Idaho Police Identify 1982 Suicide Victim as Potential Tylenol Murders Suspect
Investigators revealed the man found dead in a church, Dr. Mathew Francis Betkouski, died of cyanide poisoning and had connections to early Tylenol murder investigations.
Authorities in Idaho have identified a man who died by suicide in a church in 1982 as a potential suspect in the infamous Tylenol murders. The Ada County Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday that Dr. Mathew Francis Betkouski, a California-based chemist, was the "Unknown Wanderer" found dead beneath a pew at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on December 4, 1982.
Betkouski died of cyanide poisoning, the same method used in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people across the Chicago metropolitan area. Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford stated that Betkouski's death occurred within days of the Tylenol killings.
Investigators were able to identify Betkouski through one of 30 keys found on his body after his death. ACSO Cold Case Detective Tim Cooper presented evidence linking Betkouski to the murders, though he cautioned that Betkouski has not been definitively named a suspect.
During his time as a chemist at the White Sands testing facility in New Mexico, Betkouski reportedly commented that tainting capsules with poison would be an effective murder method. A woman died of cyanide poisoning at the same facility during his tenure, an incident that remains unsolved.
Authorities later visited Betkouski's childhood home, where they discovered a small, likely homemade, bottle of cyanide and a map of Chicago. The cyanide found differed from the type used in the Tylenol murders. Detective Cooper also noted unverified rumors of a possible confession Betkouski made in the Catholic Church shortly before his death.
At the time of his death, Betkouski also carried a typed suicide note signed 'Wm. L. Toomey,' a keychain, and $1,900. The note requested the money be used for his funeral and cremation. He had not been reported missing.
Cooper stated that Betkouski frequently discussed cyanide, describing it as "a less messy way of taking a person's life." Police traced Betkouski to Jacksonville, Florida, using one of the keys from his keychain, which eventually led them to a living relative who confirmed his identity.
