| 2009 ARCHIVE - NEWS, COMMENTARY, RESEARCH & ANALYSIS December 30, 2009 The current Tylenol recall is reminiscent of the piecemeal recall conducted by J&J after the 1982 Tylenol murders. In 1982, J&J recalled one lot the day after the murders and a second lot a day later. Those first two recalls amounted to less than one percent of the Tylenol capsules on the market. J&J didn’t recall all of the Tylenol capsules until six days after the Chicago murders, and after three bottles of strychnine laced Tylenol capsules were found in California. The current expanded recall of Tylenol Arthritis Pain caplets follows a partial recall conducted in November. The November recall of five lots was announced after consumers complained of a musty, mildew-like odor that triggered nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea. J&J described the reactions as "temporary" and "non-serious" in its Dec. 18 release, saying then it believed the contamination was due to the breakdown of a chemical in the wooden pallets used for shipping. AS J&J indicated in its press release, the contaminant 2,4,6 tribromoanisole (TBA) is sometimes found in wooden pallets. What J&J doesn’t mention is that TBA is a derivative of 2,4,6 tribromophenol (TBP), a fungicide. J&J also fails to mention that the TBA might have come from a source other than wooden pallets. In addition to its use as a wood preservative; TBP is used to treat fiber drums and plastic packages used to ship and store acetaminophen and other chemicals used to make Tylenol. TBA acts as a fungicide and flame retardant. J&J links only the wooden pallets to the TBA, because wooden pallets as the likely source of the TBA is much more palatable* to consumers than the alternative. TBA is found in TBP treated packaging that has become damp and infected by fungi during storage. Packages attacked by a fungus accumulate volatile chemicals arising from degradation of the packaging material. Fungi are rarely found in containers that are stored properly. (* in contention for best pun of 2009) J&J does not want consumers to consider the very real possibility that Tylenol was stored in containers infected with fungi. Which of the shipping packages below are more likely to have been the source of the TBA? The wooden pallet, or the fiber drums filled with acetaminophen (Tylenol)? 
5:16 PM August 03, 2009 THE REACTIVATED TYLENOL MURDERS COVER UP AND FRIENDS OF JOHNSON & JOHNSON The more I look into the reactivated Tylenol murders investigation, the more it looks like a reactivation of the Tylenol murders cover up. And the more I look at the friends of Johnson & Johnson, the more it seems they are no friends of the Tylenol murder victim’s families. I recently questioned the motivation for comments made by former J&J Company Group Chairman Wayne K. Nelson regarding James Lewis. Six months into the reactivated case; officials involved in the current and original investigation are mum. Johnson & Johnson hasn't spoken about the case in years. So I find it odd that after 26 year of silence, suddenly Wayne K. Nelson pops up to support a ridiculous theory, which just so happens to align with the approved theory of the Tylenol murders, developed by J&J, the FDA and FBI in 1982; a theory that is easily debunked. Nelson became a very rich man by leaving Johnson & Johnson in 1987 to found a company primarily funded by J&J. So I can understand his loyalty to J&J. The company Wayne founded - Nelson Communications - generated revenue of $86 million in 1996, $115 million in 1997 and $127 million in 1998, of which J&J represented 39%, 30% and 22% of total revenues respectively. But there’s another key player in the 1982 Tylenol murders investigation that also made a lot of money at Nelson Communications. Wayne Nelson appointed Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. to the position of Vice Chairman and Medical Director for Nelson Communications. And who is Arthur Hull Hayes Jr.? Arthur Hayes was the FDA Commissioner in 1982, and Johnson & Johnson’s most faithful cheerleader. It was Arthur Hayes and his FDA minions who insisted all along that J&J bore no responsibility for the Tylenol tamperings. It was Arthur Hayes and the FDA that just 21 days after learning about the Tylenol murders officially exonerated J&J of any responsibility in the tamperings. Arthur Hayes was asked to leave the FDA in 1983 after stacking an FDA advisory board and then making the tie-breaking vote to approve the artificial sweetener aspartame for his good buddy Donald Rumsfeld, then CEO of the Illinois based manufacturer of aspartame, G.D. Searle. It was Arthur Hayes who within months of leaving the FDA signed a 10-year $1,000 per month contract to work as a consultant for Burson Marsteller, the company that handled Johnson & Johnson’s Public Relations campaign after the 1982 and 1986 Tylenol murders. It was Arthur Hayes who went to work for Wayne Nelson at Nelson Communications; a company that would probably never have existed without the support of Johnson & Johnson. And it was Arthur Hayes, who Wayne Nelson named President and Chief Operating Officer of MediScience Associates, a subsidiary of Nelson Communications. As you can see, Wayne Nelson takes good care of Johnson & Johnson’s friends. NELSON COMMUNICATIONS EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS (1998) Set forth below are the names, ages and positions of the executive officers and directors of Nelson: NAME AGE POSITION ---- --- -------- Wayne K. Nelson(1)............. 60 Chairman of the Board of Directors Thomas A. Moore(2)............. 48 President, Chief Executive Officer and Director Peter Law-Gisiko............... 44 Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer Fred H. Kellogg................ 53 Vice Chairman Peter J. Scarperi.............. 55 Vice Chairman Dr. Joseph A. Romano........... 52 Vice Chairman Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr.(3)....................... 65 Vice Chairman/Medical Director and Director William I. Bergman(2)(4)....... 67 Director Dr. Bernard Canavan(1)(5)...... 63 Director Dr. Kathleen M. Foley(1)(4).... 55 Director George S. Frazza(1)............ 65 Director Lawrence C. Hoff(1)(4)......... 70 Director Barry MacTaggart(3)(4)......... 67 Director Dr. Herbert Pardes(2)(5)....... 64 Director Robert G. Pinco(2)(5).......... 55 Director Thomas O. Pyle(3)(5)........... 59 Director Kenneth Roman(3)(5)............ 68 Director |
July 27, 2009 WHAT IS WAYNE NELSON'S INTEREST IN THE REOPENED TYLENOL MURDERS INVESTIGATION? Wayne K. Nelson was J&J Company Group Chairman at the time of the 1982 Tylenol murders. Prior to that he was President and Worldwide Coordinator of McNeil Consumer Products Company. At McNeil, he was credited with launching the Tylenol programs that made it the top selling analgesic in the U.S. The 1982 Tylenol Murders On October 5, 1982, Nelson said: "All we can tell you is that it's a deliberate attempt to sabotage the product. I am indicating this is a clear example of indiscriminate murder."
On February 4, 2009, after the case was reopened, Nelson said: "There were a lot of people who believed what was available in terms of evidence pointed towards him (James Lewis)," former Johnson and Johnson Senior Executive Wayne Nelson told ABC News. "But that was the extent, it wasn't enough to convict or even prosecute."
"He (Lewis) was dismissed as a suspect because it was felt the cyanide, since it eats through the capsule, would have had to have been put in close to the time they were purchased, and the FBI could not put him in Chicago at the time," former FBI Agent Brad Garrett, now an ABC News consultant, said. Lewis has maintained that he could not have committed the crime because he was in New York at the time. But Nelson told ABC News that, based on an analysis of the stores where the tainted Tylenol was purchased, many close to the case believed* that whoever dropped the drugs off had flown into Chicago, rented a car, gone and distributed the pills, and then flown back out of O'Hare airport. * I don't think anybody involved in the investigation believed that. In fact, this exact scenario was quickly dismissed in 1982. Nelson ignores the preponderance of facts and physical evidence that contradict his bogus theory. From the October 21, 1982 New York Times: Kenneth Walton, deputy assistant director of the bureau's New York office, said that the suspects, James W. Lewis and his wife, Leann, stayed at the Hotel Rutledge, 161 Lexington Avenue at 31st Street, from Sept. 6 until last week (Oct. 17). Mr. Lewis, he said, was seen last Thursday (Oct. 15), and Mrs. Lewis was seen last Saturday (Oct. 17) when she turned in her room key. ''We don't think they were traveling back and forth during the period of time they were known to be in New York,'' James T. Sullivan, the New York City Chief of Detectives, said. He said that Mr. Lewis usually met his wife each day after she finished work as a bookkeeper at a midtown real estate office and walked home with her.
Regarding Wayne Nelson's February 4, 2009 statements, as quoted by ABC News: "based on an analysis of the stores where the tainted Tylenol was purchased" Mr. Nelson, what analysis are you referring to? I've researched the Tylenol murders investigation extensively; and in the thousands of documents I've collected and read, I can't find a single reference anywhere to the "analysis" which you seem to believe is the key to convicting your patsy. "whoever dropped the drugs off had flown into Chicago, rented a car, gone and distributed the pills, and then flown back out of O'Hare airport" Mr Nelson, maybe you can explain to the world how "an analysis of the stores where the tainted Tylenol was purchased" could possibly provide credible evidence that "whoever dropped the drugs off had flown into Chicago, rented a car, gone and distributed the pills, and then flown back out of O'Hare airport"? Did this analysis of yours' allow investigators to determine which flights the perpetrator took into and out of Chicago? What clues enabled you to determine that the killer had rented a car? Did your "analysis of the stores" allow you to decipher where the car was rented or what type of car it was? Since you seem to believe this "analysis" of yours' implicated Mr. Lewis, then it must have produced strong evidence that the killer flew out of New York. Were you able to determine which airport was used? Was it LaGuardia or JFK? Or, did your patsy cross the border into New Jersey and fly out of Newark International? Is it possible that he drove a little further south to New Brunswick, hijacked one of J&J's corporate jets and flew into Chicago from there? It appears that your analysis, Mr. Nelson, involved only those stores where tainted Tylenol was actually purchased. Could an analysis of the stores where unpurchased bottles of tainted Tylenol were recovered reveal the name of the travel agency that was used to book the flights? Or, maybe a combined analysis of all stores where tainted Tylenol was found could be conducted that would allow you to determine whether or not the killer checked any bags. Maybe, by calculating the square root of the number of stores divided by the average number of miles between the eastern-most store and all other stores multiplied by the difference between the number of miles from O'Hare International to the western-most store divided by the square-root of the average temperature on September 28, 1982 minus the median number of cyanide laced Tylenol capsules found in the contaminateds bottle divided by i, Mr. Nelson could finally solve the Tylenol murders. Wayne Nelson is either incredibly stupid or a really bad liar. WHY NELSON? Why would Nelson take on the role of Johnson & Johnson's unofficial spokesperson? After all, Nelson left J&J in 1987. What possible motive could he have to incite further speculation about Mr. Lewis? Johnson & Johnson executives stopped commenting on the Tylenol murders many years ago. Certainly Nelson, who was a Company Group Chairman and former McNeil President at the time of the murders, knows this. And certainly Nelson, being the by the book kind of company man that I'm sure he is, wouldn't violate J&J's credo of silence. I suspect that Nelson had J&J's blessing to comment publically about the reopened Tylenol murders investigation. You don't become a Company Group Chairman for Johnson & Johnson without knowing how to toe the company line. But why would Nelson still have such loyalty to Johnson & Johnson 22 years after leaving the company? After leaving Johnson & Johnson, Johnson & Johnson made Nelson a very rich man. Nelson Communications Johnson & Johnson was, by far, Nelson's biggest client, representing over 22.7% of his company's $126.9 million in revenues in 1998. The first Nelson Group company, Professional Detailing Network, Inc. ("PDN"), was founded in 1987 to provide professional personal selling services to pharmaceutical companies. We have served six of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies for five or more years and generated 72.0% of revenues in 1998 from clients served in 1995. In 1998, we served all of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and 27 of the top 50, based on 1997 revenues. The number of clients served has grown from 84 in 1995 to 154 in 1998. As a result of the foregoing, our revenues increased to $126.9 million in 1998 from $48.6 million in 1995. Our five largest clients accounted for 68.5% of our revenues in 1996, 63.8% of our revenues in 1997 and 52.8% of our revenues in 1998. In 1998, 11 operating companies of Johnson & Johnson accounted for 22.7% of revenues. In 1997, Johnson & Johnson accounted for 30.4% of revenues. In 1998, 23 of our operating units generated revenues from Johnson & Johnson. July 18, 2009 THE REOPENED TYLENOL MURDERS INVESTIGATION: IT'S 1982 ALL OVER AGAIN Five months after the reopening of the Tylenol murders investigation, the FBI remains silent. More than three months ago I asked the question: Why did the FBI reopen the Tylenol murders investigation? At the time, I was concerned that the investigation was reopened as part of an FBI scheme to withhold documents related to the murders. The lack of any update by the FBI, and the fact that all of the items confiscated in the search of James Lewis's home have been returned, leads me to believe that the FBI has successfully achieved its primary objective of covering up, for another 25 years, the 25 year cover-up of the 1982 Tylenol murders. The "reopened" investigation picked up right where the original investigation left off. The FBI, still intent on scapegoating an innocent patsy, has produced exactly no new evidence and has failed to correct the many false statements made by officials in 1982. Why 25 years? The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), enacted in 1966, allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States Government. Yet it also allows federal agencies to withhold enormous amounts of information under an exemption relating to national security. The Sunshine Act, enacted in 1976, provides that 'every portion of every meeting of an agency shall be open to public observation.' But the Act includes ten specified exemptions. - information relating to national defense,
- related solely to internal personnel rules and practices,
- related to accusing a person of a crime,
- related to information where disclosure would constitute a breach of privacy,
- related to investigatory records where the information would harm the proceedings,
- related to information which would lead to financial speculation or endanger the stability of any financial institution, and
- related to the agency's participation in legal proceedings.
