Chicago Tylenol murders

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The Chicago Tylenol murders occurred when seven people died after taking pain-relief capsules that had been poisoned. The Tylenol poisonings, code-named TYMURS by the FBI, took place in the autumn of 1982 in the Chicago area of the United States. These poisonings involved Extra-Strength Tylenol medicine capsules which had been laced with potassium cyanide.^[1] The incident led to reforms in the packaging of over-the-counter substances and to federal anti-tampering laws. The case remains unsolved and no suspects have been charged. A $100,000 reward, offered by Johnson & Johnson for the capture and conviction of the "Tylenol Killer," has never been claimed.

Contents [show] 1 The incidents 1.1 Suspects 2 Aftermath 3 Ongoing investigations 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links

[edit] The incidents

Wednesday morning, September 29, 1982, 12-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, died after taking a capsule of Extra Strength Tylenol. Adam Janus of Arlington Heights, Illinois, died in the hospital shortly thereafter. Adam's brother Stanley of Lisle, Illinois, and sister-in-law Theresa died after gathering to mourn his death, having taken pills from the same bottle. Soon afterward, Mary McFarland of Elmhurst, Paula Prince of Chicago, and Mary Reiner of Winfield, Illinois, also died in similar incidents.^[2][3] Investigators soon discovered the Tylenol link. Urgent warnings were broadcast, and police drove through Chicago neighborhoods issuing warnings over loudspeakers.

As the tampered bottles came from different factories, and the seven deaths had all occurred in the Chicago area, the possibility of sabotage during production was ruled out. Instead, the culprit was believed to have entered various supermarkets and drug stores over a period of weeks, pilfered packages of Tylenol from the shelves, adulterated their contents with solid cyanide compound at another location, and then replaced the bottles. In addition to the five bottles which led to the victims' deaths, three other tampered bottles were discovered.

Johnson & Johnson, the parent company of McNeil, distributed warnings to hospitals and distributors and halted Tylenol production and advertising. On October 5, 1982, it issued a nationwide recall of Tylenol products; an estimated 31 million bottles were in circulation, with a retail value of over US$100 million. The company also advertised in the national media for individuals not to consume any products that contained acetaminophen. When it was determined that only capsules were tampered with, they offered to exchange all Tylenol capsules already purchased by the public with solid tablets.

[edit] Suspects

During the initial investigations, a man named James W. Lewis sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to stop the cyanide-induced murders. Police were unable to link him with the crimes, as he and his wife were living in New York City at the time. He was convicted of extortion, served 13 years of a 20-year sentence, and was released in 1995 on parole. WCVB Channel 5 of Boston reported that court documents, released in early 2009, "show Department of Justice investigators concluded suspect James W. Lewis, who now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was responsible for the poisonings, despite the fact that they did not have enough evidence to charge him." Lewis continues to deny responsibility for the poisonings.^[4][5]

A second man, Roger Arnold, was investigated and cleared of the killings; however, the media attention caused him to have a nervous breakdown, and he blamed a bar owner, Marty Sinclair, for the police investigation of him. In the summer of 1983, he shot and killed John Stanisha, whom he mistook for Sinclair, but who was, in fact, an innocent man who did not know Arnold.^[6] Arnold was convicted in January 1984 and served 15 years of a 30-year sentence for second degree murder. He died in June 2008.

Laurie Dann, who poisoned and shot victims in a May 1988 rampage in and around Winnetka, Illinois, was briefly considered as a suspect, but no direct connection was found.^[7]

[edit] Aftermath

The media gave Johnson & Johnson much positive coverage for its handling of the crisis; for example, an article in the Washington Post said, "Johnson & Johnson has effectively demonstrated how a major business ought to handle a disaster." The article further stated that "this is no Three Mile Island accident in which the company's response did more damage than the original incident," and applauded the company for being honest with the public. In addition to issuing the recall, Johnson & Johnson established relations with the Chicago Police, the FBI, and the Food and Drug Administration. This way the company could have a part in searching for the person who laced the Tylenol capsules and they could help prevent further tamperings.^[8]analgesic in the US. While at the time of the scare the market share of Tylenol collapsed from 35% to 8%, it rebounded in less than a year, a move credited to J&J's prompt and aggressive reaction. In November, it reintroduced capsules but in a new, triple-sealed package, coupled with heavy price promotions and within several years, Tylenol had become the most popular over-the-counter

A number of copycat attacks involving Tylenol and other products (see Stella Nickell for information on the 1986 Excedrin tampering murders) ensued during the following years. One of these incidents occurred in the Chicago area; unlike Tylenol, it actually forced the end of the product affected by the hoax, Encaprin, from Procter & Gamble. However, the incident did inspire the pharmaceutical, food, and consumer product industries to develop tamper-resistant packaging, such as induction seals and improved quality control methods. Moreover, product tampering was made a federal crime.

