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THE TYLENOL MURDERS COVER-UP The failure of the 1982 Tylenol murders investigation was the result of a conspiracy by Johnson & Johnson, the Illinois Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI, and the FDA to cover up the truth about the Tylenol killer's modus operandi and the unsecured pharmaceutical distribution system. A Statistical Analysis Debunking the Madman-in-the-Retail-Stores Hypothesis Of the seven Tylenol murder victims, Mary McFarland was the outlier. She was the only one who did not die from the very first dose she took from a bottle of cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules. McFarland had purchased her 50-count bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol probably on Tuesday, September 28, 1982. None of the first five Tylenol capsules she took contained cyanide. When she took the sixth and seventh capsules in one dose on Wednesday evening, the odds caught up with her. One of those capsules contained cyanide. There were seven cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules in McFarland’s 50-count bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol capsules. The probability that one of the first seven capsules taken from McFarland’s Tylenol bottle would be one of the cyanide-filled capsules is calculated as follows: 1st dosage (1 capsule) = 7 / 50 = 14% 2nd dosage (2 capsules) = (7/49) + (7/48) = 14.3% + 14.6% = 29% 3rd dosage (2 capsules) = (7/47) + (7/46) = 14.9% + 15.2% = 30.1% 4th dosage (2 capsules) = (7/45) + (7/44) = 15.6% + 15.9% = 31.5% The probability that one or more of the first seven capsules taken from McFarland’s 50-count bottle would contain poison was 68 percent; calculated as follows: 43/50 x 43/49 x 43/48 x 43/47 x 43/46 x 43/45 x 43/44 = 86% x 86% x 85% x 85% x 85% x 85% x 84% = 32%; 100% - 32% = 68% There must have been others like McFarland who also consumed Tylenol capsules from a bottle containing cyanide-laced capsules, but who took only the non-poisoned capsules and then heard the alerts and took no more. There also must have been people who bought bottles of poisoned Tylenol, but never even opened their bottles. The first five Tylenol capsules that McFarland took from her Tylenol bottle did not contain cyanide. That was a reasonable outcome since the probability that one of those first five capsules would contain cyanide was about 54 percent (86% x 86% x 85% x 85% x 85% = 45.95%; 100% - 45.95% = 54.05%) Conversely, it was extremely improbable that the very first dose taken from each of the other Tylenol victims’ four bottles would all contain cyanide - but they all did. This nearly impossible outcome makes no sense – unless there were many more bottles of cyanide-laced Tylenol in the Chicago area that the public never knew about. The probability that the very first dose taken from those four bottles would all contain cyanide is just 1 in 1,828, or 0.0547 percent. Mary Kellerman and Paula Prince each took just one Tylenol capsule, whereas Lynn Reiner and Adam Janus each took two capsules from their brand new bottles of Tylenol. The probability that the first dose consumed by these four victims would contain a cyanide-laced capsule can be determined from the available data, which includes the number of cyanide-laced capsules in each bottle, the total number of capsules in each bottle, and the number of capsules consumed by each victim. The probability that the first dose of Tylenol capsules taken from all of those bottles would all contain cyanide is calculated from the following data: Kellerman: 5 poisoned capsules in her 50-count bottle Probability that the first dose (1 capsule) taken would contain cyanide = 10%: (50 / 5) = 10% Janus: 9 poisoned capsules in Janus’s 50-count bottle (6 cyanide-laced capsules were found in Janus’s bottle. Adam, Stanley, and Theresa Janus each swallowed 2 capsules. Medical examiners determined that each had swallowed one cyanide-laced capsule, so the bottle initially contained 9 cyanide-laced capsules). Probability that the first dose (2 capsules) taken would contain cyanide = 36%: (9 / 50) + (9 / 49) = 36% Reiner: 5 poisoned capsules in her 50-count bottle Probability that the first dose (2 capsules) taken would contain cyanide = 19%: (5 / 50) + (5 / 49) = 19% Prince: 2 poisoned capsules in her 24-count bottle Probability that the first dose (1 capsule) taken would contain cyanide = 8%: (2 / 24) = 8% The Probability that the first dose taken from all four of the Kellerman, Janus, Reiner, and Prince Tylenol bottles would contain a cyanide-laced capsule was 0.0547 percent, or said another way: 1 in 1,828, calculated as follows: 10% x 36% x 19% x 8% = 0.0547% = 1 in 1,828 There was about an 18 percent probability, on average, that the first dose taken from the Kellerman, Janus, Reiner, and Prince bottles would contain cyanide. Using this average probability of 18 percent to calculate the odds that the first dose taken from all of those four bottles would contain cyanide produces a slightly more conservative result of 0.105 percent: 18% x 18% x 18% x 18% = 0.105% = 1 in 952 There was a 99.895 percent to 99.945 percent probability that the first dose taken from all four of the Kellerman, Janus, Reiner, and Prince Tylenol bottles would NOT all contain cyanide. It is simply not plausible that the first dose taken from all four of those bottles would all contain cyanide, UNLESS there were many other people who consumed Tylenol capsules from many other bottles of cyanide-laced Tylenol, but avoided the poisoned capsules. If twenty Chicago area residents each purchased one bottle containing cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules, and there was an 18 percent probability that the first dose taken from each of those bottles would contain cyanide, then the probability that the first dose taken from four of those 20 bottles would contain cyanide is about 50 percent, calculated as follows: Binomial Distribution Calculation: Where the probability that the first dose taken will contain cyanide = 18%; the number of bottles opened and a dose consumed = 20; and the number of successes (i.e., the dose taken contains cyanide) = 4; then the probability that the first dose taken from 4 or more of those 20 bottles would contain cyanide equals 49.7 percent.
