Idaho Cold Case Pointing to 1982 Tylenol Murders, Authorities Report

A man discovered dead in an Idaho church decades ago may be linked to unsolved cyanide poisonings in the Chicago area in 1982, known as the “Tylenol murders,” which led to mandatory child safety caps for medicines, authorities announced recently.

Detective Tim Cooper of the Ada County Sheriff’s Office reopened a cold case investigation in 2019, ultimately identifying Dr. Mathew Francis Betkouski posthumously. Betkouski died by suicide using cyanide over 40 years ago and was buried anonymously.

After identifying Betkouski and gathering information about him, investigators came to believe he may have been responsible for the deaths of seven people in the Chicago area from cyanide-laced Tylenol, Cooper said.

No charges were ever filed in those killings, which prompted a nationwide recall of the over-the-counter painkiller.

An engraved key found with the body in the Boise church led investigators to a street in Jacksonville, Florida, where a property owner vanished in 1982. They confirmed his identity using photos and DNA testing.

Investigators subsequently learned that Betkouski worked in drugstores. Former colleagues and acquaintances described him as volatile, fascinated by the idea of a “perfect crime,” and once reportedly stated that cyanide could be used to kill without detection, authorities said on Wednesday.

Detectives found cyanide in Betkouski’s desk, which Cooper indicated appeared to be homemade and chemically distinct from the compound used in the 1982 killings.

Betkouski lived in five states throughout his life but never resided in Illinois or near Chicago, according to investigators. Photographs showed that Betkouski visited the Chicago area a year before the killings, though it remains unclear whether he returned the following year.

The Chicago Police Department stated in a release that its detectives have been in contact with Idaho authorities to assess whether their findings connect to the Tylenol murders investigation, which remains an open cold case. It did not indicate whether they consider Betkouski a suspect.

Investigators long believed a man named James Lewis was responsible for the killings, though he was never charged. Lewis died in 2023 after serving more than 12 years in prison for sending an extortion note to Johnson & Johnson, the drug’s manufacturer at the time, demanding $1 million to “stop the killing.”

When Lewis was arrested in 1982, he provided investigators with a detailed account of how the killer might have operated. He consistently denied involvement.

Source link