The Tylenol Murders -Chicago, 1982-

Victims ●Mary Kellerman (12) - child with a cold, given extra strength tylenol to help symptoms of her cold ●Adam Janus (27) - took extra strength tylenol because he thought he was getting a cold, initially thought to have had a massive heart attack ●Stanley (25) & Theresa (19) Janus - brother and sister-in-law of Adam, after hearing of his death rushed home to be with loved ones, took extra strength tylenol ●Paula Prince (35) - flight attendant, seen on camera buying extra strength tylenol at Walgreens ●Mary McFarland (31) - took extra strength tylenol after complaining of a bad headache ●Mary Reiner (27) - had recently given birth to her fourth child, not feeling well, took extra strength tylenol Magazine/October-2012/Chicago-Tylenol- Murders-An-Oral-History/

Symptoms exhibited by each of the victims included: ●weakness, dizziness, sleepiness ●flushed, bright red, skin tone ●headache ●shortness of breath and rapid breathing ●vomiting ●confusion and disorientation In your opinion, are the seven deaths connected. What additional information would you need to determine if they are connected? If poison is suspected in the deaths, how would you proceed with the investigation?

Part 2: Autopsy ●victims died of hypoxia ●tissue samples from heart, lungs, & liver showed massive cell death with mitochondrial damage ●blood oxygen levels at 110 mm Hg (normal range is mm Hg) What is the role of mitochondria in the cell?

What is hypoxia? Although poison was suspected in this case, what are some other ways that people could die of hypoxia? How can you explain the high blood oxygen levels although the cause of death was ruled hypoxia?

Part 3: Why Do We Need Oxygen? For cellular respiration! It takes glucose and oxygen to make ATP!

Toxicology reports show that the victims had been poisoned with cyanide. The poison was traced back to extra strength tylenol where the murderer had opened the capsules and replaced acetaminophen (a pain killer) with cyanide. oct-1982-tylenol-poisoning Changes in the way tylenol (and other drugs are packaged. Cyanide inhibits cytochrome C (a protein in the electron transport chain), preventing it from doing its job. The electron stops at the end of the chain and cannot be passed to oxygen. The whole chain grinds to a halt and no ATP can be made.