 = 49.7%
A reasonably conservative estimate is that about twenty Chicago area residents each bought a bottle of cyanide-laced Tylenol and then took the first dose from those bottles during the 24-hour period when the victims’ cyanide-laced Tylenol was purchased and the victims died. In addition, there were certainly other people who also bought bottles of cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules but did not consume any capsules from those bottles. If 50 percent of the Chicago area residents who bought bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol capsules during the relevant 24-hour period did not consume any of their capsules, then Chicago area residents must have purchased about 40 bottles of cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules: 20 bottles / 50% = 40 bottles However, this estimate of 40 bottles of cyanide-laced Tylenol purchased from Chicago area stores tells only a portion of the story. There were certainly other bottles of cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules that were not purchased. Officials said they recovered just one unsold bottle of cyanide-laced Tylenol from Chicago area stores, but there certainly were many more. Video footage shown on network news programs in the days following the murders showed between about one and three dozen bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol capsules sitting on the shelves of various Jewel-Osco stores. The front row typically held 4 to 12 bottles. Some Jewel-Osco store managers told NBC News that they were selling one or two bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol capsules per day. Tyrone Fahner suggested that one bottle of poisoned Tylenol had been placed at the front of the display in each of a number of Chicago-area stores. The odds of someone purchasing the one bottle of poisoned Tylenol from such a store were around 1 in 6, or 17 percent. In this scenario, the estimated number of bottles of cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules in the front row of the Tylenol display shelves in Chicago area stores on the day of the Tylenol murders was about 235 bottles, calculated by dividing 40 (the estimated bottles of cyanide-laced Tylenol purchased) by 17 percent: Bottles of cyanide-laced Tylenol on the shelves of Chicago area stores = 40 / 17% = 235 Could one man put hundreds of bottles of cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules on the shelves of dozens to a couple hundred Chicago area stores in just one day without being caught? - Definitely not. There was no lone madman stalking Chicago area stores with a pocketful of cyanide laced Tylenol capsules.
The cyanide laced Tylenol capsules that caused the deaths of at least seven Chicago area residents in 1982 were adulterated during distribution. Johnson & Johnson covered up the truth so it would not be held liable for the Tylenol tamperings and murders. COVER-UP 2009 - Covering up the Cover up 
On February 4, 2009, the FBI reactivated the 1982 Tylenol murders investigation. A few days later officials in Yonkers, NY tagged along, stating they'd reactivated the 1986 Tylenol murder investigation. The Daily Herald - Feb. 4, 2009: On Wednesday, FBI agents searched the Cambridge, Mass., home of former accountant and convicted extortionist James W. Lewis, who authorities have long considered a prime suspect in the slayings. It marked the first recent movement in the stone-cold case that triggered a nationwide panic and prompted police officers and firefighters to drive through suburban towns using bullhorns to warn residents against taking Tylenol. The terse statement the FBI released Wednesday mentioned no charges or arrests but said "recent advances in forensic technology" led to re-examination of evidence in the case. Tips to authorities after news coverage of the crime's 25th anniversary in 2007 also prompted the FBI and Illinois State Police to launch a "complete review" of the case, the FBI statement said. "We owe it to the victims' families to bring modern technology and current cold-case homicide investigation techniques to this case in the hopes of solving it once and for all," FBI spokesman Tom Simon said. - Chicago Tribune
On February 10, 2010, in response to reports that Lewis and his wife had been served subpoenas for their DNA and fingerprints, FBI Special Agent Ross Rice said, "The investigation into the 1982 Tylenol killings is still ongoing." This is what FBI Special Agent Ross Rice said on September 29, 2002: "You reach a point where you've covered every lead, you've interviewed every possible witness, and there's nothing more you can do. Some cases just go unsolved," said Rice, one of the FBI agents who worked on the case in 1982. "This is the Brown's Chicken massacre. This is the Tammy Zywicki killing. Somebody knows who did it, and nothing's going to happen until someone comes forward."
TIMELINE: THE 2009 REACTIVATED COVER UP January through March 2008: I posted several articles on a now defunct blog that exposed false statements made by J&J, FDA, FBI and Tylenol task force officials regarding critical evidence in the 1982 and 1986 Tylenol murders. The posts were viewed by J&J employees on J&J servers and by government employees on servers of numerous government agencies. My "Tylenol murders" posts debunked the theory put forth by J&J executives and government officials who claimed the poisoned Tylenol capsules had been adulterated after the Tylenol bottles were placed on the shelves of Chicago-area stores. After reviewing all available information and evidence relevant to the Tylenol tamperings, I concluded that the cyanide laced Tylenol capsules had been adulterated during distribution while under the control of Johnson & Johnson or Jewel Companies, and before the Tylenol bottles were delivered to the local retail stores. June 13, 2008: I sent an email to Johnson & Johnson requesting contact information for the FBI agent/office in charge of the never closed 1982 and 1986 Tylenol murders investigations so I could forward information that might lead to the arrest and conviction of persons responsible for the murders. June 16, 2008: Roger Arnold, a prime suspect in the 1982 Tylenol murders, died. No conspiracy theory here; Arnold was 73 years old. Nevertheless, Arnold's death was a convenient event for those individuals interested in keeping the true modus operandi of the Tylenol killer suppressed. Arnold's death also allowed officials to reactivate the investigation without having to worry about meddling reporters asking Arnold questions that officials don't want asked. June 18, 2008: I received the following canned reply from J&J to my June 13 email. J&J failed to provide contact information for the FBI office currently charged with handling the Tylenol murders investigation. 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. 012875636A
June 24, 2008: I posted information linking the Jewel's warehouse in Franklin Park, IL that received bulk shipments of Tylenol in 1982 - the Tylenol that was laced with cyanide - to all of the cyanide laced Tylenol distributed to Chicago-area stores in 1982.
June 25, 2008: I posted additional information linking the Tylenol tampering to Jewel.
June 25, 2008: On June 24 and 25, my blog received dozens of visits from computers connected to at least a half dozen different servers at Johnson & Johnson corporate headquarters in New Brunswick, NJ. At least one J&J computer was logged on to my site 24 hours a day. 55 visits from J&J lasted from 1 minute to more than 8 hours. Fourteen visits, shown below, lasted longer than two hours.
June 26, 2008: I posted the above chart and J&J's canned reply to my June 13 email, and asked: How is it that J&J is able to spend so much time on my website, but no J&J employee will take a minute to send me contact information for the federal agent in charge of the never closed 1982 and 1986 Tylenol murders investigations?
