View source for Chicago Tylenol murders

{{Short description|Unsolved 1982 mass poisoning in Chicago, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title            = Chicago Tylenol murders
| partof           = 
| image            = Tylenol Pills (15213405761).jpg
| image_size       = 256px
| alt              = 
| caption          = Tylenol pill in 2014
| map              = 
| map_size         = 
| map_alt          = 
| map_caption      = 
| location         = [[Chicago metropolitan area]], U.S.
| target           = Retail consumers
| coordinates      = 
| date             = September &ndash; October 1982
| time             = 
| timezone         = 
| type             = Mass [[poisoning]], [[mass murder]], [[serial killing]]
| fatalities       = At least 7
| injuries         = 
| perp             = Unknown 
| weapons          = 
| numparts         = <!-- or | numpart     = -->
| dfens            = <!-- or | dfen        = -->
| motive           = Unknown
| website          = <!-- URL|example.com}} -->
}}

The '''Chicago Tylenol murders''' were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from [[Tampering (crime)|drug tampering]] in the [[Chicago metropolitan area]] in 1982. The victims consumed [[Tylenol]] branded [[acetaminophen]] ([[paracetamol]]) [[capsule (pharmacy)|powder-filled capsules]] that had been adulterated with [[potassium cyanide]]. At least seven people died in the original poisonings, and there were several more deaths in subsequent [[copycat crime]]s.

No suspect has been charged or convicted of the poisonings {{as of|2025|lc=true}}. [[New York City]] resident [[James W. Lewis|James William Lewis]] was convicted of [[extortion]] for sending a letter to Tylenol's then-manufacturer, [[Johnson & Johnson]], that claimed responsibility for the deaths and demanded $1 million to stop them, but when he was discovered, he said the letter's claim was false, and further investigation failed to establish his involvement. The incidents led to a discontinuation of the use of powder-filled capsules for [[over-the-counter medicine]]s, reforms in medication packaging, and federal anti-tampering laws.

==Deaths and early public safety efforts==
On September 28, 1982, 12-year-old Mary Kellerman was hospitalized after consuming a capsule of [[Tylenol|Extra-Strength Tylenol]]; she died the next day.<ref name="Tribune Timeline">{{cite web|work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |first1=Stacy |last1=St. Clair |first2=Christy |last2=Gutowski |first3=Kori |last3=Rumore |title=The Tylenol murders: 40 years ago, an infamous Chicago-area crime took these 7 lives|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/tylenolmurders/ct-tylenol-murders-1982-victims-bios-20220922-vvgpstr5rzffrp2mpigsm5aziy-htmlstory.html|date=September 30, 2022|language=English}}</ref><ref name="PBSNewsHour">{{cite web |last1=Markel |first1=Howard |author-link1=Howard Markel |title=How the Tylenol murders of 1982 changed the way we consume medication |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/tylenol-murders-1982 |website=PBS NewsHour |access-date=December 6, 2017 |date=September 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206144152/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/tylenol-murders-1982 |archive-date=December 6, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> On September 29, six other individuals consumed contaminated Tylenol,<ref name="Tribune Timeline" /> including Adam Janus (27), Stanley Janus (25), and Theresa Janus (19), who each took Tylenol from a single bottle.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/1982-tylenol-poisoning-murders-janus-family/ |work=[[CBS News]] |title=Chicago Tylenol Murders: 3 members of Janus family died in 1982, and pain has passed on to generations |first=Dave |last=Savini |date=September 29, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Tribune Timeline" /><ref name="PBSNewsHour" /> All six—the Januses, Mary McFarland (31), Paula Prince (35), and Mary Reiner (27)—would ultimately die from consuming the pills.<ref name="Tribune Timeline" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Malcolm |first1=Andrew H. |title=Two Fireman Spotted A Link |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/02/us/two-firemen-spotted-a-link.html |work=The New York Times |issue=45454 |volume=132|date=2 October 1982}}</ref><ref name="Chicago Oral History">{{cite web|work=[[Chicago (magazine)|Chicago]]|date=September 21, 2012|title=Revisiting Chicago's Tylenol Murders|url=https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/october-2012/chicago-tylenol-murders-an-oral-history/}}</ref>