Between 1995 and 1999, President Clinton issued executive directives that allowed the release of previously classified national security documents more than 25 years old and of historical interest. The 1982 Tylenol murders investigation, like most murder investigations, was never closed. But it was effectively inactive by early 1984. So, as we entered 2009, the 25 year FOIA exemption had come to an end. Nevertheless, the FBI might, as they are known to do, refuse to comply with a FOIA request, lose important documents, or produce documents so heavily redacted they would be of little use. But then something else happened. On January 21, 2009, President Obama issued executive orders and memoranda designed to improve government ethics and make the government more open. During a press conference, Obama said: “I will also hold myself as President to a new standard of openness. Let me say it as simply as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.”
President Obama's Memorandum for the heads of executive departments and agencies stated, in part: Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. I direct the Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Administrator of General Services, to coordinate the development by appropriate executive departments and agencies, within 120 days, of recommendations for an Open Government Directive, to be issued by the Director of OMB, that instructs executive departments and agencies to take specific actions implementing the principles set forth in this memorandum. The independent agencies should comply with the Open Government Directive.
Obama's Executive Order might certainly create problems for government agents who had assumed the old rules of secrecy and deception would continue to be the status quo. So, what to do? There was a very real possibility the FBI might be forced to comply with an FOIA request seeking documents from the Tylenol murders investigation. Certain individuals involved in the initial investigation would likely prefer the documents remain sealed. On February 4, 2009, just as the 25-year FOIA exemption was about to expire and 14-days after the President's Executive Order on Government Transparency was announced, FBI agents and local detectives from a northwest suburb of Chicago knocked on James Lewis's door, served a subpoena, and confiscated documents and computers that contained absolutely no evidence relevant to any crime, let alone a crime that was committed in Chicago 25 years earlier while Mr. Lewis and his wife were living in New York City. Within two weeks of President Obama's declaration that, "Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency,” the US Attorney's Office in Chicago, Illinois, was able to find a judge in Massachusetts who would issue a subpoena on the basis of..... well, it appears there was no legitimate basis to issue the subpoena. The FBI has failed, just like it did in 1982, to produce one stitch of evidence to support its "Approved Theory" of the Tylenol murders. I can't help but wonder if James Burke, Tyrone Fahner, Dan Webb, Jeremy Margolis and Thomas Schumpp are sitting back and smiling as the truth about the Tylenol Murders is hopelessly buried within the bureaucracy of the Department of Justice. June 01, 2009 WHEN WILL THE FBI TAKE SERIOUSLY, THE TERRORISTS WITHIN? The assasination of Abortion doctor George Tiller is just the latest in a decades long war led by Far-Right Extremists. The far-right does have many very legitimate beefs against their enemies, but among the far-right groups are many members who will use terrorist tactics to achieve their objectives. U.S. Politicians and FBI Administrators refuse to address the legitimate concerns of the far-right, or to acknowledge the scope of the terrorist threat from the extreme far-right. This country's greatest terrorist threat, before and after September 21, 2001, has always come from inside the United States, not from the Middle-East. In a 2005 report on Terrorism, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not even include extreme right-wing groups, on its list of potential terrorist threats. Some terrorist activities and terrorist attacks againts US citizens by US citizens in the past three decades (1971-2003): 1971 - Beginning in 1971, Harrell hosted annual ‘freedom festivals’ at his Louisville, Illinois estate. His ’survival conferences’ attracted 1,000 to 2,000 participants who had a choice of more than fifty classes related to weapons training and guerrilla warfare. Harrell was forced to desist from parimilitary training in 1986 when it was outlawed by the states. January 1972 - Allen Charles Schwandner, 19, and Stephan J. Pera, 18, members of right-wing terrorist group R.I.S.E. (it's not known what the acronym stood for), were arrested in Chicago. According to city officials they were on the verge of releasing typhoid into the Chicago water supply system as part of a plot to commit mass murder. In their possession was 30-40 kg of typhoid cultures and at least three additional agents (Chicago Tribune 1/19/72). Members of the group were to be inoculated to enable them to survive and begin a new master race. Chicago police believed Schwandner and Pera had just begun to recruit member to their organization, and had seven or eight members. Two informants stated they'd received two injections to immunize them from typhoid, and were about to receive a third when they decided to report the plot. 1975 - Posse Comitatus groups like the National Alliance adhere to the ideology of the American Christian Patriot Movement, which supports hostility against any form of government above the county level, vilifies Jews and non-whites as children of Satan, obsesses about achieving religious and racial purification of the U.S., believes in a conspiracy theory that regards powerful Jews as controlling important financial and media positions within the U.S., and advocates the overthrow of the U.S. government. The group existed in obscurity until 1975 when the FBI learned of a possible assassination attempt against then vice-president Nelson Rockefeller in Little Rock, Arkansas. Rockefeller was viewed by the Posse as one of the major "money czars." After an investigation, the FBI uncovered 75 Posse chapters in 23 states. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation estimated posse membership in 1980 at 2.5 million. June 1975 - Muharem Kurbegovic, also known as the Alphabet Bomber mailed a postcard to each of the nine justices of the Supreme court. The postcards were intercepted at the Palm Springs post office on June 16, where canceling machines broke the tiny vials under the stamps. Kurbegovich admitted that the liquid in the vials was innocuous. However, at the time of his arrest in August 1974, Kurbegovich had acquired many of the components needed to make sarin gas. January 1976 - US postal authorities seized a small package that contained a small charge which was designed to explode a vial of nerve gas as the package was opened. The device was disarmed by U.S. Army experts. An Arab terrorist group was suspected (Terrorism Knowledge Base). 1979 - Two plant operator trainees at the Surry nuclear power station in Surry, Richmond, Virginia, entered the fuel storage building, which was locked and alarmed, and poured sodium hydroxide on 62 of 64 new fuel assemblies through manhole like openings in the floor (Database of Radiological Incidents and Related Events; Hirsch, 1987). The rods were not nuclear. 1979 - John Harrell procalimed the CPDL's purpose was to awaken and organize patriots who are striving against Communism, gun control, taxation, and the international jewish conspiracy which hates Christ. Militarty advisors to the CPDL were retired U.S. Colonel B.F. Von Stahl and Gordon "Jack" Mohr, a retired U.S. Army Colonel and one-time lecturer for the John Birch Society. Mohr also headed Harrell's Citizen's Emergency Defense System (CEDS), which was based in Mohr's home town of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Harrell also established a tax-exempt church, the Christian Conservative Church, in Louisville, IL, and had close ties in the early 1980s with "the Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord" (CSA). 1980s - Special investigator Samuel Van Pelt said the Posse Comitatus groups viewed the Trilateral Commission as the "ultimate evil — Jewish bankers who are conspiring to take over the world and ruin their lives. They believe the Trilateral Commission is trying to force farmers off the land through the banks and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation so it can control food production and the economy." - also see: Farm Crisis of the 1980s 1981 - Rajneeshee cult: Shree Rajneesh ("Rajneesh") was an Indian mystic who developed a substantial following in Poona, India in the 1970s. In 1981, Rajneesh came to America with a number of his Western followers to found a spiritual community, known as Rajneeshpuram, in Central Oregon. Starting on 29 August, members of the Rajneeshees cult began sprinkling their Salmonella typhimurium in personal drinking glasses, on doorknobs and urinal handles, on produce at the local supermarket, and on salad bars in eleven restaurants. In July or August an Albertson's grocery store was attacked while a group of Rajneesees were in town scouting future targets. Soon, a steady stream of patients were reporting to local physicians and hospitals with symptoms ranging from nausea and diarrhea to headache and fever. In total, 751 fell ill. Wasco county commissioners and ordinary citizens were among the victims. September 1981 - The CSA acquired a large drum of cyanide with the intention of poisoning water supplies in major U.S. cities. The group’s objective was to hasten the return of the Messiah by “carrying out God’s judgments” against unrepentant sinners. CSA also participated in a plot to overthrow the U.S. government, which group members believed to be controlled by descendants of Satan committed to the “establishment of a world order based on humanism, materialism, socialism and communism. Ellison testified for the government in 1987. He said that in 1981 Miles and Aryan Nation leader Richard Butler discussed using cyanide to pollute the water-supplies of several large cities to show that the government was powerless and to cause revolution among the people. "Mr. Miles said it would kill a lot of people, and the ones it would kill wouldn't really matter. It would be a good cleansing." Kerry Noble confirmed to the FBI that in 1981 Ellison and Randall Radar, a paramilitary trainig expert, took possession of a 30-gallon barrel of cyanide. "The purpose of the cyanide," he said, "was so that in the future, when the judgment time had arrived, we could dump the cyanide into the water supply systems of major U.S. cities, condemning hundreds of thousands of people to death for their sins. 1982 - There was a reported arrest by Los Angeles police and FBI agents of a man "who was preparing to poison the city's water system with a biological poison" (source: Chemical and Biological Terrorism: The Threat According to the Open Literature). 1982 - Right-wing extremist Randall Radar made plans in early 1982 to bomb a dam that controlled the water supply for three counties in northern Arkansas. 1982 - William Potter Gale: A self-described "reverend," considered by some to be the founder of the Jew-hating Posse Comitatus that raged through the Midwest in the 1970s and 1980s, Gale warned the world that a satanic Jewish conspiracy disguised as communism was corrupting public officials and the courts, undermining the United States and wrecking its divinely inspired Constitution. Jews, Gale taught, were offspring of the devil, while non-whites were "mud people" and whites were the real Hebrews of the Bible. By the time of his death in 1988, Bill Gale had spent more than half a lifetime energetically promoting his particularly bloodthirsty brand of anti-Semitism across America. "Arise and fight!" Gale preached in one infamous sermon broadcast to Kansas farmers in 1982. "If a Jew comes near you, run a sword through him."