A few hours later, J&J sent an email with contact information for the FBI office in Newark, NJ. 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 Newark FBI office does not have oversight responsibility for the Tylenol murders investigation; Chicago does. In other words, J&J did not give me the contact information I had asked for; J&J gave me contact information for the FBI office they wanted me to deal with.
August 6, 2008: I received a call from an FBI agent from Newark who said she would forward my inquiry to an agent in its Trenton, NJ satellite office.
August (mid) 2008: An FBI agent from Newark's satellite office in Trenton, NJ called me. During our 15-minute conversation I provided a brief summary of evidence I had uncovered indicateing that the Tylenol was contaminated in the channel of distribution, not at the retail stores as officials have always claimed.
September 2008: I received a second 15-minute call from the same New Jersey FBI agent. The agent once again feigned interest in what I had to say. He seemed to be hiding a genuine interest in my theory that the Tylenol had been contaminated before it was delivered to the local retail stores.
Fall 2008: Acording to CBS News, a new Tylenol task force was formed secretly in the Fall of 2008, just after my last conversation with the New Jersey FBI agent.
February 4, 2009: The FBI reactivated the 1982 Tylenol murders case and searched James Lewis's apartment.
February 4, 2009: The FBI followed James Lewis to the Starbucks in East Cambridge, MA, where they served a warrant to search his apartment. FBI agents searched his person, confiscated his Dell Inspiron laptop and detained him from 8:30 a.m. to about 7:20 p.m. While Lewis was detained at the shopping center, the FBI searched his home and two storage facilities; seizing two iMac Apple computers, several pairs of blue jeans, t-shirts, running shoes, several books, and boxes of privileged legal documents. None of the seized items existed in 1982.
An FBI spokesperson stated that the FBI had made no arrests. The FBI did, however, convince Lewis to stay with them at a Starbucks and not make any calls to his wife. The FBI never interrogated Lewis and never read Lewis his Miranda rights. Agents secured separate motel rooms for Lewis and his wife that evening by telling each that their spouse did not want to see the other, although that was not true. Obviously, the FBI wanted to keep them apart.
February 4, 2009: According to an FBI spokesperson, it was the advancement in forensic technology and new tips generated by publicity surrounding the 25 year anniverary of the 1982 Tylenol murders that led to the reactivation of the Tylenol murders investigation. An FBI spokesperson suggested a press conference would be forthcoming. However, there was no press conference and the FBI has released no information about the investigation.
February 4, 2009: Wayne K. Nelson, former J&J Group Company Chairman who was the president of McNeil Consumer Products at the time of the 1982 and 1986 Tylenol murders comes out of the woodwork to provide a statement to ABC News. Nelson's statement serves no other purpose than to falsely accuse the man he seems to want the FBI to indict for the Tylenol murders. Nelson's allegations were soundly refuted by the FBI in 1982. They are baseless and absurd. "There were a lot of people who believed what was available in terms of evidence pointed towards him (James Lewis). But that was the extent, it wasn't enough to convict or even prosecute," said Wayne Nelson.
Former FBI Agent Brad Garrett, now an ABC news consultant said, "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."
But Wayne Nelson told ABC News, "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." 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,'' said James T. Sullivan, the New York City Chief of Detectives. "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."
Since the FBI refuses to publicly discredit Nelson, his bogus claims are accepted as fact by a large segment of the general public. ABC News, rather than investigate the merits of Nelson's claims, simply printed whatever diatribe drooled from his mouth.
June 2009: FBI agents showed back up on Lewis's doorstep to return the computers and other items they'd removed during their search on February 4. That bit of information was not reported.
FBI will Thoroughly Investigate All Tips
On February 4, 2009, the FBI in Chicago released a statement saying the case was still under investigation.
Agents and local police officers are "conducting a complete review of all evidence developed in connection with the 1982 Tylenol murders. This review was prompted, in part, by the recent 25th anniversary of this crime and the resulting publicity. Further, given the many recent advances in forensic technology, it was only natural that a second look be taken at the case and recovered evidence," the statement indicates, without mentioning Lewis. "In addition, the recent anniversary prompted many people to call law enforcement agencies with tips relating to this crime." "All of these tips have been or will be thoroughly investigated in an effort to solve this crime and bring some measure of closure to the families of the victims."
......... The FBI most certainly has not investigated my tips. Its actions indicate the FBI is once again burying the evidence I've uncovered that points to tampering in the channel of distribution.
THE FBI AND JOHNSON & JOHNSON
One of the first things J&J did after learning about the deaths from cyanide laced Tylenol in 1982, was to hire a group of ex-FBI agents in Northbrook, IL to conduct a private investigation. This is the standard operating procedure that Johnson & Johnson follows whenever the company is part of a government investigation. J&J has a long history of hiring ex-FBI agents to work in its worldwide security department.
The current Vice President of Worldwide Security at Johnson & Johnson is Kevin Donovan, a retired FBI agent. Donovan was the Director of the FBI's New York office prior to his retirement. Prior to Donovan's NY assignment, he was Director of the FBI's Newark, NJ office. Johnson & Johnson provided me with contact information for the Newark FBI office and forwarded my email to the Newark office.
Johnson & Johnson Vice President and former FBI Agent is on the Job As a former J&J employee, I know the username formatting for email addresses of J&J employees. The following temporary file is from an attachment in an email used by a J&J employee with user name 'kdonova1' to access my post about former J&J Company Group Chairman Wayne Nelson. The “k” is the initial of the employee’s first name and the “donova” is the first 6 digits of the employee’s last name. The “1” means the employee is one of at least 2 employees (or former employees) with a first name beginning with “k” and a last name beginning with “donova”. File:///C:/Users/kdonova1/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary Internet Files/Content.Outlook/MU332815/attachment.html
I know of only one J&J employee who fits the username kdonova1; Kevin Donovan. It appears that Kevin Donovan was very interested in what I had to say about former J&J Group Chairman Wayne Nelson when I accused him of making ridiculous allegations regarding the modus operandi of the Tylenol killer. Nelson had been interviewed for an ABC story about the reactivated Tylenol murders investigation. The article ran on February 4; the day the Tylenol murders investigation was reactivated and James Lewis’s apartment searched. Kevin Donovan is the Vice President in charge of security at J&J. He is also a retired FBI agent. 
