The Unsolved Wyoming Tylenol Murder & The Unibomber

In September of 1982, somebody in Chicago had laced bottles of the over-the-counter painkiller Tylenol with cyanide.

This led to several deaths and an order from the mayor to remove the painkiller from shelves in stores.

One of the suspects was also wanted for a different string of murders.

Ted Kaczynski, later known as The Unabomber, was considered a suspect.

At one point the FBI descended on Sheridan, Wyoming to investigate a victim who had been poisoned with cyanide through a Tylenol capsule.

Kaczynski was known for performing test runs on his murderous ideas before unleashing them on the public. Was that the case here in Wyoming?

As it turned out, the cases were unrelated.

The Wyoming death occurred a little over two months before the Illinois Tylenol killings and was not officially labeled as cyanide poisoning. The victim was Jay Adam Mitchell in Sheridan, Wyoming. The Wyoming case remains unsolved. (UPI News).

"Kaczynski has not been indicted in connection with the Chicago Tylenol investigation, and no such federal prosecution is currently planned," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in its own court filing in response to Kaczynski's. "Consequently, there is no basis for an order interfering with the sale previously approved by the district court, as directed by the court of appeals."

Kaczynski filed court papers claiming he had nothing to do with the Tylenol murders.

"I have never even possessed any potassium cyanide," he wrote. "But, even on the assumption that the FBI is entirely honest (an assumption I'm unwilling to make), partial DNA profiles can throw suspicion on persons who are entirely innocent."

 

Kaczynski was serving a life sentence after being convicted in 1998 for killing three people and injuring over 20 others in a mail bombing spree that spanned two decades.

Ted Kaczynski, known as "The Unabomber,”  committed suicide in his prison cell. Kaczynski was 81 and suffering from late-stage cancer.

These murders are the reason that when you open a bottle of medicine today, you'll find a breakable seal. If the seal is broken, do not take the medication and notify the store you purchased it from.