All language subtitles for Painkiller.The.Tylenol.Murders.S01E03.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

- It's hard to believe
Grandma and Grandpa have

been here for over 50 years.

And the Janis brothers,
they're here 40 this year.

Time goes by very, very fast.

There's the monument.

I know that as a landmark.

Up over this way.

Adam Janus, March '55 to '82.

Stanley Janus, '57 to '82.

What a tragedy.

It's 40 years.

I hope they can do
it, but I don't know.

They haven't been
able to solve it so far.

Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.

Blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God.

Pray for us sinners now
and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

- Did you know
that the paramedic,

his name is Chuck Kramer,
he goes to visit your brothers?

- He does?

Maybe... maybe he knew my...
my brothers, Adam, maybe, no?

You know, I... I want to
thank him for doing that.

You know, coming and
seeing my... my brothers' grave.

- It almost caused
a national panic.

- These deaths
have been associated

with the presence of
cyanide in two containers

of Extra Strength Tylenol.

- Do not take Tylenol
until further notice.

- Cyanide is so deadly,
an amount the size of a pea

can kill you.

- This was a stone-cold
mystery, and people died.

And many of them were
were in the same family.

- I just knew
something was wrong.

- Paula was murdered.

She was just murdered.

- We know that there's
somebody out there

trying to poison people.

- How could he pull off the
crime of the century perfectly

and not get caught?

- We're actively
pursuing this investigation.

This is not collecting
dust on a shelf.

- This could be our guy.

- Do you think you
know who did it?

- Yes.

- You're going to let
a murderer just go?

- Hi.

- As for the investigation,
it is continuing with little

or no new information.

There have been sightings
of the Richardsons,

or Lewises, all
across the country.

But none of the sightings
has proved to be valid.

- We have a nationwide search
for a picture of a person who

identifies himself
as, at one time,

as James E. Lewis and Robert
Richardson, and other names.

David E. Woods, John
Ryan, Robert Myers,

Raymond Thompson,
and Robert R. Johnson.

- Is there any area that
any search is centered

for this man right now?

- No, it's nationwide right now.

- He could be anywhere.
- Right.

- He could even be in Chicago.

- Very possible.

- The 36-year-old Lewis,
who has been described

by authorities as a con man,
is bearded in photographs

released by authorities.

But a sketch by a
Channel 2 artist shows

what the 6'1"
180-pound Lewis might

look like without the beard.

- I joined Corboy and
Demetriou in August of 1984.

The firm then represented two
estates of people who had died

due to the Tylenol poisonings.

These were planned
exhibits for trial.

This is of the
same type as 1982.

This is a packaging that
J&J would acknowledge

is not tamper-proof.

And the capsules themselves
are not tamper-proof,

not tamper-resistant in any way.

You see there's no
glue, it's a fold-top box.

Container shows
Tylenol Extra Strength.

Open it up,

we have a capsule
that is of the type

that they sold.

It's not sealed in any way.

You can separate it and
take the drug out, if you wish,

and put cyanide in.

This is one of the
capsules themselves.

You can see how you
can just pour the drug out

of the capsule,
and then you have

an empty device in which to put

something harmful,
unfortunately.

- Tylenol tablets began
going back on the store shelves

in the Chicago suburbs today.

All Tylenol is still
banned in the city,

but tablets are now being
sold at suburban Jewel-Osco

and Walgreens stores.

The manufacturer continues
to work on a tamper-resistant

container for the capsules.

- Mayor Jane Byrne
was the mayor.

It was an election year, meaning

it was a year
before the election.

And she was very
uptight about it,

because these people were dying,

and they were from Chicago.

And it happened on her watch.

- So we feel that all Tylenol
products should be removed.

And I really... and as
of now, our inspectors

will be out there making
certain that they are removed.

- With the Tylenol scandal,
that was September, October.

And then in November...

I think it was
November 10, 1982,

Harold Washington
announced his candidacy.

- The Black community
is looking at the possibility

of its first Black mayor while
this investigation of Tylenol

is going on.

- Absolutely.

- Chicago is a divided city.

