The FBI said Thursday it is investigating whether notorious Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski -- who engaged in a 17-year mail-bomb spree -- was also behind the 1982 Tylenol poisonings.
The Tylenol poisonings killed seven people and led to widespread panic after police discovered that someone had tampered with the pills and returned them to store shelves in the Chicago area.
"As part of our re-examination of the evidence developed in connection with the 1982 Tylenol poisonings, we have attempted to secure DNA samples from numerous individuals, including Ted Kaczynski," the FBI said in a statement.
Kaczynski, a reclusive former mathematics professor, was jailed for life in May 1998 after a campaign of parcel-bomb attacks in which three people were killed and 29 injured.
He has so far declined to voluntarily provide a DNA sample in the Tylenol case, the FBI said.
"The investigation into the Tylenol murders remains ongoing. No arrests have been made and no charges have been filed."
The Tylenol poisonings led to the first mass recall of a retail product in the United States and the development of tamper-proof packaging on foods and drugs. Tylenol is a common over-the-counter painkiller, also used to reduce fevers.
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