- In 1982, seven Chicago residents died of poisoning after taking Tylenol.
- At the time, the tablets were in containers protected only by cotton balls.
- James Lewis, 76, was the sole suspect in the murder and died last week
A yet-to-be-caught serial killer has changed the way Americans take over-the-counter drugs after his sick murder plot caused widespread panic across the country.
The 1982 poisoning murder of seven Chicagoans terrorized Chicago, and the world at large, because it involved Tylenol, the best-selling non-prescription pain reliever of the time.
The culprit opened the capsule, replaced some of the acetaminophen with potassium cyanide, and quietly put the capsule back on the shelf.
The only suspect so far surfaced was James Lewis, who died at his home earlier this week at the age of 76.
At the time, the tablets were in containers protected only by cotton balls. But the murder led to a universal revolution in how over-the-counter drugs are packaged, with the FDA introducing new tamper-evident packaging, including foil seals.
The first victim was 12-year-old Mary Kellerman from the Elk Grove Village suburb. Her parents gave her one strong capsule on September 29 because she complained of her sore throat and her runny nose. By morning she was dead.
On the same day, 27-year-old postal worker Adam Janus of Arlington Heights also mysteriously died after taking Tylenol pills. His death was initially attributed to a severe heart attack, but was later found to be from cyanide poisoning.
His brother Stanley, 25, and sister-in-law Teresa, 19, took pills from the same bottle to deal with headaches when they went to pay their respects. In a heartbreaking family tragedy, Stanley died that day, and Theresa died two days later.
Three others died the following week: Mary McFarland, 35, of Elmhurst; Paula Prince, 35, of Chicago; and Mary Weiner, 27, of Winfield.
By early October, police realized Tylenol was the common denominator in the bizarre deaths.
Before the 1982 crisis, Tylenol controlled over 35% of the over-the-counter pain reliever market. Just weeks after the murders, that number plummeted to less than 8 percent.
Since the tampered bottles came from a different factory, sabotage in production was ruled out. Instead, it is believed that someone went to the drug store, opened the bottle, added the deadly potassium cyanide compound, and put it back on the shelf.
Tylenol manufacturer Johnson & Johnson issued a mass alert and recalled more than 31 million Tylenol bottles in circulation. Poisoned capsules were found in several Chicago-area grocery stores and recovered before anyone was killed.
Within a year of the murders, and after an investment of over $100 million, Tylenol’s sales rebounded and it was resurrected as the nation’s favorite over-the-counter pain reliever.
In 1983, the US Congress passed the so-called “Tylenol bill,” making tampering with consumer products a federal crime.
In 1989, the FDA established federal guidelines for manufacturers to keep all such products tamper-proof.
Despite Lewis’ constant denials, police believed he was behind a series of murders, and he was questioned in September when authorities were trying to find the mastermind behind the murders 40 years later. had received
Lewis, a former accountant, was arrested, indicted, and convicted of writing a blackmail letter threatening to continue killing unless he transferred $1 million to his bank account.
In a prison interview, he described a complicated scheme that the perpetrators “would have used” to poison the pills using pegboards with holes in them.
Police said they believed Lewis acted as revenge against Johnson & Johnson after the death of his five-year-old daughter, Toni, in 1974. She died after sutures made by the company’s subsidiary were used to cure a girl with a congenital heart defect. they tore up.
Lewis was found dead in his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home on Sunday, dashing hopes that he would one day be convicted of murder.
“I was very sad to hear the news of James Lewis’ passing, not because he died, but because he didn’t die in prison,” said Jeremy Margolis, the former assistant U.S. attorney who charged Lewis with extortion charges.
“I always wanted justice to be served, but this shorted it out,” added former FBI Special Agent Roy Lane.
