I dont know what he thought. Police departments and fire stations began collecting bottles, as well. Ford said he quickly interrupted. Every agency imaginable attended, many of them represented by their top leaders. Relatives, including two who took polygraph tests, were quickly eliminated from suspicion. The Tylenol murders would soon spur the development of plastic seals and tamper-evident packaging. Among those questioned was a clerical worker who was fired for repeatedly missing work. Nothing has come of that January 2022 meeting. 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. A lot of people who didnt like me or didnt like Thompson or my association were taking shots, Fahner said. But if they kept the bottles in their medicine cabinets, more people could die. 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. There wasnt that much tension, Fahner said. 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. Some expressed surprise at how casually other people treated the poisoned bottles. Forty years after that terrifying period in September 1982, investigators say new evidence and a potential motive may be enough to finally solve the case. Male murderers are more likely, in general, to kill randomly and on a large scale. The killer may have salted the bottles with cyanide-laced capsules while standing in the store aisle, investigators thought. He was released in 1995 after serving only 13 years. Siekmann didnt wear gloves. What was he like in school? These other men were all worried about his chances. He brought personal knowledge (as the former state police director) and experience regarding a criminal investigation. Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter. 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. When Thompson, a Republican, became governor in 1977, Fahner followed him to Springfield to lead the Illinois state police. Testing found cyanide in the Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule on the right. 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. Investigators soon confirmed there was lethally poisonous cyanide inside the Tylenol capsules in question. The Tylenol Murders" and asked him if he has any theories on who the Tylenol Killer might be. All 3 networks lead with the Tylenol story on the first day of the crisis. 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. Jose Rosa, right, was one of hundreds of Chicago city employees and volunteers to distribute warnings about cyanide-laced Tylenol in fall 1982. With absolute certainty, they can say the following: Records show at least four fingerprints were found during the initial investigation. 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. We were getting flooded with calls, said John Fellmann, an Arlington Heights detective assigned to the case. Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics Thats because nobody was keeping track of who was buying cyanide, Wolnik said. Elk Grove Village Detective Michael Severns said investigators were so intent on chasing leads that they at times lost sight of the grieving families. . Investigators took pictures of people who attended the victims funerals to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. Former Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek, shown in September, says he felt Ty Fahner was chosen to head the task force for political reasons. Only really frivolous things went in that other pile, she said. 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. The tips were written up on 3x5 index cards. Former Chicago police Detective Jimmy Gildea, shown at his Chicago home in July, investigated the death of Tylenol victim Paula Prince. Who would be next? 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. They knew the weapon. I said, Agent, agent. Their opinion soured even further at their first meeting, when one of the lead investigators asked for a briefing on the Prince murder. 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. 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. You werent there. 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. Prince was officially declared dead by the Medical Examiner's office at 6:45 p.m. Investigators discovered a bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol in her bathroom with one capsule missing and a. We also are still were looking at emerging forensic technology, Sgt. NBC News reached out to Lewis and did not receive a response. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune). But I didnt have the gray hair yet.. 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. Early on the morning of Sept. 29, 1982, a tragic, medical mystery began with a sore throat and a runny nose. Investigators quickly dismissed the possibility that the killer was targeting a single victim and the other bottles were contaminated to make it harder to solve that murder. CBS put a human face on the story which contained the following: "When 12 year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village, Ill., awoke at dawn with cold symptoms; her parents gave her one Extra-Strength Tylenol and sent her back to bed. Marquette 10 is one of a thousand reasons why theres tension, personal jealousy, personal ambition, jurisdictional turf fights. His brother and sister-in-law, Stanley, 25, and Theresa, 19, of Lisle, Illinois, rushed to his home to console their loved ones. 3: A Nightmare on Halloween: With Molly Jean Brandenburg, Carter Roy. Fahner had worked for James Thompson in the U.S. attorneys office, handling some of the citys biggest federal corruption cases. I stepped off that dais, Fahner told the Tribune this year. Members of the media the same people who were constantly pestering him for information nicknamed Fahner Tylenol Ty. It stuck. