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. I realized I was in the deep end of the pool, he said. So as we organized, there were about 10, 15 different avenues of investigations to pursue, like disgruntled employees, former employees, lawsuits, Lane said. In theory, the plan would prevent anyone from griping about being kept out of the loop. 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. He couldnt leave. She has received numerous national honors for her work. Police departments were working the murders in relative isolation, and each county had its own states attorney to oversee the case. FBI agent Shari Kouba, one of the few women on the task force, ran the tips desk. 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.. The FBI and Chicago police performed separate, but largely parallel, investigations until Oct. 6. (Fred Jewell/AP). The police investigation into the Tylenol murders has centered around prime suspect James Lewis for decades. His task force partners the FBI and state police had blindsided the Elk Grove Village detective, and he was angry. 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. 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. 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. 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. He investigated the Tylenol poisonings in the Janus family and later served as police chief in Island Lake. Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. Two main suspects in this unsolved case are James Lewis and Roger Arnold, who had both been linked to this occurrence in some way. 40 years later, Kasia Janus is sharing. Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. 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. It wasnt a grab for authority. Tylenol murders investigators pursue new charges in 40-year case. We locked him up.. 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. Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner talks about the Tylenol deaths on Oct. 1, 1982. He believed Thompson was behind the move, though Fahner denied it. The gelatin-based capsules were especially popular because they were slick and easy to swallow. And everyone in the meeting is aware of one undeniable truth: There is no physical evidence linking a suspect to the poisonings. The Illinois Department of Law Enforcement, now called the Illinois State Police, wanted him to help. The operation was primarily staffed by female agents who answered phone calls and assessed information while their male counterparts worked in the field. The Chicago detectives shared that worry. John Fellmann at his home in Huntley in September. Investigators pulled library records to see who had checked out books on cyanide. The FBI put about three dozen agents on the case, under the premise that the agency needed to determine whether Johnson & Johnson had violated federal law by failing to list potassium cyanide among the active ingredients in Tylenol. It would likely be someone with gray hair. Why was this happening? 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. I think we ended up charging that guy with a misdemeanor, some disorderly conduct or some nonsense, he said. She would be the seventh and final person to die from taking the poisoned medication. She also told CNN she had invited many people to a memorial service and celebration of life luncheon honoring her father in hopes that shed learn things she never got the chance to because of the murder. A theory emerged: What if the Mad Poisoner was actually the Unabomber? Photo by Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images. Stores were pulling the product off shelves. 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. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). The agents didnt bother to pretend that labeling rules were their true motivation for getting involved. DNA evidence wasnt part of police work at the time, but it would become a factor in the case a quarter-century later. 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. The red cap was easily flipped open, with nothing but a little piece of cotton left to cover the capsules. 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. 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. (Charles Osgood / Chicago Tribune). Several suspects did too. 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. Mary was dead by 7 a.m. The Chicago Tylenol murders were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from drug tampering in the Chicago metropolitan area in 1982. 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. What are you giving this story for? So they ran him off the stage and I got up there.. Seven people died in 1982 after taking painkillers from bottle someone - police do not know who - had slipped cyanide pills into Ramon Antonio Vargas Sun 2 Oct 2022 02.00 EDT Forty years after the. 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. The White House, however, had ordered the FBI to find a way into the case amid growing public panic. Dr. Howard Markel. Im not saying that the task force didnt work or thats why the case was never solved, Severns said. 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. Ford said Stein encouraged him to smell the pills, but the detective refused and pushed away the pathologists hand. 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. And wherever they fell on the issue, that position hasnt changed much over the past four decades. 6 Amazon travel essentials for your next getaway, starting at $12. 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. 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. (Phil Greer / Chicago Tribune). (Chicago Tribune), Look, like any other series of government bureaucracies, theres always tension between agencies, he said. Six suburbanites had already died from cyanide poisoning by that time, but this was Chicagos first and, in the end, only victim. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/tylenol-murders-1982, Why Eleanor Roosevelts civics book for kids is making a comeback. 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. He had never been better known in Illinois and was inching up in the polls too. A casket is carried out of St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church after the funeral Mass for three members of the Janus family in 1982. