# Did they ever catch those people?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-catch-those-people/129804>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 27, 2002, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-catch-those-people/129804 "2002-09-27T02:08:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hayduke\_Lives](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Hayduke\_Lives](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hayduke_Lives)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-catch-those-people/129804/1 "2002-09-27T02:08:59Z")

</div>

Back in the early 80’s, before I was even born, someone laced cyanide into Tylenol capsuls and put the packages back onto store shelves, killing someone.

Did they ever find out who did that?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-catch-those-people/129804/2 "2002-09-27T02:16:58Z")

</div>

No.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![warhol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@warhol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warhol)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-catch-those-people/129804/3 "2002-09-27T03:20:53Z")

</div>

I thought it was a wife that did it to kill her husband and stuck some other packages with the cyanide onto store shelves to make it appear to be random.

(Of course I could be getting this confused with an episode of Law and Order!)🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2002, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-catch-those-people/129804/4 "2002-09-27T03:33:26Z")

</div>

[snopes](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/tylenol.htm)

There were some bad folk nailed for Sudafed and Excedrin capers, and James Lewis is apparently a suspect in the Tylenol murders. Since snopes mentions it, I’ll add that the original Halloween candy murder happened right here in my hometown.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-catch-those-people/129804/5 "2002-09-29T14:13:24Z")

</div>

According to today’s Chicago Tribune, nobody was ever convicted of tampering with the Tylenol capsules that eventually killed seven people in the Chicago area. (The Walgreen’s where the first tampered Tylenol capsules was bought is a block from my house!)

However, a man by the name of James W. Lewis was convicted in 1984 of attempting to extort $1 million from Johnson and Johnson, the makers of Tylenol, boasting in a letter to J&J execs that payment to him would “stop the killings”. Lewis was released from jail in 1995.

PS This is my first posting. I hope that I was helpful.😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-catch-those-people/129804/6 "2002-10-07T19:41:59Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Frostillicus \*  
> \*\*  
> PS This is my first posting. I hope that I was helpful.😃 \*\*

Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board, **Frostillicus**!  
RR