A serial killer who was never caught changed the way Americans consume over-the-counter drugs, after sending the nation into widespread panic with their sick-killing schedule.
The poisoning murders of seven Chicago residents in 1982 horrified the country — and the world at large — because they involved Tylenol, the top-selling non-prescription pain reliever at the time.
The killer had opened the capsules and replaced some of the acetaminophen with potassium cyanide, then quietly returned them to the shelves.
The only suspect ever to emerge was James Lewis, who died earlier this week at home aged 76.
At the time, the pills came in a container guarded only by a cotton ball. But the killings have led to universal reforms in how over-the-counter medicines are packaged, with the FDA introducing new tamper-evident packaging, including foil seals.
The first victim was 12-year-old Mary Kellerman from the suburb of Elk Grove Village. Her parents gave her an extra-strength capsule on 29 September after she complained of a sore throat and runny nose. In the morning she was dead.
Mary Kellerman, Mary McFarland, Mary ‘Lynn’ Reiner, Paula Prince and Stanley, Adam and Terri Janus died after taking Tylenol pills mixed with cyanide. Their murders changed the way Americans consume over-the-counter drugs
Although he has always denied being the killer, James Lewis was questioned as recently as September about the killings. He died earlier this week at the age of 76
On the same day, 27-year-old postal worker Adam Janus, of Arlington Heights, also died mysteriously after taking a pill of Tylenol. His death was initially ruled to be a massive heart attack, but it turned out to be due to cyanide poisoning.
When they went to mourn him, his brother Stanley, 25, and sister-in-law Theresa, 19, took tablets from the same bottle to manage the headaches. In a heartbreaking family tragedy, Stanley died that day and Theresa died two days later.
In the following week, three more lost their lives: 35-year-old Mary McFarland of Elmhurst, 35-year-old Paula Prince of Chicago, and 27-year-old Mary Weiner of Winfield.
In early October, police realized that Tylenol was the common denominator in the strange deaths.
Before the 1982 crash, Tylenol controlled over 35% of the over-the-counter painkiller market. Just a few weeks after the murders, that number plummeted to less than 8%.
Since the tampered bottles came from different factories, sabotage in production was ruled out. Instead, it is thought that someone went around the grocery stores, opening bottles and adding a lethal potassium cyanide compound, before putting them back on the shelves.
Tylenol maker Johnson & Johnson has issued a mass alert and recalled the more than 31 million bottles of Tylenol in circulation. Capsules with poison were found in some grocery stores in the Chicago area and recalled before anyone else was killed.
Within a year of the murders, and after an investment of more than $100 million, Tylenol sales rebounded and it had a resurgence as the nation’s favorite over-the-counter pain reliever.
In 1983, the United States Congress passed what was called “the Tylenol bill,” making it a federal crime to tamper with consumer products.
In 1989, the FDA established federal guidelines for manufacturers to make all such products tamper evident.
Tylenol maker Johnson & Johnson issued a mass alert and recalled the more than 31 million bottles of Tylenol in circulation
The killing has caused worldwide panic and led to reforms in how over-the-counter medicines are packaged, with the FDA introducing new tamper-evident packaging such as foil seals
Though he has always denied it, police believed Lewis was behind the killing spree and he was only questioned in September, as authorities worked to find the person behind the killings 40 years later.
Lewis, a former accountant, was arrested, charged and convicted of writing extortion letters threatening that the killings would continue unless $1 million was wired into a bank account.
In a prison interview, he explained an intricate pattern the killer “allegedly used” to poison pills using a pegboard.
Police said they believe Lewis acted in revenge against Johnson & Johnson after her five-year-old daughter, Toni, died in 1974. They tore up.
Lewis was found dead at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Sunday, ending hopes by officials of one day convicting him of the murders.
“I was saddened to learn of the passing of James Lewis. Not because he died, but because he didn’t die in prison,’ said former Deputy US Attorney Jeremy Margolis, who has prosecuted Lewis for extortion.
“I’ve always hoped justice would be served, and this is a short circuit,” added retired FBI Special Agent Roy Lane.
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