tylenol murders theories

He told her no, then carried the memory of the Kellermans anguish with him for the rest of his time on the task force. Authorities already considered the womens deaths to be cyanide related by the time they contacted Fahner during his campaign event. 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. In theory, the plan would prevent anyone from griping about being kept out of the loop. Jose Rosa, right, was one of hundreds of Chicago city employees and volunteers to distribute warnings about cyanide-laced Tylenol in fall 1982. As a result of the crime, makers of Tylenol developed new product protection methods. The Tylenol murders fundamentally changed the way we consume medication - among other things, leading to tamper-proof pill and bottle designs. Later, Lewis was arrested,. (Don Casper / Chicago Tribune), People were terrified, Fahner said. Early on, the task force decided to instruct the public to get rid of their Tylenol by either turning it in to police departments or throwing it away. I tell you, this wasnt a CSI show, he said. The Tylenol murders: How we reported this story. We also are still were looking at emerging forensic technology, Sgt. 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. 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. The couple were later pronounced dead, too. Fahner had worked for James Thompson in the U.S. attorneys office, handling some of the citys biggest federal corruption cases. You know, boost exposure and stuff like that.. The pills were sold at stores in suburban Chicago, and bottles of Tylenol were immediately pulled from shelves to be tested by health departments for the presence of cyanide. He believed Thompson was behind the move, though Fahner denied it. And it took over my life.. . Things were chaotic. That evening, Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner sat on a dais listening to stump speeches at the Kane County Republican Organizations annual dinner. What was my dads favorite color? Dr. Howard Markel So, the theory was the tampering took place at the store, said FBI agent Lane. The attorney general largely stopped campaigning after joining the task force, but his face was on TV every night. By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. Thompson put him in charge of the investigation to get TV time. 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. Medicare Pharmacy employee Mary Butler, right, shows a box of Extra-Strength Tylenol to Officer Michael Miljan in Arlington Heights. He didnt get in our way. No, Oscar Wilde probably didnt die of syphilis. 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. Daniel Walker and several Chicago aldermen convicted in Operation Silver Shovel. The substance was grainier than the untainted Tylenol on the left. 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. 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. As for the ongoing case, sources familiar with the investigation told the Chicago Tribune that charges are not imminent and may not come at all because the case lacks physical proof. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). You understand? Ford said he told Stein. I thought, well, this is rather impressive, Siekmann said. NBC News reached out to Lewis and did not receive a response. Forty years later, Ford shook his head at the memory. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. Here's what to know about the history of the case and the latest developments. I mean, it just got to me, Severns said. Investigators, however, are prepared should that question arise. And my next thought was that there are too many cooks in the kitchen.. 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. 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. 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. They understood the tension between the FBI and local law enforcement some of them shared those same resentments but they thought Chicago didnt even try to be team players. Introduction Heading link Copy link. Stores were pulling the product off shelves. And wherever they fell on the issue, that position hasnt changed much over the past four decades. I dont know what he thought. Indeed, the Johnson & Johnson recall became a classic case study in business schools across the nation. Each participant has a packet of information that authorities use to explain their findings. See where the eight tainted Tylenol bottles were purchased or discovered. Over the next several months, Fahners task force would do groundbreaking police work, generate 19,000 pages of investigative reports, be accused of playing politics and, ultimately, fail to hold anyone accountable for the murders. His brother and sister-in-law, Stanley, 25, and Theresa, 19, of Lisle, Illinois, rushed to his home to console their loved ones. 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. Ford said Stein encouraged him to smell the pills, but the detective refused and pushed away the pathologists hand. All 3 networks lead with the Tylenol story on the first day of the crisis. With absolute certainty, they can say the following: Records show at least four fingerprints were found during the initial investigation. Kasia said she long blamed herself for her fathers death, even though she was just in preschool when it happened. Chicago police Detectives Jimmy Gildea. If Fahner had any chance of keeping his office in November, he had to build enthusiasm among conservative voters in the suburbs. 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. 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. 