IL IL - Chicago Tylenol Murders: 7 people dead from cyanide poisoning, 1982

[HMSHood]

Whoever did the Tylenol murder clearly was angry at the world. Most likely an injustice collector. I looked up James Lewis and he does a rap sheet. Not sure if he did it.

Tylenol murders suspect is seen in secret FBI videos from 2008

Videos from 2008 show him explaining to undercover FBI agents how the killer would have swapped the painkillers for cyanide without trace, while struggling to maintain his innocence

www.dailymail.co.uk

I did read the The Daily Mail article and this one caught my attention.

Police have said they believe Lewis acted on revenge against Johnson & Johnson after his five-year-old daughter, Toni, died in 1974. The girl passed away after sutures made by a subsidiary of the company were used to fix her congenital heart defect and they tore.

I am not saying he did it, but I could see why he may have been a suspect. I have also read that Ted Kaczynski, The Unabomber, may have been the one who poisoned the Tylenol.

True, they've never been able to place him anywhere near Chicago around that time.

There was another interesting suspect developed by a Chicago PD detective. It came from a tip from someone who overheard a guy in a bar talking about making cyanide and putting it in the Tylenol.

I don't recall his name, but they found the guy and investigated him. He was a middle aged, low income, single guy who worked on the docks at the warehouse where the poisoned bottles originated. When they searched his home, they found he was an "amateur" chemist and IIRC, he had cyanide. They investigated him closely, but the FBI seemed to think it was Lewis. They didn't have enough on the other guy.

The dock worker at Jewel-Osco is Roger Arnold. He passed away in June 2008. His body was exhumed in 2010 to get DNA. The DNA did not match on the bottles.

The Tylenol murders, part 3: Chicago police zero in on a suspect, and the case claims an 8th victim

Even before the July 2022 video conference on the Tylenol murders, DuPage County prosecutors know about another suspect in the case. On this, there is no doubt. In 2010, two prosecutors — inc…

www.chicagotribune.com

 

[Betty P]

Whoever did the Tylenol murder clearly was angry at the world. Most likely an injustice collector. I looked up James Lewis and he does a rap sheet. Not sure if he did it.


I did read the The Daily Mail article and this one caught my attention.



I am not saying he did it, but I could see why he may have been a suspect. I have also read that Ted Kaczynski, The Unabomber, may have been the one who poisoned the Tylenol.


The dock worker at Jewel-Osco is Roger Arnold. He passed away in June 2008. His body was exhumed in 2010 to get DNA. The DNA did not match on the bottles.

The Tylenol murders, part 3: Chicago police zero in on a suspect, and the case claims an 8th victim

Even before the July 2022 video conference on the Tylenol murders, DuPage County prosecutors know about another suspect in the case. On this, there is no doubt. In 2010, two prosecutors — inc…

www.chicagotribune.com

Thanks HMS Hood for that update! Roger Arnold seemed like a pretty good suspect back then.

Lewis is also a strong suspect. It was interesting that one of the extortion letters he sent to J&J was written the day before the Tylenol poisonings began.

 

[HMSHood]

Thanks HMS Hood for that update! Roger Arnold seemed like a pretty good suspect back then.

Lewis is also a strong suspect. It was interesting that one of the extortion letters he sent to J&J was written the day before the Tylenol poisonings began.

I read about Roger Arnold. He had a lot of resentment issues.

 

[kemo]

Arnold and Lewis were both good suspects who “fit the profile”. The were intelligent but low achievers and could be described as “mad at the world” but Lewis could not be placed in Chicago at the time and there was really nothing direct that linked Arnold to the crime. There was touch DNA taken from one of the tainted pills from one of the bottles that did not match either. Since Tylenol was bottled through an entirely automated process, there was no reason for anyone involved in the normal production-distribution process to leave any touch DNA on one of the capsules so there is a high probability of that DNA belonging to the perpetrator. It is unclear why Forensic Genealogy hasn’t been attempted. Possibly only a partial profile was obtained. There is a good possibility that the name of the actual perpetrator never came up in the investigation.

