New Leads in the Tylenol Murders

hmg · #1 02-04-2009, 05:03 PM

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Federal agents on Wednesday searched the home of a man linked to the fatal 1982 Tylenol poisonings in the Chicago area that triggered a nationwide scare and prompted dramatic changes in the way food and medical products are packaged.

No one was ever charged with the deaths of seven people who took the cyanide-laced drugs. The FBI would not immediately confirm that the search at the home of James W. Lewis was related to the Tylenol case, only that it was part of an ongoing investigation.

Lewis served more than 12 years in prison for sending an extortion note to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to "stop the killing."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090204/...nol_poisonings

Here is a link to the website mentioned in the article: http://cyberlewis.com/Tylenol/index.html

Super creepy.

Boyz_Mum · #2 02-04-2009, 05:54 PM

This guy sounds like a real oddball! If he didn't do it, why would he draw attention to himself by calling himself the "Tylenol Man"... it would seem he's getting the attention he asks for? I'll never understand people!

Kat · #3 02-04-2009, 06:42 PM

From the link that hmg gave us:

"Federal agents on Wednesday searched the home of a man linked to the fatal 1982 Tylenol poisonings..."

"The FBI would not immediately confirm that the search at the home of James W. Lewis was related to the Tylenol case, only that it was part of an ongoing investigation.

Lewis served more than 12 years in prison for sending an extortion note to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to "stop the killing.He was arrested in December 1982 at a New York City library after a nationwide manhunt. At the time, he gave investigators a detailed account of how the killer might have operated and described how someone could buy medicine, use a special method to add cyanide to the capsules and return them to store shelves..."

"Lewis moved to the Boston area after getting out of prison in 1995 and is listed as a partner in a Web design and programming company called Cyberlewis. On its Web site, which lists the location searched Wednesday as the company's address, there is a tab labeled "Tylenol" with a written message and audio link in which a voice refers to himself as "Tylenol Man."

From second link provided by hmg:

"So you want to hear me yammer. You have come to the right page..
Somehow, after a quarter of a century, I surmise only a select few with critical minds will believe anythng I have to say. Many people look for hidden agendas, for secret double entendre, and ignore the literal meanings I convey. Many enjoy twisting and contorting what I say into something ominous and dreadful which I do not intend.
That my friends is the curse of being labelled the Tylenol Man.
Be that as it may, I can NOT change human proclivities. I shant try. Listen as you like."

Not to sound ignorant but do people actually still use the word "shant" in every day speech? The typo above is on the webpage.

He reminds me of someone, I can't remember which criminal it was now, they thought their intellect was far superior than anyone else's. That was their downfall.

Kat · #4 02-04-2009, 06:52 PM

This is interesting:

"Somerville - The FBI is currently investigating a possible storehouse in Somerville used by the 1982 Tylenol Killer of 1982, sources state.

FBI officials confirm there is an active investigation in Cambridge, which officials who asked for anonymity said is centered around the CambridgeSide Galleria mall.

It is suspected that the suspect used Somerville locations for either a lab or storage area, the source states, noting the investigation has spread to Somerville."

http://www.wickedlocal.com/somervill...dge-Somerville

SuziQ · #5 02-04-2009, 07:15 PM

This guy is a weird dude. Every couple of years his name pops back up in relation to this case....then murder charges are never brought and the case fades into the background again. I hope this time there is enough to bring charges.

Boyz_Mum · #6 02-04-2009, 07:22 PM

Do you all think he did it?

Kat · #7 02-04-2009, 07:40 PM

I don't know Boyz Mum but I don't think he didn't do it either...

Boyz_Mum · #8 02-04-2009, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kat

I don't know Boyz Mum but I don't think he didn't do it either...

I read over at wikipedia to refresh my brain about it all- there is some information over there (I don't know whether it's a good source or not?) but I was wondering if Mr. Lewis lived in NYC and the poisonings happened in Chicago- how he managed to get the tainted pills there? It just seems like they would have figured this all out when he went on trial for writing the letter to J&J.

hmg · #9 02-04-2009, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boyz_Mum

Do you all think he did it?

I thought maybe he was just a crazy person but it seems LE is gathering a lot of evidence on him. Like PP said this guy has come up multiple times in the course of the investigation.

SuziQ · #10 02-04-2009, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boyz_Mum

Do you all think he did it?

It's a toss up for me. I can't figure out if he did it and used the inserting himself into the case as a convenient excuse, or if he really did just insert himself into the case.

Boyz_Mum · #11 02-05-2009, 09:19 AM

Thanks for being honest- I can't figure out if I think he did it or not. Since his name comes up in the investigations, I would guess they have something on him (more than the letter) but then with the way he seems to revel in the spotlight I'm curious about him.

AmandaBrown23 · #12 02-05-2009, 09:37 AM

Wow who keeps evidence of crimes they comitted for over 20 years?? Im just curious what new evidence they could have possibly found after all the time.

Texas Mist · #13 02-05-2009, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kat

Not to sound ignorant but do people actually still use the word "shant" in every day speech? The typo above is on the webpage.

He reminds me of someone, I can't remember which criminal it was now, they thought their intellect was far superior than anyone else's. That was their downfall.

The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is one criminal with 'superior intellect' that comes to mind.

Course, all sociopaths think they are superior.

Hans Reiser is another very arrogant killer who thought his intellect was superior. Yeah, he's smart, but he was a very inexperienced murderer who got caught.

Texas Mist · #14 02-05-2009, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmandaBrown23

Wow who keeps evidence of crimes they comitted for over 20 years?? Im just curious what new evidence they could have possibly found after all the time.

