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

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I’d be surprised if the culprit didn’t wear gloves when carrying out his dirty deeds. If so, doubtful they will solve the case using DNA evidence. Unfortunately it may be a case that is never solved. Jmo
 
IMHO I am hopeful by the prospect of DNA and key evidence. This case has always been frightening to me. It would be great to know all the answers. I wonder if there was some targeting or if it was completely random. It has an element of both. I have always felt that poisonings are particularly wicked and sneaky. Not that up close and personal is better. It definitely indicates a serious darkness in the individual committing the crime. There have been some big cases solved recently. Maybe this will be too.
 
I lived in the Chicago suburbs when this happened and there was a concurrent outbreak of some disease via milk sold at Jewel stores. I want to say salmonella but I've slept since then!

At the time Jewel stores often had an Osco either in the same building or sharing a parking lot- so it was insanely scary.
 
wgnradio.com

James Lewis, the suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed 7 in the Chicago area, has died

The suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people in the Chicago area, triggered a nationwide panic, and led to an overhaul in the safety of over-the-counter medication packaging,…
wgnradio.com

A lot of interesting information in this article. I don't recall knowing about the death of his young daughter as a possible motive.

Looking for more info about what aired on local WGN news regarding requests for charges in both Cook and DuPage within the last few years.
 
Cubby said:
wgnradio.com

James Lewis, the suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed 7 in the Chicago area, has died

The suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people in the Chicago area, triggered a nationwide panic, and led to an overhaul in the safety of over-the-counter medication packaging,…
wgnradio.com

A lot of interesting information in this article. I don't recall knowing about the death of his young daughter as a possible motive.

Looking for more info about what aired on local WGN news regarding requests for charges in both Cook and DuPage within the last few years.
Click to expand...

I believe it was the Chicago Tribune who did a very good series of articles on the Tylenol murders last year. Very detailed retrospective.

There was another suspect, Roger Arnold, who was seriously considered by local LE. He looked very suspicious, too, and was actually found with his own amateur chemical lab at home. He was a disgruntled worker who worked on the docks of Jewel distribution center that handled Tylenol shipments for the Chicago area.

Arnold had bought a large shipment of cyanide in the months before the murders.

www.cbsnews.com

Chicago Tylenol murders: Who did it? No one has ever been charged, but questions still surround James Lewis

Just last week, the CBS 2 Investigators learned Lewis was interviewed for hours outside of his Boston home.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
 
Cubby said:
wgnradio.com

James Lewis, the suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed 7 in the Chicago area, has died

The suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people in the Chicago area, triggered a nationwide panic, and led to an overhaul in the safety of over-the-counter medication packaging,…
wgnradio.com

A lot of interesting information in this article. I don't recall knowing about the death of his young daughter as a possible motive.

Looking for more info about what aired on local WGN news regarding requests for charges in both Cook and DuPage within the last few years.
Click to expand...
I hadn't known that either, or that Mr. Lewis killed a neighbor but got off on a technicality!

When this happened, I was taking a gap year (or a few) after graduating from high school, working at Target, and a couple years away from deciding I wanted to be a pharmacist, and Target definitely cleared its shelves too even though I was not living in the Chicago area.

Some people believe that Michael Swango (look him up if you don't know who he is, and be prepared to dive down a VERY deep rabbit hole) actually did this. That wouldn't surprise me, TBH.
 
airportwoman said:
I hadn't known that either, or that Mr. Lewis killed a neighbor but got off on a technicality!

When this happened, I was taking a gap year (or a few) after graduating from high school, working at Target, and a couple years away from deciding I wanted to be a pharmacist, and Target definitely cleared its shelves too even though I was not living in the Chicago area.

Some people believe that Michael Swango (look him up if you don't know who he is, and be prepared to dive down a VERY deep rabbit hole) actually did this. That wouldn't surprise me, TBH.
Click to expand...
Swango is an interesting suspect, I remember him being in the news when the FBI was trying to build a case against him for killing some of his patients.

The probLen with Swango and James Lewis is that investigators couldn’t place them in Chicago or even the state of Illinois at the time of the poisonings. There was no physical evidence.

The contaminated bottles of Tylenol were only from batches shipped to the Chicago Jewel Osco stores. Someone had to intercept them during shipping or by traveling to individual stores in the Chicago area to purchase them.
 
Betty P said:
Swango is an interesting suspect, I remember him being in the news when the FBI was trying to build a case against him for killing some of his patients.

The probLen with Swango and James Lewis is that investigators couldn’t place them in Chicago or even the state of Illinois at the time of the poisonings. There was no physical evidence.

The contaminated bottles of Tylenol were only from batches shipped to the Chicago Jewel Osco stores. Someone had to intercept them during shipping or by traveling to individual stores in the Chicago area to purchase them.
Click to expand...

They weren't all from Jewel Osco. Per previous links up thread there was a purchase made at a Walgreens in Chicago, Frank's Finer foods in Wheaton and Frank's Finer Foods in Winfield.
 
Cubby said:
They weren't all from Jewel Osco. Per previous links up thread there was a purchase made at a Walgreens in Chicago, Frank's Finer foods in Wheaton and Frank's Finer Foods in Winfield.
Click to expand...

Yes, thanks for the reminder.

LE investigated and couldn't find any evidence that suspects who didn't live in Chicago happened to be there in the days and weeks before the poisoned products were sold.

Today, it would be different, probably easier to trace people's movements and activities.
 
meanmaryjean said:
I lived in the Chicago suburbs when this happened and there was a concurrent outbreak of some disease via milk sold at Jewel stores. I want to say salmonella but I've slept since then!

At the time Jewel stores often had an Osco either in the same building or sharing a parking lot- so it was insanely scary.
Click to expand...

Just a OT note, the salmonella outbreak connected to tainted milk from Jewel grocery stores in the Chicago area occurred in the spring of ‘85, while the Tylenol murders were in ‘82. My 5 year daughter was one of the salmonella victims back then. We were on a spring break trip to visit relatives in Evanston Il from our home in TX. She got sick after we came home, and it was while we were at her pediatrician’s office that my s-I-l who lived in IL called to tell me several of my nieces and nephews had been dx. Sure enough, my child had it too. It took a toll on her, especially since she was already dealing with a chronic health issue that continues to this day. Did the salmonella play a part in worsening it, no one can say. But she did recover from the salmonella after several months, and for that we are very grateful.
 
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