Flight attendant Paula Prince purchases a bottle of Tylenol containing cyanide. Prince was found dead on October 1, becoming the latest victim of a mysterious illness in Chicago, Illinois. In the previous 24 hours, six more people have died suddenly of unknown causes in northwest Chicago. After Prince’s death, Richard Keyworth and Philip Cappitelli, Windy City firefighters, realized the seven victims had ingested Extra Strength Tylenol before falling ill. Further investigation revealed that several bottles of Tylenol capsules had been poisoned with cyanide.
Mary Ann Kellerman, a seventh grader, was the first to die after taking the over-the-counter pain reliever. The next victim, Adam Janus, was found in the emergency room in critical condition. After visiting his older brother in the hospital, Stanley Janus returned to Adam’s house with his wife, Theresa. To relieve their stress-induced headaches, they both took capsules from the open Tylenol bottle that sat on the counter. They too were poisoned – Stanley died and Theresa fell into a coma. That same day, Mary Reiner, who had a headache after giving birth, took the contaminated pills. A woman named Mary McFarland has also been poisoned.
While bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol have been recalled across the country, the only contaminated capsules were found in the Chicago area. The culprit was never caught, but the mass murder led to new tamper-evident drug containers. It also led to a string of copycat crimes, as others sought to blackmail companies with suspected poisoning schemes, most of which turned out to be false alarms.
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