January 1982 - Security guards at Zion Nuclear Power Station were put on alert Thursday after several Chicago newspapers and television stations received video tapes showing a mock "attack" on the plant along with a note threatening that the next one "would be real." The messages said "This was a warning; the next attack will be real " A black-and-white videotape accompanying each note showed four flares shooting into the air during the night. The containment buildings of the twin nuclear reactors appeared to be in the background of the poorly focused tapes. The flares were fired from the Lake Michigan beach two or three blocks north of the plant, which is about 40 miles north of Chicago. The incident, which occurred at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, was spotted by a plant security guard. The guard went to the launching site but found nothing. July 1982 - Fifty-nine members of right-wing organizations met in northern Idaho to sign a document entitled the Nehemiah Township Charter and Common Law Contract. The charter signers professed the desire to "covenant and combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic for our better ordering and preservation under and by GOD'S Law." They did so in clear Identity fashion by invoking "our Father and God, YAHWEH, YAHSHUA, JESUS THE CHRIST, the only rightful originator of Law." The polity envisioned was for "the preservation, protection and sustenance of our Aryan Race." Only "white freem[e]n" could be members. September 1982 - The Tylenol murders: Seven Chicago-area residents died after swallowing Tylenol capsules that had been filled with cyanide. November 1982 - Federal authorities were searching for a third member of the "Army of God" accused of kidnapping and threatening to kill an abortion clinic operator and his wife unless they stopped performing abortions. Two men charged in the August kidnappings were arrested Sunday, three months after Dr. Hector Zevallos and his wife were released unharmed after eight days in captivity. Don Benny Anderson, 41, of Pearland, Texas, was still being sought.
1983 - Louis Beam has long been known as one of the most unflinching and forceful spokesmen of the far right in his writing and appearances. In 1983, for example, as one of the main speakers at Aryan Nations' annual Aryan World Congress, he told an audience of more than 500 that the preservation of the white race required the willingness to act violently: "I didn't come here for your applause. I came here for your blood….The old period is over and a new period is going to begin….I'm here to tell you that if we can't have this country, as far as I'm concerned, no one gets it. The guns are cocked, the bullets are in the chamber….We're going to fight and live or we're going to die soon. If you don't help me kill the bastards, you're going to be required to beg for your child's life, and the answer will be 'No.'"
1984 - The Order began committing bank robberies throughout the Northwest in 1983. During the following year, the group's crimes included counterfeiting, assault and murder, most notably the June 18, 1984 assassination of Alan Berg. (Berg was a Denver radio talk show host who mocked right-wing extremists and, in particular, ridiculed Order front man David Lane, calling him "sick" and "pathetic" during an on-air exchange. Scutari was indicted for the murder, but not convicted.) A month later, on July 19, 1984, Scutari and 11 confederates robbed a Brink's armored truck in Ukiah, California, of $3.6 million. April 1985 - After years of complaints by local citizens and informants, federal agents from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, as well as assorted state and local agencies, surrounded Zarephath-Horeb. After a three-day standoff, law enforcement officers entered the compound. The raid involved more than 300 law enforcement officers and resulted in the seizure of weapons, ammunition, explosives, gold, and thirty gallons of potassium cyanide. 1985 - Michael Wayne Ryan became a devotee of James Wickstrom almost immediately after meeting him in May 1982; Ryan led a Posse Comitatus group in Nebraska where he dutifully carried out Wickstrom's violent ideology. In 1985, Ryan chained James Thimm to a crate inside a hog shed where for two weeks he was sexually abused, savagely beaten and partially skinned alive; his legs and one arm were broken, his bowel was torn, and several finger-tips were shot off before Ryan finally kicked and stomped him to death. The ordeal lasted two weeks. 1986 - 200 FBI agents raided a compound of a group called the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord (CSA). The cult, which was founded in 1971 by a former fundamentalist minister James Ellison, was a paramilitary survivalist group with of anti-Semitic and racist ideals. The raid by the FBI yielded a cash of weapons, including bombs and anti-tank rockets. In addition a 33 gallon barrel of potassium cyanide was discovered. According to Mullins (1992), the leader of the Ellison intended to use this chemical to contaminate the water supply of major US cities (also see Purver, 1995). February 1986 - Tylenol murder: In February 1986, Diane Elsroth, 23, died instantly after taking two Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. Investigators determined that her death was the result of ingesting cyanide. Following a recall of Tylenol from area stores, another tainted bottle was found in Westchester County, New York. June 1986 - On June 11, 1986, Sue Snow died after taking two extra-strength Excedrin. Eleven days earlier, Bruce Nickell had also died suddenly after taking Extra-Strength Excedrin capsules.The Excedrin capsules had been with cyanide. September 1986 - Louis Denber died after consuming Lipton Cup-a-Soup laced with cyanide. Denber was the 11th fatality cyanide-tainted product in the United States. 1988 - James Wickstrom, an Identity minister and a Posse leader, was convicted in 1991 in Pittsburgh of plotting to distribute $100,000 in counterfeit bills to white supremacists at the 1988 Aryan Nations World Congress. 1991 - On February 2, 9, and 17, 1991, three people in Washington fell ill after ingesting Sudafed capsules that had been laced with cyanide. Two of the three people died (CDC Report). 1993 - Thomas Lavy was arrested along the Alaskan-Canadian border, apparently driving back to his home in Arkansas. Canadian customs officials discovered racist literature, several weapons, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, a lot of cash, and 130 grams of what was later found to be ricin (one gram could kill well over a thousand people). April 1995 - Oklahoma City bombing - Richard Snell was executed on April 19, 1995 in Arkansas. Snell taunted jailers that something drastic would happen the day of his execution. On the second anniversary of the Waco Siege on April 19, 1995, hours before Snell was executed, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was destroyed by a truck-bomb parked in front of the building by Timothy McVeigh. Earlier criminal proceedings had produced evidence that Snell and other affiliates had visited the Murrah building to examine it as a possible bombing target in 1983. The Oklahoma City bombing claimed 168 lives and left over 800 people injured. July 1996 - Centennial Park bombing - Eric Robert Rudolph (born September 19, 1966), also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is an American far-right radical described by the FBI as a terrorist. Rudolf commited a series of bombing across the U.S. which killed two people and injured at least 150 others. Rudolph declared that his bombings were part of a guerrilla campaign against abortion and the "homosexual agenda". In 2005, as part of a plea bargain, Rudolph pled guilty to numerous federal and state homicide charges and accepted five consecutive life sentences in exchange for avoiding a trial and the death penalty. February 1998 - Larry Wayne Harris was arrested for carrying several vials of anthrax enough to “wipe out” Las Vegas. Harris, a micro-biologist obtained the anthrax from The American Type Culture Collection, in Rockville, MD. Harris was known to be allied with a racist, anti-Semitic religious sect. known as Christian Identity. The sect teaches amongst other things that Jews are the “children of Satan” and blacks are “subhuman mud people.” Harris was convicted on a fraud charge rather than possession of a weapon of mass destruction. December 1999 - Seven students at a law school in Springfield, Massachusetts, became ill after drinking water from a cooler that had been contaminated with potassium cyanide. Some faculty and staff at the school suspected a connection between this incident and swastiki like grafiti around the water cooler (Cameron et. al., 2000). 2000 - Pate et. al. (2001) report an incident in which a cloud of ammonia was released from a liquid storage facility in Pleasant Hill, Montana in 2000. This incident may actually have taken place in Missouri, where approximately 1000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia was released after someone intentionally opened a valve at a fertilizer dealer. The ammonia released caused 300 residents to be evacuated and two people needed to be treated for respiratory irritations.94 In February 1969 a similar incident at Crete Nebraska involving release of liquefied ammonia resulted in 6 fatalities and 35 injuries. March 2000 - On March 9, authorities searched Larry C.Ford’s premises. The search revealed guns, ammunition and explosives. In addition, police discovered vials of cholera, botulinum, salmonella and typhoid, as well as some technical delivery devices, such as an altered umbrella that injected a poison called silatrane. Police found evidence that Dr. Ford was working with the apartheid government in South Africa in the 1980s on their chemical and biological weapons program—Project Coast. In addition, there were indications of some connections to both the army's bio warfare program and the CIA. Some patients of Dr. Ford claimed that they had been deliberately infected. March 2001 - Dr. Chaos: Joseph D. Konopka, also known as “Dr. Chaos,” was a computer system administrator turned terrorist, responsible for numerous acts of terrorism. Between 1998 and 2001 Konopka attacked power grids, disrupted transmission towers, disabled air traffic control software and caused numerous headaches for authorities within the state of Wisconsin. In March, 2001, Konopka was arrested and charged with storing 0.9 lbs of sodium cyanide and 0.25 lbs of potassium cyanide. September 2001 - 911 Attacks September - October 2001 - Anthrax Attacks: Several people died or became ill after being exposed to Anthrax that had been put inside letters mailed to various politicians and media outlets. 2003 - In Denver, Colorado police arrested an apartment complex manager after discovering over 153 different chemicals, including potassium cyanide, arsenic, an unidentified, potentially lethal anesthetic, chloroform, and sodium azide. According to a former tenant, the manager had made threats that he was going to put radioactive devices in the Denver police ventilation system. He also said that he was mixing chemicals in the hopes of creating a “dirty bomb” (Turnbull and Abhayaratne 2003). 2003 - A ricin-laced letter was intercepted at a mail sorting facility in Greenville, South Carolina. The letter was addressed to the Department of Transportation in Washington, DC. The letter, which was signed “Fallen Angel,” threatened future ricin attacks if the government didn't pass pending truck legislation (Terrorism Knowledge Base). November 2003 - Sometime in November 2003 a ricin-laced letter, addressed to the White House, was intercepted at a mail sorting office. The letter contained a fine powdery substance which tested positive for ricin but was not sufficiently potent to be considered a health risk. The letter was disposed of safely, however news of the attack was not disclosed until a discovery of ricin in the Senate office building in February 2005. The government claims that they did not make the incident public because the ricin posed no "public health risk." The letter containing the substance was signed by "Fallen Angel" the same author of a similar ricin-laced letter intercepted in October. Both letters complained about pending federal trucking regulations. 2003 - A white powdery substance, which tested positive for ricin, was found in the mailroom of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, in Washington, DC. The substance, which didn't harm anyone, was found on the south side of the fourth floor of the Dirksen Senate (Terrorism Knowledge Base). November 2003 - William Krar pleaded guilty in 2003 in the "Tyler poison gas plot" to possession of a weapon of mass destruction. Inside the home and storage facilities of William Krar, investigators found a sodium-cyanide bomb capable of killing thousands, more than a hundred explosives, half a million rounds of ammunition, dozens of illegal weapons, and a mound of white-supremacist and antigovernment literature. - White Terror May 31, 2009 WHAT FOLLOWED THE 1982 TYLENOL MURDERS, WAS AN ALMOST UNIMAGINABLE COVER UP OF AT LEAST SEVEN MURDERSOn Tuesday afternoon, September 28, 1982, Mary Reiner checked out of Central DuPage Hospital, where she'd given birth to a baby boy a few days earlier. Before driving home, Mary and her husband stopped at Frank's Finer Foods, right across the street from the hospital, and bought a bottle of Regular-Strength Tylenol. Soon after buying the Regular-Strength Tylenol, Mary put six Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules into the Regular-Strength Tylenol bottle. Around noon on Wednesday, Mary took one Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule out of the Regular-Strength Tylenol bottle, swallowed it, and minutes later she died. When investigators went to Mary’s home shortly after she'd been rushed to the hospital, they found her Regular-Strength Tylenol bottle. Printed on the bottle was lot number MB2733. A press-release was quickly sent out to inform the public to avoid Tylenol from that lot. Shortly after announcing the poisoned capsules responsible for Reiner’s death came from lot number MB2733, investigators discovered that Mary had mixed Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules in with the capsules in her Regular-Strength Tylenol bottle. Each of the 5 remaining Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules in the bottle were filled with cyanide. None of the 50 Regular-Strength Tylenol capsules contained cyanide. Upon realizing that the Regular-Strength Tylenol capsules had not been poisoned, investigators issued a statement to correct the initial erroneous information: A woman who died in Winfield, a far west suburb of Chicago, had capsules from lot MB1833. There was initial confusion over the batch number in that case because she apparently mixed Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules with regular Tylenol.