Chicago is a city where
citizens are treated unfairly

and unequally.

But I cannot watch the city
of Chicago destroyed by petty

politics and bad government.

- All right.

- Well, people were
angry at Jane Byrne,

because she had
appointed three people

to the Board of
Education, I believe it was.

And they were furious,
because they were whites,

and they thought that
some Blacks should

be on the Board of Education.

So there was anger over that.

The accusations that
she double crossed

the Black community.

She got in there, and
then she turned her back.

So she had to come
up with some plan

to allay the fears of
the Black community,

the white community,
the Hispanic community.

It was a lot on this woman.

It was a lot on her.

- I'm also asking that an
ordinance be developed

by the Department of
Health and Consumer Affairs

to require seals
on all containers

of medicine sold in the city.

- If someone can put
poison into capsules,

and then put it
back on the shelf,

that means that it was
too easily accessible.

So I knew that they had
to come up with something.

And the only elected
body to do that

would be the city council.

- There could be a seal
around the cap of the bottle.

A type of seal that would
clearly show that it had

been broken and tampered with.

There could be a seal
on the top of the package.

Additionally, we would
require a warning statement

to the consumer not
to buy this product,

not to use this product
if these seals are broken.

So we don't expect to see
any major increase in price.

In fact, we hope
there won't be any.

But if there is,
we feel it's well

worth it if it saves one life.

- Well, I know that there
were a lot of concern

from the retailers.

When they come
up with an ordinance,

they didn't want it
to be cost-prohibitive.

There is a way to seal
this to make it tamper-proof

but not too expensive.

Because that cuts
into their profit.

I don't think they were
thinking about lives lost.

The bottom line was profit.

She didn't want
them coming after her,

so they came up
with a compromise.

She got an accepted
ordinance passed.

So I guess she passed
the test without angering

the retailers, which are the
money people who would

contribute to her campaign.

- The makers of Tylenol
announced their comeback

campaign today
at one of the largest

and probably one of the
most expensive corporate news

conferences in
history linking 30 cities

by satellite television.

- We have made the
unequivocal commitment

to rebuild this business
under the Tylenol name.

We are coming back.

It will take time.

It will take money.

And it will be very difficult.

- Before September
of 1982, McNeil

had enough information
to connect the dots that

their product was tamperable

and that they had
received some information,

not of poisonings,
but of tampering done

with some malicious intent.

The technology to make
products tamper-resistant

and tamper-evident
preceded September of 1982,

could have been done then.

- There were safer
kinds of packaging

on the market before
the Tylenol incident.

Plastic seals, individual
doses in blister packs.

- There were a lot of denials.

Nobody wanted to take
responsibility at J&J.

- A spokesman for Johnson
and Johnson denies any guilt.

"These tampering
poisonings in Chicago

were an unprecedented
event," the statement says.

"There was no way we
could have anticipated

or prevented those deaths."

- Everybody said,
"Yeah, it would have been

"feasible to make
tamper-evident packaging,

"or tamper-resistant packaging.

"But the thought
never occurred to us.

"There was never
enough information for us

to warrant making that choice."

But when you're selling a
drug that millions and millions

of people take
and there's a risk,

you can't let that risk go.

Like a design defect
case against a car maker.

Millions of people
are affected by that.

They have to perceive the risk,
acknowledge it, and act on it.

And they don't.

People don't want to
take responsibility for that.

- The new Tylenol capsule
package will start showing up

on store shelves within weeks.

- Tylenol tablets
are sealed two ways.

The carton is securely
glued, and the bottle

is foil-wrapped.

Tylenol capsules have the
same two seals, plus a third.

The cap is tightly wrapped
for your added protection.

- They spoke in
almost religious terms

of the moral imperative
of saving Tylenol

and said that a
failure of Tylenol

would be a failure for
the American people.

But there was economic
reasoning behind the decision.

The brand name is worth an
estimated $400 million a year.

And even if sales
dropped by half,

Tylenol would
still be the leading

over-the-counter analgesic.