Additionally, the tragedy prompted the pharmaceutical industry to move away from capsules, which were easy to contaminate as a foreign substance could be placed inside without obvious signs of tampering. Within the year, the Food and Drug Administration introduced more stringent regulations to avoid product tampering. This led to the eventual replacement of the capsule with the solid "caplet", a tablet made in the shape of a capsule, as a drug delivery form and with the addition of tamper-evident safety-seals to bottles of many sorts.

[edit] Ongoing investigations

In early January 2009, Illinois authorities renewed the investigation. Federal agents searched the home of Lewis in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and seized a number of items.^[9] In Chicago, an FBI spokesman declined to comment but said "we'll have something to release later possibly."^[10] Law enforcement officials have received a number of tips related to the case coinciding with its anniversary. In a written statement,^[11] the FBI explained,

This review was prompted, in part, by the recent 25th anniversary of this crime and the resulting publicity. Further, given the many recent advances in forensic technology, it was only natural that a second look be taken at the case and recovered evidence.

In January 2010, both Lewis and his wife submitted DNA samples and fingerprints to authorities.^[5] Lewis stated "if the FBI plays it fair, I have nothing to worry about."^[5]

Dujail Massacre

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Dujail massacre
Location	Dujail, Iraq
Date	July 8, 1982
Attack type	Judicial reprisals
Death(s)	142 - 148 Shiite residents
Belligerent(s)	Baath Regime

The Dujail Massacre refers to the events following an assassination attempt against then Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, on July 8, 1982, in the town of Dujail. Dujail, a town of up to 75,000 in 1982 with a large Shiite population is located 53 km (33 mi) from Baghdad in the predominantly Sunni Salaheddin province of Iraq.

Contents [show] 1 Background 2 Reprisals 3 Trial and executions 4 Aftermath 5 References

[edit] Background

Dujail was a stronghold of the Shiite Dawa Party, an organisation involved in the Iranian backed insurgencyBaathist dictatorship in Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War. Widely viewed in the West as a terrorist organization at the time, the Dawa party was banned and its members sentenced to death in 1980 by the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council.^[1] against Saddam Hussein's

On July 8, 1982, Saddam Hussein visited the town to make a speech praising local conscripts who had served Iraq in the fight against Iran. Saddam visited several households and after finishing his speech prepared for his return to Baghdad. As his motorcade proceeded down the main road, up to a dozen gunmen using the cover of the date palm orchards that lined both sides of the road opened fire killing two of Saddam’s bodyguards before fleeing on foot. In the ensuing four-hour fire-fight most of the attackers were killed and several were captured.^[2][3]

[edit] Reprisals

Saddam Hussein initially interviewed two of the captured attackers himself before ordering his special security and military forces to round up all suspected Dawa members who lived in Dujail along with their families. He later ordered that orchards on both sides of the road from Balad to Dujail be razed to prevent a repeat of the ambush.^[3] On October 14, the Revolutionary Command Council ordered that the roadside farmland be retitled to the Ministry of Agriculture and the owners compensated for their loss.^[4]

By late December, 393 men over the age of 19 and 394 women and children from Dujail and the nearby town of Balad had been arrested^[5] and held in detention at Abu Graib near Baghdad where an unknown number were tortured with 138 male adult detainees and ten juveniles referred to trial before the Revolutionary Court after they confessed to having taken part in the assassination attempt.^[6] Over several months the remaining prisoners were transferred to detention centres in the desert to the west. More than 40 of those detained died during interrogation or while in detention.^[7] A resident of Dujail later testified at Saddam's trial in 2005, that he had witnessed the torture and murders during the government reprisal, including the murders of 7 of his 10 brothers.^[8] After nearly two years in detention, around 400 detainees, primarily family members of the 148 who had admitted involvement, were sent into exile to a remote part of southern Iraq. The remaining detainees were released and sent back to Dujail.^[6]

[edit] Trial and executions

Following the 1982 confessions by 148 of the accused, the judiciary investigated the evidence in support and in late May 1984, accepted their pleas of guilty to treason for providing armed support for Iran during war, allowing the Revolutionary Court to review the investigation records and confessions before passing sentence. On June 14, the court handed down the mandatory death sentence. On July 23, Saddam signed the court documents authorising the executions and ordered that the homes, buildings, date palms and fruit orchards belonging to those convicted be razed.