Donavan was the first visitor tracked to my post about Wayne Nelson (Nelson is the former chairman and one of the founders of the McNeil Consumer Products Company (the maker of Tylenol). Donavan was one of only two visitors to the site that day. Whoever emailed the blog post link to Donovan had obviously viewed the post earlier, but apparently accessed my blog in a manner that could not be detected by my website activity-monitoring application. Who would have had the desire and ability to access my site in this covert manner? The FBI maybe? Donovan stayed on the Wayne Nelson blog post page for three hours. He was clearly interested in what I had to say. And Kevin Donovan's number one interest is in protecting Johnson & Johnson.
COVERING UP THE COVER UP
Why did the FBI reopen the Tylenol murders investigation?
The lack of any update by the FBI, and the fact that 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 "reactivated" 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.
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 for;
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.
“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.”
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 that the old rules of secrecy and deception would continue to be the status quo. There was a very real possibility that 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 like those documents to remain hidden.
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 Middlesex county, MA who would issue a subpoena on the basis of..... well, it appears there was no legitimate basis to issue that subpoena. However since the Tylenol murders investigation is now "active," the documents from that investigation will remain hidden.
Tylenol Victim's Daughter Wants Justice Murders of Seven People Never Solved; Agents Raid Home of Convicted Extortionist By BRIAN ROSS
February 4, 2009 Michelle Rosen was 8 years-old when she watched her mother die a painful death in 1982 from swallowing a Tylenol capsule laced with cyanide. Today, she says she is relieved the FBI has new leads in the case. "The idea that someone would preplan this, have all the time to come up with the idea, go through this, and not have an idea what lives they're destroying when they've chosen to sit back and watch it," Rosen now 35 and a mother herself, told ABC News in an exclusive interview. "That to me is the most disgusting thing that anybody could do." Click here to watch the interview. The unsolved case has haunted Rosen ever since, as she spent years wondering whether the person who killed her mom could be someone's neighbor or the grocery bagger at the local store. She vividly remembers her mom convulsing after taking the pain medication and then being wheeled out their front door of their home on a gurney. "It's probably not the sight that anyone wants to think about or remember," she said. Now, she and her children do not consume over-the-counter and prescription drugs, and the fear has been passed down to another generation. "Everything seems to be a possible tampering product to me and my child," Rosen said, then adding, "My son is always thinking people like to poison other people." New Leads in the Case: Tylenol Man The FBI says it has "new leads" in the 1982 unsolved murders of the seven people who swallowed Tylenol capsules that had been adulterated with cyanide, which have led them back to a man who was in the middle of the case but dismissed as a suspect in the killings. And now sources familiar with the original case are speaking to ABC News. Actually the FBI produced no new evidence or leads.
On Wednesday, officials raided the Cambridge, Mass., home of James Lewis, 62, who spent 12 years in prison for sending $1 million extortion letters to Johnson and Johnson, the makers of Tylenol, as well as a nearby storage facility. Agents left late in the evening with boxes of evidence and a large Apple desktop monitor. Rosen told ABC News that her relatives have been told by the FBI there is new scientific evidence linking Lewis to the crime, thanks to advanced scientific testing now possible. "There were a lot of people who believed what was available in terms of evidence pointed towards him," 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." Lewis, dubbed the "Tylenol Man," admitted writing the extortion letters at the time but has always denied poisoning the capsules. He has since maintained his innocence on his website and on a local cable access program. He was released from prison in 1995 and moved to Boston. FBI Agent Explains Why Lewis Wasn't Charged"He 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. The FBI could not "put him (Lewis) in Chicago at the time" of the murders because Lewis was nowhere near Chicago at the time of the murders.
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. 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. "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."
A drug store surveillance photo captured an image of a bearded man who some said resembled Lewis. It was proven in 1982 that the image was not James Lewis. Why did ABC News bring this information up now, when they know Lewis is not the man captured in the security camera picture?
The case caused a national panic and led to drastic changes in the way over the counter medicine is sold in this country, introducing "tamper-proof" packaging. On a website, Lewis has posted an audio message which claims he has been misunderstood. "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 labeled the Tylenol Man," he said. In a statement released Wednesday, the FBI said the recent 25th anniversary of the crime prompted "many" new tips in the case. "All of these tips have been or will be thoroughly investigated in an effort to solve this crime and bring some measure of closure to the families of the victims," the statement read. FBI officials said no arrests are imminent and characterized Wednesday's raid of Lewis' home as part of "an ongoing criminal investigation." Decades Later, the Tylenol Murders Remain Unsolved To date no one has been charged in the murders of the seven people who were killed in the Chicago area after swallowing the tampered capsules. The poisonings all occurred in the Chicago within weeks of each other in the fall of 1982. Investigators at the time believed that the perpetrator had taken Tylenol packages from local supermarkets and drug stores, adulterated the contents, and later returned the Tylenol the store shelves. Now, the new leads are sparking hope that the case will finally be solved. "I hope they have new solid evidence because the person that did this should really be penalized," said Nelson. "He took a number of lives and, to date, has gotten away with it." Avni Patel and Megan Chuchmach contributed to this report.
Agents Seen At Two Locations Outside Boston That May Have Link To Murder MysteryFeb 4, 2009 10:37 pm US/Central
CHICAGO (CBS) ― The FBI is searching locations outside Boston that may be linked to the deadly 1982 Tylenol tampering scare here in Chicago.
CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports that federal agents have searched the Boston area home of James Lewis - a man linked to the deaths of seven people in the Chicago area. All died after taking Tylenol tainted with cyanide. Lewis was convicted of extortion in the case. But no one was ever charged with the murders.
"The FBI, in cooperation with the Illinois State Police and several local police departments, are conducting a complete review of all evidence developed in connection with the 1982 Tylenol murders," the FBI said in a statement.