The Extra-Strength Tylenol responsible for Mary Reiner’s death was not purchased at Frank's Finer Foods. No cyanide laced Tylenol of any strength can be linked to Frank's Finer Foods in Winfield, IL. Even though officials, detectives, and reporters quickly realized that the cyanide laced Tylenol that caused Mary Reiner's death had NOT been purchased at Frank’s Finer Foods, and they also knew that none of the victim's Tylenol came from Frank's Finer Foods, every single news article ever written, which lists the stores where cyanide laced Tylenol was purchased, includes Frank's Finer Foods in Winfield, IL. It's clear that officials did determine the lot number of the Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules found in Reiner’s Regular-Strength bottle. But how did they make that determination? They never found a bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol at Reiner’s home, nor did they find an Extra-Strength Tylenol bottle anywhere else that could be linked to Reiner's cyanide laced Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. Investigators must have retrieved the lot number for Reiner's Extra-Strength Tylenol from the pharmacy outlet where the capsules had been dispensed. Why then, do officials refuse to reveal to the public the name of that one outlet, forever known as the unidentified pharmacy? And why, for twenty six years, have they led the public to believe that the Tylenol responsible for Mary Reiner’s death came from Frank’s Finer Foods? The reason that officials from the Illinois Office of the Attorney General, the FDA, FBI, and Johnson & Johnson have kept secret for 26-years the identity of that one outlet, is because the truth will destroy the most important premise of the approved theory of the Tylenol murders; that the Tylenol capsules were filled with cyanide by some anonymous madman after the Tylenol had been placed on the shelves of local retail stores. The official theory of the Tylenol murders is a fraud; a nearly unimaginable cover-up by the most exalted of government and corporate officers of at least seven horrific murders. J&J, the FDA, FBI, and the Tylenol task force kept secret the name and location of the "unidentified pharmacy," because that one particular pharmacy was not accessible to the public, and the cyanide laced Extra-Strength Tylenol found there could only have been adulterated by someone who worked for Johnson & Johnson or one of their customers. The cyanide laced Tylenol that killed Mary Reiner did not come from a retail pharmacy. It didn’t even come from a bottle. 7:32 PM
May 14 Ex-Mayer Brown Partner Knew Zip About Client’s $2.4B Fraud, His Lawyer SaysJoseph Collins', a former partner at Tyrone Fahner's old law firm is in the news, but not in a good way (Tyrone Fahner: Illinois Attorney General (1980-1982); Head of the Tylenol Task Force; Served on Management Committee of Mayer Brown LLP from 1985 to 2007, served as co-Chairman (1998-01), Chairman (2001-07)). A lawyer for a former Mayer Brown partner started outlining his client's defense yesterday in a federal trial that began in New York this week over what prosecutors describe as attorney Joseph Collins' help to high-level executives at Refco Inc. in concealing a $2.4 billion corporate fraud. The three executives have now pleaded guilty or been convicted in a fraud case concerning massive hidden debt and sham transactions that bankrupted the financial services company, and Collins is accused of helping them conceal these transactions even though he didn't personally profit from them, according to the New York Law Journal. His lawyer, William Schwartz of Cooley Godward Kronish, portrayed the 59-year-old Collins as an honest attorney duped by the Refco executives' lies and emphasized the lack of motive for a nationally known lawyer who was billing by the hour to participate in a client's fraud from which he derived no financial benefit. Schwartz also pointed out that it was not Collins' job, as a lawyer, to investigate his client's books and crunch the numbers in an accountant-like manner, the legal publication recounts. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Garcia told the jury that Collins did have a motive: "Why? Why did this defendant lie for Refco?" asked Garcia rhetorically. "Because it was his biggest client from 1997 through the collapse of Refco. This man made more than $40 million for his firm." 10:26 PM May 11 WILL YOU TAKE A LARGE DONATION NEXT TUESDAY, FOR A JOB AS DEAN OF OSU BUSINESS SCHOOL TODAY? This has nothing to do with the Tylenol murders, although it does relate to Johnson & Johnson. After watching the following interview, and hearng Ohio State University President state that Christine Poon will be "a major donor to the institution," I couldn't help wondering: Did Christine Poon, former J&J Worldwide Chairman; Pharmaceuticals, and Vice Chairman of J&J's Board of Directors, buy this job? Favorite Question: "A long serving professor of the business school told me (the interviewer) that this candidate pool (from which Poon was chosen) for this position - his words - sucked." OSU President E. Gordon Gee on Christine Poon Christine Poon: Worldwide Chairman Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical (2001-2009); Vice Chairman of the Board of Director (2005-2009); Dean of Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University (May 2009-present). Prior to joining J&J, Poon served in various management positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb for 15 years. She left BMS just before the company and two executives were indicted for channel stuffing. BMS paid $1 Billion to settle with the government and various other litigants. 2:08 PM April 27 FDA COMMISSIONER FOR THE TYLENOL MURDERS The corporate shill in charge of all FDA corporate shills involved in the Tylenol murders investigation was Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr. received an M.D. from Cornell in 1964. Hayes served a two-year stint in the Army's Chemical Weapons division under President Richard Nixon. In 1981, after over 15 years of FDA disapproval of aspartame, G.D. Searle CEO Donald Rumsfeld, in a Searle sales meeting, vowed to "call in his markers" to get aspartame approved. Twenty days later, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as 40th President of the United States, appointing Rumsfeld as Special Envoy to the Middle East and Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. - a friend of Rumsfeld's - to FDA commissioner. On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Searle re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener. Reagan's new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes, appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry's decision. It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision, but Hayes then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in aspartame's favor. Hayes later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position with Burson-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he has never spoken publicly about aspartame. Burson-Marsteller also handled Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol crisis publicity campaign.
April 24 Read the following article, and then connect the dots. Ah, the good old days by Mike Royko Kingsport Times / Friday, March 28, 1975 CHICAGO — Steve Telow, tavern keeper and raging right-winger, was talking about all those good times. His pals had been out there burglarizing the offices of peace groups, smashing into their offices and grabbing files from their record cabinets. Then they had stashed the stuff in the basement of his Smokey Hollow Tavern on the northwest side until police spy-squad and military intelligence units could get the files they wanted. Best of all, the cops used to reward Telow and his pals by letting them take long, satisfying peeks into the spy-squad records to see what had been dug up about their enemies. And their enemies included anybody to the left of the Ku Klux Klan. Telow, in an interview, confirmed these and other points that have emerged in the current furor over political spying by the Chicago police department. "Sure, I used to see police records," Telow said. "Why did I get to seem them? Why not? I was fighting the powers of the left. Why shouldn't I see them?" "But I didn't get to see as much as Tom Sutton did. He got to see whatever he wanted to see. He was in charge." Telow was referring to the late S. Thomas Sutton, the glib lawyer who apparently pulled many of the city's right-wing elements into a paramilitary operation that committed burglaries of peace organizations and harassed antiwar leaders. "Sutton recruited me," said Telow, who first got his name into print as a neighborhood segregationist. "I was against integration before anybody ever heard of Martin Luther King." Telow confirmed that his tavern's basement was used as a headquarters for a Sutton-led group that called itself the Legion of Justice. A former member of that group has told the Chicago Daily News that it had virtual immunity from arrest by the police department while it committed burglaries and harassed peace organizations. Sutton, the former terrorist said, had told the group it should co-operate with the police spy squad in return for the immunity. The source said that members of the spy unit were parked nearby, acting as lookouts, while Legion of Justice members burglarized the Young Socialist Alliance. The source also said that Sutton dealt directly with members of the police department and armedforces intelligence units, giving them material taken in burglaries. Telow's tavern basement was used, the source said, because it was "as secure as a fort. We weren't worried about police coming in because they knew what we were doing. Hell, we were giving the intelligence unit information while the burglary unit was supposed to be trying to catch the people who stole it. "But the left knew what we were doing, so we were concerned about retaliation from them. So we used Telow's basement. It would have taken anybody two hours to break in." Telow agreed. "Yeah, it was a secure place all right." But he said having the right-wing group use his basement worried him, as much as he agreed with what it was doing. The reason for his concern, Telow said, was his liquor license. He was so fearful of losing it that once, during an antibusing demonstration he led, he let his wife chain herself to a school yard flagpole rather than chain himself. "If she gets pinched, it is one thing," he said. "But if I get pinched, I'll lose my liquor license." That's why he was worried when the Legion of Justice began using his basement as headquarters. "I was taking an awful chance if anything happened," Telow said. "My wife was always telling me: 'Steve, you're taking an awful chance.' " But nothing happened. In fact, Telow often boasted about his palsy relationship with the spy squad, gloating about the things the police showed him in their files. But now he is depressed. "Ever since Sutton died (last week), things are different. I'm even getting liberals coming in my place. Maybe I'll become a liberal myself." April 23 CHRISTOPHER CHRISTIE AND DAN WEBB: TWO PEAS IN A POD  I've followed the illustrious career of Christopher Christi, former US Attorney for New Jersey, And I gotta say, when it comes to incompetence and political hackery, he falls into the same camp as former US Attorney Dan Webb. Dan webb was part of the 1982 Tylenol task force. Maybe this will put a damper on Christie's run for Governor of New Jersey. April 22 IT AIN'T GONNA SUCK ITSELF Special thanks to Cracker As critical as I am of the sham Tylenol murders investigation; the truth is - the creation of the Tylenol Task force was necessary. April 21 WHY IS J&J MORE INTERESTED IN WHAT I HAVE TO SAY THAN THE FBI? During the first half of 2008 I published a blog that typically received around 50 visits per day. Some of my posts dealt with the Tylenol murders. When J&J failed to answer an email I sent to J&J customer service, regarding information relevant to the case, I posted the following on my blog: On Friday, June 13, 2008, I sent an email to Johnson & Johnson. I told them that I have information that may lead to the capture and convictions of the Tylenol killers. After the Tylenol murders in 1982 and 1986, J&J offered a $100,00 reward to anyone who provides evidence that leads to the capture and conviction of the person or persons responsible for putting cyanide into the Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. On Wednesday, June 18, 2008, I received the following canned reply. Thank you for contacting Johnson & Johnson. It is always important to hear from our customers and we appreciate the time you have taken to contact us. We have forwarded your message to the appropriate Department. They will contact you directly if interested. Again, thank you for your interest in Johnson & Johnson. 0128736A. After publishing two posts the previous two days with information about the Tylenol murders, that had never been made made public, I received 55 visits to my blog from at least half a dozen IP addresses at J&J headquarters in New Brunswick NJ. Fourteen of the visits, shown below, lasted at least two hours.
