As a state crime, murder fell under the purview of local law enforcement. The Tylenol task force may be no exception, he said, but the tensions didnt affect the overall effort. His task force partners the FBI and state police had blindsided the Elk Grove Village detective, and he was angry. When that happened, the suspect would make contact with an investigator and offer to help solve the case. 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. 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. Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner talks about the Tylenol deaths on Oct. 1, 1982. You know, because Ty was just a classy lawyer, and he never was a politician, he said. The Tylenol murders launched a massive criminal investigation. 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. They looked at accused shoplifters, including a man charged with attempting to steal 28 Tylenol bottles from a Wheaton pharmacy in August. Agents interviewed the victims families, neighbors, co-workers and friends about any known enemies. Halfway through the speeches, an aide tapped him on the shoulder and told him he needed to take an important call. Pain in the neck, Hogberg said of his CPD counterparts. Whoa, whoa, he recalled. Tylenols parent company, Johnson & Johnson, also saw its stock price drop after the news about the tainted capsules broke. 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. He hangs up, opens the door and we come in like gangbusters, Gildea said. Nobody knew what to do with (the investigation) because it was all over the place, Fahner said. Seven people in the Chicago area were killed that year by Tylenol that had been poisoned with potassium cyanide. The Tylenol murders fundamentally changed the way we consume medication - among other things, leading to tamper-proof pill and bottle designs. 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. 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. 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. I knew how to organize things.. A lot of people who didnt like me or didnt like Thompson or my association were taking shots, Fahner said. The investigators would then return around 5 p.m. to update everyone on the days developments. We had an absolute tsunami of Tylenol bottles. 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. 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 . The prints, however, dont match the prime suspect. And everyone in the meeting is aware of one undeniable truth: There is no physical evidence linking a suspect to the poisonings. 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. 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. 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. She also laments that her dad never got to meet her and her husband, her son, her stepson and her step-grandson. I dont want to get off here, he quietly said. None matched. Lane would think of that line a year later when, without prompting, a suspect called him and offered to help solve the case. It started in 1982, not long after the murders. I have no idea who gave that one, but it was perfect.. These packaging protections soon became the industry standard for all over-the-counter medications. Elmhurst police Detective Herb Hogberg interviewed a chemist who had been laid off from the company in recent months. What are the Tylenol murders? He needed to be there, no matter how much he hated campaigning. It marked the first mass recall in U.S. history, involving more than 31 million bottles. As weeks went by without an arrest, detectives started using different doors to avoid the cameras. Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. I said, Agent, agent. (Ovie Carter / Chicago Tribune). He couldnt leave. Former DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann, who in 1982 was a deputy coroner, handled the Tylenol bottles from Mary "Lynn" Reiner and Mary McFarland. Whats going on? And I would wake them up just to say good night, you know?. Many of the task force members interviewed by the Tribune recounted difficulties as more than 100 people tried to work as a team. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune). 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. (Don Casper / Chicago Tribune), People were terrified, Fahner said. Neither did the chemist who performed the cyanide test. The coppers and the FBI guys that I knew all worked together. They apologized, he said, but the trust had been broken. 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. Please check your inbox to confirm. Here's what to know about the history of the case and the latest developments. See where the eight tainted Tylenol bottles were purchased or discovered. Three of the deaths occurred in Arlington Heights, where police told NBC Chicago last year that they still have the pills, bottles and boxes as evidence. When Thompson, a Republican, became governor in 1977, Fahner followed him to Springfield to lead the Illinois state police. 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. He held news conferences, sometimes twice a day, to meet the insatiable media demands. Fahner, as head of the task force, quickly became the public face of the investigation. And it took over my life.. And neither does the DNA. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). And he grabs the pills, picks them up in his hand, dumps a whole bunch of them in his hand and starts sniffing, Ford recalled. The man shrugged off his dismissal when investigators asked, saying it was the nature of the business. Ford said he told the renowned pathologist the bottle was on the vanity, and Stein, who wasnt wearing gloves, went to grab it. Many people who handled potential evidence in 1982 didnt wear gloves because it wasnt protocol at the time. The Kellerman and Janus bottles contained Tylenol from lot MC2880, manufactured in Pennsylvania on April 26, 1982. Indeed, the Johnson & Johnson recall became a classic case study in business schools across the nation. The couple were later pronounced dead, too. September 22, 2022. A casket is carried out of St. Hyacinth Roman Catholic Church after the funeral Mass for three members of the Janus family in 1982. While acetaminophen the active ingredient in the top-selling pain reliever was a fine white powder, these were filled with a grainy, translucent substance. The Tylenol murders would soon spur the development of plastic seals and tamper-evident packaging. She told investigators that, in retrospect, she deserved her termination and swore she would do better at her next job. Every night, I would come home after my kids were in bed, he said. Investigators, however, are prepared should that question arise. The man hurriedly told the Hormel operator that he had to go and he would call her back later. They told stories of information hoarding, turf wars and glory seeking even when there was none to be had. 6 Amazon travel essentials for your next getaway, starting at $12. It didnt take long for the Tylenol murders to become national news. The 40-year-old Tylenol murder investigation remains at a standstill. The Tylenol murders: How we reported this story. In fact, so many big dogs were present, Fellmann said he couldnt find a free chair inside his own 60-seat roll call room. 