And 35 years later, this murder mystery is still . Given the totality of the circumstances, some thought it unusual for the Illinois attorney general to lead the investigation. And they talked to veterinarians about any unusual animal poisonings, thinking the murderer may have tested the chemical on pets first. Complaining of a sore throat and a stuffy nose, her parents gave Mary one Extra Strength Tylenol capsule and let her stay home from school. I always wear the blue suit and the red tie, Lane said. Severns confronted people at both agencies, who blamed each other for keeping him in the dark. Im just being honest, Siekmann said. . He didnt fit that profile, Hogberg said. The Tylenol murders have never been solved, though at one point, the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, was a suspect. So whatever fits or doesnt fit the storyline, that didnt happen. Each participant has a packet of information that authorities use to explain their findings. Severns worked on the case for three days before he realized no one had offered an update to young Mary Kellermans grieving parents. 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. Bottles that werent tossed out were sent to J&J, the FDA and various government laboratories for testing. Things were chaotic. The results came back positive for cyanide at 1:30 a.m. 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. Others found Fahner the obvious choice. The agencies, at times, clashed with each other. The Tribune interviewed nearly two dozen members of the task force, many of whom confirmed the reports veracity and added their own perspective. He was released in 1995 after serving only 13 years. I knew how to organize things.. The gelatin-based capsules were especially popular because they were slick and easy to swallow. 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. 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. I think we ended up charging that guy with a misdemeanor, some disorderly conduct or some nonsense, he said. They were particularly concerned that something happened during the manufacturing or the shipping or storage, Wolnik said. He held news conferences, sometimes twice a day, to meet the insatiable media demands. While acetaminophen the active ingredient in the top-selling pain reliever was a fine white powder, these were filled with a grainy, translucent substance. 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. You know, boost exposure and stuff like that.. NBC News has not reviewed that evidence. (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune). 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. He brought personal knowledge (as the former state police director) and experience regarding a criminal investigation. The bottle's cap was easily opened. 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. 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. On that day, two unrelated things happened: A pub owner made a phone call to police, and an extortion letter arrived at a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary. 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. The Tylenol murders: The story of a 40-year-old unsolved case begins with a terrifying medical mystery. The Tylenol Murders Pt. Neither did the chemist who performed the cyanide test. 6 Amazon travel essentials for your next getaway, starting at $12. 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. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune), If you stopped a thousand people on the street, youd be lucky if one of them could tell you who Ty Fahner was. After just one or two task force meetings, Ford and Gildea told their boss they werent going back. Tensions flared, even among law enforcement personnel sincerely dedicated to the job. I think its pretty important, the aide replied. The agents didnt bother to pretend that labeling rules were their true motivation for getting involved. He told her no, then carried the memory of the Kellermans anguish with him for the rest of his time on the task force. 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. I mean, it just got to me, Severns said. Within a week, her death would panic the entire nation. 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 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. "Ladies, you ever been harassed for something for 40 years that you had nothing to do with?" Sadly, the tragedies that resulted from the Tylenol poisonings can never be undone. 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. Flight attendant Paula Prince bought a tainted bottle of Tylenol at the Walgreens at Wells Street and North Avenue in Chicago. Police departments were working the murders in relative isolation, and each county had its own states attorney to oversee the case. Following the same theory, investigators took pictures . Their opinion soured even further at their first meeting, when one of the lead investigators asked for a briefing on the Prince murder. 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. That evening, Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner sat on a dais listening to stump speeches at the Kane County Republican Organizations annual dinner. Next week: Police investigate a poor mans James Bond, and an eighth person dies. 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. In late September of 1982 seven people were killed after an unknown suspect placed cyanide laced Tylenol pills in store bottles. Thats just human nature. 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. Fahner looked at all the power brokers on the platform U.S. Sen. Charles Percy, Gov. Extra-Strength Tylenol, shown in a Tribune studio photograph, once was packaged in a paper box with an unglued lid. 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. 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. 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. The Unsolved Tylenol Murders of 1982: The Unabomber Theory Written by C.W.S. Joe Murphy told NBC Chicago last year. The first tainted Tylenol victim - Mary Kellerman, 12, of Elk Grove Village - collapsed and died on . Agents interviewed the victims families, neighbors, co-workers and friends about any known enemies. And I want people to know that, yeah, this was my family, and it has changed all of us.. Seven people died in 1982 after taking painkillers from bottle someone police do not know who had slipped cyanide pills into. 