Asked to investigate the Januses' deaths, nurse Helen Jensen, [[Arlington Heights, Illinois|Arlington Heights]]'s only public health official, visited the Janus household and discovered a Tylenol bottle with an accompanying receipt indicating it had been purchased the same day.<ref name="Tribune Terrifying Mystery">{{cite web|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/investigations/ct-tylenol-murders-unsealed-first-24-hours-20220922-2mts4uwyzjgard6cawicu2myvm-htmlstory.html|title=The Tylenol murders: The story of a 40-year-old unsolved case begins with a terrifying medical mystery|first1=Stacy |last1=St. Clair |first2=Christy |last2=Gutowski |date=September 22, 2022|language=English}}</ref><ref name="Chicago Oral History" /> Noticing that there were six pills missing, she turned the bottle over to investigator Nick Pishos and reported her suspicion that it was related to the Januses' deaths.<ref name="Tribune Terrifying Mystery" /><ref name="Chicago Oral History" /> Pishos called Edmund R. Donoghue, deputy chief medical examiner for Cook County, who, suspecting that [[cyanide]] may be the culprit, asked Pishos to smell the bottle.<ref name="Tribune Terrifying Mystery" /><ref name="Chicago Oral History" /> When Pishos smelled an almond-like scent, Donoghue asked the county's chief toxicologist, Michael Schaffer, to test the capsules, and Schaffer's team determined that four of the 44 remaining capsules from the Janus' bottle contained nearly three times the fatal amount of cyanide.<ref name="Tribune Terrifying Mystery" /> Authorities held a press conference advising the public not to take Tylenol for the time being.<ref name="Chicago Oral History" /> 

By chance, the bottle of Tylenol that Kellerman used was inventoried by paramedics.<ref name="Chicago Oral History" /> Investigators noticed that the Janus bottle and the Kellerman bottle came from the same lot, MC2880, and [[Johnson & Johnson]] issued a [[product recall|recall]] for all Tylenol from that lot.<ref name="Chicago Oral History" /><ref name="NYT Recall">{{cite news |last1=McFadden |first1=Robert D. |author-link1=Robert D. McFadden |title=Poison— Deaths Bring U.S. Warning on Tylenol Use |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/02/us/poison-deaths-bring-us-warning-on-tylenol-use.html |work=The New York Times |volume=132|issue=45454 |date=2 October 1982 |page=A1}}</ref> But when tainted bottles from other lots were discovered (for example, the pills in Mary McFarland's possession were traced to lots 1910 MD and MB 2738),<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/history/ct-five-deaths-tied-to-chicago-tylenol-murders-1982-20220922-xlj5yhkzkvfz7gdt56dt6h57oq-story.html|title=5 deaths tied to pills: Fear killer put cyanide in Tylenol|date=September 22, 2022|first1=Jack |last1=Houston |first2=Jean |last2=Latz Griffin}}</ref> the recall expanded to cover any bottle of extra-strength capsules (from any lot) purchased in the Chicago area, making it one of the largest pharmaceutical recalls ever.<ref name="NYT Recall" />

A multi-agency investigation found the tampered pills to have been sold or on the shelves at a variety of stores in the Chicago area, including two different [[Jewel-Osco#Grocery stores|Jewel Foods]] locations (one in Arlington Heights, one in [[Elk Grove Village, Illinois|Elk Grove Village]]); an [[Jewel-Osco#Non-food retail expansion|Osco Drug store]] (in [[Schaumburg, Illinois|Schaumburg]]); a [[Walgreens]] and a [[Dominick's]] (both in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]]); and a Frank's Finer Foods (in [[Winfield, Illinois|Winfield]]).<ref name="Chicago Oral History" /><ref>{{cite web|work=[[Patch (website)|Patch]]|first=Tim |last=Moran|title=The Tylenol Murders: Still Unsolved After 34 Years|url=https://patch.com/illinois/chicago/tylenol-murders-still-unsolved-after-34-years|date=September 28, 2016}}</ref> One bottle had been purchased but, because she "sensed something was off", not yet used by the woman who purchased it.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/tylenol-murders-chicago-illinois/ |work=[[CBS News]] |first1=Dave |last1=Savini |first2=Samah |last2=Assad |first3=Rebecca |last3=McCann |title=Tylenol murders: Still looking for clues, investigators order new DNA tests on key evidence |date=January 29, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=[[United Press International]]|title=The woman who bought the eighth known bottle of...|date=October 27, 1982|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/10/27/The-woman-who-bought-the-eighth-known-bottle-of/6982404539200/}}</ref>

