Massachusetts
James Lewis, longtime suspect in 1982 Tylenol poisonings of seven people, dies in Cambridge, officials say – The Boston Globe
James W. Lewis, who was long suspected of lacing Tylenol bottles in the Chicago area with poison in 1982, a crime that killed seven people and forever changed how thousands of products are packaged and sold, has died in the Cambridge condominium where he had lived since the mid-1990s, police said.
Lewis, 76, was found unresponsive at his home on Gore Street at 4 p.m. Sunday, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His death is not considered suspicious, Cambridge police said. The state Medical Examiner’s Office will investigate Lewis’s cause of death, a spokesman said.
Lewis’s wife, who was out of town, had asked a friend to check on him, police said.
In 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after ingesting Tylenol laced with cyanide, and Lewis was the longtime suspect in their deaths. He was never charged with the poisonings but was convicted of trying to extort the Johnson & Johnson drug company out of $1 million and sentenced to 12 years behind bars.
In interviews with law enforcement and reporters over the decades, Lewis adamantly denied he was responsible for the killings but provided details on how someone could have added poison to Tylenol capsules without customers discovering the tampering, the Globe has reported.
The Chicago Tribune, which reported Lewis’s death on Sunday, said federal investigators interviewed Lewis last fall in Cambridge. According to the Tribune, Lewis spoke with three detectives from Illinois for several hours, a conversation they recorded. The conversation did not lead to any charges being brought against Lewis.
The seven victims — four women, two men, and a 12-year-old girl — died in 1982 after taking capsules that had been purchased from drug and grocery stores in the Chicago area. Someone had opened the capsules and replaced some of the acetaminophen with cyanide and returned them to the shelves.
Lewis was an out-of-work accountant at the time of the killings and was widely described as a prime suspect. He insisted he had nothing to do with the tampering and resulting deaths and said he was living in New York City at the time.
Lewis and his wife lived for years in the Cambridge condominium, which investigators searched in 2009.
Lewis created a website where he maintained his innocence and discussed his notoriety.
“Search the Internet for these three words James Lewis Tylenol. You will receive thousands of hits. Please read some of the other ugly comments, so you can see first hand how I was vilified, and called a mass murder[er], and worse, for over 40 years, without a shred of evidence,” he wrote. “Because I was living in New York, and NOT in Chicago, it was absolutely impossible for me to have committed those homicides. That means the FBI and Illinois authorities should, as a matter of law, drop all interest in me and leave me alone.”
In 2004, Lewis was indicted in Middlesex County on charges of aggravated rape, drugging a person with “intent to stupefy or overpower” for sexual intercourse, and four other charges. He was held without bail until 2007, when the victim declined to go forward with the prosecution, court records show.
“The Commonwealth cannot prove the charges in the complaint without the testimony of the complaining witness,” prosecutors wrote in court records.
Lewis served about 12 years in federal prison after being convicted of trying to extort Johnson & Johnson out of $1 million in connection with the Tylenol poisonings. He was released in 1995.
His death left Chicago-area law enforcement frustrated that they were never able to charge Lewis in connection with the poisonings.
”I was always hoping justice would be served, and this short-circuits it,” former FBI special agent Roy Lane, who worked the case for decades, told the Tribune.
Last year, the Chicago Tribune posted an multi-part investigation into the Tylenol murders that traced Lewis’s personal history, which included being charged in 1978 with killing an elderly client while working as a tax accountant. The charge was dropped due to a police procedural error.
The Tribune also detailed law enforcement’s 40-year effort to solve the Tylenol murders. According to the history of the FBI’s Chicago office, the Tylenol poisonings led to the enactment of federal anti-product tampering law in 1983.
Jeremiah Manion of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.
Massachusetts
High School On SI 2024 All-State Massachusetts’ Football Award Winners
There were first-time state champions, repeat winners – and some of the craziest games you will ever seen played anywhere on a football field this fall.
And now it is time for High School On SI Massachusetts to release its individual award winners, including the player and coach of the year honorees.
The Boston College commitment played for Division 2’s top team, which Catholic Memorial defeated King Philip Regional 39-21 for the Super Bowl. Dodd was the workhorse for the team, rushing for 1,362 yards on 115 attempts and scoring 20 touchdowns. The senior also added seven catches for 139 yards through the air.
