Some of the most interesting moments from the later life of James Lewis in Massachusetts aren’t in the new blockbuster Netflix documentary
Who Was James Lewis, the Alleged Tylenol Killer?
Roger Nicholson will always remember the man who held the door open as he walked out of Albert’s Market in Cambridge in 1995. The guy was “super polite,” Nicholson recalled, and he looked familiar.
“I recognized him because he was on the front page of the [Boston] Herald.” Nicholson said in a recent interview with the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. “And I go, I think that’s the Tylenol killer.”
The chummy stranger was James W. Lewis, and it turned out that he also lived across the street from Nicholson’s apartment at 572 Cambridge St. Lewis was the prime suspect in the 1982 murders of seven people in and around Chicago who ingested cyanide-laced Tylenol. He maintained his innocence, though, and no one was ever charged with the killings.
More than a decade passed before their next encounter, but Nicholson eventually became friendly with Lewis. He even confronted his neighbor about the murders numerous times, and surreptitiously recorded a few of their conversations. Nicholson had hoped his efforts would support a documentary, and he provided the material to the filmmakers behind the new Netflix release, “Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders.” But even though they interviewed him for the film, Nicholson ultimately told them not to use the tapes.
“I gave them everything,” Nicholson said. “But I told them, You can’t use this unless you pay me.”
Nicholson said he didn’t receive compensation for the film, and he does not appear in it. The documentary explores the FBI’s belief that Lewis was the killer, and additionally looks at suspect Roger Arnold, a grocery store worker in Illinois who purchased a large quantity of cyanide about six months prior to the poisonings, and had been acting erratically at the time. The doc also examines whether the tainted Tylenol may have come from a Johnson & Johnson factory.
Regardless of the movie’s content, Nicholson says that he isn’t interested in seeing it.
“I’m not going to watch it,” he said, “because it just breaks my heart dude.”
The Kansas City Murder Charge That Was Dismissed
While Lewis was never formally charged for the Tylenol murders, it wasn’t his first—or last—run-in with law enforcement. In some sense, he may be among the luckiest people ever suspected of being a serial killer.
Lewis was born on Aug. 8, 1946, in Memphis. He worked as a tax consultant and accountant, but in 1978 was charged with murdering one of his clients, Raymond West, a 72-year-old man from Kansas City, Missouri.
“Mr. West’s dismembered and decomposed body was found hanging from a pulley in his attic the same day Mr. Lewis tried to cash a forged check on Mr. West’s account,” the New York Times later reported.
The killing nearly landed Lewis behind bars, but a judge found that police did not inform him of his rights at his arrest, and the case was dismissed. His troubles weren’t over though, and in 1981 he was eventually charged and convicted on six counts of mail fraud, all related to a scheme in which Lewis secured credit cards by using information from clients of his Kansas City tax preparation service.
What Happened During the 1982 Tylenol Murders? A Timeline of the Cyanide-Laced Capsules
In the fall of 1982, someone in the Chicago area began lacing Tylenol with potassium cyanide and returning the product to store shelves. In short time, the tampering led to the deaths of seven people and a nationwide recall of 31 million bottles of Tylenol Extra Strength. The killings terrified millions of Americans, as police cruisers drove through the Chicago suburbs blaring: “Do not take Tylenol until further notice” from loudspeakers.
The hysteria registered when Mary Kellerman, a 12-year-old girl, told her parents that she wasn’t feeling well on the morning of Sept. 28, 1982. Staying home from school, she took a Tylenol, and then collapsed on the bathroom floor and died a short time later.
The following day, Adam Janus, a 27-year-old postal worker, took two Tylenols about 10 miles away from Kellerman, then died in a nearby hospital. His brother, Stanley Janus, and Stanley’s wife Theresa, also ingested capsules from the bottle, and suffered the same fate.
Then three more people—Mary Reiner, 27, Mary McFarland, 31, and Paula Prince, 35—the former of whom had just delivered her fourth child—also died from the tampered Tylenol over the next week.
After a public health worker noticed that six capsules were missing from a new Tylenol bottle at the Janus home, officials determined that the spansules had been disrupted, and the factory powder replaced with potassium cyanide.
“It was the first mass recall in American history,” CNN later reported. “And it started a murder investigation that would take more improbable twists and turns than a Sherlock Holmes mystery.”
Was James Lewis Involved in the Tylenol Case? The Extortion Letter to Johnson & Johnson
According to reports from the time, in October 1982 Lewis sent Johnson & Johnson, whose McNeil Consumer Healthcare manufactured the deadly Tylenol, a letter saying he would “stop the killing” if the company paid him $1 million. Lewis was charged and convicted of extortion in 1983, and was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.
During his trial, Lewis’ attorney conceded that his client wrote the letter, but said Lewis only did it to embarrass his wife’s former employer. The note asked that the money be placed in a closed account for the travel agency which, his lawyer argued, showed that Mr. Lewis never actually intended to receive it.
