The pop of a pill bottle opening is not unfamiliar to many, nor is the safety seal under the cap. Decades ago, these safety seals didn’t exist, and pill bottles and milk cartons and many other common grocery shopping items were unsealed. The year of 1982 changed this lack of packaging forever, with a deadly string of murders being the crucial point for companies and producers to take measures to protect their consumers as well as their business.
In September of 1982, some residents of the Chicago metropolitan area became victims to an unknown killers trap. Seven total victims came from the initial murders, with many innocent others falling prey to copycat crimes soon after. The victims were: Mary Kellerman (12) from Elk Grove Village in Illinois, Mary McFarland (31) from Elmhurst in Illinois, Mary Reiner (27) from Winfield in Illinois, Paula Prince (35) from Chicago in Illinois, and Adam (27), Stanley (25), and Theresa (19) Janus, all from Arlington Heights in Illinois.
Initially, authorities were puzzled due to the circumstances of these seven deaths, all with similar circumstances. However, it was then found out that all victims had all taken Tylenol within days of their deaths, which prompted tests to be ran. It was then found out that all victims had traces of potassium cyanide in their systems.
The bottles seemed to be tampered with after production, as the Tylenol bottles used in the murders had been manufactured in different areas. The suspect must have entered into the drug stores in the area near Chicago, opened the bottles, added potassium cyanide, then closed the bottles and put them back on the shelf. An investigation was opened later into the drug stores near Chicago, where more bottles were found to have contained potassium cyanide.
Oct. 5, 1892 came the recalls of many Tylenol and acetaminophen bottles by Johnson & Johnson, all adding up to cost around one hundred thousand dollars at the time.
There hasn’t been anyone who was convicted for these crimes, leaving this case effectively unsolved. However, there were many people who were suspected to be a convict for these crimes.
James William Lewis was the major suspect at the time due to his sending of a letter demanding one million dollars to stop the poisonings. He went to prison for a decade due to extortion but not the murders. There ended up not being enough evidence to charge him of the crime, and Lewis stays confident in his denying of his involvement.
Roger Arnold was investigated but cleared of suspicion, however he ended up killing a man months later and went to prison for it. Another suspect was Laurie Dann, who killed several people via poisoning years later, but no direct connection was found and the case for the Tylenol murders was dropped.
Many copycat murders occurred in years following, though prior to the institutions of anti-tampering laws and seals. Tampered substances ranged from Tylenol to Excedrin to Encaprin.
This incident lead to the development of tamper-resistant packaging, which is now the norm today. The events of the Tylenol murders also lead to tampering with products to be a crime in many federal legislatures across the country. The transition from capsules to plan solid pills was also due to the pill tampering.