Photo: Getty Images/ Stacey Wescott
Seven people were killed from September 29th to October 1st in 1982 after taking Tylenol, and the main suspect was found dead on Sunday. According to WGN9, James Lewis removed multiple bottles of Tylenol from the shelves of five Chicago-area grocery stores and injected cyanide into the capsules to avenge his 5-year-old daughters' death nearly 41 years ago. Lewis then put the Tylenol back on the shelves for strangers to purchase.
What happened next had the entire nation in a state of panic.
Victims of the Tylenol murders included 12-year-old Mary Kellerman, 27-year old Adam Janus, 25-year-old Stanley Janus, 19-year-old Theresa Janus, 27-year-old Mary Reiner, 31-year-old Mary McFarland, and 35-year-old Paula Prince. Each took the Tylenol for various aches and pains and were immediately sent to local hospitals where they later died.
After it was discovered that the victims passed away as a result of the tampered over-the-counter medicine, nurse Helen Jensen pioneered the rise of tamper-proof packaging. Patch mentioned that FDA regulations swept the country in the months following the murders to prevent future tampering. During this time, over 31 million bottles of Tylenol were recalled from the shelves.
Lewis, a tax consultant in the 80's, then sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson asking for a million dollars, writing that he would continue to poison people if they did not comply. Authorities immediately added Lewis to their list of suspects, but "never found hard evidence to tie him to the poisonings." Instead, he spent 12 years in prison for extortion and was later released.
Chicago Tribune investigative reporter Stacy St. Clair revealed the latest details about the four-decade investigation.
“(The FBI) went through some of his stuff and found the handbook of poisons. And in the years since, they have finger printed that book and on page 196, the page that includes information on how much cyanide is needed for a fatal dose in the average human, they found Jim Lewis’ fingerprint.”
Lewis did not die in jail. The 76-year-old criminal died a free man inside of his suburban Boston home, and was never charged for the Tylenol murders.