. 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. You know, its a hackneyed phrase, but we left no stone unturned., Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Margolis, shown in his Chicago office in July, was part of the original Tylenol task force 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. . Not just the hours, but the frustration. (Phil Greer / 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. . The Tylenol Murders" and asked him if he has any theories on who the Tylenol Killer might be. The latest Tribune poll showed he was down by about 20 points in the upcoming election. And only months later, it changed the way we purchase and consume over-the-counter medications. With absolute certainty, they can say the following: Records show at least four fingerprints were found during the initial investigation. 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. You understand? Ford said he told Stein. He already had a new job. Former DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann, who in 1982 was a deputy coroner, handled the Tylenol bottles from Mary "Lynn" Reiner and Mary McFarland. That wasnt there.. Every night, I would come home after my kids were in bed, he said. And when the sitting attorney general was indicted on tax fraud charges, Thompson appointed Fahner to fill the post. On that day, two unrelated things happened: A pub owner made a phone call to police, and an extortion letter arrived at a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary. But others, including Lane, found it immensely helpful and from his perspective ultimately accurate. Introduction Heading link Copy link. Even after he retired from the FBI in 1996, he didnt let it go. History's Greatest Mysteries looks into the theories regarding the Tylenol Murders in Chicago 1982. Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson recalled 31 million Tylenol bottles as panic spread nationwide following the deaths. "While this tragic incident remains unsolved, this event resulted in important industry improvements to patient safety measures including the creation of tamper-resistant packaging.". The coppers and the FBI guys that I knew all worked together. Extra-Strength Tylenol, shown in a Tribune studio photograph, once was packaged in a paper box with an unglued lid. He held news conferences, sometimes twice a day, to meet the insatiable media demands. 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. 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. He didnt fit that profile, Hogberg said. Everyone who had access to the box including the judge and his wife provided fingerprints for comparison. 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. 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. If people threw out their Tylenol, authorities would never know the full extent of the tampering. NBC News has not reviewed those documents. I had people dropping dead all over the place.. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). That evening, Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner sat on a dais listening to stump speeches at the Kane County Republican Organizations annual dinner. The effort was Herculean, said Jeremy Margolis, a former U.S. attorney who was assigned to the task force. With Molly Jean Brandenburg, Carter Roy. Daniel Walker and several Chicago aldermen convicted in Operation Silver Shovel. 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. Neither did the chemist who performed the cyanide test. See where the eight tainted Tylenol bottles were purchased or discovered. Police departments and fire stations began collecting bottles, as well. She would be the seventh and final person to die from taking the poisoned medication. He had never been better known in Illinois and was inching up in the polls too. They gave her one extra-strength Tylenol capsule that, unbeknownst to them, was laced with the highly poisonous potassium cyanide. I knew how to organize things.. [Para leer en espaol] Los asesinatos de Tylenol, parte 2: Tylenol mezclado con cianuro fue el arma homicida. 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. McNeil Consumer Products, a subsidiary of the health care giant, Johnson & Johnson, manufactured Tylenol. He brought personal knowledge (as the former state police director) and experience regarding a criminal investigation. 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. 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. There wasnt that much tension, Fahner said. The Tylenol task force may be no exception, he said, but the tensions didnt affect the overall effort. Police departments were working the murders in relative isolation, and each county had its own states attorney to oversee the case. Who would be next? Thats clear, Margolis told the Tribune. Margolis, who later became director of the Illinois State Police, says multiagency efforts always endure allegations of infighting and spotlight stealing. 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. Ford said Stein encouraged him to smell the pills, but the detective refused and pushed away the pathologists hand. I always wear the blue suit and the red tie, Lane said. Former Chicago police Detective Jimmy Gildea, shown at his Chicago home in July, investigated the death of Tylenol victim Paula Prince. Thats being made out of whole cloth all these years later. he answered. But I didnt have the gray hair yet.. I dont think that bore fruit at all.. As a result of the crime, makers of Tylenol developed new product protection methods. 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. Now she's sharing her story for the first. Police grasped for suspects who might be the so-called "Mad Poisoner." Why was this happening? 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. President Reagan wanted the FBI in the investigation, retired FBI Special Agent Roy Lane Jr. told the Tribune. It sounds like an urban legend, but it was chillingly real in 1982. She rarely heard how the tips panned out. Jose Rosa, right, was one of hundreds of Chicago city employees and volunteers to distribute warnings about cyanide-laced Tylenol in fall 1982. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Several months have passed since the suburban detective made his pitch to the Cook County states attorneys office. All Rights Reserved. Former Chicago police Detective Jimmy Gildea, shown at his Chicago home in July, investigated the death of Tylenol victim Paula Prince. (Charles Knoblock / AP). I realized I was in the deep end of the pool, he said. Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics The victims had all taken Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide. The Tylenol Murders Pt. These other men were all worried about his chances. Wherever they stand, everyone wishes they had achieved a different result. The investigators would then return around 5 p.m. to update everyone on the days developments. The profilers believed the killer was likely to visit one of those named places to see the heartbreak he had caused. The man hurriedly told the Hormel operator that he had to go and he would call her back later. The task ahead was difficult. And they had a very good theory as to when they were placed. 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. 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 I dont want to get off here, he quietly said. And lives were at risk. The Tylenol murders: The story of a 40-year-old unsolved case begins with a terrifying medical mystery. 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. I said, Excuse me. (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune). And my next thought was that there are too many cooks in the kitchen.. (Carl Wagner / Chicago Tribune). And so the Department of Justice just looked up a law and by a little bit of a hook and a crook said the FBI has jurisdiction because of an FDA law (about) truth in labeling.. Investigators first considered whether the tampering could have occurred at the manufacturing plants. 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. And 35 years later, this murder mystery is still . The arrests came as the result of an undercover FBI operation, and The Marquette 10 as the disgraced officers came to be known remain an enduring symbol of police corruption in Chicago. It is something that altered the life of every person in the world, Janus, who had never before spoken publicly about her ordeal, told CNN. Critics who had prematurely announced the death of the brand Tylenol were now praising the companys handling of the matter. Thank you. (Chicago Tribune archive). To this day, however, the perpetrators of these murders have never been found. 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. They knew the locations. Photo by Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images. Male murderers are more likely, in general, to kill randomly and on a large scale. Im absolutely sure about that. When the family returned home, both Adam's brother Stanley and Stanely's wife Theresa took a Tylenol, resulting in both of their deaths. What was my dads favorite color? He said Marys mother, Jeanna, asked him if she should have noticed that someone had tampered with the bottle. The poisonings spanned multiple towns and two counties. Scott Stump is a staff reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY. A casket is carried out of St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church after the funeral Mass for three members of the Janus family in 1982. . In those early days, the best leads came from the Tylenol bottles themselves. So I stopped by the house on the way home, introduced myself and tried to answer any questions they had, he said. His task force partners the FBI and state police had blindsided the Elk Grove Village detective, and he was angry. Tylenols parent company, Johnson & Johnson, also saw its stock price drop after the news about the tainted capsules broke. Dr. Howard Markel writes a monthly column for the PBS NewsHour, highlighting momentous historical events that continue to shape modern medicine. 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 man shrugged off his dismissal when investigators asked, saying it was the nature of the business. Chicagos doing what they want, so lets just give them something minor to do.. And you had a lot of very experienced, very intelligent, very resourceful people thinking about this all the time, thinking about angles, thinking about ideas, testing them and implementing them wherever we possibly could. As a state crime, murder fell under the purview of local law enforcement. Following the same theory, investigators took pictures of everyone who attended the victims funerals and set up time-lapse cameras at grave sites to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. Former Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek told the Tribune he believed Fahners selection was purely political, done specifically because of the November election. 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. Illinois state police and FBI supervisors did most of the talking at that first meeting, several attendees told the Tribune. Our highest responsibility has always been the health and safety of our consumers," Johnson & Johnson said in a statement to NBC News. The Tylenol case, however, would loom largest over his professional life. (Earl Gustie / Chicago Tribune). America was gripped by paranoia and fear. And everyone in the meeting is aware of one undeniable truth: There is no physical evidence linking a suspect to the poisonings. It didnt take long for the Tylenol murders to become national news. 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. Here's what to know about the history of the case and the latest developments. You know, boost exposure and stuff like that.. Her parents gave permission. 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. (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. She told investigators that, in retrospect, she deserved her termination and swore she would do better at her next job. The Kellerman and Janus bottles contained Tylenol from lot MC2880, manufactured in Pennsylvania on April 26, 1982. So, the theory was the tampering took place at the store, said FBI agent Lane. Chicago police Detectives Jimmy Gildea. He received the assignment by default, and then it became part of a national news story. Some of the investigators started using it privately, too. Extra-Strength Tylenol bottles, for example, came in a paper box with an unglued lid. The program went far beyond any database previously used by law enforcement in Illinois. What are you giving this story for? So they ran him off the stage and I got up there.. I think hes nothing but a class act, said McQuaid, a retired state police captain. 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. It was so Dick Tracy to me, Steed said. I think after a day or two, the state police realized theyre on their own. The Tylenol murders have never been solved, though at one point, the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, was a suspect. The new timeline suggests Lewis wrote the letter before the public knew the deaths were linked to the tainted Tylenol pills, according to the Chicago Tribune. It was standing room only inside the Arlington Heights Police Department for the first meeting of what would become the Tylenol task force. 