Natalia Chi
A woman who lost three members of her family in the Chicago Tylenol murders speaks publicly for the first time about what her family went through that day, the trauma she suffered and how she found peace decades later.
In September 1982, Kasia Novak Janusz was just four years old. It started on a seemingly ordinary day in September 1982 when his father, aunt and uncle died.
“They can’t bring back my father, they can’t bring back my aunt and uncle, they can’t bring back the other four victims,” said Novak-Janus. said in a recent interview An NBC affiliate in Madison, Wisconsin.
Novak-Janus, who now lives in Madison, remembers her father Adam taking her to Jewel-Osco on September 29, 1982 to pick up some items for her mother, including Tylenol. I’m here.
“…and I remember him picking up the box and putting it in the basket,” she said. “That was the last time I was with him.”
A few hours after returning home, Novak Janus heard her mother yelling at her father to wake her up. was doing.
“…and all I remember is the screaming and my mother trying to wake my father up. I can wake up,'” she said.
Novak-Janus’ family and friends, including his uncle Stanley and aunt Teresa, later gathered at the family’s Arlington Heights home to offer comfort and support after his father’s death.
“My uncle and aunt came up and said, ‘How are you doing? What happened?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know,'” recalls Novak-Janus.
Overcome with grief, the newlyweds both took Tylenol to ease the pain.
“They were really upset. They needed something to calm them down,” said Novak-Janus.
The capsules came from the same bottle my father picked up. Her aunt and her uncle were poisoned to death.
Investigators later learned that someone had tampered with the capsules, causing fear and panic across the country. bottom.
Law enforcement has worked for decades to find those responsible, but all seven cases remain unsolved to this day. and traveled to Massachusetts to interview James Lewis, who had been on the radar of the authorities for many years. According to the Chicago Tribune.
“They’re barking up the wrong tree. As long as they keep doing this, it’s absolutely guaranteed that they’ll never solve the Tylenol murder case.
Investigators step up efforts to solve the Tylenol cyanide murder that embarrassed Chicago. NBC 5’s Vi Nguyen reports.
Lewis was convicted of racketeering and spent years in prison, but was never charged with murder.
Novak-Janus, on the other hand, chose to share her story of strength so others know they can get through anything.
“The past doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m in control at this point,” she said. “But I feel at peace. I am. I own it. I just want to move forward with my life and focus on the future, the present.”
