According to the
FBI and unnamed sources close to the case, the FBI, along with the
Massachusetts State Police and various other local, regional and
national law enforcement agencies, have been working together over the
last week – conducting their investigation and executing search
warrants in various spots within the Cambridge and Somerville areas.

Since
the incident in 1982, there have been no suspects charged with the
murders. Rather, one man who was what many believe to be the only
serious suspect to have ever been found by the authorities, was brought
up on charges of extortion and convicted.

This case was and is
truly a tricky one, then and now. James W. Lewis, a resident of 170
Gore Street, Cambridge (by the Somerville line), was charged with and
convicted of extortion relative to the murders in late 1982. Lewis had
sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson (the parent company of Tylenol)
demanding they give him $1 million, with the continuing of the pill
poisonings being the ultimatum. Since the murders, he has been saddled
with the moniker "Tylenol Man."

Authorities across the country
and Lewis are no strangers to one another. According to published
information, Lewis was charged with the killing and dismembering of a
seventy-two year old man back in 1978 in Kansas City, MO, as well as
the kidnapping and rape of a woman in Cambridge in 2004. The murder
case was thrown out because of a lack of evidence, while the rape case
was dropped because the alleged victim refused to testify.

Authorities
in Chicago and Arlington Heights, IL have cited how he went by many
aliases while being a resident in those neighborhoods back in the early
1980's, as well as how he posed as being a member of multiple different
professions. While in custody in 1982, after the nationwide manhunt for
the murderer, Lewis even explained to authorities in detail how the
perpetrator may have carried out the poisoning of the pills. In regards
to the extortion letter he sent to Johnson & Johnson, Lewis
described his actions as merely trying to capitalize financially on an
incident that he had no part in.

Lewis hasn't exactly dodged
the silver hammer of the law altogether for the past thirty years or
so. He was incarcerated in a Federal prison between 1983 and 1995,
serving twelve years of a twenty year sentence for the extortion
charges. Shortly after his release, he moved to Cambridge. Nine years
after that, the rape charges occurred, for which he spent three years
in prison awaiting the trial that was eventually thrown out.

Although
the FBI hasn't disclosed any specific information as to why they are
doing this now, one can assume that with the vastly more effective and
accurate forensic technology available, they feel they can finally
apprehend the murderer. The pivotal task will be the finding of enough
supporting evidence to actually file charges this time around, whether
on Lewis or someone else.

The biggest drawback in the case in
1982 was Lewis' ability to prove that he was in New York at the time of
the poisonings. This, coupled with the fact that after a short amount
of time, cyanide poison would basically dissolve the capsules, making
it much more obvious that something was wrong to the consumers that
bought the tainted pills – that time limiter placed Lewis safely away
from the grasp of a murder trial at the time.

This incident
was responsible for the nation-wide adoption of tamper-proof seals on
over the counter drugs. The case lives in infamy because of its
uncharged suspects, lack of hard evidence and general fear that was
experienced by the people across the country in the early 1980's.
Although no arrest has been made at this time, the FBI has stated that
there might possibly be a statement regarding the recent investigation
in the near future.