Tylenol Deaths and the Unabomber

I can vividly remember the news reporting of the Tylenol deaths of the early '80s. I was in high school. An announcement came over the PA stating to not take any aspirin/tylenol. It was odd. In those days, I rarely watched the news, let alone read it.  We didn't have cable, a VCR or the internet. We had stuffy news, told by stuffy people.

But I watched the news, that night. No one thought Tylenol (Johnson and Johnson) would overcome this tarnished reputation.  No one.  And then safety seals came out, perhaps a year or so after the poisening.  To Johnson and Johnson's credit, they were proactive in setting new standards of product packaging.

Recently I read that Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a. the Unabomber, may have been a contributor to the Tylenol deaths. Seems he doesn't want his personal items sold over the Internet. (Anti-technology guy — irony? Karma?) Plus, he is saying that these things can exonerate him from being linked to the Tylenol killings.

As a diehard reader (now) of the news (all over the Internet, rarely over TV), I find the connection intriquing. Fascinating. All of this got me thinking. Seriously, what if Kaczynski did it? What if this story was finally put to rest? There would be a lot of closure for our surrounding community. This all took place in the Chicagoland area.  

Seriously, this is a fascinating story. I can't possibly fathom a connection between the two stories — but, who knows?  I suppose, at this date and time, no one will ever know, for sure. But, I've always been curious about this.

I wonder how this will play out!