Accusations

No one was ever charged for the actual murders caused by Tylenol tampering. However, there have been a number of accusations. One month after the case broke out a letter was sent to Johnson & Johnson, Tylenol’s manufacturer. The 37 year old man who wrote the letter was James Lewis and the letter demanded one million dollars to “stop the killings.” James Lewis denied tampering the pills, and there was not enough evidence to prove that he was the murderer. Lewis still spent 12 years in federal prison. He was convicted of extortion for the writing of the letter. This was not his first offense; Lewis had been charged with murder in 1978 in Kansas after police found bags full of body parts from former clients in his attic. The charges were dropped because the police search of his house was illegal.

James Lewis' Extortion Letter

            Roger Arnold, a 48-year old “amateur chemist,” was brought in to police custody for questioning on October 11, 1982, after investigators heard that Arnold was “known to have cyanide in his house” on Chicago’s south side. After searching Arnold’s house, with his permission, detectives found five unregistered guns, ammunition, chemicals, two one way plane tickets to Thailand, a stash of books and recipes for making explosives and ways of poisoning people. Arnold admitted to having the cyanide for unspecified projects but told detectives he got rid of it a few months earlier. He told reporters that he had the chemicals but wouldn't say what they were used for and that it was nothing illegal. He was charged with possession of unregistered firearms but was released after posting his own bond. It was later found out that a local tavern owner, Marty Sinclair, was the man who informed Chicago police that Arnold had the cyanide in his house. Roger Arnold was charged with murder outside of Sinclair’s bar, Lincoln Avenue, after shooting the man he thought was Marty Sinclair. He shot the wrong man at dead point range after yelling “you turned me in.” John Stanisha was the victim of Arnold’s gunshot. Stanisha was said to resemble Sinclair, but when questioned about mistakenly shooting Stanisha instead of Sinclair, Arnold denied the mistake.

            Secondary suspects include Kevin Masterson and Jerome Howard. The extent of their accusation was just questioning and they were never taken into custody for any purpose other than questioning.