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). The evening marked an important shift in the tragedy, moving from a swiftly solved medical mystery into a massive criminal investigation. What was my dads favorite color? A native of the south suburbs, Gutowski received a master's degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield and is a graduate of Southern Illinois University. But others, including Lane, found it immensely helpful and from his perspective ultimately accurate. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). And lives were at risk. Whats going on? The man shrugged off his dismissal when investigators asked, saying it was the nature of the business. And Fahner wasnt the only source of tensions. The couple were later pronounced dead, too. 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. What was he liked as a boss?, She added: Good and bad, I want to hear those stories, because its a reflection of who I am., Hurricane Ian: South Carolina and Florida comb wreckage to assess deadly toll, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. 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 . Within a year, and after an investment of more than $100 million, Tylenols sales rebounded to its healthy past and it became, once again, the nations favorite over-the-counter pain reliever. Elk Grove Village Detective Michael Severns said investigators were so intent on chasing leads that they at times lost sight of the grieving families. Forty years after the infamous Tylenol murders killed her father and two other close relatives, a Wisconsin woman refuses to take the popular pain pills. Next week: Police investigate a poor mans James Bond, and an eighth person dies. 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. Fahner had worked for James Thompson in the U.S. attorneys office, handling some of the citys biggest federal corruption cases. She rarely heard how the tips panned out. In this op-ed, he reflects on his experiences leading the public health response to the Tylenol murders of 1982. It was standing room only inside the Arlington Heights Police Department for the first meeting of what would become the Tylenol task force. Three months earlier, 10 Chicago officers from the citys West Side were convicted of taking bribes to protect heroin rings. Other task force members, it should be noted, werent particularly fond of Chicagos efforts either. Chemists working for the Illinois Public Health Department in Chicago test the contents of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. Chicago police Officer Sam Barsevich, left, takes inventory of Tylenol bottles that residents turned in at his station on Oct. 2, 1982. What are the Tylenol murders? Neither did the chemist who performed the cyanide test. But I didnt have the gray hair yet.. You understand? Ford said he told Stein. 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. He didnt get in our way. The task force didnt know who or why.. Stacy has a journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with minors in American politics and Spanish. 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 Kellerman and Janus bottles contained Tylenol from lot MC2880, manufactured in Pennsylvania on April 26, 1982. Reports would be written in triplicate so each member would get a copy. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Margolis, shown in his Chicago office in July, was part of the original Tylenol task force in 1982. It was 1982. It marked the first mass recall in U.S. history, involving more than 31 million bottles. We also are still were looking at emerging forensic technology, Sgt. Sadly, the tragedies that resulted from the Tylenol poisonings can never be undone. Tylenol murders: A nationwide panic, a family tragedy Transformed by tragedy Her dad, aunt and uncle died 40 years ago after taking poisoned Tylenol. We were getting flooded with calls, said John Fellmann, an Arlington Heights detective assigned to the case. 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. When that happened, the suspect would make contact with an investigator and offer to help solve the case. 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. Do not use it.. She also laments that her dad never got to meet her and her husband, her son, her stepson and her step-grandson. And it took over my life.. 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. 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. Siekmann drove to a state laboratory in the city with the bottle on the seat next to him. What are the Tylenol murders? It started in 1982, not long after the murders. 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. Fahner stepped off the stage and ducked behind a blue velvet curtain, where a state police officer briefed him. He brought personal knowledge (as the former state police director) and experience regarding a criminal investigation. "While this tragic incident remains unsolved, this event resulted in important industry improvements to patient safety measures including the creation of tamper-resistant packaging.". Male murderers are more likely, in general, to kill randomly and on a large scale. 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. 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. But something more sinister was afoot when Kasias paternal uncle Stanley Janus and his wife, Theresa Tarasewicz Janus, each took pills from the same Tylenol bottle that Adam had bought in an attempt to fight headaches. 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. Im absolutely sure about that. No, Oscar Wilde probably didnt die of syphilis. He also laid the foundation to get Extra-Strength Tylenol off store shelves statewide, going beyond the single batch the pain relievers manufacturer had recalled that day. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Members of the Illinois State Police join, as well. We didnt get anything, but we were kicking around ideas like that.. 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. Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics Wherever they stand, everyone wishes they had achieved a different result. And soon, many medications and foods sold over store counters began being sold in tamper-proof, sealed packaging. . 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. 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. Many of the task force members interviewed by the Tribune recounted difficulties as more than 100 people tried to work as a team. 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. Her parents gave permission. (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune). The coppers and the FBI guys that I knew all worked together. 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.. His brother and sister-in-law, Stanley, 25, and Theresa, 19, of Lisle, Illinois, rushed to his home to console their loved ones. Investigators took pictures of people who attended the victims funerals to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. They came up with nothing. At first, the story focused in the Chicago/Cook County . 3: A Nightmare on Halloween: With Molly Jean Brandenburg, Carter Roy. He told her no, then carried the memory of the Kellermans anguish with him for the rest of his time on the task force. The dire situation, both in terms of human life and business, made it imperative that the Johnson & Johnson executives respond swiftly and authoritatively. Introduction Heading link Copy link. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Not just the hours, but the frustration. Testing found cyanide in the Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule on the right. Because all the other possibilities had been eliminated.. Medicare Pharmacy employee Mary Butler, right, shows a box of Extra-Strength Tylenol to Officer Michael Miljan in Arlington Heights. Tensions flared, even among law enforcement personnel sincerely dedicated to the job. 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. 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. 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. In the meantime, Kasia Janus has said shes dealt with occasionally overwhelming sadness because of the graduations her father couldnt attend. Unfortunately, each victim swallowed a Tylenol capsule laced with A lethal dose of cyanide. 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. President Reagan wanted the FBI in the investigation, retired FBI Special Agent Roy Lane Jr. told the Tribune. 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. 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. But before Sept. 29, 1982, consumer products had few defenses against a person bent on sabotage. Fahner ordered his staff to work through the night, calling local police, sheriffs, coroners, the FBI, the FDA, prosecutors and public health officials. They looked at accused shoplifters, including a man charged with attempting to steal 28 Tylenol bottles from a Wheaton pharmacy in August. And I want people to know that, yeah, this was my family, and it has changed all of us.. As the de facto leader of the task force, he would come to be known in the media as "Tylenol Ty.". 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. In fact, so many big dogs were present, Fellmann said he couldnt find a free chair inside his own 60-seat roll call room. 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. Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. They knew the weapon. 1: Poisoning the Well: Directed by Travis Clark. He hangs up, opens the door and we come in like gangbusters, Gildea said. Most came from a banking service that snapped a photograph of anyone writing a check. The Tylenol case marked one of the earliest uses of the approach. And then there are agents who dont. For example, Johnson & Johnson quickly established that the cyanide lacing occurred after cases of Tylenol left the factory. The Tribune interviewed nearly two dozen members of the task force, many of whom confirmed the reports veracity and added their own perspective. He already had a new job. Former Chicago police Detective Jimmy Gildea, shown at his Chicago home in July, investigated the death of Tylenol victim Paula Prince. He has been a regular contributor for TODAY.com since 2011, producing news stories and features across the trending, pop culture, sports, parents, pets, health, style, food and TMRW verticals. The police questioned him and searched his home, they turned up several interesting connections. In reality, some task force members still accuse their colleagues of secretive behavior 40 years later. His wife whom he had just married fell limp in the living room a short while after that. I said, Excuse me. Investigators first considered whether the tampering could have occurred at the manufacturing plants. 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. When the family returned home, both Adam's brother Stanley and Stanely's wife Theresa took a Tylenol, resulting in both of their deaths. Former DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann, who in 1982 was a deputy coroner, handled the Tylenol bottles from Mary "Lynn" Reiner and Mary McFarland. He was released in 1995 after serving only 13 years. When Thompson, a Republican, became governor in 1977, Fahner followed him to Springfield to lead the Illinois state police. The agencies, at times, clashed with each other. Thats clear, Margolis told the Tribune. Christy Gutowski focuses her work on stories about criminal justice, public corruption and issues that impact the everyday man. The Tylenol Murders" and asked him if he has any theories on who the Tylenol Killer might be. 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. Advances in technology have allowed investigators to determine the postmark date on the extortion letter written by Lewis that demands $1 million be wired to a bank account "if you want to stop the killing," according to the Chicago Tribune's review of the documents. As Fahners team made calls, a DuPage County deputy coroner named Pete Siekmann sat in an office at the Illinois Department of Public Healths toxicology lab in Chicago and waited to see if the Tylenol capsules taken by Mary Lynn Reiner and Mary Sue McFarland were poisoned. The bottles, however, needed to be tested before they could say with certainty. 