Why is it that J&J is able to spend so much time on my web-site, but they can’t take a couple of minutes to give me contact information for the federal agent in charge of the never closed 1982 and 1986 Tylenol murder investigations?
Two hours after publishing the above post, I received the following email from Johnson & Johnson: “Thank you for reaching out to us with this information. As you may know, this case has never been resolved, and since it is not a closed case, we suggest you contact the law enforcement agency that has been involved with this investigation over the years directly. You can call the Newark Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at ###-###-####. Also, with your permission, we will forward your contact information and e-mail directly to the agency and ask that they contact you for further information.”
The reply came from an anonymous media relations email address; I guess no J&J employee wants to be associated with J&J’s abysmal handling of the Tylenol tampering. ...Or, maybe nobody at J&J wants to be associated with me. FAST FORWARD TEN MONTHS, TO NOW The FBI contacted me in August and September of 2008. I haven't heard from them sine then. So, I'm left to wonder why Johnson & Johnson spent so much time on my website after I'd exposed a bit of information that appears to have made some folks at J&J corporate very nervous, but the FBI has shown no interest whatsoever in the indisputable facts, documented on my website, which reveal that the Tylenol murders investigation was not about solving seven murders and bringing the killers to justice. The Tylenol murders investigation was about suppressing information and selling more Tylenol. April 20 TYRONE FAHNER'S 1982 CAMPAIGN AGAINST LOOK-ALIKE DRUGS In 1982, Illinois Attorney General Tyrone Fahner launched a campaign against "Lookalike" drugs. Kids were buying legal caffeine pills that looked like amphetamines (speed), and selling them at a nice profit by claiming the pills actually were amphetamines. From the August 13, 1982 edition of the Chicago Daily Herald: Illinois Attorney General Tyrone Fahner* said: "The spreading epidemic of look-alike drugs that has swept our country almost uncontrolled" has claimed the lives of 14 people — all under the age of 22 — in Illinois alone this year.
Fourteen people died, in a one year period, from overdosing on Caffeine - in Illinois alone!? I find that hard to believe. In fact, I find Tyrone Fahner's statement absurd. The lethal dose of caffeine for an adult is about 10 grams. That's about 50 caffeine pills, assuming a typical dose of 200 mgs. Also quoted in that same Daily Herald article was William Pollin, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who said: Convulsions and "cerebral hemorrhage with death and severe hypertension are associated with the use of look-alike drugs."
Doesn't it seem more likely that the death of these fourteen individuals was caused by an actual poison of some kind; like cyanide for instance? The main initial symptom of a lethal dose of CYANIDE is hyperventilation, followed by loss of consciousness, convulsions, and loss of corneal reflex, with death caused by cardiac and/or respiratory arrest. *Disclaimer: One really should be suspicious of any statement made by Tyrone Fahner. He has a long history of getting his "facts" wrong. In this particular case, Fahner seemed to pop off conflicting caffeine deaths tolls every time he opened his mouth. May 12, 1982: Fahner's office knows of at least 7 persons who have died as a result of look-alikes in the past 1 1/2 years. August 13, 1982: ...has claimed the lives of 14 people — all under the age of 22 — in Illinois alone this year. August 31, 1982: Attorney General Tyrone Fahner said Monday that a coroner has confirmed a Round Lake, IL man died from an overdose of "lookalike" drugs, the 8th Illinois victim of the caffeine-based drugs. The incompetence of Tyrone Fahner - government lawman turned defense lawyer for George Ryan and countless other convicted felons - begs the question: Why do we put lawyers in charge of criminal investigations? Lawyers are trained to skirt the law, manipulate the law, and convince others to misenterpret the law. They are ill equipped to follow the law, enforce the law, or to conduct a legal investigation into crimes committed by individuals who they will be defending once they leave their government job and go into a lucrative private practice. April 15 RESURGENCE OF THE RADICAL FAR-RIGHT There are many parallels between today's economic climate and the economic climate at the time of the 1982 Tylenol murders. The economy has tanked, thanks in large part to the rampant fraud within financial institutions. In 1982 the Bankers were foreclosing on American farmers, now they are foreclosing on American home-owners. Just like today, the un-employment rate in 1982 had hit double digits and we were in a deep recession. The economic hardship and rage felt by Americans who lost their livelihood and their homes, because of corrupt financiers, led to the incredible growth of far-right extremist groups in 1982. Through my extensive research into the 1982 Tylenol murders, I've concluded that far-right extremists were responsible for poisoning Tylenol capsules with cyanide in their war against the Trilateralists. In an ironic twist, it was the Trilateralists who covered up evidence that allowed the far-right extremists responsible for the murders to escape justice. Two Trilateralists intimately involved in the Tylenol murders investigation cover-up were then Illinois Governor James Thompson and then J&J CEO James Burke. Thompson and Burke were both Trilateralist, and both were members of the Trilateral Commission. The far-right are localists who want less government intervention in their lives. They belive their civil rights are being taken from them by the federal government which is under the thumb of corrupt elitists seeking a new world order. Much of the far-right ideology is sound and supported by many Americans. It's certainly a reasonable alternative to the Trilateralist agenda of world domination of the financial system, labor, and international businesses. The problem with these far-right extremist groups is that they don't stop there. They are white supremacists who believe Jews are Satan's Children, and that the hated Jews have taken over the world banking system, primarily though the actions of the Trilateral Commission, which they believe is controlled by the Jews. The far-right extremists are part of the Christian identity movement. They believe white Aryans are Gods chosen ones. They advocate violence to achieve their goals. Whether you're Jewish, black, Asian or white, if you do not join them in their Jihad against the Jews and Trilateralists, then you are expendable. There are no innocents in their holy war against the Jews "I didn't come here for your applause. I came here for your blood… The old period is over and a new period is going to begin….I'm here to tell you that if we can't have this country, as far as I'm concerned, no one gets it. The guns are cocked, the bullets are in the chamber….We're going to fight and live or we're going to die soon. If you don't help me kill the bastards, you're going to be required to beg for your child's life, and the answer will be 'No.'" - Louis Beam, speaking to a group of far-right extremists in 1983
April 07 WHY DID THE TYLENOL TASK FORCE IGNORE LEGITIMATE SUSPECTS? Who ordered the reopening of the Tylenol murders investigation? Why were hundreds of Chicago-area right-wing terrorists excluded from the list of Tylenol murder suspects by then Illinois Attorney General Tyrone Fahner, Governor James Thompson, Illinois State Police Commander Thomas Schumpp, Director of FBI William Webster, Illinois U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, and Illinois Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Margolis? Why did each of the aforementioned officials engage in a relentless pursuit against one specific individual for whom they had absolutely no evidence connecting him in any way to the Tylenol Murders? Why didn't the ex-FBI agents hired by Johnson & Johnson to "investigate" the Tylenol murders identify these violent extremists as suspects? Why do these "Illuminati Puppets" continue to persecute their patsy to this very day, even though the Chicago Police who did the heavy lifting in the Tylenol murders investigation publically state that they have no evidence against the Man who's been made a patsy by federal officials. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE In 1982, in and around Chicago, there lived hundreds, possibly thousands, of so-called "Patriots" who belonged to one of several groups that vowed to take their country back from the Jews, "by any means necessary." Extremist followers of Posse Comitatus ideology had repeatedly advocated violence against their enemies in the years leading up to the Tylenol murders. Attacks by right-wing extremists increased dramatically in 1982, and peaked in 1983 before the FBI and DEA led a series of raids against Posse Comitatus compounds across the country. At the top of the Posse Comitatus list of enemies was the Trilateral Commission, which "patriots" believed was controlled by Jews who had taken over the worldwide banking system. Right-wing extremists believed one of the objectives of the Trilateral Commission and various affiliated organizations, like the Council on Foreign Relations and the Bilderberg Group, was to control the United States government in order to achieve their goal of a New World Order, which would be controlled by Jews. "Patriots" vowed that members of these "New World Order" groups, and anybody who did not actively oppose them, were traitors. Posse Comitatus leaders and their brothers and sisters from the Christian Patriots Defense League, "The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord," Arian Nations, the Christian Identity movement, The Order, and the Ku Kluk Klan had, years earlier, declared war against the Jews and the "Jew-sympathizers." Members of the Right-wing extremist groups in 1982 said that the penalty for those who did not join them will be death. These "Patriots" made the same vow as did their brothers from the Legion of Justice, who in 1970 stated: "Treason Must be Punished."
The "Punishment for Treason," according to the Legion of Justice and their far-right pals, was death. According to the October 21, 1970 Chicago Daily Herald, The Chicago Black Media Representative's chairman Hurley Green called a press conference, urging both the mass media and the Black newsmen of Chicago to attend and hear the facts on white Neo-Nazi groups' violent actions. State's Attorney Edward Hanrahan, who was at the center of the controversy and who was later convicted for obstruction of justice after he led a cover-up of the investigation against him and his police-force, was also invited but did not attend. The statement read in part: "First, we draw attention to the Legion of Justice, S. Thomas Sutton, Chief of the Legion, recently introduced Orville Brettman as a leader of the "Viet Nam Veterans Association." "Brettman said that he would attend the recent March for Victory in Washington. D.C. and that he and his group would step outside the law" to deal with "treasonous left wing" peace demonstrators if they appeared. "Thomas Sedlacko and Thomas Stewart of the Legion of Justice were both arrested recently after invading Lady of the Mount Roman Catholic Church in Suburban Cicero. "The following organizations have gone on legal record as victims of the Legions of Justice's attacks: the Chicago Peace Council, the Young Workers Liberation League, The Young Workers Socialist Alliance and the Cicero church. "Yet, until the Americans for Democratic Action and other organizations pressured him to do so, the State's Attorney has been reluctant to move to arrest any members of the Legion. "Meanwhile Frank Collin (later convicted of sexually molesting two 10-year-old boys) of the local American Nazi Party has been down in Cairo, IL with the other racist vigilante organization called the "White Hats." Several gun battles have been sparked against Black citizens in Cairo. And Nazis from Cook County have been photographed in Cairo and in Chicago itself picketing with signs saying "Hitler was right" and "shoot Black snipers" with "snipers" referring to Blacks who have been forced to defend themselves against many armed attacks. "Assuming that Mr. Hanrahan includes citizens, peace groups and other citizens as part of society, this certainly indicates what he calls "group action" of an anti-social sort and also a commitment to violence. "And certainly the attacks by armed thugs against peace organizations and various political groups indicates a belief in violent force as a basis for political strength. "These beliefs have been documented many times, but we refer you to the August 16, 1970 Lerner Newspapers report about a speech Sutton gave at Northeastern. He called for the formation of "a right wing terrorist underground" and went on to say, "I want to make the Sen. Joe McCarthy era look like a love-in, to make the French Revolution look like a teaparty —there will be a blood bath and people will suffer."