In an effort to reassure the public, Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of Tylenol, distributed warnings to hospitals and distributors and halted Tylenol production and advertising. After other incidents, like [[strychnine]] added to Tylenol bottles in [[California]], a nationwide recall of Tylenol products was issued on October 5, 1982; an estimated 31 million bottles were in circulation, with a retail value of over US$100 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|100|1982|r=0}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Emsley |first1=John |author-link1=John Emsley |title=Molecules of Murder: Criminal Molecules and Classic Cases |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-78262-474-5 |page=174 |publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry |oclc=944037436}}</ref> The company also advertised in the national media for individuals not to consume any of its products that contained acetaminophen after it was determined that only these capsules had been tampered with. Johnson & Johnson also offered to exchange all Tylenol capsules already purchased by the public for solid tablets.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pace |first1=Eric |title=Tylenol Will Reappear in Triple-Seal Package |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/12/business/tylenol-will-reappear-in-triple-seal-package.html |work=The New York Times |date=12 November 1982|volume=132|issue=45495}}</ref>

[[Customs]] at airports outside the U.S. asked visitors if they brought Tylenol medicine with them.<ref name="Criminal 1982">{{cite web | title=Episode 201: The Tylenol Murders (11.18.2022) | website=Criminal | date=29 September 1982 | url=https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-201-the-tylenol-murders-11-18-2022/ | access-date=22 November 2022}}</ref>

==Police investigation==
The tainted capsules were found to have been manufactured at two different locations, [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Texas]], suggesting that the capsules were tampered with after the product had been placed on store shelves for sale.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wolnik|first1=Karen A.|last2=Fricke|first2=Fred L.|last3=Bonnin|first3=Evelyn|last4=Gaston|first4=Cynthia M.|last5=Satzger|first5=R. Duane|title=The Tylenol Tampering Incident |journal=Analytical Chemistry |date=1 March 1984 |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=466A–474A |doi=10.1021/ac00267a775|s2cid= 37119741}}</ref> The police hypothesis was that someone had taken bottles off shelves in local stores of the Chicago area, placed [[potassium cyanide]] in some of the capsules, and then placed the packages back on the store shelves to be purchased by unknowing customers. In addition to the five bottles that led to the victims' deaths, a few other contaminated bottles were later discovered in the Chicago area.<ref name="PBSNewsHour" />

In early 1983, at the [[FBI]]'s request, ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' columnist [[Bob Greene]] published the address and grave location of the first and youngest victim, Mary Kellerman. The story, written with the Kellerman family's consent, was proposed by FBI criminal analyst [[John E. Douglas|John Douglas]] on the theory that the perpetrator(s) might visit the house or gravesite if they were made aware of their locations. Both sites were kept under 24-hour video surveillance for several months, but the killer did not surface.<ref>Greene, B. ''American Beat''. Penguin Books (1984), pp. 344–50. {{ISBN|0140073205}}</ref>