Dennis 'BTK' Rader was sick enough to keep his evidence for what - almost 30 yrs?

Sick.

Aleph · #15 02-05-2009, 02:20 PM

I used to live in the same neighborhood as Lewis. Never met him. I didn't know that the Tylenol suspect lived nearby, or that there even was a suspect in the case.

I usually tend to believe most suspects are guilty if the police think they are, but something tells me that this guy didn't do it. I just watched the videos over at Steve Huff's blog and I will say this, from a local perspective:

This guy reminds me of a Cambridge, MA type person. There are a lot of highly intelligent people running around that area, many of them ex-hippies from the 60s that have become college professors. Some of them are just eccentrics and often do write nutty letters to the government or do other strange things in the name of activism. And this is precisely the type Lewis reminds me of.

Many such types can be evasive for, apparently, the fun of it. It's like a word game they play with people they talk to that makes them feel smart. They often don't care about getting to the truth, but about finding logical errors in what you're saying.

Snick1946 · #16 02-06-2009, 07:43 PM

I went to his site and he narrates his little rants about the Tyenol thing, a real wierdo. I am not thinking he's the one but then again I am not thinking he isn't either.
Many years ago I read someplace that the cops in this investigation pretty much knew who did this. It was a crime for financial gain due to market manipulation. They couldnt pin it on the guy but kept letting him know they knew, and would follow him all day @ year on the anniversary. It's a nice story but worthless because I can't recall where I read it.

chicagofa13 · #17 02-06-2009, 09:19 PM

I was watching the Chicago news last night and they showed a security pic from a drug store (very grainy) of this man and one of the murdered women buying the tainted Tylenol. Saying he was in the store at the same time which is supposedly another connection he has to the case. I always thought this case would be solved fairly quickly, obviously I was wrong.

Aleph · #18 02-07-2009, 12:55 AM

I've seen the same grainy photo on a website suggesting that it resembles Ted Kaczynski. I guess we see what we're looking for, a lot of times.

rccook555 · #19 02-07-2009, 09:52 AM

In 1979 a Grand Jury charged Lewis with the 1978 dismemberment murder of Raymond West in Kansas City. The charges were dismissed because West's cause of death was not determined and some evidence had been illegally obtained.
Here is a link to a very lengthy and good article on Lewis.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/tylenol_killings/
Read partway down in the article to judge for yourself if he killed Raymond West. (Starting about paragraph 12)

rccook555 · #20 02-07-2009, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boyz_Mum

I read over at wikipedia to refresh my brain about it all- there is some information over there (I don't know whether it's a good source or not?) but I was wondering if Mr. Lewis lived in NYC and the poisonings happened in Chicago- how he managed to get the tainted pills there? It just seems like they would have figured this all out when he went on trial for writing the letter to J&J.

Heres a very good article to tell you how Lewis left Kansas city and traveled to Chicago.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/tylenol_killings/

Boyz_Mum · #21 02-07-2009, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rccook555

In 1979 a Grand Jury charged Lewis with the 1978 dismemberment murder of Raymond West in Kansas City. The charges were dismissed because West's cause of death was not determined and some evidence had been illegally obtained.
Here is a link to a very lengthy and good article on Lewis.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/tylenol_killings/
Read partway down in the article to judge for yourself if he killed Raymond West. (Starting about paragraph 12)

Thanks for the articles! I had no idea that this same man was charged in a dismemberment case too- holy cow!

Thanks rccook555!

chicagofa13 · #22 02-07-2009, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aleph

I've seen the same grainy photo on a website suggesting that it resembles Ted Kaczynski. I guess we see what we're looking for, a lot of times.

LOL, well there you have it!!

I was just repeating what the newspeople said. They seemed to be stating it as fact it was him in the grainy photo. This case is one of the reasons I became more interested in true crime, even though I was young and probably should have been interested in normal kid stuff (LOL), it was fascinating and scary at the same time.

MeoW333 · #23 02-08-2009, 08:10 AM

Yonkers is reopening their Tylenol death case there:
http://www.lohud.com/article/2009020...33/1023/NEWS07

"YONKERS - It's too early to say for sure where the trail may lead as the FBI reopens an investigation into the deaths of seven people who swallowed Tylenol tablets poisoned with cyanide in Chicago 27 years ago, but one place it is unlikely to lead is here.An FBI spokeswoman wouldn't say whether the chief suspect in the Chicago killings - whose condominium complex was raided by federal agents last week - was a suspect in the 1986 death of Diane Elsroth, a 23-year-old Peekskill woman who died after swallowing Tylenol pills laced with cyanide while staying at the home of her boyfriend's parents in Yonkers."

Kat · #24 02-08-2009, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Mist

The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is one criminal with 'superior intellect' that comes to mind.

Course, all sociopaths think they are superior.

Hans Reiser is another very arrogant killer who thought his intellect was superior. Yeah, he's smart, but he was a very inexperienced murderer who got caught.

Yup Reiser was one I was thinking of and also Tom Murray came to mind in that they felt themselves so superior they never anticipated being caught.

Kat · #25 02-08-2009, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rccook555

In 1979 a Grand Jury charged Lewis with the 1978 dismemberment murder of Raymond West in Kansas City. The charges were dismissed because West's cause of death was not determined and some evidence had been illegally obtained.
Here is a link to a very lengthy and good article on Lewis.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/tylenol_killings/
Read partway down in the article to judge for yourself if he killed Raymond West. (Starting about paragraph 12)

That is an amazing article thank you rccook555. I came to the conclusion that he did indeed kill Mr. West, and did not just dismember him and hoist him up to the attic after Mr. West's death.

There are some very interesting items about Lewis in that article, in fact the article is packed with them.