Christian Patriot William Potter Gale preached the following in one infamous sermon to Kansas farmers in 1982. "Arise and fight!" "If a Jew comes near you, run a sword through him."
Louis Ray Beam, founding member of "The Order", and one of the most unflinching and forceful spokesmen of the far-right, speaking at the Aryan Nations' annual Aryan World Congress in 1983, told an audience of more than 500 that the preservation of the white race required the willingness to act violently. To a crowd who viewed Jews and Trilateral Commission members as their hated enemies, Beam said this: "I didn't come here for your applause. I came here for your blood… The old period is over and a new period is going to begin….I'm here to tell you that if we can't have this country, as far as I'm concerned, no one gets it. The guns are cocked, the bullets are in the chamber….We're going to fight and live or we're going to die soon. If you don't help me kill the bastards, you're going to be required to beg for your child's life, and the answer will be 'No.'"
I'll ask again. Who ordered the reopening of the bogus Tylenol murders investigation? . April 02 BLAGOJEVICH'S CORRUPT ENTERPRISE The Blagojevich indictment is just the latest in a corruption scandal that goes all the way back to the 1982 Tylenol murders. Blagojevich, his brother, top aides indicted: Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, his brother, and a former top fundraiser were among six men indicted today on political corruption charges, the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago announced.
In addition to Rob Blagojevich, 53, and fundraiser Christopher Kelly, 50, charged were Lon Monk, 50, a lobbyist and former Blagojevich chief of staff; John Harris, 47, also a former chief of staff to Blagojevich; and William Cellini, 74, a Springfield insider for decades. Read entire story at Chicago Breaking News William Cellini's connection to James Thompson and his Pay to Play Schemes William Cellini received all kinds of preferential business deals back around the time of the Tylenol Murders, thanks to his buddy Governor James Thompson. . THOMPSON FAMILY ASSOCIATE - WILLIAM CELLINI William Cellini entered politics when he was was elected Springfield's commissioner of streets and public improvements. By age 35 he became transportation czar in Governor Richard Ogilvie's Cabinet. After leaving state government, he became an influential fundraiser and powerful lobbyist who headed up the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association. During Thompson's administration, Cellini won State contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, and received sweetheart loans that were funded by the state. Cellini developed and leased six major office buildings to the state starting in 1979, becoming one of state government's biggest landlords. At one point, the state paid $10 million a year to lease Cellini's buildings. In 1982 Governor Thompson and state Treasurer Jerome Cosentino offered a state loan program under the auspices of a real estate investment plan. $118 million was given to 18 hotels, offices and shopping centers just before Thompson's November re-election. The loans were made to politically connected developers. Cellini, through his President Lincoln Hotel Corporation, borrowed $15 million from the State loan program to build a luxury hotel in downtown Springfield. No individual was supposed to receive more than one loan from the state program, but Cellini was a partner in another group that received $18.2 million from the program to build a new office building. Almost immediately, Cellini fell behind on payments for his Springfield hotel loan. Thompson and Cosentino renegotiated with Cellini in 1988 and cut the interest rate on the debt. The deal was renegotiated again in 1990 resulting in what the state treasurer in 2007, Alexi Giannoulias, would call "one of the worst deals the state has ever agreed to." In 2007, after the loan had languished unpaid for 25 years, it was declared to be in default. - Cosentino pleaded guilty in 1992 to one count of bank fraud. Consentino admitted kiting millions of dollars in checks between accounts at Cosmopolitan National Bank and Cole Taylor Drovers Bank for his trucking company, Fast Motor Service Inc. The scheme to create phony balances in company checking accounts, which lasted a year during his second term as state treasurer, left Cosmopolitan holding the bag for $1.3 million in overdrafts.
Gambling In 1990, one year before leaving office, Thompson signed into law a bill that authorized riverboat gambling; setting the stage for what would become a very profitable business for the Thomson family. The state handed out 10 riverboat gambling licenses just before Thompson left office. The Illinois Gaming Board, responsible for awarding gambling licenses and for regulatory oversight of the Casinos and Riverboats, was filled with Thompson family associates. Some Thompson associates procured executive positions in privately held gambling companies, and several of Thompson's "made" former US Attorneys went on to represent gambling entities and defend mobsters who ran into trouble because of their involvement in the industry. By the time Thompson left office, much of the revenue previously earned in outfit controlled gambling houses and street games, had shifted to the growing "legitimate" gambling houses and riverboats licensed by the state of Illinois. As chairman of the Argosy Gaming Company, Cellini opened the state's first riverboat casino; Alton Belle. Cellini and his partners received their casino license from the Illinois Gaming Board two months before Thompson left the governor's office. When Argosy went public in 1993, Cellini sold some of his Argosy stock for a profit of $4.9 million. In 2004, a Pennsylvania company bought Argosy, and Cellini collected an estimated $63 million for his remaining shares. Cellini acted as a lobbyist for his own firms and for several clients. Sometimes he worked alone; other times he lobbied with Robert Kjellander when Kjellander was national committeeman of the Illinois Republican Party and a former patronage director for Governor Thompson. Most lobbyists try to curry favor with legislators. But Cellini said that he didn't bother with legislators. Instead, he devoted his efforts to the governor's office and state agencies. Among Cellini's lobbying clients was Chicago HMO. March 06 Puffer fish toxin case inching closer to trial The case of a Lake in the Hills man accused of illegally possessing puffer fish poison for use as a weapon is slowly inching toward trial or some other resolution. A federal prosecutor and the defense for suspect Edward F. Bachner IV both said in court Thursday they will be ready next month to transfer the case to the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Frederick J. Kapala. The transfer would indicate the two sides are ready to set the matter for trial or might be nearing a plea agreement. The slow progress of the case appears to have irked U.S. Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney, who questioned lawyers on both sides Thursday about the delay in getting the case set for trial. "This case has been here too long," he said. "There are some matters that need to be approved by my superiors before we can move forward," Karner replied. "I don't think either side is delaying this." Bachner, who could face life in prison if convicted of all charges, is scheduled to return to court April 30. - Read full story... March 05, 2009 Tylenol Victim's Daughter Wants More Information In 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died from tainted Tylenol capsules. The seven murders remain unsolved. The FBI will only say the case is under investigation and that there have been no arrests.
CBS 2's Mike Parker is here with the story of one woman who says the families of the victims deserve to know more.
What must it be like for a 7-year-old girl to see her mother go into convulsions and die a victim of the Tylenol killer?
Michelle Rosen, a woman from west suburban Winfield, is talking about that -- and about how the decades-old investigation is seemingly still at a dead end. - Read full story... THE TRUTH ABOUT THE U.S. ATTORNEYS INVOLVED IN THE TYLENOL MURDERS INVESTIGATION TRUER WORDS HAVE NEVER BEEN SPOKEN Isn't it possible that they genuinely believe that you are a prime suspect and that you may in fact have committed those murders? "No; not at all. [Jeremy] Margolis and [Anton] Valukas have no more interest in protecting the public in this case than the Tylenol murderer himself did. They have become with their actions, the best friend the Tylenol murderer could ever have." - James Lewis
February 26 JAMES LEWIS: THE EVIDENCE by FRAUDPI About one month after the 1982 Tylenol murders, the FBI and Tyrone Fahner, then Illinois Attorney General and leader of the Tylenol task force, decided that James Lewis was the "Tylenol man." Up until that point, the media focus was on four suspects. Fahner was appointed Attorney General by Gov. James Thompson in 1980 after then A.G. William Scott was convicted of income tax evasion. Fahner lost his bid to be elected to the position in November 1982 when he was handily defeated by Neil Hartigan. Although officials maintained publically that James Lewis was not the Tylenol killer, their off the record statements convinced the media otherwise. After the investigation wound down in 1983 without an indictment, some officials began to state that Lewis was the likely villian. Tyrone Fahner was especially willing to tag Lewis as the "Tylenol man." Fahner stated many times in the years following the investigation that he believed Lewis was the Tylenol murderer. In fact at one point Fahner seemed worried that he may have spoken out too much about his unsubstantiated theories. In a 1992 interview Fahner said: "I don't need to have someone who's in prison do some jail-house lawyering and sue me for libel. There are plenty of people in law enforcement who believe he's the one and that's not libelous."
Thomas Schumpp, who was a Commander for Illinois State Police during the investigation said, "Over the years my position has been that he [James Lewis] was the prime suspect. In my mind, he remains that. I personally believe he did it." Try to find one investigator from the group that did the bulk of the work in the investigation - the Chicago police - who believes there's one single scrap of evidence that ties Lewis to the Tylenol murders, and you'll come up empty.
