Too Soon: The Tylenol Pill Man

Tamper-resistant packaging on modern medicine directly results from one incident, which terrified the nation, baffled law enforcement, and threatened the country’s supply of food and drugs: the Tylenol poisonings. In 1982, a still-unknown assailant spiked Tylenol capsules with deadly cyanide, leading to the deaths of several people in the Chicago area and launching one of the most significant law enforcement investigations in modern history. A man named James William Lewis was convicted of extortion for mailing a ransom letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding money for an end to the poisonings, and although he couldn’t be pinned to the actual act, many of the lead investigators still believe he was the perpetrator.

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Back in 1982, I was still of trick-or-treating age when the Tylenol Murders occurred.  I recall being aware for the first time that people could be terribly cruel and, worse, that something like the orange juice I drank or the cold medicine I took, could be laced with poison.  Nothing had safety seals back then.  And I am as baffled at that fact as when my dad used to say "Back when I was young, we left our doors unlocked at night."  Like how could there EVER have been a time like that?

The first death occurred on September 29th.  And there truly was a nation-wide panic.  It was constantly on the news and it was all anyone was talking about.  It was so horrid that I am still amazed that Tylenol never rebranded.  

So Halloween rolls around and I have a memory of being in the house and getting ready to head out with my brother and my friends to trick-or-treat when a group of people came up to our house for candy.  ONE GUY IS DRESSED AS A GIANT TYLENOL PILL.  And he appeared to be the size of an adult, so it was a HUGE red and white pill.  It must have been made from a large cardboard tube with a paper mâché rounded top to make it look like the end of a capsule.  The eye hole was a six inch rectangular slit.  I have no memory of arm holes or arms hanging out of this, but there must have been, right?

I recall being very confused.  The deaths had occurred only a month prior.  And I guess that was my first exposure to bad-timing and poor taste (a skill I'd develop and master later in life).  I wonder who he was.  Was he a neighbor?  Or some tall high school kid who thought he was funny?  Or maybe someone who likes to mock Death and tell it to screw off and leave us alone?  I dunno.  Hoping it's the latter.

Click below for an interesting article about other unsolved mysteries...