On March 23, 1985, 96 of the 105 condemned still living were executed. Two of the condemned were accidentally released while a third was mistakenly transferred to another prison and survived. The 96 executed included four members of the Abdel-Amir family who had previously been found not guilty and ordered released. They were instead mistakenly executed. An investigation recommended that a decree be issued to declare the Abdel-Amirs "martyrs" and that property confiscated from their relatives be returned. It further recommended that the officer responsible for the mistake be prosecuted. Saddam gave his approval to the recommendation with the officer subsequently being sentenced to three years imprisonment and the decree issued.^[7]

Children aged between 11 and 17 were originally believed to have been among the 96 executed, but they had in fact been sent to a prison outside the city of Samawah. In 1989 the ten juveniles, all now adults, were secretly executed on the orders of the Mukhabarat.^[7]

[edit] Aftermath

The executions in Dujail were the primary charges for which Saddam Hussein was hanged on December 30, 2006.^[2][9]

The charges against Saddam Hussein included razing 250,000 acres (1,000 square kilometres) of Dujail farmland. However, the source for this figure was an unsourced claim published in a 2005 New York Times^[10] The claimed 250,000 acres is larger than the total amount of farmland surrounding Dujail while less than 2% of the town’s population had land confiscated or razed. Earlier media reports ranged from thousands to a high of tens of thousands of acres that not only included the land confiscated from those convicted, but also the land cleared to remove cover along the road from Balad to Baghdad for which the owners were compensated. There is no record of how many acres were actually razed. Ironically, two of the four Baath Party officials executed for the massacre lived in Dujail and the roadside farmland razed included land belonging to both.^[11] article.

Barzan Hassan, Hussein's half-brother and former Iraqi intelligence chief, and Awad Bandar, former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, were hanged on January 15, 2007 for "aiding and abetting" a crime against humanity by naming the suspected Dawa Party members to be arrested.^[5][12] Later, Taha Yassin Ramadan, Saddam's former deputy and vice-president who, as national commander of the Popular Army had command responsibility (originally sentenced to life in prison but later to death by hanging), was likewise charged with "aiding and abetting" for arresting Dawa members and razing the orchards. Ramadan was executed on March 20, 2007, the fourth and last man in the al-Dujail trial to die by hanging for crimes against humanity.^[5][13]

Hezbollah

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For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation).

This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles and using this article for a summary of the key points of the subject. (July 2010)

Hezbollah
Hezbollah flag
Leader	Hassan Nasrallah
Founded	1982 - 1985 (officially)
Ideology	Islamism Islamic Socialism
Religion	Shi'a Islam
Nationality	Lebanese
Website
Varies. See List of official sites.

Hezbollah^[1] (Arabic: حزب الله‎ ḥizbu-illāh(i),^[2] literally "Party of God") is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon.^[3] Hezbollah is also a major provider of social services,^[4] operating schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shi'a, and plays a significant role in Lebanese politics.^[5] It is regarded as a resistance movement throughout much of the Arab and Muslim world.^[3] Multiple countries, including Sunni Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan,^[6] have condemned actions by Hezbollah, while Syria and Iran have generally been supportive of the organisation.^[7] Most Europeans countries have refused to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization,^[8] but the United States, Egypt,^[9] Israel, Australia, and Canada regard it in whole or in part as such.^[10]
Hezbollah first emerged in 1982 as a militia in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, also known as Operation Peace for Galilee, set on resisting the Israeli occupation of Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war.^[3][11] Its leaders were inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.^[12] Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto listed its four main goals as "Israel's final departure from Lebanon as a prelude to its final obliteration," ending "any imperialist power in Lebanon," submission of the Phalangists to "just rule" and bringing them to trial for their crimes, and giving the people the chance to choose "with full freedom the system of government they want," while we not hide our commitment to the rule of Islam." ^[13][14][15] Hezbollah leaders have also made numerous statements calling for the destruction of Israel, which they refer to as a "Zionist entity... built on lands wrested from their owners."^[14][15]
Hezbollah, which started with only a small militia, has grown to an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite television-station, and programs for social development.^[16] Hezbollah maintains strong support among Lebanon's Shi'a population, and gained a surge of support from Lebanon's broader population (Sunni, Christian, Druze) immediately following the 2006 Lebanon War,^[17] and is able to mobilize demonstrations of hundreds of thousands.^[18] Hezbollah alongside with some other groups began the 2006–2008 Lebanese political protests in opposition to the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.^[19] A later dispute over Hezbollah preservation of its telecoms network led to clashes and Hezbollah-led opposition fighters seized control of several West Beirut neighborhoods from Future Movement militiamen loyal to Fouad Siniora. These areas were then handed over to the Lebanese Army.^[20] A national unity government was formed in 2008, giving Hezbollah and its opposition allies control of eleven of thirty cabinets seats; effectively veto power.^[5]
Hezbollah receives its financial support from the governments of Iran and Syria, as well as donations from Lebanese people and foreign Shi'as.^[21][22] It has also gained significantly in military strength in the 2000s.^[23] Despite a June 2008 certification by the United Nations that Israel had withdrawn from all Lebanese territory,^[24] in August, Lebanon's new Cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement which secures Hezbollah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands." Since 1992, the organization has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General.

