Several suspects did too. Customers who had a problem, anybody that could make some money out of it.. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). Kasia said she still remembers hearing her mother scream when she couldnt wake her father up the next day, 29 September 1982. 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. If you are curious, come to a small house on a quiet, winding street in Elk Grove Village. At first, the story focused in the Chicago/Cook County . Members of the Illinois State Police join, as well. To its credit, the company took an active role with the media in issuing mass warning communications and immediately called for a massive recall of the more than 31 million bottles of Tylenol in circulation. 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. Investigators took pictures of people who attended the victims funerals to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. 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. And they talked to veterinarians about any unusual animal poisonings, thinking the murderer may have tested the chemical on pets first. 1: Poisoning the Well: Directed by Travis Clark. What was my dads favorite color? "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 police investigation into the Tylenol murders has centered around prime suspect James Lewis for decades. Another tip involved a man who was threatening to poison Hormel food products. By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. He was released in 1995 after serving only 13 years. Written by a high-ranking Illinois state police supervisor in April 1983, the document describes the wide net authorities cast in the hopes of solving the mystery. So he thought hed maybe get a lifetime supply of ham. Police departments and fire stations began collecting bottles, as well. Deputy coroner Siekmann recalled going to Winfield to pick up the Tylenol collected from Reiners house a few hours after her death. 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. They gave her one extra-strength Tylenol capsule that, unbeknownst to them, was laced with the highly poisonous potassium cyanide. The Tylenol Murders Remain One of the Nation's Biggest Unsolved Mysteries Popular belief is that the killer was James Lewis, the man imprisoned for 13 years for extorting Johnson & Johnson in the. 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. No one has ever been charged with the murders. "Ladies, you ever been harassed for something for 40 years that you had nothing to do with?" 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. Her parents gave permission. He had never been better known in Illinois and was inching up in the polls too. 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. While acetaminophen the active ingredient in the top-selling pain reliever was a fine white powder, these were filled with a grainy, translucent substance. 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. I realized I was in the deep end of the pool, he said. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. 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. These other men were all worried about his chances. 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. (Fred Jewell/AP). Two main suspects in this unsolved case are James Lewis and Roger Arnold, who had both been linked to this occurrence in some way. I tell you, this wasnt a CSI show, he said. Stacy has a journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with minors in American politics and Spanish. 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. . 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. All 3 networks lead with the Tylenol story on the first day of the crisis. The task force met each morning at the Des Plaines headquarters to discuss leads and get their assignments. Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner talks about the Tylenol deaths on Oct. 1, 1982. 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. There was no clear leader. It wasnt a grab for authority. I said, Excuse me. A drugstore clerk removes Tylenol capsules from the shelves of a pharmacy Sept. 30, 1982, in New York City after reports of tampering. Indeed, the Johnson & Johnson recall became a classic case study in business schools across the nation. The Soviets were willing to assist, but their satellites werent trained on the Chicago suburbs at the time. They were particularly concerned that something happened during the manufacturing or the shipping or storage, Wolnik said. 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. None matched. The Illinois State Police told NBC News the investigation remains ongoing. 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. The Tylenol murders fundamentally changed the way we consume medication - among other things, leading to tamper-proof pill and bottle designs. 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. 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. Next week: Police investigate a poor mans James Bond, and an eighth person dies. I stepped off that dais, Fahner told the Tribune this year. And only months later, it changed the way we purchase and consume over-the-counter medications. Former Chicago police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek told the Tribune he believed Fahners selection was purely political, done specifically because of the November election. 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. 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. Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson recalled 31 million Tylenol bottles as panic spread nationwide following the deaths. 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. 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. Tylenol murders investigators pursue new charges in 40-year case. In theory, the plan would prevent anyone from griping about being kept out of the loop. Every night, I would come home after my kids were in bed, he said. The coppers and the FBI guys that I knew all worked together. I said, Agent, agent. Fahner had worked for James Thompson in the U.S. attorneys office, handling some of the citys biggest federal corruption cases. That thrill, however, would eventually diminish over time and the killer would seek more excitement, according to the profilers. Chicago police Officer Sam Barsevich, left, takes inventory of Tylenol bottles that residents turned in at his station on Oct. 2, 1982. The Tribune has spoken with several people who have been asked to provide DNA samples within the last decade all men who had access to poisoned bottles found in Cook County. Their opinion soured even further at their first meeting, when one of the lead investigators asked for a briefing on the Prince murder. Her parents gave permission. Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter. 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. 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. NBC News reached out to Lewis and did not receive a response. 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. The red cap was easily flipped open, with nothing but a little piece of cotton left to cover the capsules. 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. My theory is that Anna is a diabetic and had just come home from a . Authorities believed they offered clues about who could and who could not have poisoned the capsules. It didnt take long for Fellmann to recognize the pressures and expectations under which the newly formed task force would operate. For example, Johnson & Johnson quickly established that the cyanide lacing occurred after cases of Tylenol left the factory. He didnt get in our way. Johnson & Johnson initially recalled only those products with the same batch number as the Janus and Kellerman bottles. The Tylenol task force may be no exception, he said, but the tensions didnt affect the overall effort. In the years that followed, Fellmann would rise through the ranks of the Arlington Heights Police Department and eventually become police chief of far north suburban Island Lake. Some of the investigators started using it privately, too. Fahner ordered his staff to work through the night, calling local police, sheriffs, coroners, the FBI, the FDA, prosecutors and public health officials. We were getting flooded with calls, said John Fellmann, an Arlington Heights detective assigned to the case. The publication reported this week that it has obtained video and thousands of documents outlining law enforcement's current case and a possible motive for the killings. The bottles, however, needed to be tested before they could say with certainty. 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. Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. Fahner, as head of the task force, quickly became the public face of the investigation. (Josh Reynolds/AP) The investigation into the 1982 Tylenol murders was pretty dormant when an FBI . Thats because nobody was keeping track of who was buying cyanide, Wolnik said. As the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Tylenol murders approaches, investigators are working with prosecutors on a now-or-maybe-never effort to hold a longtime suspect responsible for the. That wasnt there.. 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. Thompson put him in charge of the investigation to get TV time. And neither does the DNA. Stanley died that very day and Theresa died two days later. And wherever they fell on the issue, that position hasnt changed much over the past four decades. 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. No, Oscar Wilde probably didnt die of syphilis. He brought personal knowledge (as the former state police director) and experience regarding a criminal investigation. Who would be next? Now she's sharing her story for the first. As weeks went by without an arrest, detectives started using different doors to avoid the cameras. The Tylenol murders: The story of a 40-year-old unsolved case begins with a terrifying medical mystery. Extra-Strength Tylenol, shown in a Tribune studio photograph, once was packaged in a paper box with an unglued lid. There was little evidence to go on, no inkling of a motive and five people dead. Jose Rosa, right, was one of hundreds of Chicago city employees and volunteers to distribute warnings about cyanide-laced Tylenol in fall 1982. Every agency imaginable attended, many of them represented by their top leaders. They told stories of information hoarding, turf wars and glory seeking even when there was none to be had. Stanley Janus soon collapsed on his late brothers kitchen floor. The police questioned him and searched his home, they turned up several interesting connections. 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. Tylenol Ty, Ford said. Fahner stepped off the stage and ducked behind a blue velvet curtain, where a state police officer briefed him. 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. 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. They knew the locations. 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. 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. Poisonings, thinking the murderer may have tested the chemical on pets first, once was packaged in paper. Still remembers hearing her mother scream when she couldnt wake her father up Tylenol... 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