The Chicago Tylenol Murders Claimed Seven Victims — The Killer Was Never Found

The 1980s were a time rife with fear-inducing messaging that stayed with children for the rest of their lives. This decade gave birth to the "stranger danger" campaign, which also led to the milk carton kids. Anyone who grew up during this era remembers eating cereal for breakfast while staring at the face of a missing child plastered across the back of their milk carton. We were a decade into the so-called war on drugs, and only a few years into the D.A.R.E. program and just saying no.

It felt as if fear was in the air, and anything could be used against us at any time, even something meant to help. In 1982, a series of murders in Chicago caused a wave of fear to spread across the country. How could crimes in one city do that much damage beyond its borders? It's an easy feat to accomplish when the murder weapon is located in an average bottle of Tylenol. The Chicago Tylenol Murders claimed the lives of seven victims. Here's what we know.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the first known victim was 12-year-old Mary Kellerman, whose mother, Jeanna, bought a 50-count bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol from a Jewel food store in Elk Grove Village on Sept. 28, 1982. The following morning, Mary took a single capsule at around 6:15 a.m. and immediately collapsed. The little girl was pronounced dead less than four hours later at the Alexian Brothers Medical Center.

The same day that Mary died, Adam Janus, 27, bought a 50-count bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol from a different Jewel location in Arlington Heights. Janus must have taken at least one capsule immediately because he was pronounced dead at Northwest Community Hospital a little more than four hours after purchasing the Tylenol.

Adam made it home before taking the Tylenol because that's where his brother, 25-year-old Stanley Janus, popped a pill from the same bottle of Tylenol around 5:40 p.m. Stanley put his hand to his chest, then dropped to the floor. He died less than three hours later at the hospital where his brother had just passed. At this point, no one knew what was happening, which is why Stanley's wife, Theresa, age 20, also took Tylenol and died along with her husband and brother-in-law.

Every death happened on the same day, Sept. 29, at roughly the same time. At 3 p.m., Mary “Lynn” Reiner walked into a Frank’s Finer Foods in Winfield and bought a 50-count bottle of regular Tylenol capsules. The mother of four took a capsule at her home and became comatose. She was rushed to Central DuPage Hospital and put on life support, which was removed on Sept. 30. Mary was pronounced dead at 9:05 a.m.

We don't know when 31-year-old Mary McFarland purchased the bottle of Tylenol that would end up killing her, but we do know she told her Illinois Bell Telephone colleagues she felt dizzy the day she died. Mary collapsed at work on the evening of Sept. 29 and was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. She was pronounced dead the next morning at 3:18 a.m.

The seventh victim was Paula Prince, a 35-year-old United Airlines flight attendant who had just started a party planning business with pals. After buying a 24-count bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol at a Walgreens on Wells Street in Chicago, Paula headed back to her apartment on Sept. 29 at 9:16 p.m. She took some Tylenol 15 minutes later, but her lifeless body wouldn't be discovered until 5:40 p.m. on Oct. 1. She was pronounced dead 90 minutes later.

It was later discovered that Tylenol capsules had been laced with potassium cyanide. Police narrowed down their search to two suspects, James Lewis and Roger Arnold. Both were eventually cleared using DNA testing, though Arnold's body had to be exhumed in 2010 in order to accomplish this, per the Chicago Tribune. Lewis passed away in July 2023. There are currently no leads.