James Lewis and the Handbook of Poisoning

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Investigators used the information to get a search warrant for Lewis' condo in Cambridge. They also found fingerprints, multiple fingerprints belonging to James Lewis in The Handbook of Poisoning. A fingerprint on page 196 details how much potassium cyanide is needed to kill the average human. But there is a time gap for James Lewis from September 25th to midnight of September 29th. That falls in the window in which investigators believe the poison bottles were put on the shelves.

On September 29, 1982, Adam Janus suddenly collapsed in his home outside of Chicago. He died within hours. Later that same day, in the same house, his brother also collapsed — then his sister-in-law. All three of them had been healthy. Nobody could figure out what was going on.

Stacy St. Clair and Christy Gutowski reported an investigative series looking back on the Tylenol murders for the Chicago Tribune. You can listen to their podcast here, and read their series in the Chicago Tribune here.

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