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. The Tylenol murders fundamentally changed the way we consume medication - among other things, leading to tamper-proof pill and bottle designs. Lewis, who now lives in the Boston area, has long denied any involvement in the murders and has never been charged. The 40-year-old Tylenol murder investigation remains at a standstill. While I was not born yet and don't personally remember the Chicago Tylenol Murders of 1982, I do feel like I have experienced some of the anxiety that has never gone away. (Ovie Carter / Chicago Tribune). 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. Police reports mention several former Johnson & Johnson employees, though none was ever considered a serious suspect. He needed to be there, no matter how much he hated campaigning. It all goes to them, and you get nothing in return., Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek talks about the Tylenol investigation on Oct. 7, 1982, about a week after the seven deaths. The evening marked an important shift in the tragedy, moving from a swiftly solved medical mystery into a massive criminal investigation. Dr. Howard Markel Only really frivolous things went in that other pile, she said. "Ladies, you ever been harassed for something for 40 years that you had nothing to do with?" And you know, some agents are better than other agents and can really do a good job. The Tylenol murders: How we reported this story. Forty years later, these earliest days remain a point of pride for some and a source of frustration for others. 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. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. 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. Flight attendant Paula Prince bought a tainted bottle of Tylenol at the Walgreens at Wells Street and North Avenue in Chicago. Investigators express frustration, anger even. The gelatin-based capsules were especially popular because they were slick and easy to swallow. Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. Chemists working for the Illinois Public Health Department in Chicago test the contents of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. The Illinois Department of Law Enforcement, now called the Illinois State Police, wanted him to help. It would likely be someone with gray hair. Jose Rosa, right, was one of hundreds of Chicago city employees and volunteers to distribute warnings about cyanide-laced Tylenol in fall 1982. The killer may have salted the bottles with cyanide-laced capsules while standing in the store aisle, investigators thought. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Margolis, shown in his Chicago office in July, was part of the original Tylenol task force in 1982. In one instance, someone reported that a chemistry professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago had been bragging about access to labs with cyanide. 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. Pero quin fue el asesino? In the end, it was decided that the state police would take the lead among the agencies and that investigators would be divided into nearly four dozen teams. A drugstore clerk removes Tylenol capsules from the shelves of a pharmacy Sept. 30, 1982, in New York City after reports of tampering. All of them, it turned out, took Tylenol shortly before they died. I was the detective at the scene. 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. These packaging protections soon became the industry standard for all over-the-counter medications. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). 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. 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. 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. I tell you, this wasnt a CSI show, he said. 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. 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. The death toll now stood at five: Reiner, McFarland, Adam Janus of Arlington Heights, his brother Stanley Janus of Lisle and 12-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village. September 22, 2022. 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. In late September of 1982 seven people were killed after an unknown suspect placed cyanide laced Tylenol pills in store bottles. We were looking for somebody that really looked like they didnt belong. Hearing that threat, the detectives said, they banged on the door and announced themselves as police. Each participant has a packet of information that authorities use to explain their findings. 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. 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. Most working detectives really dont trust the FBI, and the FBI doesnt trust us, Ford said. Forty years later, Ford shook his head at the memory. Police Officer Michael Miljan leaves an Arlington Heights pharmacy after making sure bottles of Extra-Strength Tylenol were being removed from shelves. And it took over my life.. 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. For example, Johnson & Johnson developed new product protection methods and ironclad pledges to do better in protecting their consumers in the future. It marked the first mass recall in U.S. history, involving more than 31 million bottles. 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. And they would remain apart for the next four decades. 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. 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. We were getting flooded with calls, said John Fellmann, an Arlington Heights detective assigned to the case. The investigation would fork, taking the FBI and Chicago police down vastly different paths. The task force met each morning at the Des Plaines headquarters to discuss leads and get their assignments. The task force didnt know who or why.. Security cameras were scarce in suburban Chicago in 1982, but investigators checked the images that existed. Or, at the very least, get them to remember his name. 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. The red cap was easily flipped open, with nothing but a little piece of cotton left to cover the capsules. Other task force members, it should be noted, werent particularly fond of Chicagos efforts either. Still, in his opinion, Fahner was exactly what the task force needed. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune), John Fellmann at his home in Huntley in September. 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. My theory is that Anna is a diabetic and had just come home from a . Investigators assumed the culprit was a man, though records indicate they didnt automatically rule out anyone based on gender. By the time he reached his house in Evanston, he was the de facto leader of what had quickly become the countrys highest-profile murder case. 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