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Margolis, shown in his Chicago office in July, was part of the original Tylenol task force in 1982. Stores were pulling the product off shelves. The panic stemming from the Tylenol murders resulted in a permanent change in the packaging of medicine. "Ladies, you ever been harassed for something for 40 years that you had nothing to do with?" The task ahead was difficult. We locked him up.. The profilers believed the killer was likely to visit one of those named places to see the heartbreak he had caused. His task force partners the FBI and state police had blindsided the Elk Grove Village detective, and he was angry. Tylenol murders: A nationwide panic, a family tragedy Transformed by tragedy Her dad, aunt and uncle died 40 years ago after taking poisoned Tylenol. Photo by Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images. The task force met each morning at the Des Plaines headquarters to discuss leads and get their assignments. Subscribe to our Science Newsletter to explore the And it took over my life.. Tylenol murders: A nationwide panic, a family tragedy Her dad, aunt and uncle were killed in the notorious unsolved poisonings that terrorized Chicago. The bottle's cap was easily opened. They can account for the differing DNA profiles. the fact remains, the Tylenol murders of 1982 . As weeks went by without an arrest, detectives started using different doors to avoid the cameras. "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 CPD set up its own tip line and organized 35 detectives to work out of what was then Area 6 Headquarters at Belmont and Western. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/tylenol-murders-1982, Why Eleanor Roosevelts civics book for kids is making a comeback. 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. Rosen's theory is that the tampering did not happen on store shelves, but at the manufacturing plant before the product was shipped out. The most promising leads involved people doing curious things with chemicals. Chicagos doing what they want, so lets just give them something minor to do.. 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. The Tylenol Murders Pt. She told investigators that, in retrospect, she deserved her termination and swore she would do better at her next job. Thompson put him in charge of the investigation to get TV time. The 40-year-old Tylenol murder investigation remains at a standstill. I think we ended up charging that guy with a misdemeanor, some disorderly conduct or some nonsense, he said. Lewis, who now lives in the Boston area, has long denied any involvement in the murders and has never been charged. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). 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. Other task force members, it should be noted, werent particularly fond of Chicagos efforts either. In reality, some task force members still accuse their colleagues of secretive behavior 40 years later. 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. The task force investigating the Tylenol killings doubted that James Lewis would be reckless enough to stay in Manhattan after mailing an extortion letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million . 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. By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. The decision cost the company more than $100 million, an enormous amount in 1982. I think its pretty important, the aide replied. The coppers and the FBI guys that I knew all worked together. Former Chicago police Detective Jimmy Gildea, shown at his Chicago home in July, investigated the death of Tylenol victim Paula Prince. 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. After just one or two task force meetings, Ford and Gildea told their boss they werent going back. Working with FDA officials, they introduced a new tamper-proof packaging, which included foil seals and other features that made it obvious to a consumer if foul play had transpired. 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. 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. Tylenol Ty, Ford said. I dont think that bore fruit at all.. 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. Medicare Pharmacy employee Mary Butler, right, shows a box of Extra-Strength Tylenol to Officer Michael Miljan in Arlington Heights. She would be the seventh and final person to die from taking the poisoned medication. Lane would think of that line a year later when, without prompting, a suspect called him and offered to help solve the case. 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. President Reagan wanted the FBI in the investigation, retired FBI Special Agent Roy Lane Jr. told the Tribune. Some of the investigators started using it privately, too. Even after he retired from the FBI in 1996, he didnt let it go. Seven people between 12 and 35 died after ingesting cyanide-laced Tylenol pills in the Chicago area in 1982. Fahner thought state officials needed to be even more aggressive, despite the consequences for the investigation. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). He received the assignment by default, and then it became part of a national news story. Roger Arnold worked at a jewel warehouse with the father of one of the victims named Mary Reiner. . Siekmann drove to a state laboratory in the city with the bottle on the seat next to him. You know, because Ty was just a classy lawyer, and he never was a politician, he said. 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. 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