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. The Illinois State Police told NBC News the investigation remains ongoing. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). 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. All 3 networks lead with the Tylenol story on the first day of the crisis. The attorney general largely stopped campaigning after joining the task force, but his face was on TV every night. 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. The dire situation, both in terms of human life and business, made it imperative that the Johnson & Johnson executives respond swiftly and authoritatively. And when the sitting attorney general was indicted on tax fraud charges, Thompson appointed Fahner to fill the post. Daniel Walker and several Chicago aldermen convicted in Operation Silver Shovel. Things were chaotic. I think hes nothing but a class act, said McQuaid, a retired state police captain. Extra-Strength Tylenol, shown in a Tribune studio photograph, once was packaged in a paper box with an unglued lid. Every agency imaginable attended, many of them represented by their top leaders. . Extra-Strength Tylenol bottles, for example, came in a paper box with an unglued lid. I said, Excuse me. Still, in his opinion, Fahner was exactly what the task force needed. The task force didnt know who or why.. These other men were all worried about his chances. he answered. 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. And only months later, it changed the way we purchase and consume over-the-counter medications. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/tylenol-murders-1982, Why Eleanor Roosevelts civics book for kids is making a comeback. Shari Kouba, shown in July at an FBI office in Mount Prospect where she used to work, ran a tips desk as part of the Tylenol task force. 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. A long-planned meeting with DuPage prosecutors also was pushed back in the spring. 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. Because all the other possibilities had been eliminated.. A new book by a former Johnson & Johnson employee suggests the Tylenol poisonings, which killed seven people in the Chicago area in 1982, took place in the company's production or distribution. He had never been better known in Illinois and was inching up in the polls too. Finally, in late July, officials from both Cook and DuPage gather for a video conference. Chemists working for the Illinois Public Health Department in Chicago test the contents of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. Some of those interviews may have gone to an agent who didnt do a good job., Shari Kouba, shown in July at an FBI office in Mount Prospect where she used to work, ran a tips desk as part of the Tylenol task force. Following the same theory, investigators took pictures . Tensions flared, even among law enforcement personnel sincerely dedicated to the job. His wife whom he had just married fell limp in the living room a short while after that. Most working detectives really dont trust the FBI, and the FBI doesnt trust us, Ford said. What was my dads favorite color? If people threw out their Tylenol, authorities would never know the full extent of the tampering. The Illinois Department of Law Enforcement, now called the Illinois State Police, wanted him to help. Nothing was being solved.. But others, including Lane, found it immensely helpful and from his perspective ultimately accurate. 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. Congress eventually criminalized tampering with medications and other consumer products, classifying that as a federal crime that could carry up to life imprisonment in cases involving a death. Forty years later, these earliest days remain a point of pride for some and a source of frustration for others. The FBIs involvement puzzled some because, as far as anyone knew, the federal agency didnt have jurisdiction in the case. It wasnt a grab for authority. 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. (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune). Fahner thought state officials needed to be even more aggressive, despite the consequences for the investigation. (Don Casper / Chicago Tribune), Obviously, Johnson & Johnson didnt put cyanide in their own product. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. The latest Tribune poll showed he was down by about 20 points in the upcoming election. But on Oct. 1, 1982, he had been a detective for only a year. Left: We were getting flooded with calls, said John Fellmann, an Arlington Heights detective assigned to the case. Investigators took pictures of people who attended the victims funerals to see if they could capture anyone acting unusual. Critics who had prematurely announced the death of the brand Tylenol were now praising the companys handling of the matter. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. 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. In those early days, there were so many agencies involved, so many people desperate to solve the case. Authorities wont discuss the potential theories or suspects they have amid an investigation that they insist remains open and unforgotten. 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. The agents didnt bother to pretend that labeling rules were their true motivation for getting involved. What happens in most cases, and certainly what happened here beyond any question, was a 100% selfless, unified devotion to a very important mission.. 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. 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. In 2000, Joy Bergmann revisited the story in "A Bitter Pill" . To see if they could capture anyone acting unusual good night, you know? the! 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