So far, the manufacturers say
they have spent $100 million

in recalling the product,
testing it, and developing

the new package.

- The public relations nightmare

that they had to endure,
even though it's a good product,

it works.

How do you respond to a
tampering of your main product

that you can't control?

They survived.

- Tylenol makers showed
a survey that indicated

the number of people likely
to buy Tylenol in the future

now has jumped from 40%
to 59% in just five weeks

since the Tylenol tragedy.

- This is why we believe
we can rebuild the business.

Our consumers want us to.

- Today, seven weeks later,
Mayor Byrne lifted the ban.

Tamper-resistant packages
of new Tylenol products

can be sold.

Representatives of
major chain stores

were there, Jewel, Dominick's,
Walgreens, Treasure Island,

in support of the
return of Tylenol.

There too the chairman and
president of McNeil consumer

products, maker of Tylenol.

- There is understandably
a measure of caution

in the minds of the
Chicago consumer

with regard to capsule
products in general.

And... but nevertheless,
we are encouraged

by the signs of support...

expressed signs of support

that the Chicago
consumer is evidence.

- The ban has been
lifted, pharmacies

will carry the product.

But will people buy it?

- Maybe the ca...

tablets, but not capsules.

- Even though
they're in three layers

of tamper-resistant packaging?

- I would probably buy
them. Yeah, I guess so.

- Would you buy Tylenol?

- No, I don't think I will.

- Well, they're difficult
to open, aren't they?

I mean, I kind of got it.

But, I mean, this changed
everything for us, didn't it?

In other words,
this is the way of life.

I couldn't just open
up... absent-mindedly

open up a bottle of aspirin.

I had to go... right?

And try to get it off, and
then break the seal and...

- This is still a
pain in the rear end

to open if it's...
regardless of 20

years old or at 90 something.

- Why does it take
me five minutes

to open this pill bottle?

Well, it's better
than being dead.

- According to the
paper's Sunday edition,

the note was included
along with other materials

from James Lewis
in Friday's mail.

In the note, fugitive
James Lewis says,

neither he nor his wife are
responsible for the seven

cyanide murders.

The note says, "As you have
probably guessed, my wife

"and I have not committed the
Chicago area Tylenol murders.

"We do not go
around killing people.

We never have,
and we never shall."

The paper says the
envelope the note came in

had a New York City postmark

suggesting the Lewis
couple might still

be in New York, where
they were last seen October

14th at this Midtown hotel.

Today, Illinois Attorney General

Tyrone Faner said
he had no doubt

that the note was authentic.

He had a message for Lewis.

- We'd like you to
consider turning yourself in.

It's our feeling that if
you continue to run,

you'll be caught in any event.

I can understand your running,

if indeed you are responsible

for the terrible
cyanide murders.

But if your letter
to us is true,

that is all the more reason
for you to turn yourself in.

If you were indeed innocent,
we will help you prove it.

If you are innocent, your
continued hiding is pointless.

We'd like you to
consider that since you've

become a very prolific writer.

- Whether or not Lewis
accepts the attorney general's

invitation remains to be seen.

In the meantime,
officials say they'll

intensify their search
for the Lewis couple

on the East Coast.

- I was practicing out of state

but joined Corboy
and Demetrio in 1984

and began working on
the cases not long after that.

Mary Kellerman, who died at
age 12, and Mary Sue McFarland

was 32.

Mary Kellerman took
the Tylenol the morning,

I believe, of the
29th of September.

Her mom was at work.

Her dad called her mom and said,

"She's having trouble breathing.

Please come home."

By the time she got
home, she couldn't get

to within 100 feet
of her daughter.

Police, ambulance, whatever.

She sees her
daughter in a gurney

going into an ambulance.

She never saw
her daughter alive.

What stuck with me about
her mother's testimony,

she was asked,

"What do you know about
what happened that day

at home" while she's at work?

And she said her husband said,

"You don't want to
know what happened

that morning in the bathroom."

And he never told her.

It was a horrible scene.

Can't imagine having
to see something like that

happen to your child.

And making the
decision not to tell his wife

was a very brave move.

- And he shouldered it.

