The Murders That led to Medicine Bottle Seals
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The First Deaths
The morning of September 29, 1982, was a difficult one 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).”
The cause
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 of this 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 of them said, “cyanide.”
Being able to smell potassium cyanide is a genetic trait. About 50% of people can do it. Potassium cyanide is a poison that kills by inhibiting cellular respiration.
At 1 AM that night, when Dr. Thomas Kim received the results from lab analysis of the Tylenol, the investigator’s hunch was confirmed: the pills had 100–1000 times the lethal amount of cyanide.
These were murders.
Death Toll Rises
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 have Tylenol taken off the shelves, but this was not 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.
The Aftermath
With a death toll of seven, Chicago Mayor Byrne forced the city council to pass a law requiring drugs to be sold in temper-resistant packaging.
As the investigation continued, Johnson & Johnson recalled all Tylenol products in the United States, a total of 31 million bottles worth about $100 million. This move was widely praised.
As the passing days turned into weeks, thousands of leads rained upon the Tylenol task force — all of them fruitless.
A New Yorker named James Lewis claimed responsibility for the murders and demanded $1 million from Johnson & Johnson in exchange 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 for extortion.
The task force was reduced; the investigation turned stale.
To this day, nobody was ever charged or convicted with the Tylenol murders. This is perhaps the scariest aspect of the case: the murderer managed to walk free.
Copycat murderers ensued, but none of them as deadly as the original.
The tragedy led regulations to be put in place to prevent this kind of incident from reoccurring. These led to safety seals being used in medication bottles. Next time you tear through one, you will know why it is there.
