Tylenol Murders Case Reopened

By Prescott Carlson in News on Feb 5, 2009 10:45PM

Among the more shocking incidents to rattle the Chicago-area were the "Tylenol murders" in 1982, when seven people died after ingesting Extra Strength Tylenol capsules laced with potassium cyanide. Investigators determined that the pills had been taken from store shelves, tampered with, and replaced. A total of 8 poisoned bottles were eventually found. Area-wide warnings were issued -- we still remember the chilling announcement made over our junior high PA system telling us to avoid Tylenol products. The scare led to a recall of 31 million bottles of Tylenol products, and a revamping of over-the-counter drug packaging. The case was never solved.

But maybe it will be soon. After 26 years the FBI has renewed its efforts to find the Tynenol killer, and have raided the home of James Lewis in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in realtion to the case. Lewis, 62, was convicted of extortion after he demanded $1 million from Johnson & Johnson to stop the poisonings. At the time officials determined he did not commit the murders, and Lewis was released on parole in 1995. Authorities are not saying whether or not new information will lead to Lewis' arrest, and he does have a nice run of dodging bullets:

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. The charges were dismissed because West's cause of death was not determined and some evidence had been illegally obtained.

In 2004, Lewis was charged with rape, kidnapping and other offenses for an alleged attack on a woman in Cambridge. He was jailed for three years while awaiting trial, but prosecutors dismissed the charges on the day his trial was scheduled to begin after the victim refused to testify, according to the office of Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.

Lewis also has a link on one of his company websites titled "Tylenol" which contains an odd rambling about the crime. The recorded reading that goes along with it is a nice touch.

Photo of Lewis AP/The Kansas City Star, Don Ipock, File, 1983