The Murders that Reshaped how we Package Medicine | The Tylenol Murders
The morning of September 29, 1982, was difficult for twelve-year-old Mary Kellerman of Chicago, who was struggling with symptoms of the common cold. She was given an extra-strength Tylenol capsule to relieve her pain. She died shortly after.
Also, on that day, 27-year-old Adam Janus passed away after taking Tylenol. Janus’s brother, Stanley, and sister-in-law, Theresa, took Tylenol from the same bottle. Stanley died later that same day.
Nurse Helen Jensen was the first one to link the Tylenol to the deaths. Upon arriving at the Janus residence, she recalls, “I counted up the pills and saw six capsules missing, and there were three people dead. I said then and there: It’s the Tylenol.”
Nobody believed her initially.
“They all poo-pooed me at the time,” Jensen said. “They didn’t think that a nurse, a woman, would (make the connection).”
Later, investigator Nicholas Pishos realized that the control number on the Tylenol bottles was the same: MC2880. He entertained Jensen’s theory and informed Deputy Medical Examiner Edmund Donoghue over the phone. Pishos was told to smell the Tylenol bottles.
Pishos told Donoghue, “You know, the first one smells like the second one: almonds.”
And at the same time, both said, “cyanide.”
Potassium cyanide is a poison that kills by inhibiting cellular respiration. Being able to smell potassium cyanide is a genetic trait; only about 50% of people can do it, and those who can usually point out a similarity to the smell of almonds.
At 1 AM that night, when Dr. Thomas Kim received the results from the Tylenol bottles’ lab analysis, the investigator’s hunch was confirmed: the pills had 100–1000 times the lethal amount of cyanide.
These were murders.
Two hours after this discovery, Mary McFarland was pronounced dead. Five hours later, Mary Reiner was also pronounced dead, both due to cyanide poisoning.
The morning of September 30 had barely started, and all these murders were already linked.
At 10 AM, a Johnson & Johnson (Tylenol’s parent company) attorney showed up at Donoghue’s offices. He knew there was no way this information could remain secret.
Soon, all of Chicago was informed that cyanide had been found in Tylenol and that they should avoid taking the medication. Nurse Jensen pressed the police department to remove Tylenol from the shelves, but this was not immediately done.
At 3 PM, Johnson & Johnson declared the recall of Tylenol lot MC2880.
Theresa Janus was pronounced dead on the afternoon of October 1. The body of Paula Prince was found in her apartment later that day, having also died from cyanide poisoning.
In the end, seven people tragically lost their lives to these poisonings. As the investigation dragged on, Johnson & Johnson recalled all Tylenol products in the United States, a whopping 31 million bottles with an estimated value of $100 million.
As the days turned into weeks, thousands of leads rained upon the Tylenol task force — all fruitless.
A New Yorker named James Lewis claimed responsibility for the murders and demanded $1 million from Johnson & Johnson for him to stop. Investigators found him but deemed there was no evidence to charge him with the killings. Lewis was still sentenced to 20 years behind bars for extortion.
The task force was reduced; the investigation slowly died down.
To this day, nobody has ever been charged or convicted of the Tylenol murders. James Lewis, the primary suspect and unlikely culprit, died in July 2023.
The murderer walked free.
There were copycat murderers, but none of them were as deadly as the original.
Chicago Mayor Byrne forced the city council to pass a law requiring drugs to be sold in temper-resistant packaging. The tragedy also prompted the introduction of nationwide regulations aimed at preventing similar incidents, one of which mandates the use of safety seals on medication bottles. So, the next time you break one open, you'll know the purpose behind it.
Sources:
1. “FBI Chicago History” - FBI
2. “How the Tylenol murders of 1982 changed the way we consume medication” - PBS News Hour
3. “James Lewis, Suspect in the 1982 Tylenol Killings, Submitted DNA, Print Samples” - ABC News
4. “Benzaldehyde, The smell of almonds and Maraschino cherries” - University of Bristol School of Chemistry
5. “James Lewis, suspect in the 1982 Tylenol murders, dies at 76” - PBS News Hour
Editing by Myles Adoh-Phillips
Written by Lucas L
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