A surveillance photo of Paula Prince purchasing cyanide-tampered Tylenol at a [[Walgreens]] drugstore in Chicago was released by the Chicago Police Department. Police suggested that a bearded man seen just feet behind Prince could be the killer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/gallery/0206_tylenolman?pg=7|title=The trail of The Tylenol Man|website=Boston.com|date=February 6, 2009|access-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327091205/http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/gallery/0206_tylenolman?pg=7|archive-date=March 27, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Suspects===
During the initial investigation, James William Lewis (a.k.a. Robert Richardson) was accused of sending a letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to stop the cyanide-induced murders. Upon his arrest, Lewis told authorities how the person behind the attacks may have carried out the killings—by buying Tylenol, adding cyanide to the bottles, and returning them to the store shelves.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts)|The Republican]]|title=A Cambridge man might face charges over 1982 Chicago Tylenol deaths|date=September 22, 2022|first=Will |last=Katcher|language=English|url=https://www.masslive.com/police-fire/2022/09/a-cambridge-man-might-face-charges-over-1982-chicago-tylenol-deaths.html}}</ref> Lewis was also found to have previously possessed a poisoning book, and, according to a confidential law-enforcement document, his fingerprints were discovered on pages related to cyanide.<ref name="Tribune Lewis" /> Lewis denied being responsible for the poisonings, but he admitted to writing the letter, which he said he had worked on for three days.<ref name="Tribune Lewis">{{cite web|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|author=Christy Gutowski and Stacy St. Clair|date=September 22, 2022|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/investigations/ct-tylenol-murders-investigation-new-developments-20220922-kviipga5dfedrf65pwkztgbxjy-htmlstory.html|title=Movement in the Tylenol murders: Law enforcement seeks to persuade prosecutors to act on 'chargeable' case |url-access=registration}}</ref> During the trial, his attorneys claimed that Lewis "intended only to focus the attention of the authorities on his wife's former employer."<ref>{{cite news |title=Defense Calls Publicity Goal Of Tylenol Extortion Letters |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/27/us/defense-calls-publicity-goal-of-tylenol-extortion-letters.html |work=The New York Times |date=27 October 1983| volume= 133 |issue= 45844}}</ref> Lewis was convicted of extortion and sentenced to 10 years in prison.<ref>{{cite news |title=Trial Begins for Suspect In Tylenol Extortion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/17/us/around-the-nation-trial-begins-for-suspect-in-tylenol-extortion.html |work=The New York Times |date=17 October 1983|volume=133|issue=45834}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Jurors Convict Suspect in $1 Million Tylenol Extortion Plot |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/28/us/jurors-convict-suspect-in-1-million-tylenol-extortion-plot.html |work=The New York Times|issue=45845|volume=133 |date=28 October 1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tylenol Scare Extortionist Is Given 10-Year Prison Term |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/15/us/tylenol-scare-extortionist-is-given-10-year-prison-term.html |work=The New York Times |date=15 June 1984|issue=46076|volume=133}}</ref> 
In 2007, authorities determined that the letter had an October 1, 1982, postmark, meaning that, if Lewis's three-day timeline was accurate, he would have begun working on the letter prior to the first news reports concerning the poisonings.<ref name="Tribune Lewis" /> When confronted with this information, Lewis recanted his timeline.<ref name="Tribune Lewis" /> Court documents released in early 2009 "show [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] investigators concluded Lewis was responsible for the poisonings, despite the fact that they did not have enough evidence to charge him".<ref name="wcvb">{{cite web |date = February 12, 2009 |access-date = May 12, 2009 |title = Feds Convinced Lewis Was Tylenol Killer |publisher = [[WCVB-TV]] |url = http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/18703672/detail.html |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111030094338/http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/18703672/detail.html |archive-date = October 30, 2011}}</ref> In January 2010, both Lewis and his wife submitted DNA samples and fingerprints to authorities.<ref name="ap908" /> Lewis said "if the FBI plays it fair, I have nothing to worry about".<ref name="ap908" /> The DNA samples did not match any DNA recovered on the bottles.<ref name="Tribune Lewis" /> Lewis continued to deny responsibility for the poisonings.<ref name="ap908">{{cite news|date = January 11, 2010 |last= Lavoie|first=Denise |title= Friend: Tylenol Suspect Submits DNA, Fingerprints|publisher= ABC News |agency= Associated Press |via=boston.com|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/11/tylenol_killings_suspect_maintains_his_innocence/|access-date = November 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205155311/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/11/tylenol_killings_suspect_maintains_his_innocence/|archive-date = December 5, 2014|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="wcvb" /> Lewis died on July 9, 2023, at age 76.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goudie |first1=Chuck |last2=Markoff |first2=Barb |last3=Tressel |first3=Christine |title=James Lewis, only person convicted in connection with Chicago Tylenol murders, found dead: officials |url=https://abc7chicago.com/james-lewis-tylenol-murders-chicago-1982/13483901/ |access-date=July 11, 2023 |publisher=[[WLS-TV|ABC7 Chicago]] |date=July 10, 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