FBI Suspicion vs. Legal Outcomes
Prosecutors saw it differently, and said Lewis was an “evil and depraved” man who tried to turn tragedy to his own advantage. At the same time, his accusers insisted during the trial that Lewis was not a suspect in the Tylenol murders. All while investigators closely looked at others, including “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, who was a prime suspect from the start.
Lewis, meanwhile, oddly theorized about how someone could have carried out the killings. In 1987, while he was incarcerated at the penitentiary in Danbury, Connecticut, he explained to a reporter with the Chicago Sun-Times how any “mope” could have safely and efficiently filled those capsules with a deadly cyanide.
“It was simply a matter of drilling holes in a breadboard, Lewis explained, and inserting half a Tylenol capsule shell into each hole,” the story revealed. “Then, he said, the mope—certainly not him—would brush the powdered cyanide across the board with a table knife, letting it fall into the capsules.”
The Sun-Times interviewer wrote that he felt a “physical chill” during their meeting, and that he walked away convinced that Lewis was guilty of the capsule killings.
What Was James Lewis Doing in Cambridge? His Post-Prison Life
The tragic story stuck to Lewis for decades. He was released from prison in 1995, but after federal law enforcement re-opened the case in 2007, he met with or had phone conversations with investigators on more than 30 occasions.
He and his wife moved to Cambridge after Lewis was freed. She served as the comptroller for an independent bookstore in Harvard Square for 12 years before leaving in 2000 to open an accounting firm. In 2001, the Cambridge City Council passed a resolution recognizing the company for excellence in business.
But if it seemed like the couple were settling in nicely, it wouldn’t last. In 2004, Lewis was indicted in Middlesex County on charges including aggravated rape and drugging a person with “intent to stupefy or overpower” for sexual intercourse. According to reports from the time, he was held without bail until 2007, when the victim declined to proceed with the prosecution.
A Cambridge Neighbor Starts Investigating Lewis
Nicholson, meanwhile, hadn’t interacted with the “super polite” man who held the door for him at Albert’s Market since that fateful day in 1995. But around 2000, the Cambridge resident started reading books by famed FBI profiler John E. Douglas. That led him in 2005 to the mindhunting manual, “The Anatomy of Motive,” which included a chapter on the Tylenol killer and Lewis.
“So I was like, I gotta go after this guy, because he’s in Cambridge,” Nicholson said. “This is my hood. [Lewis] killed eight people±he chopped one up, he killed a 12-year-old girl, [and also killed] three people in the same family.”
Interview With the vampire
At the time of Nicholson’s rekindled interest in his neighbor, Lewis was in extended holding for the aforementioned rape charges. When Lewis was released in 2007, Nicholson said he teamed up with journalist Neil W. McCabe, then owner of the The Alewife newspaper which covered Cambridge, to cover the story. The three set up an interview at Andy’s Diner near Porter Square. Nicholson saw it as an opportunity to break the silence of a killer.
“I’m hanging back, but I wanted to go after him,” Nicholson said. “For like two years I’ve been fixated on getting this fucking guy, reading about his shit, and I’m like, I’m going to nail this son of a bitch. And so I started hammering him. I go, Fuck this, and I just interrupted Neil and I go, You killed that old man, you did this and that. I started giving him shit, and he started giving it back.”
Despite Nicholson’s aggressive approach, he said that after the interview, Lewis continued speaking with him, and even took a liking to his neighbor. “I don’t know how, [but] he got my number, or my email, or something,” Nicholson said. “And then he started reaching out to me.”
Trying To Get Lewis To confess
At the time, Nicholson, who is an artist and supporter of various local scenes, was hosting a cable access show on Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) called the Cambridge Rag, and he invited Lewis on as a guest. Lewis obliged, and once again, Nicholson went after him.
“He was cordial and he had an awkward sense of humor … and was kind of reserved,” Nicholson said. He recalled that his guest cracked a joke, asking the host, Where were you during the Tylenol murders?
“He thinks he’s clever,” Nicholson said. “[Lewis] goes, I don’t know, maybe you’re the Tylenol killer.” “And I go, Yeah, I was 11 when you started killing people. Oops, did I say that?’ That’s how I did it. I was clowning him.”
Suspected Killer and House Guest James Lewis
Shortly after their CCTV interview, Nicholson reached out to Lewis in December 2007. He said that Lewis told him he was homeless and was sleeping by the Charles River.
Come stay at my house, Nicholson responded. Lewis agreed to the offer, but said his wife still hated Nicholson. “She knew I was clowning him,” Nicholson said. “He wanted the attention, so he took it. But she didn’t like it.”
Lewis slept on Nicholson’s couch at 19 Oak St. in Inman Square for three days. “I took Jim in, and [his wife] took him back,” Nicholson said. He recalled Lewis going to visit his wife for food, then returning to his house and crashing on his couch while Nicholson played online poker.
“I would hang out with him … and every time I won a hand I made him fistbump me,” Nicholson said. “That was our little dynamic.”