Something that I find very interesting about the case is that the stores where the tainted bottles were placed were actually quite a distance apart and in different police jurisdictions. Who ever did it spent a lot of time driving through the Chicago suburbs. It would certainly have been quicker and easier to do all in the same general neighborhood. The only reason I can see for going to that much trouble is because he (or she) didn’t want the deaths to be linked; at least not right away. They probably would not have been linked had not 3 members of one family died. My guess is that whoever did it had a plan that ended when the poisonings were discovered so quickly and all Tylenol was removed from shelves and the investigation began so fast. What this “plan” may have been is anyone’s guess but I’m thinking that someone had a plan to murder someone and have it look like part of a random mass murder.

Law Enforcement is pretty satisfied that all of the named victims were people who died from tainted capsules purchased within 24 hours of being placed on the shelves. None were targeted victims.

 

[HMSHood]

I think the unsolved case that most closely parallels this one is the Paraquat Killer in Japan.

I read about it and it is similar. 12 people got killed. There was the Coca-Cola poisoning in Japan in 1977 that claimed 3 lives. They were poisoned with cyanide.

 

[HMSHood]

Whoever did the Tylenol Murder is likely an injustice collector or grievance collector. The person likely has a lot grievances against society. The person likely does not have a good reputation around other people. Something in that person's life likely would tipped them over. The person decided to take revenge by putting cyanide in Tylenol.

 

[Marziaforevercherry]

Anybody else think it could possible be a woman.

 

[HMSHood]

Anybody else think it could possible be a woman.

Since, we do not know did the poisoning, I would not be surprised if a woman did it. I read Laurie Dann was a suspect. She is a school shooter. Prior to to attacking Hubbard Woods Elementary, she did try to poison people.

 

[Spyralflare]

I remember living through this. This is why all pill bottles are sealed now. A very expensive (but necessary) consequence.

Without any specific evidence, I have difficulty thinking a woman did this. It’s a passive-aggressive crime but just hadn’t been done that way before historically. I await evidence.

 

[Marziaforevercherry]

Yeah I was just putting it out there because, women generally commit murders in very hands off ways.

 

[Spyralflare]

It’s a longshot for me, but maybe. Hard to believe there’s no suspect after all this time! Anything is possible.

 

[STANDREID]

Anybody else think it could possible be a woman.

Yes, because of Stella Nickell and Christiana Edmunds, I've always kept that possibility open. Although it was 6 years later, Dann did leave arsenic tainted food on the porches of people she once worked for during her rampage the culminated in the shooting.

 

[Betty P]

Since, we do not know did the poisoning, I would not be surprised if a woman did it. I read Laurie Dann was a suspect. She is a school shooter. Prior to to attacking Hubbard Woods Elementary, she did try to poison people.

I read a book about her. She was a dangerous, angry, mentally ill person, but I don’t think she was as smart or organized enough to pull off preparing and distributing all that poison. As horrible as she was, she was from a well to do family, rather spoiled and not well educated. Her usual job was babysitting other peoples children.

 

[kemo]

Laurie Danny’s were different from the Tylenol murders and she did not have ties to suburbs the poisoning occurred. She was from Highland Park, 20 miles away. Interestingly, she had gotten married two weeks before the murders.

Little has been said about the DNA found in one of the tainted bottles. The existence or non-existence of Y chromosomes should have been established even if it was too degraded to do forensic genealogy. No mention of sex has been made but Roger Arnold had to be dug up to get a comparison sample. That would have been unnecessary if the DNA had been female. It would appear that the DNA from that bottle was male. The perpetrator was probably male.

 

[dotr]

rbbm.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/17/us/the-1982-tylenol-murders-an-enduring-mystery/index.html

''Editor’s Note: Learn more about the decades-old cold case of the Tylenol murders in the latest episode of “How It Really Happened,” airing Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.

WashingtonCNN —
It’s almost unimaginable today. A police car slowly moving down your street, its loudspeaker blaring: “Do not take Tylenol until further notice.” But that was indeed the scene in Chicago’s suburbs in the fall of 1982.

The events that led to those warnings sent chills down the spines of millions of Americans. A string of unsolved murders is the subject of a CNN Original Series documentary, ‘How It Really Happened: Tylenol Murders’ airing Sunday, November 17 at 9 p.m. ET.''

 

[airportwoman]

rbbm.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/17/us/the-1982-tylenol-murders-an-enduring-mystery/index.html

''Editor’s Note: Learn more about the decades-old cold case of the Tylenol murders in the latest episode of “How It Really Happened,” airing Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.