Police also investigated a second man, Roger Arnold, a dock worker at a [[Jewel-Osco]] in [[Melrose Park, Illinois|Melrose Park]], who told officers that he possessed potassium cyanide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/tylenol-murders-40-years-later-who-have-investigators-identified-as-suspects-or-persons-of-interest/|work=[[CBS News]]|title=Chicago Tylenol murders 40 years later: Who have investigators identified as suspects or persons of interest?|first=Rebecca |last=McCann|date=September 28, 2022|language=English}}</ref> Bar owner Marty Sinclair, whose establishment Arnold frequented, reported Arnold to the police, saying that Arnold had discussed killing people with a white powder and had become increasingly erratic after his marriage had dissolved.<ref name="Tribune Arnold">{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/investigations/ct-tylenol-murders-chicago-police-roger-arnold-20220929-jbxjioufmzay3g2fmvxsn54gru-htmlstory.html|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|language=English |first1=Christy |last1=Gutowski |first2=Stacy |last2=St. Clair |date=September 29, 2022|title=The Tylenol murders, part 3: Chicago police zero in on a suspect, and the case claims an 8th victim |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Arnold had worked with victim Mary Reiner's father at a warehouse, and Arnold's wife had been treated at a hospital across the street from the store in which Reiner bought her cyanide-laced pills.<ref name="Tribune Arnold" /> A copy of ''[[The Poor Man's James Bond]]'', which contained instructions on making potassium cyanide, was found in Arnold's home.<ref name="Tribune Arnold" /> Arnold was held several times by the police, but never charged.<ref name="Tribune Arnold" /> In the summer of 1983, Arnold, mistaking a random passerby named John Stanisha for Sinclair, shot and killed the man, a computer consultant and father of three,<ref name="Unsolved">{{cite book |last1=Hunt |first1=Amber |author-link1=Amber Hunt (journalist) |title=Unsolved Murders: True Crime Cases Uncovered |date=February 5, 2019 |publisher=DK |isbn=978-1465479716}}</ref> who was leaving a bar with multiple friends.<ref>{{cite web |title=Former Tylenol suspect charged with murder |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/06/20/Former-Tylenol-suspect-charged-with-murder/7639424929600/ |website=UPI}}</ref> Arnold was convicted of the killing in January 1984 and served 15 years of his 30-year sentence for murder, saying in 1996 from prison: "I killed a man, a perfectly innocent person. I had choices. I could have walked away."<ref name="Unsolved" /> He died in June 2008.<ref>{{cite news|title= Tylenol Figure Is Convicted |work= The New York Times|agency=Associated Press|date= January 15, 1984|issue=45924|volume=133|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/15/us/tylenol-figure-is-convicted.html | access-date= February 6, 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160305180449/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/15/us/tylenol-figure-is-convicted.html | archive-date= March 5, 2016|url-status= live}}</ref> In 2010, Arnold's body was exhumed (and subsequently reburied) so that his femur could be removed for DNA testing.<ref name="Tribune Arnold" /><ref><!--Note: Relying on transcript provided at link-->{{cite podcast
| url= https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/chicago-bar/2023/02/the-tylenol-murders-discussing-new-evidence-in-the-unsolved-case/| title=The Tylenol Murders: Discussing New Evidence in the Unsolved Case| publisher=Legal Talk Network| host=Trisha Rich and Maggie Mendenhall Casey| date=February 10, 2023}}</ref> Arnold's DNA did not match the DNA samples discovered on the bottles.<ref name="Tribune Lewis" />

===21st-century investigation efforts===
In early January 2009, Illinois authorities renewed the investigation. Federal agents searched the home of James W. Lewis in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and seized a number of items.<ref>{{cite news | last = Saltzman|first=Jonathan| title = Fatal Tampering Case Is Renewed| newspaper = The Boston Globe | date = February 5, 2009| url = http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/05/fatal_tampering_case_is_renewed/?page=1| access-date = February 10, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516232304/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/05/fatal_tampering_case_is_renewed/?page=1| archive-date = May 16, 2010| url-status = live}}</ref> In Chicago, an FBI spokesman declined to comment but said "we'll have something to release later possibly".<ref>{{cite news |title=FBI Searches Home of Man Linked to Tylenol Deaths |date= February 4, 2009|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/fbi-searches-home-of-man-linked-to-tylenol-deaths/|agency=[[Associated Press]]|work=[[Fox News]]|access-date= March 7, 2010|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819103809/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2009/02/04/fbi-searches-home-man-linked-to-tylenol-deaths/|archive-date=2014-08-19}}</ref>

In 2010, DNA samples were collected from James W. Lewis and from the corpse of Roger Arnold, which was exhumed for that purpose; neither's DNA matched DNA samples found on the tainted bottles.<ref name="Tribune Lewis" />

Law-enforcement officials received a number of tips related to the case coinciding with its 25th anniversary. In a written statement,<ref>{{cite news|title= Law Enforcement To Review Tylenol Murders|website=[[CNN]] |last= Fifis |first=Fran|date= February 5, 2009|url= http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/04/tylenol.murders/index.html|access-date= March 7, 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090415181441/http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/02/04/tylenol.murders/index.html|archive-date= April 15, 2009|url-status= live}}</ref> the FBI explained,

<blockquote>
This review was prompted, in part, by the recent 25th anniversary of this crime and the resulting publicity. Further, given the many recent advances in forensic technology, it was only natural that a second look be taken at the case and recovered evidence.
</blockquote>

