PROFILE OF THE TYLENOL KILLER
Throughout the Tylenol murders investigations, officials talked about the psyche of the killer rather than the facts and the physical evidence. It was reported in 1982, and referenced again by James Burke in 1986, that the Killer’s work was crude and clumsy. One psychological expert said the killer was rather incompetent, but had feelings of superiority, and that he was probably not particularly intelligent. One investigator, when asked about the killer, said, "He is probably sitting back to admire his awful handiwork, savoring our frustration."
Dr. Robert Reifman, who in 1982 headed the Chicago courts' psychiatric service, profiled the Tylenol killer as a male loner of above-average intelligence whose goal was in part to produce intensive media coverage.
The FBI brought in John Douglas, to develop a profile of the Tylenol Killer. In Douglas's book, “Mind Hunter,” he says, “despite the fact that this was early in my career and I’d never done a product tampering case before, nor had I ever interviewed a convicted tamperer in prison, it seemed to me that the killer would likely fit the development models we’d observed for other types of cowardly predators."
Douglas said the Tylenol tampering was as an act of anger, committed by a person with no specific need to see a victim or to be present at the murder. It was a crime involving psychological distance. "Our research had shown," he wrote, "that subjects who kill indiscriminately without seeking publicity tend to be motivated primarily by anger." He also believed the person would have periods of depression and hopelessness. "He was like an assassin, a white loner who hated society and sought some expression of power."
Douglas surmised that the killer was a person with a long list of failures, in all areas of life, who would probably have a record of complaints of injustices against him (he did not consider that the person might be female). He would have gravitated towards positions of authority, but would have had trouble keeping a job, and he'd likely have a psychiatric record. He had likely experienced some stressful event around the time when the first deaths had occurred late in September. He would also be talkative about the news to anyone who would listen.
The approved profile of the Tylenol killer kept America focused on an anonymous "madman" to whom the FBI had assigned some common characteristics. This profile of the killer was a red herring that diverted the investigation away from the actual killer who was working within the Tylenol distribution network.