Idaho Police Identify 1982 Cyanide Suicide Victim, Rule Out Link to 7 Tylenol Murders
Updated
Updated · NBC Chicago · Sep 23
Idaho Police Identify 1982 Cyanide Suicide Victim, Rule Out Link to 7 Tylenol Murders
3 articles · Updated · NBC Chicago · Sep 23
Summary
Boise detectives identified the long-unknown 1982 "Unknown Wanderer" as Dr. Mathew Francis Betkouski, a man found dead by suicide from cyanide poisoning in December 1982.
Idaho authorities said Betkouski is not a suspect in the Chicago Tylenol case because he used sodium cyanide, not the potassium cyanide used in the 7 killings, and they cannot place him in the Chicago area.
Tim Cooper said the limited findings were shared with Chicago and Arlington Heights police, but neither department signaled that the Idaho lead had strengthened the still-open cold case.
Jeremy Margolis, a former Illinois State Police director who worked the case, called the supposed connection "utter nonsense" and said the announcement effectively cleared the Idaho man.
The disclosure leaves attention on James Lewis, who died in 2023 after serving nearly 13 years for extortion tied to the murders and remains the person many investigators privately consider the likeliest killer.