Hezbollah

Articles Flag of Hezbollah Ideology History Political activities 2008 conflict in Lebanon 2006–2008 Lebanese political protests Doha Agreement Military activities South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000) Operation Accountability Operation Grapes of Wrath 2000–2006 Shebaa Farms conflict 2006 Lebanon War Military capabilities Imam al-Mahdi Scouts Armed strength Foreign relations Funding of Hezbollah Hezbollah's organizations: Bayt al-Mal Jihad Al Binna IRSO Media: Al-Manar Al-Nour Secretary General: Subhi al-Tufayli Abbas al-Musawi Hassan Nasrallah

Contents [show]

History

Main article: History of Hezbollah

1980s

Main article: South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000)

Ending Israel's occupation of Southern Lebanon was the primary focus of Hezbollah's early activities.^[11] Israel had become militarily involved in Lebanon in combat with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which had been invited into Lebanon after Black September in Jordan. Israel had been attacking the PLO in Southern Lebanon in the lead-up to the 1982 Lebanon War, and Israel had invaded and occupied Southern Lebanon and besieged Beirut.^[25]
Hezbollah waged an asymmetrical guerrilla war against Israel using suicide attacks against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and against Israeli targets outside of Lebanon.^[26] Hezbollah is reputed to have been among the first Islamic resistance groups to use tactical suicide bombing, assassination, and capturing against foreign soldiers in the Middle East.^[12] Hezbollah turned into a paramilitary organization and used missiles, Katyusha, and other type of rocket launchers and detonations of explosive charges^[27][28] instead of capturing,^[29][30] murders,^[29] and hijackings.^[31] At the end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990, despite the Taif Agreement asking for the "disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias," Syria, in control of Lebanon at that time, allowed Hezbollah to maintain their arsenal, and control the Shiite areas in Southern Lebanon along the border with Israel.^[32]

After 1990

In the 1990s, Hezbollah transformed from a revolutionary group into a political one, in a process which is described as the Lebanonisation of Hezbollah. Unlike its uncompromising revolutionary stance in the 1980s, Hezbollah conveyed a lenient stance towards the Lebanese state.^[33]
In 1992, Hezbollah decided to participate in elections, and Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, endorsed it. Former Hezbollah secretary general, Subhi al-Tufayli, contested this decision, which led to a schism in Hezbollah. Hezbollah won all twelve seats which were on its electoral list. At the end of that year, Hezbollah began to engage in dialog with Lebanese Christians. Hezbollah regards cultural, political, and religious freedoms in Lebanon as sanctified, although it does not extend these values to groups who have relations with Israel.^[34]
In 1997, Hezbollah formed multi-confessional Lebanese Brigades to Fighting the Israeli Occupation, which was an attempt to revive national and secular resistance against Israel, which marks the Lebanonisation of resistance.^[35]

Islamic Jihad Organization

Whether the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO) was a nom de guerre used by Hezbollah or a separate organization, is disputed.
Hezbollah leaders reportedly admitted their involvement in IJO's attacks and the nominal nature of "Islamic Jihad" - that it was merely a "telephone organization,"^[36][37] and^[38] whose name was "used by those involved to disguise their true identity."^{[39][40][41][42][43]}
A 2003 decision by an American court found IJO was the name used by Hezbollah for its attacks in Lebanon, and parts of the Middle East, and Europe.^[44] Hezbollah also used another name, Islamic Resistance, or al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya, for its attacks against Israel.^[45]
The names Islamic Jihad, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth and the Revolutionary Justice Organization are considered to be synonymous with Hezbollah by the United States,^[46] Israel,^[47] and Canada.^[48]