True Crime Tonight: The 1982 Tylenol murders

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Warning, this is a True Crime Segment and not suitable for children. It contains references to sexual violence and suicide, which some listeners may find distressing. If you need support, you are not alone. Contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, or visit lifeline.org.au for 24 hour support.

Ruby Bartzis (0:17)

We interrupt the panel late development.

Meshel Laurie (0:19)

We don't know precisely. It's a voice that will send shivers down your spine.

Matthew Tankard (0:23)

Stand off with police.

Meshel Laurie (0:24)

Wanted fugitive.

Betty Taylor (0:25)

Stabbed 19 times. The suspect lured the victim into the water.

Meshel Laurie (0:29)

Biggest legal dramas in Hollywood. Today is a major win to show what the system can do.

SPEAKER_1 (0:34)

This is True Crime Tonight.

Meshel Laurie (0:37)

Hello, everyone. It's Sunday night and that is True Crime Night. True Crime Tonight. In fact, that's the name of the show. I'm your host, Meshel Laurie, and I'm here with Matthew Tankard and Ruby Bartzis.

Ruby Bartzis (0:46)

Hello. Hello.

Meshel Laurie (0:48)

Hello. You may have seen we are also on television now.

Ruby Bartzis (0:51)

Yeah. We are.

Meshel Laurie (0:52)

Right. Channel 10, Monday nights, after the late news.

Ruby Bartzis (0:56)

Yes.

Meshel Laurie (0:57)

Australian True Crime, our podcast is on the actual television and some episodes will feature your good selves.

Matthew Tankard (1:03)

Hey, we're on the telly. We did it.

Meshel Laurie (1:04)

We're on every platform. Is there a platform we're missing?

Matthew Tankard (1:07)

We've cornered the market. Maybe like VR, some kind of live streaming VR thing we need to do next.

Meshel Laurie (1:14)

Okay. I did buy the kids VR headsets a couple of years ago. I don't think they've ever used them since.

Ruby Bartzis (1:19)

You should make like a board game.

Meshel Laurie (1:22)

I love that idea so much. I can't keep an eye on that. The Australian True Crime board game.

Wow. It's really hard to even talk about that without being hideously disrespectful.

Matthew Tankard (1:33)

I was about to say, we try so hard to figure out, okay, how do we do this away? This is not sensationalist. And then we've got the snakes and ladders.

Meshel Laurie (1:40)

Right. Blangalow forest in the middle of the board. And yeah, it looks hard, but don't keep thinking on it Ruby. That's a good idea. Over the next hour though, we've got no board games yet, but we will talk to you about a documentary that I've seen. I'm always watching them. I've always got a documentary recommendation. And we're also going to hear from a lady who I just love so much. Her name is Betty Taylor. She is the CEO of a place called the Red Rose Foundation, which is out of Brisbane. And they're a specific support service for domestic violence victims and offer support in real support, not just, oh, sorry, you'll be OK.

Real support, as in he's a place for you to live. He is a place for you to, you know, think about getting back into the workplace and things like that. That's beautiful. She is really beautiful. And so we're going to hear a little bit from her later in the show. But first, what are we here next? Do we have our message from our favorite segment? The True Crime Hotline is coming up next. You're listening to True Crime Tonight around Australia.

We have True Crime recommendations coming up. We have an interview with Betty Taylor, who is just beautiful from the Red Rose Foundation in Brisbane. That's a DV support service. But it's time to hear from one of you, from a listener on the True Crime Hotline.

Matthew Tankard (2:58)

Yeah, please leave us a message if you got any questions or recommendations. You can find the link to leave us a voicemail in the show notes of any episode of Australian True Crime the podcast or on our social media. Let's listen to this week's.

Hi, True Crime Tonight.

Ruby Bartzis (3:12)

I just watched the Tylenol documentary and I read somewhere that it might have been solved.

Betty Taylor (3:16)

Do you guys know anything about this?

Meshel Laurie (3:19)

Yeah, I think solved is strong language, but I know exactly what she's talking about.

Ruby Bartzis (3:22)

I don't even know what this-

Betty Taylor (3:24)

Yeah, me neither.

Meshel Laurie (3:24)

What is it? Guys, strap in. This story is one of those really weird ones out of the states, a weird crime. The documentary I think she's talking about is on Netflix and it's excellent. But I've just got a brief synopsis of what happened because it happened in 1982 So I'm nine years old when this happened. Tylenol also was not a brand in Australia.