On May 19, 2011, the FBI requested DNA samples from "Unabomber" [[Ted Kaczynski]] in connection to the Tylenol murders. Kaczynski denied having ever possessed potassium cyanide.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-19/unabomber-says-fbi-suspects-him-in-1982-tylenol-poisonings.html |title=FBI Wants Unabomber's DNA for 1982 Tylenol Poisoning Probe |last=Woolner |first=Ann |date=May 19, 2011 |website=Bloomberg News |access-date=May 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522112707/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-19/unabomber-says-fbi-suspects-him-in-1982-tylenol-poisonings.html |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> The first four Unabomber crimes happened in Chicago and its suburbs from 1978 to 1980, and Kaczynski's parents had a suburban Chicago home in [[Lombard, Illinois]], in 1982, where he stayed occasionally.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110519/news/705199967/|title=FBI wants to test Unabomber DNA in Tylenol killings|website=Daily Herald|date=May 19, 2011|access-date=June 9, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624092532/http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110519/news/705199967|archive-date=June 24, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
===Copycats===
Hundreds of copycat attacks involving Tylenol, other over-the-counter medications, and other products also took place around the United States immediately following the Chicago deaths.<ref name="PBSNewsHour" /><ref>{{cite magazine | url = http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1878063,00.html | title = A Brief History of the Tylenol Poisonings | first = Dan | last = Fletcher | date = February 9, 2009 | magazine = Time| access-date = January 25, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180120170557/http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1878063,00.html | archive-date = January 20, 2018 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Three more deaths occurred in 1986 from gelatin capsules.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/98fr/110498a.txt |publisher=Food and Drug Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services |title=Tamper-Evident Packaging Requirements for Over-the-Counter Human Drug Products (Final Rule) |journal=Federal Register |date=November 4, 1998 |volume=63 |issue=213 |pages=59463–59471 |pmid=10187120 |access-date=January 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201023317/http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/98fr/110498a.txt |archive-date=February 1, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Diane Elsroth, 23, died in [[Yonkers, New York]], after ingesting Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide.<ref name=“Cawthorne”>{{cite book |last1=Cawthorne |first1=Nigel |title=The Mammoth Book of Killers at Large |date=2011 |publisher=C & R Crime |location=United Kingdom |isbn=9780786719747 |pages=54}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/14/nyregion/2d-tainted-bottle-of-tylenol-found-by-investigators.html |title=2nd Tainted Bottle of Tylenol Found by Investigators |first=Michael |last=Norman |date=February 14, 1986 |volume=135|issue=46685| page=B2 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126012927/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/14/nyregion/2d-tainted-bottle-of-tylenol-found-by-investigators.html |archive-date=January 26, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Excedrin (brand)|Excedrin]] capsules in Washington state were tampered with, resulting in the deaths of Susan Snow and Bruce Nickell from cyanide poisoning and the eventual arrest and conviction of Bruce Nickell's wife, [[Stella Nickell]], for her intentional actions in the crimes connected to both murders.<ref name="BosGlobe">{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8061375.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307103507/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8061375.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 7, 2016 |title=Woman Guilty of Killing 2 in Poisoned Excedrin Case |work=The Boston Globe | via=HighBeam Research| access-date=May 10, 2012 |author=Tibbits, George |location=Seattle, Washington}}</ref>

That same year, [[Procter & Gamble]]'s [[Encaprin]] was recalled after a spiking hoax in Chicago and Detroit that resulted in a precipitous sales drop and a withdrawal of the pain reliever from the market.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/multimedia/2008/10/gallery_retired_drugs?slide=11&slideView=4 |title=Retired Drugs: Failed Blockbusters, Homicidal Tampering, Fatal Oversights |date=October 1, 2008 |work=Wired.com}}</ref>

In 1991 in Washington state, Kathleen Daneker and Stanley McWhorter were killed from two cyanide-tainted boxes of [[Sudafed]], and Jennifer Meling went into a coma from a similar poisoning but recovered shortly thereafter. Jennifer's husband, Joseph Meling, was convicted on numerous charges in a federal [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]] court regarding the deaths of Daneker and McWhorter and the attempted murder of his wife, who was abused during the Melings' marriage. Meling was sentenced to [[life imprisonment]] and lost an appeal for a retrial.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Man Guilty of Killing Two in Sudafed Tampering|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/04/us/man-guilty-of-killing-two-in-sudafed-tampering.html|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|date=4 April 1993|access-date=3 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/apr/17/judge-refuses-to-order-retrial-in-sudafed-case/ |website=The Spokesman Review|title=Judge Refuses To Order Retrial In Sudafed Case Convicted Robber's Confession Found To Be 'Totally Incredible'|date=April 17, 1997|access-date=May 3, 2022}}</ref>