- Yes, he did.

- The investigation was ongoing,

so there was a lot
they couldn't tell us.

But the clear opinion I drew
from talking with those people

was that James
Lewis was the guy.

- I think he was
arrested, or at least found

in a library in New York City.

- James Lewis was sitting alone

in a New York City library

going through lists of
newspapers and periodicals

when someone recognized
him from a wanted poster.

- After lunch today, Monday,
we received a telephone call

at the New York FBI office
that an individual answering

the description of
James Lewis, as set forth

in his wanted poster, was at
the New York Public Library

on 40th Street and Fifth Avenue.

We sent agents up
there, they located

the man, placed him under
arrest, brought him down here.

- Chicago detectives flew out
of O'Hare tonight for New York

to question James
Lewis, not just

about extortion, but about
the Tylenol murders as well.

- He is high on
our list of people

that we have to
determine whether or not

he's responsible.

- Lewis has denied
any role in the poisoning

of seven Chicago area
residents in late September.

- "Because I love
my country America,

"I have a deep and
abiding respect for the law.

"I love my wife LeAnn.

I love her very much."

- Authorities had established
that Lewis and his wife

were registered
at a New York hotel

at the time of the
murders in Chicago.

But investigators now
are checking airline records

between the two cities.

In other words, where was
Lewis when poison was placed

on the shelves of this store
where Tylenol victim Paula

Prentiss shopped, and on
the shelves of other stores

resulting in seven deaths?

That is the question
authorities want answered.

- He wrote a letter to
the Johnson and Johnson,

which distributed
the Tylenol capsules,

and said, "You want... you want
me to stop poisoning people?

Then you give me
a million dollars."

That was insane.

- And he said he waited
for the first national tragedy

to come along after
he hatched this plan.

Could have been a
plane wreck, the sinking

of a ship, an airplane...

an airplane crash.

Turned out to be
the Tylenol killings.

- Only hours after
he was seized,

his wife was on the phone
with her attorney in Chicago.

- She was concerned
for her husband.

She was. She was apprehensive.

She wasn't too
concerned for herself,

except that her
whole conversation

with respect to her husband
and her great concern for him.

She indicated to give him a
message that she loved him.

- As soon as she
arrived at O'Hare,

LeAnn Lewis was rushed in
an unmarked car by FBI agents

to the Dirksen Federal
Building downtown.

Immediately, U.S. Attorney
Dan Webb asked for a

$5 million bond.

- The government is saying
her husband is charged,

or may be charged
with these crimes,

therefore, she
should be penalized

in that her husband
is the subject

of these other investigations.

And that's obviously not fair.

- As of tonight,
Mrs. Lewis is only

charged with having a fraudulent

social security card.

- This is the Dirksen
Federal Building,

otherwise known as
the U.S. Courthouse,

where all federal
trials are held

in the Northern
District of Illinois.

This is the building where James

Lewis stood trial for the
Tylenol extortion letters.

This is the building
where he was

sentenced for those crimes.

- Lewis was convicted
only of writing an extortion

letter to Johnson and Johnson,
the makers of the painkiller.

During his presentation
to the judge,

U.S. Attorney Dan Webb asked
that the convicted extortionist

be given the maximum 20 years,

calling Lewis a
walking crimewave.

Webb claimed that Lewis
had attacked and tried

to kill his parents in 1966

and said there is
evidence linking

Lewis to a dismemberment
murder in Kansas City in 1978.

As for the extortion letter,

Webb called it
evil and depraved.

Lewis, acting as
his own attorney,

launched into an
hour-long rambling

defense of his record.

"The Justice Department
wants to show," Lewis said,

"That I am a criminal genius.

That is not the case."

He went on, "I do not lie.

"I do not cheat.

I do not steal."

Said Judge McGarr,
"In the face of two felony

convictions, that is a
pretty hollow claim."

Then the sentence.

10 years in federal prison.

- I have great confidence in
Judge McGarr's discretion.

I believe that the sentence that

was imposed of a 10-year
consecutive sentence

is a very fair sentence.

