Idaho authorities name new suspect in 1982 Chicago poisoner case

Authorities in the US state of Idaho have announced a possible breakthrough in the case of the mysterious Chicago poisoner, who killed seven people. The New York Post writes about this.

A wave of poisonings swept through Chicago, Illinois, in late September 1982. An unidentified criminal bought Tylenol painkillers manufactured by Johnson & Johnson in pharmacies, added potassium cyanide to the capsules and returned the packages to the shelves. Seven people became victims of the poisoner, including a 12-year-old girl. The crimes caused panic, and Johnson & Johnson recalled the entire batch of the drug in the country, losing $100 million ($347 million or 29 billion rubles at today's exchange rate).

In the more than 40 years since the crimes, the police have had several suspects, but all of them turned out to be innocent. Now Idaho investigators say they have a new suspect. The Chicago poisoner may have been California doctor Matthew Francis Betkowski. A man was found lifeless in a church in Boise, Idaho. It turned out that he had taken potassium cyanide. After the investigation was resumed in 2019, Betkowski's brother was found. He passed away in 2021, and detectives gained access to the doctor’s personal belongings.

Among them were a bottle of potassium cyanide, a map of Chicago and photographs of his trip to that city the year before the poisonings. In addition, it turned out that Betkowski spoke with colleagues about the ideal crime using poison in drug capsules. The police admitted that there is no evidence yet directly confirming his guilt. The investigation is ongoing.