In 1986, [[University of Texas]] student Kenneth Faries was found dead in his apartment after succumbing to cyanide poisoning.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/05/29/A-University-of-Texas-chemistry-student-whose-body-was/1084517723200/|title=A University of Texas chemistry student whose body was...|website=UPI|access-date=2019-07-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326112844/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/05/29/A-University-of-Texas-chemistry-student-whose-body-was/1084517723200/|archive-date=March 26, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Tampered [[Anacin]] capsules were determined to be the source of the cyanide found in his body. His death was ruled a homicide on May 30, 1986.<ref>{{cite news|agency=[[United Press International]]|work=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-05-30-8602090955-story.html|title=Cyanide Death Called a Homicide |date=May 30, 1986|access-date=March 26, 2019|url-status=live|archive-date=March 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326112846/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-05-30-8602090955-story.html}}</ref> On June 19, 1986, the AP reported that the Travis County Medical Examiner ruled his death a likely suicide. The FDA determined he obtained the poison from a lab in which he worked.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1986-06-19|title=Student's Death by Cyanide Ruled Suicide|website=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-19-mn-12346-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204141306/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-19-mn-12346-story.html |archive-date=February 4, 2020}}</ref>

===Johnson & Johnson response===
Johnson & Johnson received positive coverage for its handling of the crisis: an article in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' said, "Johnson & Johnson has effectively demonstrated how a major business ought to handle a disaster". The article further stated that "this is no [[Three Mile Island accident]] in which the company's response did more damage than the original incident", and applauded the company for being honest with the public.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = The Washington Post | first = Jerry |last= Knight | date = October 11, 1982 | title = Tylenol's Maker Shows How to Respond to Crisis | page = WB1 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1982/10/11/tylenols-maker-shows-how-to-respond-to-crisis/bc8df898-3fcf-443f-bc2f-e6fbd639a5a3/ | access-date = July 6, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160822105938/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1982/10/11/tylenols-maker-shows-how-to-respond-to-crisis/bc8df898-3fcf-443f-bc2f-e6fbd639a5a3/ | archive-date = August 22, 2016 | url-status = live }}</ref> 

In addition to issuing the recall, the company established relations with the Chicago Police Department, the FBI, and the [[Food and Drug Administration]]. This way it could have a part in searching for the person who laced the capsules and they could help prevent further tampering.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Robert V. |editor1-last=Heath |editor1-first=Robert |title=Encyclopedia of Public Relations |date=2005 |publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc. |pages=225–226 |doi=10.4135/9781412952545.n105 |chapter=Crisis Communications and the Tylenol Poisonings|isbn=9780761927334 }}</ref> 

While at the time of the scare the company's market share collapsed from 35 percent to 8 percent, it rebounded in less than a year, a move credited to the company's prompt and aggressive reaction. In November, it reintroduced capsules in a new, triple-sealed package, coupled with heavy price promotions. Within several years, Tylenol regained the highest market share for the over-the-counter analgesic in the US.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/17/business/tylenol-s-rapid-comeback.html| title= Tylenol's Rapid Comeback| first= N. R.| last= Kleinfield| newspaper= The New York Times |date=17 September 1983|page=L33 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161016134741/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/17/business/tylenol-s-rapid-comeback.html |volume= 132 |issue= 45804| archive-date= October 16, 2016| url-status= live}}</ref>

====Insurance claim denied====
After the recall, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary [[McNeil Consumer Healthcare|McNeil Laboratories]] submitted a claim to its insurance company, Affiliated FM Insurance, for the cost of carrying out the recall, a claim which was later denied. A lawsuit determined that McNeil Laboratories was ultimately not covered because the parent company Johnson & Johnson elected not to buy more expensive recall insurance.<ref>{{cite news |title=McNeil Lab Loses Tylenol Decision |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/24/business/mcneilab-loses-tylenol-decision.html |work=The New York Times|volume=134 |issue=46511 |date=24 August 1985}}</ref> McNeil sued again in court, further contending that the language of its excess liability insurance policy covered the recall and recall-related expenses. The court hearing that case rejected a claim of liability, stating that the recall "was not caused by liability for the seven deaths; it was at best merely related to the seven deaths in that they served as notice to the plaintiff that the Tylenol remaining on the shelves was potentially harmful."<ref>{{cite news |title=Tylenol-Recall Liability Case |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/18/business/tylenol-recall-liability-case.html |volume=136|work=The New York Times |issue=46901 |date=18 September 1986}}</ref>