"This review was prompted, in part, by the recent 25th anniversary of this crime and the resulting publicity."
All day long FBI agents armed with a search warrant were at the apartment complex in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They carried in boxes and plastic bags presumably to stash evidence seized.
It's where James Lewis reportedly lives with his wife Leann. Lewis is the only identified suspect in the 26-year-old Tylenol case still under investigation by a task force of suburban and Illinois state police.
Cars with Illinois license plates were also spotted at the scene.
CBS 2 has learned Wednesday night that the raid on the Lewis apartment was carried out by a new Tylenol murders task force that was formed secretly last fall.
The investigators are from the FBI, and Chicago and suburban police. Their aim: to finally solve the mystery using technology that was not available before, and some new tips.
He talked with CBS 2's Mike Parker the day he was paroled from an Oklahoma prison in 1995.
Parker: "Did you commit the Tylenol murders?"
Lewis: "No, I did not. It's a stupid question that I've had to answer many times. The answer is emphatically no."
And in recent interview on a Cambridge community television station, Lewis denied it again.
"I was in New York at the time, it's impossible," Lewis said.
Now it appears, detectives will be asking Lewis that question again as the Cambridge, Massachusetts apartment he shares with his wife Leeann is being searched for new evidence. His neighbors say they were aware of his identity.
"He probably seems perfectly nice and normal, but everybody knows who he is," a neighbor said.
Lewis is the man who injected himself into the scare that gripped Chicago in 1982 and took seven lives - three from one family.
"Cyanide-contaminated Tylenol has been responsible for three deaths in the Arlington Heights area," a police officer on the case said in 1982. 'Do not take Tylenol until further notice."
Lewis was never charged with murders. Seven people from the Chicago area died from cyanide-laced Tylenol in 1982.
He did serve more than 12 years in prison for extortion, for writing a letter to the makers of Tylenol demanding $1 million to stop the killings.
"I have been the officially designated evil one by the justice department," Lewis said in a 1984 interview. "When one gains that status, if there is such a thing as status, it's a horrible status to have."
Neighbors in Cambridge told Boston reporters that Lewis's Tylenol history was widely known. Indeed, Lewis's Web site includes a Tylenol portion and a statement in which he describes "the curse of being labeled [sic] the Tylenol man."
Addressing his statement to those who "want to hear me yammer,'' Lewis writes. "Somehow, after a quarter of a century, I surmise only a select few with critical minds will believe anything I have to say.
"Many people look for hidden agendas, for secret double entendre, and ignore the literal meanings I convey. Many enjoy twisting and contorting what I say into something ominous and dreadful which I do not intend. That my friends is the curse of being labeled the Tylenol Man.
"Be that as it may, I can NOT change human proclivities. I shant try. Listen as you like."
When he was released in 1995, he remained the top suspect for local investigators.
"From our point of view, he was the prime suspect, he remained the prime suspect, and he is still the prime suspect," Thomas Schumpp, retired supervisor of the Illinois Division of Criminal Investigation said at the time. "Everybody who worked on this case feels the same."
In 1978, Lewis was charged with the murder of Raymond West, an elderly former client of Lewis' accounting business. West's body had been dismembered, stuffed in a plastic bag and hoisted to an attic ceiling in West's home.
Charges were dismissed after a judge ruled that Lewis' arrest and a search of his home had been improperly conducted.
In recent years, Lewis, who moved to Massachusetts after getting out of prison, ran a data processing business called Cyberlewis out of his home, according to public records.
In its statement, the FBI said that because of the many advances in forensic technology, it was only natural that a second look be taken at the case and recovered evidence.
A firefighter who responded to the death of the first victim, is thinking about the case tonight.
"Whoever it is, if somehow they catch the person responsible for that, I think it would be fantastic," said retired paramedic Chuck Kramer. "I saw the results up close of part of what he's done and it was a very tragic time."
The tainted Tylenol deaths triggered a national scare that prompted dramatic changes in the way almost all food and medical products are packaged.
No one has ever been convicted in the case, and no one was ever charged with the deaths.
It is no surprise that detectives are again focusing on James Lewis. All those years ago, more than a few investigators said they were convinced that Lewis was guilty not just of extortion, but of the murders themselves. They were frustrated, they said then, that they couldn't prove it in court.
Obviously, they are trying again - more than two decades later.
CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman, Mike Parker, the Associated Press and STNG Wire contributed to this report.
FBI Searches Apartment of James W. LewisTwenty-seven years ago, seven people were poisoned in the Chicago area when they took Extra-Strength Tylenol that had been tampered with and loaded with cyanide. Despite a nationwide investigation, no one was ever arrested for the crime. Now a possible break. Investigative reporter Larry Yellen has exclusive details. Federal agents on Wednesday searched the home of a man linked to the fatal 1982 Tylenol poisonings in the Chicago area that triggered a nationwide scare and prompted dramatic changes in the way food and medical products are packaged. No one was ever charged with the deaths of seven people who took the cyanide-laced drugs. The FBI would not immediately confirm that the search at the home of James W. Lewis was related to the Tylenol case, only that it was part of an ongoing investigation.
Lewis served more than 12 years in prison for sending an extortion note to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to "stop the killing." 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."
Messages left at phone numbers listed to Lewis's wife, Leanne, and the company were not immediately returned.
On Wednesday, two FBI agents sat parked across the street from the apartment building at a shopping center. One agent was seen periodically entering and leaving the building -- a beige, six-story structure. At least two other vehicles with Illinois license plates were at the scene.
In Chicago, FBI spokesman Ross Rice declined to comment but said "we'll have something to release later possibly." A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, Randall Samborn, referred questions to Rice.
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.
Following the Tylenol scare, Johnson & Johnson had its sales force remove 264,000 Tylenol bottles from Chicago-area stores, and consumers were urged to exchange any Tylenol they had for a safe bottle.