I'm very pleased
with the sentence.

- But Webb also
said, "The question

"of Lewis' possible involvement

"in the Tylenol killings

has not been cleared
up to his satisfaction."

- I cannot eradicate
the fact that

he sent the letter itself which
confessed the Tylenol murders.

I can't take away
the fact that he has

a bizarre background.

I can't take away the fact
that in certain interviews

that I revealed in court today
in which Mr. Lewis in effect

started to discuss how
these murders might

have been conducted, in which
he went into elaborate detail.

When you put all
of those together,

I am not about
to sit here and say

that he's no longer a suspect.

- After his conviction,
Lewis volunteered

to assist the FBI and
me in investigating

the Tylenol killings.

He said he was
very bright, well-read,

understood how government
works, and had a lot of time

on his hands, and he
offered his assistance.

So the pictures on
this wall represent

a portion of different
events and circumstances

IN my public career.

This is James Lewis.

This is actually Mr. Lewis.

This is his drilled
board method.

His words, not mine.

Where you drill these
holes into this little plywood

contraption, put the
bottom capsule into this hole,

put a mound of cyanide
on top of the board.

Scrape it across with a bread
knife, clean up the excess.

Put the tops of the capsules in,

load them into
the Tylenol bottles,

and put them on
the store shelves.

- So he drew that?

- He drew that.

This is a photocopy
of his original drawing.

He speculated...
hypothesized on how the killings

might have taken place.

- What were you thinking
when he first gave you that?

- Bizarre to put it mildly.

He spent a great deal of
time... many, many hours...

thinking, ruminating, and
preparing these manuscripts

and these drawings.

But he was always
very careful to explain

that this was speculation,
these were all hypotheticals.

These were merely his
musings to try to give us

investigative ideas
that might lead

to finding the Tylenol killer.

- When you put all
of those together,

I am not about
to sit here and say

that he's no longer a suspect.

- For the moment,
he is one of 384

prisoners at the
Metropolitan Correctional

Center in The Loop.

He is 37-year-old
James Lewis, the man

convicted of writing
the notorious Tylenol

extortion letter.

- The late, great
Mike Parker, of course,

was our lead
reporter on this story.

And he's the one who got
the interview with James Lewis.

And I think that,
you know, that that

was a really groundbreaking
moment in the coverage

of the story nationally.

- And running from the law
during a nationwide manhunt,

until his arrest in New York
City in December of 1982.

- When one is the focus
of that much hatred,

it is virtually
impossible for a person

to convince very
many people that he is

not as he has been described.

- What was it like
to be on the run,

knowing that every
law enforcement

agency in the country
was looking for you?

- It is terrifying...

absolutely, terrifying.

Can you imagine
trying to tell your wife

that, "Honey, I wrote a letter."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Well, there's something
else I need to tell you.

They're talking about it
in the radio and on TV."

- Go on.

Go on.

- Just trying to explain
that to your wife.

- How did she take that?

- She, uh, just sat and
stared at the wall for a while.

"How could you have
done such a thing?"

- So then you found
yourselves running from the law?

- Didn't really run that much.

We just moved to
another hotel and...

just a few blocks away.

And didn't really hide.

We were out on the streets
in New York every day.

For example, the
Thanksgiving Day parade,

the Macy's Thanksgiving
Day parade at Herald Square,

there were about 400
policemen standing,

waiting to get their
orders on where they

were going to be stationed.

My wife and I
walked hand in hand

through all of those
people at the time

that this big manhunt
was going on.

We did not hide.

- As he did throughout
his trial, Lewis says he

wrote the letter only
to focus attention

on his wife's former
employer Lewis suspected

of financial wrongdoing.

In that letter, Lewis
had asked that $1 million

be placed in the
man's bank account.

- The letter itself
is not illegal,

unless you have the intent.

And there is no
way that I could have

possibly had any intent there.

The bank account was
a closed bank account.

It was at Continental
Illinois Bank.

I had no more access to
that bank account than one

of your gentlemen here.

- Did you feel then
that you were on trial

for the Tylenol murders?

- I did.