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. In the meantime, Kasia Janus has said shes dealt with occasionally overwhelming sadness because of the graduations her father couldnt attend. Investigators pulled library records to see who had checked out books on cyanide. He goes, It smells like burnt almonds. . Lane would think of that line a year later when, without prompting, a suspect called him and offered to help solve the case. The bottle's cap was easily opened. Pain in the neck, Hogberg said of his CPD counterparts. Please check your inbox to confirm. A theory emerged: What if the Mad Poisoner was actually the Unabomber? The Tylenol Murders Victims Mary Kellerman On September 29, 1982, 12 year old Mary Kellerman woke up feeling ill. Left: That testing uncovered three more poisoned bottles: two turned in by customers in Wheaton and Chicago and one found on a Schaumburg pharmacy shelf. But if they kept the bottles in their medicine cabinets, more people could die. Flight attendant Paula Prince bought a tainted bottle of Tylenol at the Walgreens at Wells Street and North Avenue in Chicago. Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics Tamper-resistant pill containers were introduced with packaging that allows consumers to notice if a bottle of pills or medication has been opened or altered. NBC News has not reviewed that evidence. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune), John Fellmann at his home in Huntley in September. The 20-year-old would be buried alongside her husband and her brother-in-law Adam in a triple funeral made even more heartbreaking when relatives had to pull Terris mother off her daughters casket before it was lowered into the ground. 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. Photo by Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images. Other task force members, it should be noted, werent particularly fond of Chicagos efforts either. 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. I have no idea who gave that one, but it was perfect.. Former Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek told the Tribune he believed Fahners selection was purely political, done specifically because of the November election. Im absolutely sure about that. He didnt fit that profile, Hogberg said. Sadly, the tragedies that resulted from the Tylenol poisonings can never be undone. McNeil Consumer Products, a subsidiary of the health care giant, Johnson & Johnson, manufactured Tylenol. We felt kind of creepy doing it, retired FBI agent Bob Gibson said of his graveyard duty. Who would be next? But she said years of therapy and yoga have helped her overcome her anger and guilt, and shes hopeful there will be justice in the killings of her father as well as her aunt and uncle. As the de facto leader of the task force, he would come to be known in the media as "Tylenol Ty." 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. I think we ended up charging that guy with a misdemeanor, some disorderly conduct or some nonsense, he said. I knew how to organize things.. The first tainted Tylenol victim - Mary Kellerman, 12, of Elk Grove Village - collapsed and died on . (Charles Knoblock / AP). . In those early days, there were so many agencies involved, so many people desperate to solve the case. 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. And everyone in the meeting is aware of one undeniable truth: There is no physical evidence linking a suspect to the poisonings. Thats clear, Margolis told the Tribune. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Back then, bottles of pills did not have tamper-proof seals, just a cotton ball stuffed inside. 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. She also laments that her dad never got to meet her and her husband, her son, her stepson and her step-grandson. (Josh Reynolds/AP) The investigation into the 1982 Tylenol murders was pretty dormant when an FBI . And they would remain apart for the next four decades. The Chicago detectives shared that worry. Despite the passage of time and, in a way, because of it the bottles still may offer clues as to who poisoned the capsules. History's Greatest Mysteries looks into the theories regarding the Tylenol Murders in Chicago 1982. These packaging protections soon became the industry standard for all over-the-counter medications. Its a one-way street for information back and forth. 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. 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 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. When the family returned home, both Adam's brother Stanley and Stanely's wife Theresa took a Tylenol, resulting in both of their deaths. 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. 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. 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. They looked at accused shoplifters, including a man charged with attempting to steal 28 Tylenol bottles from a Wheaton pharmacy in August. They told stories of information hoarding, turf wars and glory seeking even when there was none to be had. Most came from a banking service that snapped a photograph of anyone writing a check. The substance was grainier than the untainted Tylenol on the left. 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. Emerging forensic technology, Sgt grainier than the untainted Tylenol on the left,. Members, it just got to me, Severns said got to her! That question arise and they would remain apart for the next four decades been laced, were... Tylenol developed new product protection methods of information that authorities use to explain their.... Just a cotton ball stuffed inside being kept out of the case evening Illinois. 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