Richard J. Brzeczek, the Chicago Police Superintendent, said in 1982 that Mr. Lewis ''has not been ruled out, because we have not yet had an opportunity to talk to him; however, the possibility of his being the Tylenol killer is remote.'' In recent interviews Brzeczek has reiterated the fact that there is no evidence to tie Lewis to the murders. So, what does the FBI have on Lewis? The only evidence made public, is the extortion letter written by Lewis. In fact, the extortion attempt really wasn't an extortion attempt; but that's a story for another time. In any case, the extortion letter is evidence of attempted extortion, not of murder. So it seems that the FBI has no evidence against James Lewis, unless their renewed interest in this case was triggered by some devinely acquired smoking gun. As time passes and the FBI remains silent, a distrurbing possibility becomes more likely; that the FBI reopened the case just after evidence would have been available under the Freedom of Information Act, to cover-up the facts in the 1982 Tylenol murders investigation for another twenty-five years. There is, as there always has been, a great deal of physical evidence in this case. Since 1982, investigators have ignored the mountain of evidence that can still lead to the truth about the Tylenol murders. Much of that evidence is sitting on the pages in this website. February 25 FBI MUTE ON THE TYLENOL MURDERS INVESTIGATION CHICAGO — Michelle Rosen hoped a Boston-area FBI raid this month meant she might finally be able to stop wondering if the grocery bagger or the gardener down the block could be responsible for killing her mother and six others who swallowed cyanide-laced Tylenol decades ago. But in the three weeks since the raid, nothing. Despite a flurry of speculation that the case could be verging on conclusion, Rosen fears she’s no closer to answering the question that’s plagued her since her mother collapsed in front of her when she was 8 years old. "You find yourself thinking if they had anything, he’d be locked up by now somehow," Rosen said. "I would have thought by now, with the whole world watching, you would have made an arrest immediately if you had something." At the time of the Feb. 4 raid, officials were telling family members for the first time in years that they may be onto something. "I was hoping, I really was," said Rosen, of the Chicago suburb of Winfield. "This was the first time they’d knocked on anybody’s doors." On Tuesday, FBI Special Agent Frank Bochte in Chicago said agents are examining evidence in the case, but there were no arrests or developments to announce. - Full story... February 19 BIOTERRORISM INVESTIGATION IN CHICAGO  Court documents state that federal anti-terrorism agents who raided Bachner's home found six empty vials of the substance tetrodotoxin, along with needles, syringes and a book that deals with the effective doses for poisoning people. Also found in Bachner's home was a handgun, more than 50 knives, five garrotes, (a handheld weapon, most often referring to a chain, rope, wire or fishing line used to strangle someone to death), a phony CIA badge, a precursor to the poison Ricin and books on how to poison people, make gun silencers and hand-to-hand combat. (Typical behavior of individuals involved in the Posse Comitatus movement.) FBI agents questioned him in early 2006 about allegations he was offering $8,000 and an AK-47 assault rifle over the Internet to have a Chicago-area woman killed. - Read full story... Edward Bachner lives near an individual who I believe may have information related to the 1982 Tylenol murders. The question I'm pondering, is this: Did Bachner turn over information to the FBI that resulted in their reopening of the Tylenol murder investigation? (Bachner is only 35, so he could not have been involved in the Tylenol tamperings) BACHNER'S GOVERNMENT FUNDING It appears that we, the taxpayers, may have funded Mr. Bachner's operation. Bachner's father, Edward Bachner III, is listed as co-founder and President of Rosetta-Wireless Corporation. Edward Bachner IV is listed as co-founder and Corporate Secretary. In 2003, the company received a grant of $2 million dollars from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The grant was announced in a press release issued by then U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill NIST is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. That's right folks; your very own government is sponsoring organizations that are allegedly involved in terrorist activities.  Bachner remains in jail, after a federal judge refused to set him free, ruling that he would be a "serious danger to persons in the community" and a flight risk if released. February 13 WHY IS THE MEDIA TRYING TO FRAME JAMES LEWIS FOR THE TYLENOL MURDERS? Here’s the latest news being reported regarding James Lewis: Feds Convinced Lewis was Tylenol Killer BOSTON -- Federal authorities investigating a Cambridge man linked to deadly Tylenol poisonings in the 1980s were convinced that he was responsible for the crime, according to newly released court documents. NewsCenter 5’s Sean Kelly reported that the documents show Department of Justice investigators concluded suspect James Lewis, who now lives in Cambridge, was responsible for the poisonings, despite the fact that they did not have enough evidence to charge him. I-Team Report: The Tylenol Man On Wednesday night, the I-Team uncovered court records that reveal top government officials, including the U.S. Attorney in Chicago at the time, concluded he was the killer 20 years ago. "UNCOVERED"? "NEW DOCUMENTS"? First of all, NewsCenter 5 and the I-Team shouldn’t pat themselves on the back too much for “uncovering court records” that showed the U.S. Attorney “concluded that he (Lewis) was the Killer. These hard-working journalist could have “uncovered” those documents right here, on my website, or here. Secondly, the records they’re referencing have nothing to do with the DOJ; they are documents from a parole hearing, The U.S. Attorney who made the allegations against Lewis had no evidence to connect Lewis to the murders, he wasn’t involved in the Tylenol murders investigation, and he wasn’t a U.S. Attorney until three years after the murders. Maybe these crack investigative reporters should start investigating the evidence covered up by the FBI for twenty-six years. Maybe these news-hounds should start asking why the FBI went after James Lewis instead of this man. February 12 FBI studies Boston items for possible Tylenol link CHICAGO (AP) — The items seized at a Boston-area home last week are being examined in Chicago as part of the investigation into the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that caused seven deaths, an FBI spokesman said Wednesday. A week ago, authorities seized a computer and boxes of files from James W. Lewis' home in Cambridge, Mass. The recent activity has raised hopes of a long-awaited break in the case. Investigators returned to Chicago last weekend and began sorting through the items Monday, FBI spokesman Ross Rice told WBBM Radio. "They brought with them the items that were recovered during the search, and they're now involved in the process of going through, very meticulously, all of those items to try to determine if there's any link to our investigation," Rice said. As for the recent activity in the investigation, the FBI gave little details about its basis but cited forensic advances and tips spurred by the 25th anniversary of the poisonings. February 09 FBI MUM ON INVESTIGATION All's quiet on on Gore Street, four days after FBI investigations Somerville - Four days after FBI investigations in Cambridge and Somerville regarding the 1982 Tylenol killings, all is quiet on Gore Street. Area workers said they only heard about the incident on the news. The FBI reportedly searched area storage facilities or labs in the area last week. There are three storage facilities on the street -- Extra Space Storage, Planet Self Storage and Millbrook Cold Storage in Somerville and Cambridge. Twin City Plaza manager Roger Tyler said they had no contact with the investigators and it didn't impact their tenants in the mall but said the FBI did use a part of the parking lot for their operations on Feb. 4-5, 2009. "I didn't see anything until I saw it in the news," he said. "I let them conduct their business in the back part of the parking lot here." Last week, the FBI and State Police set up shop in the the six-story tan brick apartment building at 170 Gore St. but declined to say what they were looking for in the Cambridge apartment. Last Wednesday, FBI agents removed items from apartment 103, listed in the city of Cambridge assessing database as a condo belonging to Lewis’ wife. The six-story building named “The Pavilion” was quiet, despite the hovering reporters and the helicopter overhead. Read more... THE 1986 TYLENOL MURDER IS REOPENED The Tylenol Task Force Dream Team Strategy Session Tyrone Fahner Dan Webb Jeremy Margolis James Thompson Related: 1986 TYLENOL MURDER COVER-UP 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. But the spokeswoman, Virginia Wright, appeared to close the door on that possibility by noting that suspect James Lewis was in a federal prison from 1982 to 1995, after he confessed to sending a letter to Tylenol manufacturer Johnson & Johnson offering "to stop the killings" in Chicago for $1 million. Elsroth died Feb. 8, 1986, four years into Lewis' prison sentence and 23 years ago today. As the investigation heated up into the seven Chicago deaths, none of the law-enforcement agencies that investigated Elsroth's death in Yonkers said new leads had developed. Nevertheless, Yonkers police said Friday they will reopen the case based on the activity in Chicago. "At this point, they don't have anything new on the case, but the cold case squad is going to be reviewing that case to make sure," Lt. Diane Hessler said. "I can't say anything different than what Anthony Molea said 20 years ago," said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the Westchester County district attorney, referring to a 1993 statement by a prosecutor that the case was still open. "It remains open and, if any new information is brought forward, it would be investigated," Chalfen said. Elsroth died after ingesting two tainted Tylenol Extra Strength capsules bought at a Bronxville A&P. Her boyfriend's mother dodged death herself when - distraught by the death and unaware of its cause - she ingested Tylenol capsules from the bottle at Elsroth's bedside, which contained other poisoned pills. A second Tylenol bottle containing poisoned capsules was later found on a store shelf in Bronxville. Elsroth's death reignited the terror of a nation still rattled by the deaths in Chicago, and prompted a second round of product safety reforms. Johnson & Johnson recalled 35 million Tylenol capsules from stores and homes after the Chicago deaths, reintroducing the product in triple-sealed packaging. After Elsroth's death, Johnson & Johnson ceased production of the pull-apart capsules and replaced them with "caplets," a coated tablet shaped like a capsule. Two years after Elsroth's death, Johnson & Johnson won a federal lawsuit that Elsroth's family filed against it and the A&P supermarket chain, alleging that faulty production, packaging and marketing allowed the product to be contaminated. A year later, Johnson & Johnson reached a settlement with the family. - See Tylnol Lawsuits February 08 THE RE-PERSECUTION OF JAMES LEWIS When writing about the Tylenol murder suspects, why do reporters so freely name James Lewis, while going out of their way to avoid naming the other suspects? Today, the Chicago Tribune posted an article entitled, 'Tylenol case revisited.' Three of the Tylenol murder suspects are discussed, but only one by name. Tribune reporters Gary Marx and Steve Mills start out by discussing suspect #1. I won't mention his name here, but you can go to the Suspects page and figure out who they're talking about on your own. Here's the paragraph on suspect #1: One suspect, according to the report obtained by the Tribune, was a brilliant but mentally disturbed man "prone to violence" who lived in Lombard and had indicated to a friend he was responsible for the killings—something he later denied to investigators.
Here's the paragraph on suspect #2:
A second suspect worked at a Jewel warehouse in Melrose Park, where he reportedly told his supervisor he was "mad at people and wanted to throw acid at them or poison them," Tetyk wrote. Police searched the man's apartment and found test tubes, beakers, "left-wing literature" and a book entitled "The Poor Man's James Bond," which on pages 20 to 22 outlined how to make potassium cyanide. But when investigators followed the book's instructions, they found that the cyanide was unlike the poison in the capsules used in the Tylenol murders, the synopsis stated.
I will mention the name of suspect #2, because, well, he was a pretty bad dude. Suspect #2, Roger Arnold, died in June 2008. He was the primary suspect until James Lewis became the primary patsy. Before I go any further...... and excuse me, but I gotta say..... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!... Arnold was eliminated as a suspect because "when investigators followed the book's instructions, they found that the cyanide was unlike the poison in the capsules used in the Tylenol murders."?? I'm no scientific genius, but even I can figure out how to substitute one substance for another. Better yet, rather than manufacture cyanide, why not just buy it, which is what Arnold did when he bought cyanide from a Racine, WI company. Oh, and excuse me again. But that would be right-wing literature, not "left-wing literature." In fact, that would be right-wing literature as in the right-wing radical literature popular with far-right terrorist, anarchist, and racist groups that were so popular in the Chicago area in 1982, and the terrorists that preceeded them. Here's a summary of the actual physical evidence the Tylenol task force had on Arnold: On Monday evening, October 11, 1982, Chicago police detectives brought in Roger Arnold after police received a tip that he was "known to have cyanide in his house." Arnold was a 48-year-old dockhand who'd worked at Jewel Foods for thirteen years. With Arnold's approval detectives searched his house, and then after obtaining a search warrant they searched it a second time. The search turned up one rifle, five unregistered hand-guns, ammunition, various chemicals, and numerous invoices from a chemical company. Police also found a stash of Soldier of Fortune magazines, The Anarchist Cookbook, which contains recipes and instructions for making explosives, and a survivalism manual titled The Poor Man's James Bond, written by survivalist Kurt Saxon. One section of the manual described how to create murder weapons by putting cyanide into empty capsules. During questioning, Arnold admitted that "some months ago" he had cyanide for unspecified "projects," but he said he had discarded it sometime in August. Arnold "said he was a closet chemist," and he had "a knowledge" of chemicals and compounds. Arnold had purchased two one-way tickets to Thailand in late September and planned to leave the country Friday (Oct. 15, 1982). Arnold said he goes to Thailand every year at this time, but his lawyer, Thomas Royce, said he had never been to the country. Arnold was described by his attorney as a "soldier of fortune type of guy." A nice way of saying right-wing radical? Arnold was never charged, but he was incensed that tavern-owner Marty Sinclair had dropped a dime on him. Seven months after his home had been searched, Arnold saw Marty Sinclair leaving a Lincoln Avenue bar after last call. Arnold ran up to him and yelled, "You turned me in," and shot him dead at point-blank range. As it turned out, Arnold killed the wrong man. Arnold shot and killed John Stanisha, a man he mistook for Marty Sinclair. - more on Roger Arnold The third suspect, James Lewis, is freely named throughout the remainder of the article. There were actually four suspects seriously considered during the Tylenol murders investigations. Three of the suspect had access to cyanide or access to Tylenol during distribution, or a combination of both. Officials had no evidence connecting James Lewis to cyanide or to Tylenol in the channel of distribution.