- Did you commit
the Tylenol murders?

- I did not.

- Do you know who did?

Do not know who did, no.

- What do you want to say
to the people of Chicago,

and to the country,
for that matter?

- I have been subjected
to an awful lot of...

of statements in the
press by government

and a lot of other people.

It is very, very difficult
to overcome that much

in the way of
hostile statements.

I have been the officially
designated evil one

by the Justice Department.

When one gains that status,

if there is such a
thing as a status,

it's a horrible status to have.

- I don't think there's
evidence that anyone else did.

The problem is, there
isn't clear physical evidence

that's not clear physical
evidence that he did.

So I'm not the only one that was

frustrated when it was over.

Everybody who was in that
room the first day, I'm sure

was frustrated when it was over.

Well, they knew what happened.

Thought they knew who probably
was responsible at the end.

There's rules.

You follow the rules.

You follow the law.

You follow the evidence.

And most of the time, you
need physical evidence.

And when it came
to the seven murders,

the physical evidence
was the capsules.

But there wasn't any more.

- When the feds couldn't
even nail James Lewis,

but let it be known
in their court filings

that there's no question in
their mind he was behind this,

what more can law
enforcement do?

- We had a little
girl, 12 years old.

We had a brand-new mom.

You had a family
you've destroyed.

How could anybody
live with that?

I don't understand.

I was hoping, for years,
that they would catch this guy.

I really was.

But it doesn't look like
it's going to happen.

And let's face it, if he
was... he'd be my age, right?

Probably 40 years ago.

And if he was in his 20s or 30s,

he's going to be 70
years old by this time.

They haven't caught him by now.

I don't know.

I wish they would.
I really would.

That would be a nice...

nice thing to... to know
before I go that they got him.

- I think, you
know, there are a lot

of people that are afraid
to open and tell the truth.

But there might
be that somebody...

there might be
that somebody that

will come forward
and tell their story

if they were there that day
and they saw what happened.

That would be, actually,
closure for our family.

Because that would be fair
for us to know what happened.

- Your mother never
got to hear the truth?

- She never did.

- She just passed?

- She just passed in December.

- My wife, she wanted
to know too the person

that killed my brothers, too.

She was waiting for
that day, but she never...

never got it.

It's... it's hard
for me to live.

But I still got my daughter,
my son, my grandchildren.

I got to live for them.

I'm very... every time I know...

I think about
everything, it's just...

it's terrible what I
went through my life.

- Do you think Lewis did it?

- I've never speculated
on who I believe did it.

Well, I shouldn't say that.

I've never said publicly
who I think did it.

- Who did it?

- I don't discuss that.

- Do you think you
know who did it?

- Yes.

- If you think you
know who did it,

some might think the
families of the victims

are owed that knowledge.

- I think what the
victims' families

are owed is ultimate justice.

And my opinion of
who did it isn't justice.

That's just my opinion.

What I would like
to see, and what

the agents who have
continued to work this case 40

years after it happened
would like to see

is the killer be
brought to justice.

And I do believe that
that will happen one day.

- You do?

- Yes.

- Leave the tripod. Ready?

This could be our guy.

"Mr. Lewis, I'm Brad.

"I'm reporting on
the Tylenol murders.

"I named our pursuit Painkiller.

Are you the Painkiller?"

- The man in that photo
is Lewis Richardson,

whatever his name is.

- James Lewis tried to
kill his parents June of '66.

Do you know who that is?

James Lewis, ever heard of him?

What are the odds
they talk to me?

All right, I'm going
to throw a mic on you.

- I'm Sergeant Joe
Murphy with the Arlington

Heights Police department.

I'm one of the
investigators assigned

to the Tylenol murders.

- This was the scene four
years ago in Kansas City

when police found
the dismembered body

of 72-year-old Raymond
West, a friend of James Lewis.

- If you're searching the
house for Raymond West,

why don't you go to
the goddamn basement

and see if he's down there?

- Lewis.

- We're actively
pursuing this investigation.

This is not collecting
dust on a shelf.

- Hi. Mr. Lewis?