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Tylenol case in local police's hands one year: Where they're at

A year after the FBI turned the Tylenol murder investigation over to local authorities, suburban police said they have no new leads on the now 32-year-old probe into who is responsible for the deaths of seven people who took cyanide-laced pills in the 1980s.

"We have no new developments to report," said Arlington Heights police Capt. Mike Hernandez, as another anniversary of the infamous murders passes today. "We are just not at that point right now."

Last September, when the FBI handed the inquiry over to the suburban jurisdictions where the murders took place, each department appointed a point person on the investigation, and Arlington Heights was named the lead agency. Among the other agencies involved are police from Elk Grove Village, Lombard, Schaumburg, Chicago and Winfield, along with the Illinois State Police.

That's a significant downsizing from the time when a task force made up of 140 federal, state and local law enforcement officials chased down tens of thousands of leads.

Investigators recently used new DNA technology to process old evidence, but still no one has been charged in the slayings.

The 1982 killings shocked the nation and changed the way medicine and, eventually, other consumable products are packaged.

In all, six adults and one child were killed after ingesting poisoned capsules between Sept. 29 and Oct. 1, 1982. More than 30 million Tylenol products were pulled from the shelves after authorities discovered a link between the painkiller and the deaths.

Mary Kellerman, who lived in Elk Grove Village and attended seventh grade at Addams Junior High School in Schaumburg, was the first victim. Adam Janus, a postal worker from Arlington Heights, died next. His death was followed by those of his grief-stricken brother and sister-in-law, Stanley and Theresa Janus of Lisle, who ingested pills from the same container.

Chicago flight attendant Paula Prince, Elmhurst resident Mary McFarland and Mary Reiner, a Winfield woman who had just given birth to her fourth child, also died.

While there are no new developments, Hernandez said police are not giving up on the case.

"I'm optimistic," he said. "As long as a case is active, I'm always optimistic about a case being solved."

Hernandez said he couldn't discuss investigative techniques or how much time is being dedicated to the case, but said it is a priority.

"I can't give out trade secrets, but we are still actively working on it," he said. "We haven't put it to rest yet."

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