In 1991, Johnson & Johnson agreed to settle, for an undisclosed sum, all lawsuits against it for the original Chicago area deaths. Robert Kniffin, a spokesman for Johnson & Johnson, stated that "though there is no way we could have anticipated a criminal tampering with our product or prevented it, we wanted to do something for the families and finally get this tragic event behind us."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilkerson |first1=Isabel |title=Tylenol Maker Settles in Tampering Deaths |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/14/us/tylenol-maker-settles-in-tampering-deaths.html |work=The New York Times |date=14 May 1991|volume=140|issue=48600 |page=A15}}</ref>

The crisis management response, taught today as a model of corporate public relations, is chiefly credited to public relations executive Harold Burson.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/business/media/harold-burson-dead.html | title=Harold Burson, a Giant in Public Relations, Dies at 98 | newspaper=The New York Times | date=January 10, 2020 | last1=McFadden | first1=Robert D. }}</ref>

===Pharmaceutical changes===
The 1982 incident inspired the pharmaceutical, food, and consumer product industries to develop [[tamper-resistant packaging]], such as [[induction seal]]s and improved quality control methods. Moreover, product tampering was made a federal crime.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2010-title18/pdf/USCODE-2010-title18-partI-chap65-sec1365.pdf| title = § 1365. Tampering with consumer products| work = Title 18 – Crimes and Criminal Procedure| pages = 343–345| publisher = United States Government Printing Office| access-date = December 4, 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150109041208/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2010-title18/pdf/USCODE-2010-title18-partI-chap65-sec1365.pdf| archive-date = January 9, 2015| url-status = live}}</ref> The new laws resulted in [[Stella Nickell]]'s conviction in the Excedrin tampering case, for which she was sentenced to 90 years in prison.<ref name="BosGlobe" />

Additionally, the incident prompted the pharmaceutical industry to move away from powder-filled capsules, which were easy to contaminate as a foreign substance could be placed inside without obvious signs of tampering. Within the year, the FDA introduced more stringent regulations to avoid product tampering. This led to the eventual replacement of the capsule with the solid "caplet", a tablet made in the shape of a capsule, as a drug delivery form and with the addition of [[tamper-evident]] safety seals to bottles of many sorts.<ref name="PBSNewsHour" />

===Halloween 1982===
While [[poisoned candy myths|poisoned candy]] being given to [[Trick-or-treating|trick-or-treaters]] at [[Halloween]] has never been documented, the Tylenol incident, which unfolded across October 1982, raised renewed fears of it. Some communities discouraged trick-or-treating for Halloween, and American grocery stores reported that candy sales were down more than 20%.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Victor |first1=Daniel |last2=Ortiz |first2=Aimee |date=October 27, 2021 |title=That Tainted Halloween Candy Myth Just Won't Go Away |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/us/halloween-candy-thc-marijuana.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 30, 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of homicides in Illinois#Multiple homicides|List of multiple homicides in Illinois]]
* [[List of serial killers by country]]
* [[List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)]]
* [[Paraquat murders]]
* [[James W. Lewis]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Bergmann, Joy (November 2, 2000). [http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/tylenol-killings-a-bitter-pill/Content?oid=903786 "A Bitter Pill&nbsp;– Someone Killed Seven People by Putting Cyanide in Tylenol Capsules&nbsp;– When James Lewis Was Caught for Writing an Extortion Letter, Prosecutors Appeared To Stop Looking for the Killer&nbsp;– Almost 20 Years Later No One Has Been Convicted of the Murders"]. ''[[Chicago Reader]]''. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
* {{Snopes|link=http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/tylenol.htm|title=Tylenol Murders}}
* Solomon, Michael (July 13, 2022). [https://medium.com/truly-adventurous/poison-pill-d98f366522a7 "Poison Pill"]. ''Truly*Adventurous'' via [[Medium (website)|Medium]]. Retrieved July 14, 2022.

==External links==
* {{wikibooks inline|Professionalism/Johnson & Johnson's Response to the 1982 Tylenol Poisonings}}

{{Portal bar|Chicago|Illinois|Law}}

[[Category:1982 in Illinois]]
[[Category:1982 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:1980s in Chicago]]
[[Category:Adulteration]]
[[Category:Mass murder in the United States in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Deaths by cyanide poisoning]]
[[Category:Drug safety]]
[[Category:Health disasters in the United States]]
[[Category:Johnson & Johnson]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 1982]]
[[Category:Mass poisoning]]
[[Category:1980s crimes in Illinois]]
[[Category:Product recalls]]
[[Category:September 1982 in the United States]]
[[Category:Unsolved mass murders in Chicago]]