![]() ![]() Potassium cyanide (KCN) was famously added to a flavored punch and then drank by more than 900 members of the Jonestown cult in a mass murder-suicide in 1978. Potassium cyanide and sodium cyanide, meanwhile, are soluble, ingestible crystals. Hydrogen cyanide was used to murder more than one million people in the gas chambers at Auschwitz. It boils at room temperature, and in its gas state, it can kill within a minute. And certain fruit seeds, such as apple seeds, fruit stones and peach pits, contain cyanogenic compounds.īut cyanide can also be manufactured in several forms, including hydrogen cyanide (HCN), a liquid that is colorless, odorless and highly flammable. Cyanogenic compounds are produced by various fungi, algae and plants. Read More: What is True Crime? A Not So Strange AddictionĬyanide is a naturally occurring chemical compound with a molecular makeup of a carbon atom triple bonded to a nitrogen atom. The poisoner was determined to kill, and the toxic tablets were designed to resemble the well-known Tylenol pills. The deadly plan worked, and although authorities still don’t understand the motivation for the murders, they know the culprit picked a poison and delivered a dose that no antidote could have cured in time. Beyond that, the shocking murders catalyzed major changes in the way that we take pills that still exist today. Five to seven milligrams of potassium cyanide can kill a person, and the pills were a far more potent 45 mg. Someone, authorities realized, had taken Tylenol bottles from store shelves and contaminated them with potassium cyanide before putting them back. Lab results revealed that many of the pills had been swapped out with potassium cyanide tablets.Īt the time, over-the-counter medicines didn’t have safety seals or tamper proof packaging. Authorities collected the suspected bottles from the grieving families and sent the contents for testing. 1982 Tylenol Murdersįirst responders immediately sensed that the Tylenol was the sinister link between the fatalities. The last victim was a flight attendant who had just returned to Chicago and stopped at a drugstore on her way home to buy the bottle. Another was a single mother raising two young boys. One of the victims had just given birth to her fourth child and turned to acetaminophen for relief. In the coming days, three more women in the Chicago area died after taking extra-strength Tylenol. ![]()
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