Season 1 – Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders

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ORLY J @RT22678094 Oct 12 Like some other documentaries on Netflix, solid parts but ones tending toward conspiracy theorizing without evidence or in contradiction of evidence the show itself has given. The show is on solid ground to ask if FBI had tunnel vision focusing for 40 yrs on James Lewis as the poisoner (he was clearly the extortion letter writer). They couldn't find evidence beyond a grainy CCTV shot that could have been him that he was in Chicago then, he lived in NY. But later they have journalists and a victim's kid who's become a fulltime researcher of the case suggesting the cyanide actually got into the pills at J&J's 'factory' and how it's 'suspicious' J&J was allowed to test millions of other pills, finding no cyanide then destroying them, implying J&J faked those results but giving no evidence they did. And the basic problem with that theory is also given by the show: the poisoned pills came from two different J&J factories in PA and TX. The kid of victim says there might have numerous victims nationwide, but nobody noticed any of them except a few people who bought their pills at the same known stores in the Chicago area. That doesn't pass the laugh test and makes you wonder about the whole documentary as such. It's just a bit of entertainment. See more Jake B @RT00988946 Jun 22 Solid documentary, interesting story. One that you put on your list but no need to put it at the top of your list. Rainy day watch. See more Leaburn O @RT35452347 06/01/2025 Starts well, it is fine but ebbs in quality as the series progresses. A lot goes unexplained. Watched on Netflix. See more Michael W @mawilps 05/31/2025 This crime docuseries was really good. The entire crew did an excellent job on telling this crime story and what is really going on with this case. It makes you wonder who is really responsible for these murders. In my opinion, this is similar to the Big Pharma case where the company is responsible and will do anything to control the narrative. They know that if they're convicted they would lose everything and go to prison. They're scared and they know it and that's why they did this. If you haven't seen this docuseries yet, check it out sometime. It's a definite must see. See more Jason A @RT66883166 05/30/2025 No, this is very typical of corporations. Profits above all. The other reviewer is very defensive of Johnson & Johnson for some reason. See more Rachelee8801 S @RT59823102 05/26/2025 Make no mistake, this has all the trappings of a serious documentary with talking heads that include law enforcement, public health, and family members of victims, not to mention heavy duty, staccato cello strains telling its audience that something on the scale of Jason Bourne being chased through a European city is happening. But it is one of the most spurious documentaries I've ever seen. It explores the Tylenol murders and the FBI's main suspect since 1982, James Lewis, but it indulges the crackpot idea that the murders were really just a big Johnson & Johnson screw up that they covered up really well. I'm no fan of corporations in general and I think a healthy dose of skepticism is warranted regarding corporate response to crises but this feeds into conspiracy thought trends in current culture that are not founded in critical thinking. There are 3 main proponents of this theory in the doc, 2 of whom are authors pushing books and 1 family member (notably the only family member of victims who appears to buy into this stupid conspiracy) who claims to have 15 years (full time!) investigating the Tylenol murders. Despite that 15 years of "investigation," all she or anyone has to prove this theory is the fundamental public safety actions J&J took in the wake of the series of deaths caused by ingestion of Tylenol -- they recalled and destroyed millions of Tylenol pills. What is never explained is how, if this is just a J&J screw-up, pills from two separate manufacturing facilities were simultaneously contaminated with cyanide and distributed to stores in Chicago. They try to explain that others could have died but had their deaths written off as natural causes or accidents with no toxicology testing. But this is negated by the sheer level of nationwide panic at the time, which no doubt resulted in over-reporting of potential Tylenol-related side effects and deaths rather than under-reporting. They also don't explain the fantastic odds that, if J&J committed manufacturing errors, only one family in Chicago experienced multiple deaths within hours, despite the fact that the impacted lots were already in stores and homes. And the J&J recall could not possibly have retrieved every single bottle and pill. Back in those days, there was no way to track pills beyond point of distribution and sale because people bought most groceries with cash. And yet, there were no additional suspicious deaths from cyanide-laced Tylenol even though people were freaking out on a national level about OTC painkillers. This theory is just senseless drivel that isn't worth the skein of yarn and tacks that some dummy somewhere probably has pinned to a corkboard trying to sort it all out. Earlier in the documentary, we're told by an investigator that James Lewis became a suspect in the murder and dismembering of a man because he made himself a suspect. This is the same pattern Lewis exhibits regarding the Tylenol murders. If he didn't commit these murders, he is the unluckiest or most self-sabotaging person on the planet. At one point, he claims that he spent three days working on the extortion letter that placed him at the center of the investigation and when he realized that this meant he started writing the letter before anybody died, suddenly this man with specific answers to investigators' questions was experiencing a problem with his recall. Sure. Don't bother with this crap. I'm angry that I wasted hours of my life I'm never gonna get back on this inanity. Instead, watch Painkiller: The Tylenol Murders-- a documentary that genuinely explores the case and how the FBI reached the conclusion that Lewis is their man. More importantly, it lets those in the Chicago emergency, law enforcement, and public health sphere as well as family members talk about their experiences, helping you understand the real loss of families and the profound impact these murders had on everyone who experienced this heinous crime firsthand. See more Read all reviews

Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders — Season 1

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