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The Chicago Tylenol murders were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from drug tampering in the
Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...
in 1982. The victims had all taken Tylenol-branded
acetaminophen Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, is a medication used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. Common brand names include Tylenol and Panadol. At a standard dose, paracetamol only slightly decreases body temperature; it is inferior ...
capsules that had been laced with
potassium cyanide Potassium cyanide is a compound with the formula KCN. This colorless crystalline salt, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications includ ...
. Seven people died in the original poisonings, with several more deaths in subsequent
copycat crime A copycat crime is a criminal act that is modelled after or inspired by a previous crime. It notably occurs after exposure to media content depicted said crimes, and/or a live criminal model. Copycat effect The copycat effect is the alleged tende ...
s. No suspect has been charged or convicted of the poisonings.
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
resident James William Lewis was convicted of
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
for sending a letter to Tylenol's manufacturer,
Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...
, that took responsibility for the deaths and demanded $1 million to stop them, but evidence tying Lewis to the actual poisoning never emerged. The incidents led to reforms in the packaging of
over-the-counter drug Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs A prescription drug (also prescription medication or prescripti ...
s and to federal anti-tampering laws.


Incidents

On September 29, 1982, Mary Kellerman (12) of
Elk Grove Village Elk Grove Village is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 32,812. Located northwest of Chicago along the Golden Corridor, the Village of Elk Grove Village was incorpora ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, died after taking a capsule of Extra-Strength Tylenol. Adam Janus (27) of Arlington Heights, died in the hospital later that day after ingesting Tylenol; his brother Stanley (25) and sister-in-law Theresa (19), of Lisle, later also died after taking Tylenol from the same bottle. Within the next few days, Mary McFarland (31) of Elmhurst; Paula Prince (35) of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
; and Mary Reiner (27) of Winfield all died in similar incidents. Once it was realized that all these people had recently taken Tylenol, tests were quickly carried out, which soon revealed
cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...
present in the capsules. Warnings were then issued via the media and patrols using loudspeakers, warning residents throughout the
Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...
to discontinue use of Tylenol products. The tainted capsules were found to have been manufactured at two different locations
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
suggesting that the capsules were tampered with after the product had been placed on store shelves for sale. The police hypothesis was that someone had taken bottles off shelves in local stores of the Chicago area, placed
potassium cyanide Potassium cyanide is a compound with the formula KCN. This colorless crystalline salt, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications includ ...
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. In an effort to reassure the public,
Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...
, the manufacturer of Tylenol, distributed warnings to hospitals and distributors and halted Tylenol production and advertising. After other incidents like
strychnine Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eye ...
added to Tylenol bottles in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, a nationwide
recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...
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 $ million in ). 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.
Customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
at airports outside the US were asking visitors if they brought Tylenol medicine with them.


Investigations


Suspects

During the initial investigations, a man named James William Lewis was accused of sending a letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to stop the cyanide-induced murders. Lewis was arrested, tried, and convicted of extortion and sentenced to 10 years in prison. During the trial, attorneys for Lewis claimed that he "intended only to focus the attention of the authorities on his wife's former employer."
WCVB WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue ...
Channel 5 of
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
reported that court documents released in early 2009 "show
Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
investigators concluded Lewis was responsible for the poisonings, despite the fact that they did not have enough evidence to charge him". In January 2010, both Lewis and his wife submitted DNA samples and fingerprints to authorities. Lewis said "if the FBI plays it fair, I have nothing to worry about". Lewis continues to deny all responsibility for the poisonings. A second man, Roger Arnold, was identified, investigated and cleared of the killings. He had a
nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
due to the media attention, which he blamed on Marty Sinclair, a bar owner. In the summer of 1983, Arnold shot and killed John Stanisha, a computer consultant and father of three who was leaving a bar with multiple friends, whom he mistook for Sinclair. Arnold was convicted of the killing in January 1984 and served 15 years of his 30-year sentence for second-degree murder, saying in 1996 from prison: "I killed a man, a perfectly innocent person. I had choices. I could have walked away". He died in June 2008. Laurie Dann, who poisoned and shot a number of people in a May 1988 rampage in and around
Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the second- ...
, was briefly considered as a suspect, but no direct connection was found.


Ongoing investigations

In early 1983, at the FBI's request, ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' columnist
Bob Greene Robert Bernard Greene Jr. (born March 10, 1947) is an American journalist and author. He worked for 24 years for the ''Chicago Tribune'' newspaper, where he was a columnist. Greene has written books on subjects including Michael Jordan, Alice C ...
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 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
criminal analyst John Douglas on the theory that the perpetrator might visit the house or gravesite if he were made aware of their locations. Both sites were kept under 24-hour video surveillance for several months, but the killer did not surface. A surveillance photo of Paula Prince purchasing cyanide-tampered Tylenol at a Walgreens at 1601 North Wells St. was released by the Chicago Police Department. Police believe that a bearded man seen just feet behind Prince may be the killer. In early January 2009, Illinois authorities renewed the investigation. Federal agents searched the home of Lewis in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and seized a number of items. In Chicago, an FBI spokesman declined to comment but said "we'll have something to release later possibly". Law enforcement officials have received a number of tips related to the case coinciding with its anniversary. In a written statement, the FBI explained,
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.
On May 19, 2011, the FBI requested DNA samples from "Unabomber"
Ted Kaczynski Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; born May 22, 1942), also known as the Unabomber (), is an American domestic terrorist and former mathematics professor. Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski killed three people and injured 23 others in a nationwide ...
in connection to the Tylenol murders. Kaczynski denied having ever possessed potassium cyanide. 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 Lombard is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. The population was 43,165 at the 2010 census. The United States Census Bureau estimated the population in 2019 to be 44,303. History Originally part of ...
, in 1982, where he stayed occasionally.


