James Lewis, suspect in Tylenol poisonings that killed seven in 1982, discovered useless at Cambridge residence

Crime

The suspect within the Chicago-area poisonings that triggered a nationwide scare was 76 years previous.

James Lewis, who was a number one suspect within the 1982 murders of seven individuals who swallowed tainted Tylenol, holds paperwork at federal courtroom, June 5, 1984, in Kansas Metropolis, Mo. Keith Myers/The Kansas Metropolis Star by way of AP, File

By Related Press

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The suspect within the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven folks within the Chicago space and triggered a nationwide scare has died, police confirmed on Monday.

Officers, firefighters and EMTs responding to a report of unresponsive particular person about 4 p.m. Sunday discovered James Lewis useless in his Cambridge, Massachusetts, residence, Cambridge Police Superintendent Frederick Cabral mentioned in an announcement. He was 76, police mentioned.

“Following an investigation, Lewis’ dying was decided to be not suspicious,” the assertion mentioned.

Nobody was ever charged within the deaths of seven individuals who took medicine laced with cyanide. Lewis served greater than 12 years in jail for sending an extortion be aware to Johnson & Johnson, demanding $1 million to “cease the killing.”

When he was arrested in 1982 after a nationwide manhunt, he gave investigators an in depth account of how the killer might need operated. Lewis later admitted sending the letter and demanding the cash, however he mentioned he by no means meant to gather it.