Chicago Tylenol murders

Chicago Tylenol murders
LocationChicago metropolitan area, United States
DateSeptember–October 1982
TargetRetail consumers
Attack type
Poisoning, mass murder
Deaths7
PerpetratorUnknown
MotiveUnknown

The Chicago Tylenol murders were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from drug tampering in the Chicago metropolitan area in 1982. The victims had all taken Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide. A total of seven people died in the original poisonings, with several more deaths in subsequent copycat crimes.

No suspect was ever charged or convicted of the poisonings. New York City resident James William Lewis was convicted of extortion for sending a letter to Johnson & Johnson that took responsibility for the deaths and demanded $1 million to stop them, but evidence tying him to the actual poisoning never emerged.

The incidents led to reforms in the packaging of over-the-counter substances and to federal anti-tampering laws. The actions of Johnson & Johnson to reduce deaths and warn the public of poisoning risks have been widely praised as an exemplary public relations response to such a crisis.

Incidents

On September 29, 1982, twelve-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village, Illinois died after taking a capsule of Extra-Strength Tylenol.[1] Adam Janus (27) of Arlington Heights, Illinois, died in the hospital later that day after ingesting Tylenol; his brother Stanley (25) and sister-in-law Theresa (19), of Lisle, Illinois, later also died after taking Tylenol from the same bottle.[1] Within the next few days, Mary McFarland (31) of Elmhurst, Illinois, Paula Prince (35) of Chicago, and Mary Reiner (27) of Winfield all died in similar incidents.[2][3] Once it was realized that all these people had recently taken Tylenol, tests were quickly carried out, which soon revealed cyanide present in the capsules. Warnings were then issued via the media and patrols using loudspeakers, warning residents throughout the Chicago metropolitan area to discontinue use of Tylenol products.[4]

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.[5] 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 to 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.[1]

In an effort to reassure the public, Johnson & Johnson 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 $268 million in 2020).[6] 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.[7]

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.[8][9][10] During the trial, attorneys for Lewis claimed that he "intended only to focus the attention of the authorities on his wife's former employer."[11] WCVB Channel 5 of Boston reported that court documents released in early 2009 "show Department of Justice 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.[12] Lewis said "if the FBI plays it fair, I have nothing to worry about".[12] Lewis continues to deny all responsibility for the poisonings.[12][13]

A second man, Roger Arnold, was identified, investigated and cleared of the killings. He had a nervous breakdown 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, an unrelated man whom he mistook for Sinclair and who did not know Arnold. Arnold was convicted in January 1984 and served 15 years of a 30-year sentence for second-degree murder. He died in June 2008.[14]

Laurie Dann, who poisoned and shot a number of people in a May 1988 rampage in and around Winnetka, Illinois, was briefly considered as a suspect, but no direct connection was found.[15]

Ongoing investigations

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 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.[16]

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.[17]

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.[18] In Chicago, an FBI spokesman declined to comment but said "we'll have something to release later possibly".[19] Law enforcement officials have received a number of tips related to the case coinciding with its anniversary. In a written statement,[20] 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 in connection to the Tylenol murders. Kaczynski denied having ever possessed potassium cyanide.[21] 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.[22]

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.[1][23]

Three more deaths occurred in 1986 from tampered gelatin capsules.[24] A woman died in Yonkers, New York, after ingesting "Extra-Strength Tylenol" capsules laced with cyanide.[25] 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.[26] 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.[27]

In 1986 a University of Texas student, Kenneth Faries, was found dead in his apartment after succumbing to cyanide poisoning.[28] Tampered Anacin 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.[29] 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.[30]

Johnson & Johnson response

Johnson & Johnson received positive coverage for its handling of the crisis; for example, 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.[31] 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.[32] 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.[33]

After the recall, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary 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.[34] 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."[35]

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."[36]

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.[37] The new laws resulted in Stella Nickell's conviction in the Excedrin tampering case, for which she was sentenced to 90 years in prison.[26]

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 safety-seals to bottles of many sorts.[1]

1982 Halloween

While poisoned candy being given to trick-or-treaters at Halloween is vanishingly 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%.[38]