WashingtonCNN —
It’s almost unimaginable today. A police car slowly moving down your street, its loudspeaker blaring: “Do not take Tylenol until further notice.” But that was indeed the scene in Chicago’s suburbs in the fall of 1982.

The events that led to those warnings sent chills down the spines of millions of Americans. A string of unsolved murders is the subject of a CNN Original Series documentary, ‘How It Really Happened: Tylenol Murders’ airing Sunday, November 17 at 9 p.m. ET.''

I worked at Target at the time and was years away from deciding I wanted to be a pharmacist, but I sure remember the recalls. It came on the heels of Rely tampons, which I never used, but I had friends who did and they said those things lived up to their name! You could leave them in for your whole period and THEY.DID.NOT.LEAK. Unfortunately, they also worked a little TOO well, with fatal results for too many women.

 

[meanmaryjean]

I worked at Target at the time and was years away from deciding I wanted to be a pharmacist, but I sure remember the recalls. It came on the heels of Rely tampons, which I never used, but I had friends who did and they said those things lived up to their name! You could leave them in for your whole period and THEY.DID.NOT.LEAK. Unfortunately, they also worked a little TOO well, with fatal results for too many women.

Oh my goodness - I just taught about TSS and was wracking my brain trying to think.of that name. Rely!
I lived in Mt. Prospect at the time and it was so scary.

 

[PrairieWind]

Laurie Danny’s were different from the Tylenol murders and she did not have ties to suburbs the poisoning occurred. She was from Highland Park, 20 miles away. Interestingly, she had gotten married two weeks before the murders.

Little has been said about the DNA found in one of the tainted bottles. The existence or non-existence of Y chromosomes should have been established even if it was too degraded to do forensic genealogy. No mention of sex has been made but Roger Arnold had to be dug up to get a comparison sample. That would have been unnecessary if the DNA had been female. It would appear that the DNA from that bottle was male. The perpetrator was probably male.

I have wondered about touch DNA with this case. I wonder what evidence is still being held and under what conditions.

 

[dotr]

By Peter White April 21, 2025

Netflix Doubles Down On ‘Cold Case’ True-Crime Strand With Tylenol Murders Series

The three-part series comes from Yotam Guendelman, Ari Pines and Joe Berlinger

deadline.com

''Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders, which will premiere on May 26, revisits the crime that shattered the nation’s trust in the safety of everyday brands. The deaths sparked nationwide panic and became one of the largest criminal investigations in U.S. history. The series will ask whether there was one mastermind behind these horrific deaths, or whether that theory is simply a convenient scapegoat in a darker conspiracy and potential cover-up.

No one was ever charged or convicted of the poisonings but one man was convicted of extortion for sending a letter to Tylenol manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, where he took responsibility for the deaths and demanded $1M to stop them.
The series will feature never-before-seen interviews and testimonies from key players.''

Sep 29, 2023 #tylenol #crime #news
The Tylenol murders are among the nation’s most notorious unsolved crimes. This gripping Paramount+ Original docuseries transports viewers to 1982 amid the chaos and fear and into the mind of the prime suspect.

 

[Betty P]

By Peter White April 21, 2025

Netflix Doubles Down On ‘Cold Case’ True-Crime Strand With Tylenol Murders Series

The three-part series comes from Yotam Guendelman, Ari Pines and Joe Berlinger

deadline.com

''Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders, which will premiere on May 26, revisits the crime that shattered the nation’s trust in the safety of everyday brands. The deaths sparked nationwide panic and became one of the largest criminal investigations in U.S. history. The series will ask whether there was one mastermind behind these horrific deaths, or whether that theory is simply a convenient scapegoat in a darker conspiracy and potential cover-up.

No one was ever charged or convicted of the poisonings but one man was convicted of extortion for sending a letter to Tylenol manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, where he took responsibility for the deaths and demanded $1M to stop them.
The series will feature never-before-seen interviews and testimonies from key players.''

Sep 29, 2023 #tylenol #crime #news
The Tylenol murders are among the nation’s most notorious unsolved crimes. This gripping Paramount+ Original docuseries transports viewers to 1982 amid the chaos and fear and into the mind of the prime suspect.

The work done to identify Tylenol as the source of these deaths was due to expert work by local health department workers. The effort to quickly expand the investigation, warn the public and remove the product from shelves was also a credit to our national public health system.
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