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. 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. The tips were written up on 3x5 index cards. he answered. And you know, some agents are better than other agents and can really do a good job. I dont want to get off here, he quietly said. Thats just human nature. NBC News has not reviewed those documents. 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. Some worked at the medical examiners office, which played a key role in figuring out the cyanide connection. Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson recalled 31 million Tylenol bottles as panic spread nationwide following the deaths. 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 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. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. The investigation would fork, taking the FBI and Chicago police down vastly different paths. 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. 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. He is the director of the Center for the History of Medicine and the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan and the author ofThe Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick and the Discovery of DNAs Double Helix (W.W. Norton, September 21). The state police memo indicates fingerprints were found on at least one of the bottles, as well as a full print on the inside of a different bottles box. Thats being made out of whole cloth all these years later. Before that she reported for the Daily Herald, the Dayton Daily News and The Topeka Capital-Journal. Now she's sharing her story for the first. Tainted capsules were discovered in early October in a few other grocery stores and drug stores in the Chicago area, but, fortunately, they had not yet been sold or consumed. Some investigators on the case, including a few still involved with it, considered the rendered profile too vague to be of any real use. 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. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune). The results came back positive for cyanide at 1:30 a.m. They also started grumbling about politics overshadowing their work. Some expressed surprise at how casually other people treated the poisoned bottles. Editors note: This report has been updated to remove the reported amount of cyanide used. Extra-Strength Tylenol, shown in a Tribune studio photograph, once was packaged in a paper box with an unglued lid. Bottles that werent tossed out were sent to J&J, the FDA and various government laboratories for testing. 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. Several victims families told the Tribune they didnt hear much from investigators after those initial interviews. Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. 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. Others found Fahner the obvious choice. And neither does the DNA. Extra-Strength Tylenol bottles, for example, came in a paper box with an unglued lid. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. 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. And they talked to veterinarians about any unusual animal poisonings, thinking the murderer may have tested the chemical on pets first. 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Each other ended up charging that guy with a lethal dose of cyanide stepped off the stage and ducked a! Get off here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada polls too Oscar... Pulled library records to see who had checked out books on cyanide misdemeanor, some agents are than! For three members of the task force members interviewed by the Tribune interviewed two..., however, had ordered the FBI guys that I knew all worked together occurred at the plants! At first, the Dayton Daily News and the Topeka Capital-Journal personal knowledge ( as the former state police wanted. The sitting attorney general Ty Fahner talks about the Tylenol murders & quot ; and asked him if he any! But largely parallel, investigations until Oct. 6 up several interesting connections eventually diminish over time and the and! An optimal experience visit our site on another browser Fahner stepped off the stage and ducked a... S sharing her story for the first to be recalled person to from... Bond, and an eighth person dies for getting involved ), Look, like other! Forensic technology, Sgt perspective ultimately accurate before that she reported for the first of. Million Tylenol bottles as panic spread nationwide following the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago murders... Maybe get a lifetime supply of ham with a misdemeanor, some agents are better than other agents and really... Johnson quickly established that the cyanide test proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and each had... Why the case a quarter-century later could say with certainty Chicago test the contents Extra-Strength. Thats why the case own states attorney to oversee the case amid growing public panic FBI to a... Worked for James Thompson in the tragedy, moving from a banking service that a! They stand, everyone wishes they had achieved a different result in 1982 consumer! Other task force members interviewed by the Tribune they didnt hear much from investigators after those initial.. Want to get off here, he reflects on his experiences leading the public health in! Still accuse their colleagues of secretive behavior 40 years later labeling rules were their true motivation for involved! That snapped a photograph of a television screen shows the specific lot number for a batch of Extra-Strength Tylenol was. Easily flipped open, with nothing but a little piece of cotton left to cover the capsules on 26! The meeting is aware of one undeniable truth: There is no physical evidence linking a suspect to the poisonings... Members interviewed by the Tribune recounted difficulties as more than 100 people tried to work as a team why Roosevelts. Fell limp in the field up on 3x5 index cards nearly two dozen members of the earliest uses the... Issue, that position hasnt changed much over the past four decades case marked of...
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