Johnson & Johnson's $100,000 reward still stands, but Illinois agents doubt that anyone will ever collect it. Says Thomas Schumpp of the Illinois department of law enforcement: "With Tylenol there was never a message or a clue to the reason. Not only can't we say who, but we can't say why."

Regarding the relevance of the one-year anniverary of the Tylenol murders, Schumpp said, "We have not had a call-in in the last couple of months. I'm quite sure we'll get some more based on the anniversary. This stimulates conversation, jogs memories."

But Chicago Police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek disagreed. "I don't think the first anniversary will prompt additional clues. As time goes on it becomes harder to bring a murder case to a successful conclusion."

Schumpp seemed to say what he thought the public wanted to hear, while Brzeczek's statment was a logical assesment of the facts and similar case history. It's clear now the Brzeczek was correct.

1991

In 1991, Schumpp was the assistant deputy director of Illinois State Police when he said that he believed James Lewis, who was serving a 20-year sentence for attempting to extort $1 million from the manufacturers of Tylenol, and for six unrelated mail and credit card violations, was the man who poisoned the Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules that wound up displayed on store shelves in the Chicago suburbs.

"He was and is the No: 1 suspect in my mind," said Schumpp.

In 1992, ten years after the Tylenol murders, Howard Schumpp 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,"

Schumpp said that Lewis, a former Chicago resident, timed his move to New York to coincide with the murders.

After investigating the Tylenol murders for ten years, the head of criminal investigations for the Illinois State Police and one of the chief investigators in the Tylenol murder case, Howard Schumpp, still had it all wrong.

The best evidence Schumpp could come up with to support his "belief" that Lewis was guilty was that his move to New York coincided with the Tylenol murders. In fact, Lewis moved to New York before the Tylenol murders.

Registration records produced by the police showed that during the time the bottles were tampered with, James and his wife LeAnn, were living in a hotel in New York. Further evidence proved that LeAnn was at her job in New York every day at the time, and witnesses claim that James met her everyday for lunch and after work.

According to Newsweek, police were unable to find any bus, train or airline records indicating that the Lewises returned to Chicago during the time when the bottles were tampered with. The evidence proved that Lewis could not have been involved in the Tylenol poisoning.

James Lewis may have been correct when he said, "public officials get in a position and try to find ways of avoiding pressure. They are looking for a scapegoat so they do not have to deal with the fact that they can't find the Tylenol murderer."

Or, maybe public officials didn't really want to find the Tylenol murderer(s).