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. What happens in most cases, and certainly what happened here beyond any question, was a 100% selfless, unified devotion to a very important mission.. 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 decision cost the company more than $100 million, an enormous amount in 1982. 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. Please check your inbox to confirm. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune). 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. Here, he offers a Spanish-language flyer to Luisa Acevada. In 2000, Joy Bergmann revisited the story in "A Bitter Pill" . It didnt take long for the Tylenol murders to become national news. (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune). Thats being made out of whole cloth all these years later. Records show law enforcement has spent the past several years dealing almost entirely with forensic evidence. In 1983, the U.S. Congress passed what was called the Tylenol bill, making it a federal offense to tamper with consumer products. McNeill and Johnson & Johnson offered replacement capsules to those who turned in pills already purchased and a reward for anyone with information leading to the apprehension of the individual or people involved in these random murders. Forty years later, investigators still cant say with certainty. (Josh Reynolds/AP) The investigation into the 1982 Tylenol murders was pretty dormant when an FBI . READ: The awful work of the real doctors who inspired M*A*S*H. The case continued to be confusing to the police, the drug maker and the public at large. Many of the task force members interviewed by the Tribune recounted difficulties as more than 100 people tried to work as a team. Chemists working for the Illinois Public Health Department in Chicago test the contents of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. Tylenol murders victims Among the victims there were three from the same family, as Adam Janus, aged 27 collapsed after ingesting extra-strength Tylenol and was rushed to the hospital where he died. Ford said Stein encouraged him to smell the pills, but the detective refused and pushed away the pathologists hand. Members of the media the same people who were constantly pestering him for information nicknamed Fahner Tylenol Ty. It stuck. Still, in his opinion, Fahner was exactly what the task force needed. But others, including Lane, found it immensely helpful and from his perspective ultimately accurate. 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. The profilers believed the killer was likely to visit one of those named places to see the heartbreak he had caused. The task force questioned stock boys, managers, disgruntled former employees and problematic customers at the hot locations, the teams name for the stores that sold the tainted Tylenol. 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. Authorities were convinced the killer didnt know any of the victims. With no apparent motive and little evidence to go on, it was a tough task. 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. Thompson put him in charge of the investigation to get TV time. 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. Some investigators on the case, including a few still involved with it, considered the rendered profile too vague to be of any real use. 1: Poisoning the Well: Directed by Travis Clark. 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 . Only really frivolous things went in that other pile, she said. Her parents gave permission. I dont know what he thought. The batch contained more than 1,800 pounds of cyanide, divided into packages of various sizes. Dr. Howard Markel Scott Stump is a staff reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY. In this op-ed, he reflects on his experiences leading the public health response to the Tylenol murders of 1982. Tylenol murders: A nationwide panic, a family tragedy Her dad, aunt and uncle were killed in the notorious unsolved poisonings that terrorized Chicago. 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. Editors note: This report has been updated to remove the reported amount of cyanide used. Siekmann drove to a state laboratory in the city with the bottle on the seat next to him. Nearly three weeks after the murders, for example, the FBI asked Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene to write a column about Mary Kellerman and include specific details such as the familys home address and the location of the little girls grave, with her parents permission. 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. So he thought hed maybe get a lifetime supply of ham. Relatives, including two who took polygraph tests, were quickly eliminated from suspicion. The tainted bottle from the Schaumburg pharmacy contained three partial prints on the capsules, but (they) were not suitable for comparison, the memo states. 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 evening marked an important shift in the tragedy, moving from a swiftly solved medical mystery into a massive criminal investigation. It started in 1982, not long after the murders. 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. Pero quin fue el asesino? Several months have passed since the suburban detective made his pitch to the Cook County states attorneys office. The bottles, however, needed to be tested before they could say with certainty. 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. He said Marys mother, Jeanna, asked him if she should have noticed that someone had tampered with the bottle. 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. What are the Tylenol murders? The task ahead was difficult. As weeks went by without an arrest, detectives started using different doors to avoid the cameras. You understand? Ford said he told Stein. 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