Johnson & Johnson introduced some of the industry's toughest tamper-resistant packaging. Bottles of the pain reliever were triple-sealed and warnings against taking capsules from damaged packages prominently displayed. The company also sealed the bottle caps to the neck with a tight, plastic band and stretched a tough foil membrane over the bottle's mouth.
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.
(CNN) -- The FBI announced Wednesday that it is working with Illinois state and local police to review evidence related to the 1982 Tylenol murders. James W. Lewis served time for sending a $1 million extortion note to Johnson & Johnson.
"This review was prompted, in part, by the recent 25th anniversary of this crime and the resulting publicity," the FBI said in a written statement. "Further, given the many recent advances in forensic technology, it was only natural that a second look be taken at the case and recovered evidence." The anniversary coincided with a number of tips to law enforcement agencies related to the crimes, the FBI said. Agents on Wednesday searched the Cambridge, Massachusetts, house of James W. Lewis, who was convicted of sending an extortion note to Johnson & Johnson but denied having anything to do with the poisonings. Lewis's wife LeAnn is listed as administrator of a Web design company called Cyberlewis.com. Its Web site lists the company's address as the same address that authorities searched Wednesday. On its Web site is posted a note that says, in part, " ... I was villified (sic) globally as the Tylenol Man, accused of being the mass murderer who spiked Tylenol with cyanide in Chicago back in 1982, killing seven. Those grotesque accusations obviously were false, otherwise I could not be writing these words. After 25 years, the Tylenol murders remain unsolved. I have lived a long, bizarre life and I have seen a lot, yet I am literate and lucid enough to view and describe, compare and contrast hugely diverse worlds, cultures and topics, without a moment of boredom, all with an eye to professionalism, demographics and marketability plus ears and heart sensitive to good taste and victims' feelings." A call to LeAnne Lewis' telephone number was not immediately returned. FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said two searches in Cambridge were under way "related to an ongoing investigation." She would not say whether they were related to the Tylenol case. Criminal charges have not been filed in the seven Chicago-area killings, which occurred after Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules were laced with potassium cyanide. The killings led to changes in packaging of over-the-counter drugs. Johnson & Johnson, parent of the drug maker, McNeil, was widely credited for its aggressiveness in recalling the product and its openness in dealing with the killings, and the product quickly bounced back in sales. It remains a popular analgesic. "Johnson & Johnson cannot comment on the status of any ongoing investigation into the murders of 1982," said company spokesman Jeff Leebaw. Cambridge Apartment Of Extortionist SearchedPOSTED: 11:33 am EST February 5, 2009
UPDATED: 12:27 pm EST February 5, 2009
BOSTON -- A Chicago area police department commander is hopeful that officials may have a break in the case of the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that claimed the lives of seven people when they consumed capsules laced with cyanide.  Video | Images | Survey
Arlington Heights Police Commander Kenneth Galinski said an officer from the department was in Boston on Wednesday when Cambridge officials searched the home of a man convicted of extortion in connection with the case. FBI spokesman Tom Simon said the search was related to authorities' decision to review the poisonings case. The killings happened in the Chicago area and involved Extra-Strength Tylenol medicine capsules that were laced with poison. The perpetrator was never caught, but James Lewis was charged with extortion in connection with the case. Lewis, who claimed he was involved in the case, sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to stop the killings. Officials later determined that he had nothing to do with the crimes, but he was convicted of extortion and served 12 years of a 20-year sentence. The FBI searched Lewis' Gore Street apartment on Wednesday, but released little information about what, if anything, was found. No one was taken into custody. Lewis moved to Massachusetts after being released from prison in 1995. In 2004, he was charged with rape and kidnapping, but the charges were dismissed after the alleged victim refused to testify, according to the office of Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone. FBI officials launched a "complete review of all evidence developed in connection with the 1982 Tylenol murders." In a statement, officials said the review, in part, was prompted by the "recent 25th anniversary of this crime and the resulting publicity." The tainted pills were from bottles that came from different factories. At the time, the person was believed to have taken packages of Tylenol from grocery and drug stores in the Chicago area and added cyanide at another location before returning the pills to store shelves. Mary Kellerman, 12, of Elk Grove Village, Ill., Adam Janus, 27, of Arlington Heights, Ill., Janus' 25-year-old brother, Stanley, and his wife, Theresa Janus, 19, Mary Reiner, 27, of Winfield, Ill., Paula Prince, 35, of Chicago and Mary McFarland, 35, of Elmhurst, Ill., died after ingesting the laced pills. A nationwide recall of Tylenol products was issued in October 1982, and customers were urged not to consume any products that contained Tylenol. The case led to the addition of tamper-evident safety seals to medicine and other bottles. FBI Revives Investigation Against Cambridge ManBOSTON -- 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. Lewis was in prison for extortion when federal officials concluded he was the one who murdered seven people with cyanide-laced Tylenol. Lewis was convicted of trying to extort the company to make the killings stop, but he was never charged or tried for the deaths. Lewis, 62, served 12 years in prison and now lives in Cambridge. NewsCenter 5 has tried repeatedly to reach Lewis in recent weeks without success. For years, he has steadfastly maintained that he did not cause the Tylenol deaths. The unsolved murders gained new attention this month when federal agents searched Lewis's home. Lewis was not arrested during the search. After the Feb. 4 search, the FBI said the agency has launched a "complete review of all evidence developed in connection with the 1982 Tylenol murders." The newly released documents show that a commission studying the crime received new evidence in 1989 that implicated Lewis in the killings, including a letter sent to Tylenol’s maker demanding $1 million dollars to stop the killings, as well as diagrams showing how to load cyanide into the capsules. "I believe that the evidence which was out there would lead a rational person to conclude that Lewis was, in fact, the murderer," said former Chicago U.S. attorney Anton Valukas. While he was still in prison, a parole commission denied Lewis’ appeal for early release, based on the federal commission’s findings. "They never gave us any evidence showing his link to the murders -- just the opposite,” said Mike Monico, Lewis’ trial lawyer. “From the evidence, it seemed like it was difficult for one person to have done this." Other evidence sent to the parole commission included a copy of a letter Lewis sent to then President Ronald Reagan. He threatened to kill the president using a remote-control plane and murder more innocent people with cyanide-laced Tylenol, according to court documents. As for the recent activity in the investigation, the FBI gave few details about its basis but cited forensic advances and tips spurred by the 25th anniversary of the poisonings. The poisonings triggered a huge recall and eventually led to the widespread adoption of tamperproof packaging in food and medical products. 