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. Three more deaths occurred in 1986 from tampered gelatin capsules. A woman died in
Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...
, after ingesting "Extra-Strength Tylenol" capsules laced with cyanide.
Excedrin Aspirin(acetylsalicylic acid) / paracetamol(acetaminophen) / caffeine is a combination drug for the treatment of pain, especially tension headache and migraine. It is sold in the US under the trade names Goody's Powder and Excedrin, although no ...
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. That same year,
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...
'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. In 1991 in Washington state, Kathleen Daneker and Stanley McWhorter were killed from two cyanide-tainted boxes of
Sudafed Pseudoephedrine (PSE) is a sympathomimetic drug of the substituted phenethylamine, phenethylamine and substituted amphetamine, amphetamine chemical classes. It may be used as a decongestant, nasal/sinus decongestant, as a stimulant, or as a wake ...
, 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 Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
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 Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
and lost an appeal for a retrial. In 1986 a
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
student, Kenneth Faries, was found dead in his apartment after succumbing to cyanide poisoning. Tampered
Anacin Anacin is an American brand of analgesic that is manufactured by Prestige Consumer Healthcare. Its product contains aspirin and caffeine. History Anacin was invented by William Milton Knight and was first to be used circa 1916 as stated in the ...
capsules were determined to be the source of the cyanide found in his body. His death was ruled as a homicide on May 30, 1986. 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.


Johnson & Johnson response

Johnson & Johnson received positive coverage for its handling of the crisis; for example, an article in ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' 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 The Three Mile Island accident was a partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor in Pennsylvania, United States. It began at 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979. It is the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclea ...
in which the company's response did more damage than the original incident", and applauded the company for being honest with the public. In addition to issuing the recall, the company established relations with the Chicago Police Department, the FBI, and the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
. This way it could have a part in searching for the person who laced the capsules and they could help prevent further tampering. 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 and within several years, Tylenol had regained the highest market share for the over-the-counter analgesic in the US. After the recall, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary
McNeil Laboratories McNeil Consumer Healthcare is an American medicals products company belonging to the Johnson & Johnson healthcare products group. It primarily sells fast-moving consumer goods such as over-the-counter drugs. History The company was founded on M ...
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. 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." 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." The crisis management response, taught today as a model of corporate public relations, is chiefly credited to public relations executive Harold Burson.


Pharmaceutical changes

The 1982 incident inspired the pharmaceutical, food, and consumer product industries to develop tamper-resistant packaging, such as induction seals and improved quality control methods. Moreover, product tampering was made a federal crime. The new laws resulted in Stella Nickell's conviction in the Excedrin tampering case, for which she was sentenced to 90 years in prison. Additionally, the incident prompted the pharmaceutical industry to move away from 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 Tamper-evident describes a device or process that makes unauthorized access to the protected object easily detected. Seals, markings, or other techniques may be tamper indicating. Tampering Tampering involves the deliberate altering or adultera ...
safety-seals to bottles of many sorts.


1982 Halloween

While poisoned candy being given to trick-or-treaters at Halloween is rare, 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%.


See also

*
List of unsolved murders These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances. * List of unsolved murders (before 1900) * List of unsolved murders (1900–1979) * List of unsolved murders (1980–1999) * List of unsol ...


References


Further reading

* Bergmann, Joy (November 2, 2000)
"A Bitter Pill – Someone Killed Seven People by Putting Cyanide in Tylenol Capsules – When James Lewis Was Caught for Writing an Extortion Letter, Prosecutors Appeared To Stop Looking for the Killer – Almost 20 Years Later No One Has Been Convicted of the Murders"
''
Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...
''. Retrieved May 19, 2011. * * Solomon, Michael (July 13, 2022)
"Poison Pill"
''
Medium (website) Medium is an American online publishing platform developed by Evan Williams and launched in August 2012. It is owned by A Medium Corporation. The platform is an example of social journalism, having a hybrid collection of amateur and professio ...
''. Retrieved July 14, 2022.


External links

* {{Portal bar, Chicago, Illinois, Law 1982 in Illinois 1982 murders in the United States 1980s in Chicago Adulteration Crimes in Chicago Cyanide poisoning Drug safety Health disasters in the United States Johnson & Johnson Mass murder in 1982 Mass poisoning Murder in Illinois Product recalls September 1982 events in the United States Unsolved mass murders in the United States