Whether it was through the air or on the ground, Attaway compiled over 1,000 yards either way. The senior led the way to the Hawks winning the Division 6 Super Bowl state title. Attaway finished completing 76-of-113 passes for 1,329 yards and 20 touchdowns. On the ground, Attaway rushed for 1,008 yards on 65 carries and 12 scores.
Frisch stood out on both sides of the ball, but especially on the defensive side at middle linebacker. The 6-foot, 210-pound linebacker racked up 59 tackles, eight going for a loss, 12 sacks, an interception and forced a fumble. On offense at tight end, Frisch caught 14 passes for 301 yards and five touchdowns.
Playing for the Division 7 Super Bowl state champions, the junior running back was phenomenal out of the backfield. The Spartans’ tailback carried the rock 201 times for 1,772 yards and scored 26 touchdowns. LaChapelle caught five passes for 100 yards and two scores.
Despite losing multiple games during the regular season and many throughout the state wondering if Xaverian Brothers could repeat as Division I state champions. The Hawks pulled it off under the guidance of Fornaro as he guided the team to the Division I Super Bowl, defeating Needham, 14-7.
Follow High School On SI throughout the 2024 high school football season for Live Updates, the most up to date Schedules & Scores and complete coverage from the preseason through the state championships!
Be sure to Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school football news.
High School On SI will serve as the premier destination for high school sports fans, delivering unparalleled coverage of high school athletics nationwide through in-depth stories, recruiting coverage, rankings, highlights and much more. The launch of a dedicated high school experience expands Sports Illustrated’s reach to even more local communities as fans can now truly follow athletes from “preps to the pros” on a single platform, bringing them closer to the action than ever before. For more information, visit si.com/high-school.
To get live updates on your phone – as well as follow your favorite teams and top games – you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App| Download Android App
— Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi
Massachusetts
Lucas: Ayotte’s shots at Healey over immigration hit mark
Hardly had Kelly Ayotte, the new governor of New Hampshire unloaded on Massachusetts over its immigration policy, than another illegal immigrant was charged with rape in the Bay State.
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Massachusetts
Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day
Suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor’s Trial Board disciplinary proceedings will go on to a second day.
Proctor’s trouble publicly began when he testified during the murder trial of Karen Read last summer. During a tense examination by the prosecution and even more intense cross examination, Proctor admitted to inappropriate private texts that he made as the case officer investigating Read.
“She’s a whack job (expletive),” Proctor read from compilations of text messages he sent to friends as he looked at Read’s phone. The last word was a derogatory term for women that he at first tried to spell out before Judge Beverly Cannone told him to read it the way he wrote it.
“Yes she’s a babe. Weird Fall River accent, though. No (butt),” he continued under oath on June 10, 2024.
He also texted them “no nudes so far” as an update on the search through her phone. He also testified that he told his sister that he hoped that Read would kill herself.
On Wednesday, Proctor sat through a full day of trial board proceedings at MSP general headquarters in Framingham. When that concluded in the late afternoon, the board decided to continue for a second day on Feb. 10. Neither Wednesday’s proceeding nor the second day is open to the public.
Proctor was relieved of duty on July 1 of last year, which was the day the Read trial concluded in mistrial. He was suspended without pay a week later. The State Police finished its internal affairs investigation last week and convened the trial board to determine the next step in the disciplinary process.
The trial board makes disciplinary recommendations to the superintendent, who determines the final outcome.
“A State Police Trial Board shall hear cases regarding violations of Rules, Regulations, Policies, Procedures, Orders, or Directives,” states the Department’s Rules and Regulations.
“In the event that the Trial Board finds guilt by a preponderance of the evidence on one or more of the charges, the Trial Board shall consider the evidence presented by the Department prosecutor pertaining to the accused member’s prior offenses/disciplinary history, and shall make recommendations for administrative action,” the rules and regulations state.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, faces charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision causing the death of O’Keefe, a 16-year Boston Police officer when he died at age 46 on Jan. 29, 2022. Read’s second trial is scheduled to begin April 16.
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