FBI agents carry boxes out of an apartment building in Cambridge, Mass., in February after searching the apartment home of James W. Lewis, who was linked to the fatal 1982 Tylenol poisonings. Six months ago today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the suburban Boston apartment of Tylenol murder suspect James W. Lewis. Saying they had new forensic technology to help their investigation, officers carried boxes and computers out of Lewis' home. It seemed, at the time, there had been a break in the cold, 27-year-old case in which seven Chicago-area people died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules tainted with poisonous cyanide . Today, Lewis - who has always been the prime suspect - remains a free man. Some of the items confiscated in the raid have been returned to him, FBI spokesman Ross Rice said. Does it mean the investigation has gone cold again? FBI spokesman Ed Rossbach warned against drawing that conclusion, saying the length of time that's passed is no indication that the investigation has stalled. Rice added that the task force assigned to the case - which includes investigators from Arlington Heights, Elk Grove, Schaumburg, Lombard and Chicago - is still working on it full time. "The actual killings remain unsolved, and the investigation is ongoing," Rice said. "Everyone's innocent until proven guilty, so yes, (Lewis is) an innocent man. He's a free man, and he can come and go as he pleases." The suburban police agencies involved in the investigation represent areas where the victims either lived or died or where evidence of pill tampering was found. Prosecutors in those jurisdictions also are working with their federal counterparts. For example, DuPage County sent at least one prosecutor to Boston several months ago. In Arlington Heights, where three of the seven deaths occurred and at least one tainted bottle was found on a store shelf, the police department committed two investigators to the task force but will pull one out this month, Cmdr. Ken Galinski said. Galinski insists it's a manpower issue in Arlington Heights and not a sign that the person isn't needed on the task force. He agreed with the FBI's assertion that six months without an arrest doesn't signal that the investigation is fizzling out. "It's not like TV where you submit (forensic evidence) one day and get it right back," Galinski said. "We're trying to keep everything low key until we get some of the evidence processed. We're keeping our fingers crossed." Elk Grove Village Deputy Police Chief Mike Kirkpatrick declined to talk about his department's involvement, other than to say they're "involved and still committed to it." Lombard Police Chief Ray Byrne has a strong track record of solving cold cases, and led the task force that solved a 1978 double homicide of a Downers Grove couple. Byrne was able to crack a once ironclad alibi after re-interviewing old witnesses decades later. He believes the Tylenol mystery is solvable. "I always believe any case is solvable," Byrne said. "You never know when a new witness is going to emerge or if old witnesses who once wouldn't cooperate change their minds. Clearly, technology also has come a long way, as well." Johnson & Johnson is still offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Meanwhile, the victims' families continue to wait for answers, some frustrated and others resigned to the fact that the killer may never be caught. Michelle Rosen of Winfield, whose mother, Mary Reiner, was among the victims, said news of the break in the case "turned my world upside down" and raised her hopes of getting answers to lifelong questions about her mother's murder. Her hope has since turned to a mix of disappointment and anger. "(The investigators) should have never brought it up," she said. "It's irresponsible of them. They shouldn't be treating families like this." Rosen questioned how there could be new DNA evidence in Lewis' apartment in 2009, and still feels confused about who committed this crime. "We'll see how this all pans out," she said. Jack Eliason of Elmhurst, and Bob Tarasewicz of Lisle, who both lost sisters in the Tylenol poisonings, said they had a glimmer of hope in February, but then quickly became pragmatic and wrote it off to "media hype." "When you wait that many decades, you know things don't change that quickly," Tarasewicz said. In February, Eliason said the FBI told his mother they'd keep her up-to-date on what's going on, but she hasn't heard from them since. "I would be frustrated if they had evidence on someone and they weren't doing something, but it doesn't seem they have a whole lot of evidence," he said. "If there's any doubt, and someone's convicted, that's not closure. In my mind, I'd have to be convinced." Not only is there uncertainty about who committed this crime, there's also speculation as to whether there could have been more victims. At least two other people died from cyanide poisoning around that time, including one from the Chicago suburbs. Galen Parriott, a 30-year-old foreman from Skokie, died just a few months after the Tylenol murders, on Dec. 1, 1982, with the cause of death on his death certificate listed as "cyanide poisoning." Cook County Medical Examiner Nancy Jones said there's no way to definitively know at this point what type of cyanide it was or how it got into Parriott's system. Another potential victim was in Yonkers, New York. In 1986, 23-year-old Diane Elsroth died after swallowing Tylenol laced with cyanide. Yonkers Police cold case unit Detective John Geiss described the Elsroth case as "open and active." When Elsroth died, James Lewis was in jail, serving time for trying to extort $1 million from Johnson & Johnson "to stop the killing." The FBI's Rice finds it hard to believe that police or medical examiners would overlook any suspicious incidents in such a high-profile national case, but added that "it's certainly possible" there could have been more victims. All of this provides fodder for www.americanfraud.com, a Web site dedicated to the Tylenol case that is researched and written by ex-Johnson & Johnson sales representative Scott Bartz. Bartz, a New Jersey resident, has spent years extensively researching the case and believes there's a massive cover-up involved. He's written a book on the topic and is now shopping for a publisher. Not only does Bartz suspect there were more Tylenol poisoning victims, he also believes police overlooked certain suspects. "I don't want to accuse anyone of the crime ... but they've embedded in everyone's mind that James Lewis is the Tylenol man, when they don't have a stitch of evidence," Bartz said. "I'm not trying to suggest it's a wide, organized conspiracy. It's where everyone wanted to protect themselves and had their own interests." • Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer Christy Gutowski contributed to this report. Suspect in poisonings expresses regrets, but not ones most hoped for By Marc Levy Published: January 11, 2010 
