Tylenol murders mystery deepens after sheriff’s office solves decades-old ‘Unknown Wanderer’ cold case

A man who died of cyanide poisoning in an Idaho church over 40 years ago has been identified as Dr. Mathew Francis Betkouski, an organic chemist with a history of discussing poisons. The Ada County Sheriff's Office in Boise announced the identification on Wednesday, saying that Betkouski's past raises questions about a possible connection to the still-unsolved 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders.

Betkouski, who was known for decades as the "Unknown Wanderer," died on December 4, 1982, after walking into Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Boise. Authorities determined at the time that he died from cyanide poisoning, but he carried no identification and his fingerprints produced no match. The mystery of his identity endured for decades until investigators were able to trace one of nearly 30 keys found on him to Jacksonville, Florida, where Betkouski had lived. DNA recovered from his wallet and later compared with a sample from his brother helped establish his identity.

According to investigators, Betkouski's past raises questions about a possible connection to the Tylenol murders. A former colleague recalled Betkouski discussing the "perfect crime" and cyanide, while another scientist recalled him saying that poison could be introduced into over-the-counter capsules. Authorities also found a map of Chicago and a bottle of sodium cyanide among belongings kept at his family's Los Angeles home.

While investigators say they cannot place Betkouski in Chicago during the final week of September 1982, when the Tylenol poisonings occurred, they are seeking information about his movements and communications in 1982. Dr. Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist who was consulted during the original Tylenol investigation, said that groups of forensic psychiatrists, psychologists, and criminal profilers who were anonymously presented with information about Betkouski overwhelmingly considered him a viable suspect.

The Ada County Sheriff's Office has turned their findings over to investigators in the Chicago area and is seeking information about Betkouski's movements and communications in 1982. "This isn't over," Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford said.