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The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Home of man linked to 1982 Tylenol deaths searched

Russell Contreras The Associated Press

Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: News

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Media Credit: Josh Reynolds The Associated Press

FBI agents carry boxes out of the apartment building in Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday, after searching the apartment home of James W. Lewis, who was linked to the fatal 1982 Tylenol poisonings that triggered a nationwide scare. The Tylenol poisonings in the Chicago area prompted dramatic changes in the way food and medical products are packaged. The FBI would not immediately confirm that the search at the Cambridge home of James W. Lewis was related to the Tylenol case, only that it was part of an ongoing investigation.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - FBI agents searched the home of a one-time leading suspect in the 1982 murders of seven people who swallowed tainted Tylenol as part of a review of the unsolved case, a federal official said.

Agents from Boston and Chicago were seen Wednesday removing boxes and a computer from the condominium owned by James W. Lewis, who served more than 12 years in prison for trying to extort $1 million from the painkiller's manufacturers. A storage facility in Cambridge also was searched.

FBI spokesman Tom Simon in Chicago said Wednesday the Boston-area search was related to authorities' decision to review the poisonings case.

No one was ever charged with killing the seven people who took cyanide-laced drugs in the Chicago area 26 years ago, leading to dramatic changes in the way food and medical products are packaged.

The FBI's Chicago office cited "advances in forensic technology" in a Wednesday statement announcing that it, along with Illinois State Police and local departments, was conducting a "complete review of all evidence developed in connection with the 1982 Tylenol murders."

Simon said the FBI issued the statement "to put what is happening in Boston into context."

The review began in part because of publicity and tips that arrived after the 25th anniversary of the deaths in 2007, according to the FBI. It has not resulted in any criminal charges.

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