Government or official record
FBI Chicago History
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Where this source supports the record
Each entry separates the article’s editorial relevance note from its exact, section-level claims. A bibliography link without a direct claim is labeled plainly.
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Historic crimes & investigations · 29 September–October 1982Open article references →
The Chicago Tylenol Murders
Chicago metropolitan poisoning and investigation area · United States
Why editors use it hereFederal field-office history of the victims, cyanide evidence, investigation, extortion case, and unresolved murders.
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Quick read
Beginning on 29 September 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules filled with cyanide.
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Trigger and conditions
Twelve-year-old Mary Kellerman died after taking a capsule; postal worker Adam Janus died later that day, and two relatives died after taking capsules from his bottle while grieving.
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Uncertainty
The deaths and cyanide contamination are established, but who altered the capsules, where, and why remain unknown.
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Why it matters
A small number of altered objects changed the physical language of nearly every medicine package.
Reviewed 26 July 2026
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Quick read