See also

  • List of unsolved murders

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Markel, Howard (September 29, 2014). "How the Tylenol murders of 1982 changed the way we consume medication". PBS NewsHour. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  2. ↑ Malcolm, Andrew H. (October 2, 1982). "Two Fireman Spotted A Link". The New York Times. Vol. 132, no. 45454.
  3. ↑ "Revisiting Chicago's Tylenol Murders". Chicago Magazine. September 12, 2012.
  4. ↑ McFadden, Robert D. (October 2, 1982). "Poison Deaths Bring U.S. Warning on Tylenol Use". The New York Times. Vol. 132, no. 45454. p. A1.
  5. ↑ Wolnik, Karen A.; Fricke, Fred L.; Bonnin, Evelyn; Gaston, Cynthia M.; Satzger, R. Duane (March 1, 1984). "The Tylenol Tampering Incident". Analytical Chemistry. 56 (3): 466A–474A. doi:10.1021/ac00267a775. S2CID 37119741.
  6. ↑ Emsley, John (2016). Molecules of Murder: Criminal Molecules and Classic Cases. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-78262-474-5. OCLC 944037436.
  7. ↑ Pace, Eric (November 12, 1982). "Tylenol Will Reappear in Triple-Seal Package". The New York Times. Vol. 132, no. 45495.
  8. ↑ "Trial Begins for Suspect In Tylenol Extortion". The New York Times. Vol. 133, no. 45834. October 17, 1983.
  9. ↑ "Jurors Convict Suspect in $1 Million Tylenol Extortion Plot". The New York Times. Vol. 133, no. 45845. October 28, 1983.
  10. ↑ "Tylenol Scare Extortionist Is Given 10-Year Prison Term". The New York Times. Vol. 133, no. 46076. June 15, 1984.
  11. ↑ "Defense Calls Publicity Goal Of Tylenol Extortion Letters". The New York Times. Vol. 133, no. 45844. October 27, 1983.
  12. 1 2 3 Lavoie, Denise (January 11, 2010). "Friend: Tylenol Suspect Submits DNA, Fingerprints". ABC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014 – via boston.com.
  13. ↑ "Feds Convinced Lewis Was Tylenol Killer". WCVB-TV. February 12, 2009. Archived from the original on October 30, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
  14. ↑ "Tylenol Figure Is Convicted". The New York Times. Vol. 133, no. 45924. Associated Press. January 15, 1984. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Tragedy in Winnetka: The Answers Are Few". Milwaukee Sentinel. May 25, 1988. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  16. ↑ Greene, B. American Beat. Penguin Books (1984), pp. 344–50. ISBN 0140073205
  17. ↑ "The trail of The Tylenol Man". Boston.com. February 6, 2009. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  18. ↑ Saltzman, Jonathan (February 5, 2009), "Fatal Tampering Case Is Renewed", The Boston Globe, archived from the original on May 16, 2010, retrieved February 10, 2009
  19. ↑ "FBI Searches Home of Man Linked to Tylenol Deaths". Fox News. Associated Press. February 4, 2009. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  20. ↑ Fifis, Fran (February 5, 2009). "Law Enforcement To Review Tylenol Murders". CNN. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  21. ↑ Woolner, Ann (May 19, 2011). "FBI Wants Unabomber's DNA for 1982 Tylenol Poisoning Probe". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
  22. ↑ "FBI wants to test Unabomber DNA in Tylenol killings". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on June 24, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  23. ↑ Fletcher, Dan (February 9, 2009). "A Brief History of the Tylenol Poisonings". Time. Archived from the original on January 20, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Tamper-Evident Packaging Requirements for Over-the-Counter Human Drug Products (Final Rule)". Federal Register. Food and Drug Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services. 63 (213): 59463–59471. November 4, 1998. Archived from the original on February 1, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  25. ↑ Norman, Michael (February 14, 1986). "2nd Tainted Bottle of Tylenol Found by Investigators". The New York Times. Vol. 135, no. 46685. p. B2. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  26. 1 2 Tibbits, George. "Woman Guilty of Killing 2 in Poisoned Excedrin Case". The Boston Globe  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Seattle, Washington. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
  27. ↑ "Retired Drugs: Failed Blockbusters, Homicidal Tampering, Fatal Oversights". Wired.com. October 1, 2008.
  28. ↑ "A University of Texas chemistry student whose body was..." UPI. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Cyanide Death Called a Homicide". Chicago Tribune. United Press International. May 30, 1986. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  30. ↑ "Student's Death by Cyanide Ruled Suicide". Los Angeles Times. June 19, 1986. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  31. ↑ Knight, Jerry (October 11, 1982). "Tylenol's Maker Shows How to Respond to Crisis". The Washington Post. p. WB1. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  32. ↑ Andrews, Robert V. (2005). "Crisis Communications and the Tylenol Poisonings". In Heath, Robert (ed.). Encyclopedia of Public Relations. SAGE Publications, Inc. pp. 225–226. doi:10.4135/9781412952545.n105.
  33. ↑ Kleinfield, N. R. (September 17, 1983). "Tylenol's Rapid Comeback". The New York Times. Vol. 132, no. 45804. p. L33. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016.
  34. ↑ "McNeil Lab Loses Tylenol Decision". The New York Times. Vol. 134, no. 46511. August 24, 1985.
  35. ↑ "Tylenol-Recall Liability Case". The New York Times. Vol. 136, no. 46901. September 18, 1986.
  36. ↑ Wilkerson, Isabel (May 14, 1991). "Tylenol Maker Settles in Tampering Deaths". The New York Times. Vol. 140, no. 48600. p. A15.
  37. ↑ "§ 1365. Tampering with consumer products" (PDF). Title 18 – Crimes and Criminal Procedure. United States Government Printing Office. pp. 343–345. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  38. ↑ Victor, Daniel; Ortiz, Aimee (October 27, 2021). "That Tainted Halloween Candy Myth Just Won't Go Away". The New York Times. Retrieved October 30, 2021.

Further reading

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