Members of the media follow Tylenol poisoning suspect James Lewis, seen in green jacket, after an interview Sunday in the Central Square offices of Cambridge Cable Television. (Photo: Marc Levy) James Lewis, suspected of a 1982 rash of deadly Tylenol poisonings, gave away little Sunday on “The Cambridge Rag” cable-access interview show, despite the unprecedented 48-minute run time and relentless questioning from host Roger Nicholson, callers and gathered media. Ostensibly on to promote his novel “Poison! The Doctor’s Dilemma,” Lewis, 63, sat in a tiny Cambridge Community Television studio with Nicholson, blinds drawn and door closed, while three television crews gathered in the hall that was his only way out. And the first caller to the show was Russ Ptacek, an investigative reporter for NBC Action News in Kansas City, Mo. When the show was over, Lewis raced to a car waiting behind the channel’s studios, followed by the pack of seven camera operators and reporters asking, “Why do they want your DNA?” and “Do you have anything to say to the victims’ families?” But he was largely silent as he climbed in and the car sped away to take him to his East Cambridge home. Such questions were also asked during the call-in show, since Lewis has been called a prime suspect in the seven Chicago killings; law enforcement officials searched Lewis’ apartment and storage locker in February and took DNA evidence from him and his wife last week. Lewis served 13 years in prison, mainly relating to extortion charges from a letter claiming responsibility he sent to Johnson & Johnson, the makers of Tylenol. He said later the letter was written to frame someone else. Persistent allegations He has been charged with other crimes, including sending a threatening letter to President Ronald Reagan and the kidnap and rape of a woman in 2004. Ptacek was calling about the 1978 dismemberment of Raymond West, a client of Lewis’ tax preparation business. Ptacek’s sources say the victim was butchered, and that Lewis had been trained in butchery by the 4H; and that the victim was tied up using ropes and knots identical to those found in Lewis’ car. Lewis was accused of trying to cash a $5,000 check on the day the victim disappeared. It is unknown if the victim had been poisoned as well, but there has been a request for the body to be exhumed for toxicology tests. “Your own attorney here says he doesn’t believe you killed Raymond West, but that he does believe, his theory is, you dismembered his body to cash a $5,000 check,” Ptacek said. “I’ve been trying to reach you for months about this case.” Nicholson eventually hung up on Ptacek. After saying he “never was” in 4H and claiming innocence in West’s death, Lewis steered the conversation back to his novel. It’s a fictionalized take on events he saw growing up amid poverty and lead mines in southern Missouri, he said, when several people drank contaminated well water, got sick and died. The hero, Dr. Charles Rivers, takes on a villain named Agua Naranja (“orange water” in Spanish, a term for a certain kind of water contaminated by industrial runoff) and the moral question of his own father’s involvement in the deaths. But the interview kept going other directions. “Why would you write a book called ‘Poison’ if you were thought to be the Tylenol poisoner?” Nicholson asked, later suggesting it might be the only thing that would draw people to read the book." “That is not any concern of mine. This book has absolutely nothing to do with that,” Lewis said. “It’s an event that I’m aware of that happened when I was a child. Doubts and regrets Not everyone thinks Lewis is guilty of the Tylenol poisonings. Scott Bartz, a New Jersey resident and once a sales representative for Johnson & Johnson, has an extensive Web site called americanfraud.com that blasts “the Tylenol mafia” and police for a cover-up and bad investigation. Noting that Lewis and his wife were in New York City before and during the poisonings, Bartz points to Chicago survivalist Roger Arnold as the likely killer. Arnold, who died in 2008, worked at a distribution center in 1982 and had access to the Tylenol, admitted to having cyanide and manuals on poisons, made airplane reservations for Thailand for shortly after the deaths and had reportedly told a supervisor he was “mad at people and wanted to throw acid at them or poison them.” 
Dan Hausle, a reporter with WHDH-TV Channel 7, captures audio from a monitor in a neon-tinged CCTV meeting room before seeking to question Lewis directly. (Photo: Marc Levy) The Daily Herald, an Illinois newspaper, reports being told the demand for the Lewises’ DNA results from a “smudge” left on a Tylenol bottle from the 1982 tampering. It “yielded no help then, but may be pertinent now that technology has advanced,” the paper said. As media waited Sunday at CCTV, Lewis handled questions more or less stoically, sometimes looking baleful and sometimes with a glint in his eye as he jousted with Nicholson, who urged him to confess to the killings or at least address them head on — to help Nicholson’s career and because “it would be good for your reputation and your soul.” He asked if Lewis would consider him less a friend if he thought Lewis was guilty, and promised to write him in prison. Lewis said he was not concerned about giving DNA evidence. If Lewis thought he would do better finding callers who wanted to talk about “Poison! A Doctor’s Dilemma,” the one and a half years spent writing it or the next two novels he intends to write, he was generally disappointed. “Hey, are you going to have a book signing anywhere?” one caller asked. “We haven’t got everything planned yet, but there will be book signings eventually,” Lewis replied. “Well, I’ve never had a killer sign my book before,” the caller said. Lewis admitted regret for the letter that landed him in prison. “I was much younger then. It was something stupid and it had ramifications beyond anything that I ever thought of happening. I never dreamed it would get the publicity that it had, never dreamed it would have any kind of impact on victims. If I had, I would never have written it,” Lewis said. But Lewis told a caller it would be wrong for him to contact the families of the Tylenol victims, even to apologize. “I would like to communicate and say kind things to them and help them commiserate with the problems and miseries they’ve gone through. I know the loss of their family members has tortured them for their entire lives, but for me to directly contact them I think is entirely inappropriate,” he said. He let out little about his day-to-day life, beyond saying he was poor. “I have very little to live on,” he said. “I have very little income, it’s very fixed, very limited." “There’s probably a lot of things from my life I would change, but I’m not going into them here,” he said. “They’ve followed me around for 30 years … If I live to be 90, they’ll probably still be making up these silly stories. Nicholson wrapped up the show, showing the book cover a final time and telling Lewis, “You’ve been a good sport.” Lewis stayed in the booth for several minutes before emerging to face the media. | |
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