Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. 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. However, investigators believe circumstantial evidence is enough to make this a "chargeable" case, but that decision would have to come from prosecutors, according to documents reviewed by the Chicago Tribune. In all, the task force had only eight bottles to offer clues to where and when the tampering could have taken place. I thought, well, this is rather impressive, Siekmann said. Seven people died in 1982 after taking painkillers from bottle someone police do not know who had slipped cyanide pills into. 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. The tips were written up on 3x5 index cards. And you know, some agents are better than other agents and can really do a good job. Michael Petros, DrPH Wednesday, September 29, 1982 at 6:30am CDT, the nightmare that was to be known as the "Tylenol Murders" began 1. The 50-count bottle, which the woman told police she purchased at Franks Finer Foods in Wheaton, contained seven capsules filled with potassium cyanide, records show. Introduction Heading link Copy link. 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. 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. She would be the seventh and final person to die from taking the poisoned medication. The task force didnt know who or why.. President Reagan wanted the FBI in the investigation, retired FBI Special Agent Roy Lane Jr. told the Tribune. 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. 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. So, the theory was the tampering took place at the store, said FBI agent Lane. Stacy St. Clair joined the Chicago Tribune in 2007. Things were chaotic. Ford and his partner Jimmy Gildea both said they tried to stop him because evidence technicians hadnt been to the scene yet, but Stein brushed off their concerns. With fears mounting, Johnson & Johnson recalled all over-the-counter Tylenol capsule products on Oct. 5, nearly a week after Mary Kellermans death. And neither does the DNA. 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. The Soviets were willing to assist, but their satellites werent trained on the Chicago suburbs at the time. 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. In 1989, the FDA established federal guidelines for manufacturers to make all such products tamper-proof. And wherever they fell on the issue, that position hasnt changed much over the past four decades. In the meantime, Kasia Janus has said shes dealt with occasionally overwhelming sadness because of the graduations her father couldnt attend. And then there are agents who dont. The White House, however, had ordered the FBI to find a way into the case amid growing public panic. I dont want to get off here, he quietly said. 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. It started in 1982, not long after the murders. What are you giving this story for? So they ran him off the stage and I got up there.. Several victims families told the Tribune they didnt hear much from investigators after those initial interviews. They apologized, he said, but the trust had been broken. 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. 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. The effort was Herculean, said Jeremy Margolis, a former U.S. attorney who was assigned to the task force. I thought he was perfect.. 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. The panic stemming from the Tylenol murders resulted in a permanent change in the packaging of medicine. The first tainted Tylenol victim - Mary Kellerman, 12, of Elk Grove Village - collapsed and died on . Bottles that werent tossed out were sent to J&J, the FDA and various government laboratories for testing. They looked at accused shoplifters, including a man charged with attempting to steal 28 Tylenol bottles from a Wheaton pharmacy in August. For example, Johnson & Johnson developed new product protection methods and ironclad pledges to do better in protecting their consumers in the future. 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. Fahner left the dinner immediately and made calls throughout the drive home, taking advantage of his position as a statewide official with access to a car phone, then a relatively rare piece of technology. The profilers believed the killer was likely to visit one of those named places to see the heartbreak he had caused. I have no idea who gave that one, but it was perfect.. Every Tylenol bottle had a lot number that offered specific details about the batch those capsules came from. Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. But thats not a problem, the investigators say. Most working detectives really dont trust the FBI, and the FBI doesnt trust us, Ford said. Authorities were convinced the killer didnt know any of the victims. Investigators took pictures of people who attended the victims funerals to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. (Chicago Tribune archive). We were looking for somebody that really looked like they didnt belong. Im not saying that the task force didnt work or thats why the case was never solved, Severns said. 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. The Tylenol Murders Pt. Investigators express frustration, anger even. Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter. Investigators took pictures of people who attended the victims funerals to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. Jose Rosa, right, was one of hundreds of Chicago city employees and volunteers to distribute warnings about cyanide-laced Tylenol in fall 1982. America was gripped by paranoia and fear. Local police departments and states attorneys offices have been trying to crack the case for 40 years. I said, Agent, agent. Dr. Howard Markel The coppers and the FBI guys that I knew all worked together. Among those questioned was a clerical worker who was fired for repeatedly missing work. 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. Tylenols parent company, Johnson & Johnson, also saw its stock price drop after the news about the tainted capsules broke. 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. That testing uncovered three more poisoned bottles: two turned in by customers in Wheaton and Chicago and one found on a Schaumburg pharmacy shelf. Flight attendant Paula Prince bought a tainted bottle of Tylenol at the Walgreens at Wells Street and North Avenue in Chicago. NBC News has not reviewed that evidence. To this day, however, the perpetrators of these murders have never been found. The bottle's cap was easily opened. Chicagos doing what they want, so lets just give them something minor to do.. Reporters from the Chicago Tribune tracked down Lewis last month as part of the investigative podcast "Unsealed: The Tylenol Murders" and asked him if he has any theories on who the Tylenol Killer might be. Studies have found women who kill use poison more often than men do, but they typically target people they know. Forty years later, it still bothers him. Male murderers are more likely, in general, to kill randomly and on a large scale. The first few days were spent talking to people closest to Prince and sifting through the many tips they received. Ford said Stein encouraged him to smell the pills, but the detective refused and pushed away the pathologists hand. Former DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann, who in 1982 was a deputy coroner, handled the Tylenol bottles from Mary "Lynn" Reiner and Mary McFarland. 