According to Nicholson, Lewis was a really smart guy, but he was also immature. After three days, the house guest went back home, but the two stayed in touch via email. Nicholson said they would argue about OJ Simpson, who Lewis believed was innocent of murder, and about FBI brainwashing. Notably, Nicholson claims that Lewis said the Unabomber was the Tylenol killer.
“He would try and gaslight me,” Nicholson said. “And I’d remind him, Jim, I’m not joining your cult. We had some funny email exchanges.”
The FBI raids the Cambridge Home of Lewis
In 2009, FBI agents raided a condo in Cambridge that was associated with Lewis. According to a New York Times report, “Several other places in Cambridge were searched as part of the investigation, including at least one storage facility.” A spokesperson for the bureau’s Chicago office said the action “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.”
A former federal prosecutor told the Times, “[Lewis] is a prolific writer and artist, and he provided me with great volumes of documents and a number of diagrams, all of which dealt with his theories as to what might have taken place.”
No arrests were made. But the FBI’s failure didn’t stop Nicholson from trying to nail Lewis on his own again. In January 2010, Lewis appeared for a second time on the Cambridge Rag. He sought out the interview to promote his self-published mystery, “Poison! The Doctor’s Dilemma,” and didn’t want to speak about much else. A slippery guest, Lewis dodged questions from callers and Nicholson about his connection to the Tylenol murders throughout the show.
At one point during the exchange, Nicholson gave Lewis an opportunity to confess to the Tylenol killings. In response, Lewis called the host “delusional.”
The FBI goes after James Lewis … Again
By 2013, Nicholson said he had developed a contact in the Chicago Police Department who was working with the FBI. He shared all the emails he exchanged with Lewis with authorities, some of whom he recalled subsequently phoned to ask about their suspect’s state of mind.
At one point, Nicholson said authorities asked him to distract Lewis for an hour while they tried to get his wife to rat him out. “The FBI [was] putting me to work, which is kind of cool,” Nicholson said.
Lewis was a photography buff, so Nicholson asked him to meet at the McDonald’s at Twin City Plaza in Somerville to get some camera tips. The two had linked there before, but this time Lewis said he couldn’t stay for long, which Nicholson said was unusual: “I [was supposed] to keep him there for an hour, and all of a sudden, [for] the first time ever, he needs to take off.”
Lewis left no more than 15 minutes after he arrived. Nicholson said he “felt like I blew it,” but was later told that agents intercepted Lewis after he left McDonald’s, and he willingly engaged: “Apparently, he just talked to them for fuckin’ hours.”
Documenting an Alleged Killer
Nicholson later began surreptitiously recording his interactions with Lewis. He said has about four hours of material. “I was making a documentary, or so I thought,” he said.
Some of the recordings involved Nicholson confronting Lewis about the murders, or simply getting him “ramped up.” “I could get him so mad,” Nicholson said. “I could play him like a fiddle.”
On one occasion, Nicholson said he started to seriously argue with Lewis, and he could see the rage in his eyes.
“I remember going, Now you can’t take your eyes off him, because now he’s fuckin dangerous. He looks crazy,” Nicholson said. “Now I’m looking at the killer.”
He added, “I couldn’t get him to tell me the truth, but that was the game.”
Nicholson met up with Lewis on occasion up until 2021. Toward the end of their relationship, Nicholson later told Cambridge Day, Lewis stabbed him in the back by giving an interview for a Showtime documentary.
Death in 2023 and the Legacy of Suspicion
Not long after Nicholson called Lewis a “fucking piece of shit” in a text message over the Showtime slight, on July 9, 2023, Cambridge police responded to a report of an unresponsive person at a home on Gore Street in Cambridge. Lewis was soon after declared dead at 76 years old. According to a statement from the city, “Following an investigation, Lewis’ death was determined to be not suspicious.”
“He better pray to god there is no afterlife,” Nicholson said. “Because he’s, you know, he’s in deep trouble.”
This article is syndicated by the MassWire news service of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. If you want to see more reporting like this, make a contribution at givetobinj.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was James Lewis ever charged for the Tylenol murders?
No. Despite being the prime suspect and admitting to writing an extortion letter, Lewis was never formally charged with the 1982 Tylenol killings.
What does the Netflix documentary say about James Lewis?
Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders highlights Lewis as the FBI’s primary suspect, but also explores other theories, including possible contamination at a Johnson & Johnson factory.
Where did James Lewis live in Cambridge?
He lived on Cambridge Street and later near Inman Square, spending time in and around Harvard Square after his release from prison.
Did the FBI reopen the Tylenol case?
Yes. The FBI revisited the case in 2007, conducting over 30 interviews with Lewis and even raiding multiple locations in Cambridge tied to him.
Who is Roger Nicholson and what role did he play?
Roger Nicholson, a Cambridge local and artist, befriended and investigated Lewis over two decades, eventually recording hours of their conversations and interacting with the FBI.
How did James Lewis die?
Lewis died in Cambridge in July 2023. Authorities declared his death as not suspicious.