WHAT EVIDENCE DOES THE FBI HAVE NOW? Tylenol Case RevisitedAn original suspect in '82 killings again the focus of the investigationBy Gary Marx and Steve Mills | Tribune reporters February 8, 2009 Half a year after the shocking deaths of seven Chicago-area residents from cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules, Illinois State Police investigator Richard Tetyk wrote up his nine-page synopsis of the exhaustive probe. Authorities had narrowed their search to three suspects, but the investigation essentially had stalled.
One suspect, according to the report obtained by the Tribune, was a brilliant but mentally disturbed man "prone to violence" who lived in Lombard and had indicated to a friend he was responsible for the killings—something he later denied to investigators.
A second suspect worked at a Jewel warehouse in Melrose Park, where he reportedly told his supervisor he was "mad at people and wanted to throw acid at them or poison them," Tetyk wrote. Police searched the man's apartment and found test tubes, beakers, "left-wing literature" and a book entitled "The Poor Man's James Bond," which on pages 20 to 22 outlined how to make potassium cyanide. But when investigators followed the book's instructions, they found that the cyanide was unlike the poison in the capsules used in the Tylenol murders, the synopsis stated.
That left a third suspect, James William Lewis, who flashed onto investigators' radar screens in October 1982 after he wrote an extortion letter to the maker of Tylenol. In the letter, Lewis demanded $1 million to stop the killings. "The writer," Tetyk wrote, "virtually admitted the Tylenol killings." Tetyk's report provides a snapshot of a massive investigation that fell dormant for years but suddenly has received new life. Publicity over the 25th anniversary of one of the nation's most notorious unsolved crimes and Lewis' arrest in 2004 on charges he drugged a woman sparked renewed interest from law enforcement officials investigating the 1982 murders. No one has been charged. - Read entire story at chicagotribune.com
February 06 THE TYLENOL MURDERS INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN A BLIND QUEST TO CONVICT The single-minded pursuit of James Lewis, by those involved in the 1982 Tylenol murders investigation, began a disturbing pattern of shoddy investigations in high profile cases of terrorism. Set aside the fact that to this day officials from Illinois law enforcement agencies and the FBI don't understand how the crime was actually committed, the pursuit of James Lewis is still built on baseless speculation. If the recent search of James Lewis's apartment was triggered by actual physical evidence that connects him to the Tylenol murders, then good, let's see what they've got so this thing can finally be closed. But if this recent activity is based on the old wrongly held assumption that the adulterated Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules were contaminated in the local retail stores by some madman, then this is simply the continuation of a twenty-six year old farce. If a couple of god-honest eye-witnesses have brought credible evidence against James Lewis, then let's hear what they have to say. But if the search warrants were gained without the understanding that the Tylenol capsules were poisoned during distribution, then this would appear to be some politically motivated last ditch effort to convict an innocent man before the truth gets out. At some point early in the Tylenol murders investigation the FBI and Illinois State officials developed a profile of the Tylenol killer. In their minds, James Lewis fit that mold. Lewis had already been involved in one extortion scheme before sending the letter to McNeil Consumer in which he demanded $1 million "if you want the killings to stop." Tyrone Fahner (Illinois Attorney General in 1982), the man who led the Tylenol task force that investigated the murders, doesn't like James Lewis. Dan Webb and Jeremy Margolis, the U.S. Attorneys charged with prosecuting Lewis for extortion don't like him either. Neither does Thomas Schumpp, the Commander of the Illinois Division of Criminal Investigation at the time of the Tylenol murders. Maybe Lewis isn't all that likable, I wouldn't know. The interviews I've seen of Lewis lead me to believe that he's at least intelligent and able to carry on an interesting and enjoyable conversation. Ten years after the murders, Schumpp, who was then assistant deputy director of Illinois State Police, said, "Over the years my position has been that he [James Lewis] was the prime suspect. In my mind, he remains that. I personally believe he did it." After years of making the claim that Lewis was the Tylenol killer, Tyrone Fahner said, "I don't need to have someone who's in prison do some jail-house lawyering and sue me for libel. There are plenty of people in law enforcement who believe he's the one and that's not libelous," said Fahner during a 1992 interview. Dan Webb and Jeremy Margolis took advantage of the publicity surrounding the Tylenol murders to link Lewis, in the minds of the jurors, to the murders. For all the conviction of those charged with finding the Killers who carried out seven murders, it would be nice if their confidence was based on something other than a dislike for James Lewis, or a gut feeling, or a distaste for having to admit they were wrong. It would be nice if they had some physical evidence. Hell, it'd be nice if the evidence they do have wasn't absolutely bogus. They're wrong about where the Tylenol was contaminated, they're wrong about where the Tylenol was bottled, labeled, and packaged, and they're wrong about the killer's motivation. The killer was not a "psychopath" or a "Madman" or a "nut case," as he was called by officials like Tyrone Fahner, J&J CEO James Burke, and IL Governor James Thompson. The Killer was a Rational Evil-doer. There's something about these high-profile murder cases that leads those charged with solving the crime to single-out a suspect early on, and then pursue that suspect while wearing blinders. No matter what the evidence says, the targeted suspect, once identified, doesn't change. Think Richard Jewel, Stephen Hatfill and Stella Nickell. If the name Stella Nickell rings a bell, it probably brings to mind disgust. That's sad. Because Stella Nickell, the woman convicted in 1987 for putting poison in the Excedrin capsules that killed her husband and Sue Snow, is innocent. Visit this website: http://www.find-em.com/stella/index.html, and determine for yourself the quality of the evidence used to convict Stella. Private detective Al Farr and attorney Carl Colbert have spent ten years trying to get a new trial for Stella, but it seems they've run out of options to get justice in this case. Stella, who's been behind bars for over twenty years now, will spend at least ten more years in prison for a crime she didn't commit. You see, Stella did something no innocent person should ever do. She volunteered information that she believed would help the FBI and local officials solve a horrible crime. James Lewis did the same thing when he offered to help Jeremy Margolis. In the eyes of the FBI and other federal authorities, this is the behavior of a killer, not an ethical citizen. The fastest way to find yourself at the top of the list of suspects in a murder investigation is to volunteer information. Don't believe me? Ask Richard Jewel. Remember him? Remember the Olympic park bombing in Atlanta? Or, how about Stephen Hatfill? Think Anthrax. Sadly, Richard Jewel died in 2007 at the age of 44. But in 1996 he was the lead suspect in the bombing at the Olympic Games in Atlanta Georgia. He was pursued relentlessly. He was harassed and intimidated and his life destroyed by those who decided that he would be their patsy. Of course Richard Jewel was in fact a hero. After finding a suspicious package, he’d already begun to clear the area when the bomb exploded. By the time Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to carrying out the bombing attack at the Centennial Olympic Park, as well as three other attacks across the South, Richard Jewel's life was in ruin. Steven Hatfill was deemed a "person of interest" in the Anthrax poisonings. His home was raided by the FBI, and he was pursued relentlessly by reporters who did their best to convince the public that Hatfill was the Anthrax man. But he wasn't. Hatfill sued the federal government, and in 2008 he was awarded $5.8 million for the libelous campaign carried out against him. See: Hatfill v. John Ashcroft, et al. Hatfill was the only man ever labeled a "person of interest" in the Anthrax murders. Well, the only living man. After a year of constant harassment by FBI agents of Bruce Ivans, his family, and his friends, the FBI finally got a break. Ivans died. Maybe his death was accidental, maybe it was suicide. Maybe Bruce Ivans killed himself because he'd been driven into a bottomless pit of depression brought on by the FBI's undying need to convict him of the Anthrax murders. The evidence against Ivans is, of course, circumstantial. Just like the evidence against Stella Nickell and Stephen Hatfill and James Lewis is, at best, circumstantial. You see, in high profile murder cases, the Feds must get their man. It doesn't matter the guilt of their chosen victim, only that they can convince the public of their victim's guilt. FBI Searches Home of Man Linked to Tylenol MurdersUpdated 7:54 AM CDT, Thu, Feb 5, 2009 CHICAGO -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation says it's launched a "complete review of all evidence" in the unsolved 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people in the Chicago area. The statement comes after federal agents on Wednesday searched the home of a man linked to the poisonings that triggered a nationwide scare and prompted dramatic changes in the way food and medical products are packaged. The FBI said its review was prompted by tips, advances in forensic technology and publicity surrounding the case's recent 25th anniversary. No one was ever charged with the deaths of seven people who took the cyanide-laced drugs. And the FBI would not immediately confirm the search at the home of James W. Lewis was related to the Tylenol case, only that it was part of an ongoing investigation. "All I can tell you is we have conducted a search on Gore Street in Cambridge (Massachusetts), and it's connected to an ongoing criminal investigation," said Gail Marcinkiewicz, an FBI spokeswoman told the Boston Globe, declining to elaborate. According to the Somerville (Massachusetts) Journal, the investigation may have spread to locations in Cambridge and Somerville which may have been used as a lab or storage area. Three of the deaths happened in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. One victim, 27-year-old Adam Janus, was killed by the tainted pills, but authorities didn't know at that time that the cyanide-laced Tylenol was the cause. Janus' 25-year-old brother, Stanley Janus, and new sister-in-law, 19-year-old Theresa Janus, had just returned home from a honeymoon when Adam Janus was found dead. The couple took Tylenol from Adam Janus' house and also died. Also killed were Mary Kellerman, 12, of Elk Grove Village, Ill., Mary Reiner, 27, of Winfield, Ill., Paula Prince, 35, of Chicago and Mary McFarland, 35, of Elmhurst, Ill. 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 later admitted sending the letter and demanding the money, but said he never intended to collect it. He said he wanted to embarrass his wife's former employer by having the money sent to the employer's bank account. In a 1992 interview with The Associated Press, Lewis explained that the account he gave authorities was simply his way of explaining the killer's actions. "I was doing like I would have done for a corporate client, making a list of possible scenarios," said Lewis, who maintained his innocence. Lewis called the killer "a heinous, cold-blooded killer, a cruel monster." He also served two years of a 10-year sentence for tax fraud. 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." "Somehow, after a quarter of a century, I surmise only a select few with critical minds will believe anythng I have to say," the message says. "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." On Wednesday, two FBI agents sat parked across the street from the apartment building at a shopping center. At least two other vehicles with Illinois license plates were at the scene. By afternoon, no law enforcement officials were seen entering or leaving the building -- a beige, six-story structure. Neighbors told a Boston TV station that they saw Lewis in the area from time to time and were aware of his connection to the Tylenol case. Illinois State Police, which were involved with the initial investigation and part of a task force on the killings, declined to comment, referring calls to the FBI office in Chicago. The Illinois attorney general's office and Chicago Police could not immediately confirm any details about the investigation, but spokeswomen said they were looking into the matter. The case has surfaced periodically over the years, primarily in stories marking the anniversary of the killings. In 2007, 25 years after the deaths, survivors of the victims said they remained haunted by what happened and frustrated that nobody was convicted. "I will never get past this because this guy is out there, living his life, however miserable it might be," said Michelle Rosen, who was 8 when her mother, Mary Reiner, collapsed in front of her after taking Tylenol for post-labor pains. Copyright Associated Press / NBC Chicago | |