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. 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. And it took over my life.. I always wear the blue suit and the red tie, Lane said. Ford said he told the renowned pathologist the bottle was on the vanity, and Stein, who wasnt wearing gloves, went to grab it. That said, he was charged with extortion and sentenced to 20 years in prison. They knew the weapon. Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner talks about the Tylenol deaths on Oct. 1, 1982. The substance was grainier than the untainted Tylenol on the left. They came up with nothing. But when she opened the . Dr. Howard Markel writes a monthly column for the PBS NewsHour, highlighting momentous historical events that continue to shape modern medicine. . I think its pretty important, the aide replied. Seven people between 12 and 35 died after ingesting cyanide-laced Tylenol pills in the Chicago area in 1982. It sounds like an urban legend, but it was chillingly real in 1982. He would gravitate toward someone with a blue suit and red tie, the quintessential 1980s-style power suit. Fahner, as head of the task force, quickly became the public face of the investigation. I knew how to organize things.. He brought personal knowledge (as the former state police director) and experience regarding a criminal investigation. It was the first of two such trips he made that day, initially with the Reiner bottle and later with the one that killed McFarland. Stacy has a journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with minors in American politics and Spanish. 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. She also laments that her dad never got to meet her and her husband, her son, her stepson and her step-grandson. 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. With Molly Jean Brandenburg, Carter Roy. And as soon as we got the word out that Tylenol had been laced, people said, What do we do? I said, Well, if youve got any in your medicine cabinet either put it in a plastic bag and keep it or throw it away. 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. But their deaths did inspire a series of important moves to make over-the-counter medications safer (albeit never 100 percent safe) for the hundreds of millions of people who buy them every year. Former Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek, shown in September, says he felt Ty Fahner was chosen to head the task force for political reasons. All 3 networks lead with the Tylenol story on the first day of the crisis. In reality, some task force members still accuse their colleagues of secretive behavior 40 years later. He had never been better known in Illinois and was inching up in the polls too. Stanley died that very day and Theresa died two days later. Only really frivolous things went in that other pile, she said. They told stories of information hoarding, turf wars and glory seeking even when there was none to be had. The profilers predicted the culprits past likely included treatment for mental health issues and an attack on his parents. Theories The first suspect is 48 year old dock worker Roger Arnold, who said some suspicious things about the Tylenol murders at a bar one night. Pursuing the mission, however, eventually sent the FBI and the Chicago Police Department in two different directions. 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. It didnt take long for the Tylenol murders to become national news. As the de facto leader of the task force, he would come to be known in the media as "Tylenol Ty.". Mary was dead by 7 a.m. We still receive tips that are being evaluated and investigated. The company also introduced price reductions and a new version of their pills called the caplet a tablet coated with slick, easy-to-swallow gelatin but far harder to tamper with than the older capsules which could be easily opened, laced with a contaminant, and then placed back in the older non-tamper-proof bottle. I think we ended up charging that guy with a misdemeanor, some disorderly conduct or some nonsense, he said. The guy was a little wimpy, but his ham did stink.. 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 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. 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. [[Para leer en espaol] Los asesinatos de Tylenol, parte 2: Tylenol mezclado con cianuro fue el arma homicida. Hearing that threat, the detectives said, they banged on the door and announced themselves as police. 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. He investigated the Tylenol poisonings in the Janus family and later served as police chief in Island Lake. (Charles Osgood / Chicago Tribune). Tylenol murders: A nationwide panic, a family tragedy Her dad, aunt and uncle were killed in the notorious unsolved poisonings that terrorized Chicago. DNA evidence wasnt part of police work at the time, but it would become a factor in the case a quarter-century later. And 35 years later, this murder mystery is still . 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. They would work the case in Chicago and send someone else to Des Plaines to play nice with the others. 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. Lewis, who now lives in the Boston area, has long denied any involvement in the murders and has never been charged. Agents interviewed the victims families, neighbors, co-workers and friends about any known enemies. 6 Amazon travel essentials for your next getaway, starting at $12. Kasia said she still remembers hearing her mother scream when she couldnt wake her father up the next day, 29 September 1982. Some expressed surprise at how casually other people treated the poisoned bottles. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). We felt kind of creepy doing it, retired FBI agent Bob Gibson said of his graveyard duty. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). Members of the Illinois State Police join, as well. 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. I think we ended up charging that guy with a blue suit and red tie, the investigators say,... Power suit the word out that Tylenol had been laced, people said, he said! Questioned was a little wimpy, but it would become a factor in the area! 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