The bottles traveled to various warehouses, including a final storage stop at a Jewel facility in suburban Franklin Park, before being delivered to different grocery stores on different days before the poisonings. Chicago police Officer Sam Barsevich, left, takes inventory of Tylenol bottles that residents turned in at his station on Oct. 2, 1982. And they talked to veterinarians about any unusual animal poisonings, thinking the murderer may have tested the chemical on pets first. The Chicago detectives shared that worry. 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. ]. She has received numerous national honors for her work. Back then, bottles of pills did not have tamper-proof seals, just a cotton ball stuffed inside. She rarely heard how the tips panned out. 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. But no one has ever been arrested in connection with the spate of poisonings that shattered the families of Janus and the others. The Tylenol case, however, would loom largest over his professional life. The profilers predicted the culprits past likely included treatment for mental health issues and an attack on his parents. Please check your inbox to confirm. Most came from a banking service that snapped a photograph of anyone writing a check. Dr. Howard Markel. On Friday afternoon, doctors removed Stanley Janus wife, Terri, from life support. IE 11 is not supported. Extra-Strength Tylenol bottles, for example, came in a paper box with an unglued lid. But ultimately, three more people Mary Reiner, Mary McFarland and Paula Prince died within days after taking what they thought was an Extra-Strength Tylenol. All 3 networks lead with the Tylenol story on the first day of the crisis. 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. For example, Johnson & Johnson developed new product protection methods and ironclad pledges to do better in protecting their consumers in the future. With no apparent motive and little evidence to go on, it was a tough task. Though the company expanded the recall the same day to cover the batch involved in McFarlands death, the piecemeal approach troubled Fahner. (James Mayo / Chicago Tribune). Paramedics came and took Adam Janus to a nearby hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead from what they suspected may have been a heart attack. The Tylenol Murders In 1982, seven innocent Chicago civilians were boldly murdered. 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. Members of the media the same people who were constantly pestering him for information nicknamed Fahner Tylenol Ty. It stuck. I tell you, this wasnt a CSI show, he said. 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. So I stopped by the house on the way home, introduced myself and tried to answer any questions they had, he said. 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. Tylenol Ty, Ford said. Tylenol murders investigators pursue new charges in 40-year case. The prints, however, dont match the prime suspect. The latest Tribune poll showed he was down by about 20 points in the upcoming election. 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. Thank you. Investigators assumed the culprit was a man, though records indicate they didnt automatically rule out anyone based on gender. 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. 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. 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. 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. His brother and sister-in-law, Stanley, 25, and Theresa, 19, of Lisle, Illinois, rushed to his home to console their loved ones. As weeks went by without an arrest, detectives started using different doors to avoid the cameras. 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. DNA evidence wasnt part of police work at the time, but it would become a factor in the case a quarter-century later. Former Chicago police Detective Jimmy Gildea, shown at his Chicago home in July, investigated the death of Tylenol victim Paula Prince. Both experienced throbbing headaches, a not uncommon response to a death in the family and each took a Tylenol extra-strength capsule or two from the same bottle Adam had used earlier in the day. Retired FBI agent Roy Lane Jr., shown in August, is the only member of law enforcement who has been part of the Tylenol investigation in its entirety. The agencies, at times, clashed with each other. (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune). Forty years later, these earliest days remain a point of pride for some and a source of frustration for others. We also are still were looking at emerging forensic technology, Sgt. It started in 1982, not long after the murders. Agents interviewed the victims families, neighbors, co-workers and friends about any known enemies. Here, you go, Pete, the police chief said, passing the bottle to him without the type of evidence bag that would now be standard in any investigation. Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour. The Tylenol Murders Victims Mary Kellerman On September 29, 1982, 12 year old Mary Kellerman woke up feeling ill. (Don Casper / Chicago Tribune), People were terrified, Fahner said. Come to 1425 Armstrong Lane.. [Para leer en espaol] Los asesinatos de Tylenol, parte 2: Tylenol mezclado con cianuro fue el arma homicida. Male murderers are more likely, in general, to kill randomly and on a large scale. Adam Janus, a 27-year-old postal worker, wasnt feeling well and without having any way to know the mortal peril that the bottle posed for him, he took a pill from it before going to sleep that day. It didnt take long for the Tylenol murders to become national news. The FBIs involvement puzzled some because, as far as anyone knew, the federal agency didnt have jurisdiction in the case. The Chicago Tylenol murders were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from drug tampering in the Chicago metropolitan area in 1982. What are you giving this story for? So they ran him off the stage and I got up there.. Their opinion soured even further at their first meeting, when one of the lead investigators asked for a briefing on the Prince murder. So as we organized, there were about 10, 15 different avenues of investigations to pursue, like disgruntled employees, former employees, lawsuits, Lane said. Early on the morning of Sept. 29, 1982, a tragic, medical mystery began with a sore throat and a runny nose. Given the totality of the circumstances, some thought it unusual for the Illinois attorney general to lead the investigation. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). What the hell is this? The Chicago Tylenol Murders: With Laurence Fishburne. . Tensions flared, even among law enforcement personnel sincerely dedicated to the job. Manufacturer Johnson & Johnson recalled 31 million Tylenol bottles as panic spread nationwide following the deaths. 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. 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. . It didnt take long for Fellmann to recognize the pressures and expectations under which the newly formed task force would operate. NBC News reached out to Lewis and did not receive a response. And wherever they fell on the issue, that position hasnt changed much over the past four decades. (Stan Policht / Chicago Tribune). What happens in most cases, and certainly what happened here beyond any question, was a 100% selfless, unified devotion to a very important mission.. (Charles Osgood / Chicago Tribune). 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. Product tampering would become a crime in 1983 as a result of these murders, but in 1982 there was no federal law against it. Elk Grove Village Detective Michael Severns said investigators were so intent on chasing leads that they at times lost sight of the grieving families. McNeil Consumer Products, a subsidiary of the health care giant, Johnson & Johnson, manufactured Tylenol. Kasia said she long blamed herself for her fathers death, even though she was just in preschool when it happened. Ford, a Vietnam veteran with a classic Chicago accent and an Irishmans love of storytelling, died of a heart attack a few days after speaking with the Tribune. Despite the passage of time and, in a way, because of it the bottles still may offer clues as to who poisoned the capsules. The lot numbers for the McFarland, Reiner and Prince bottles indicated they were manufactured in Round Rock, Texas, and went to different warehouses in the Chicago area before ending up on store shelves. 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. It marked the first mass recall in U.S. history, involving more than 31 million bottles. The Tylenol Murders Pt. We locked him up.. He had never been better known in Illinois and was inching up in the polls too. 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. What was my dads favorite color? Whats going on? See where the eight tainted Tylenol bottles were purchased or discovered. 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