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Foreign hey everyone, it's Katie. If you're loving Crime House Daily, you need to check out Crimes of, the newest show from Crime House. Crimes of is a weekly series that explores a new theme each season from Crimes of the paranormal, unsolved murders, mysterious disappearances, and more. Their first season is Crimes of Infamy, the true stories behind Hollywood's most iconic horror villains. Crimes of is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or find them on YouTube at Crime House Studios. New episodes out every Tuesday. This is Crime House this week in Crime History, we're diving into a pair of lethal outbreaks that killed dozens of people across the United States. On the morning of September 29, 1982, 12 year old Mary Kellerman suddenly died after taking Tylenol. Someone had tampered with the pills in her bottle and left several more bottles of poisoned Tylenol on store shelves on all over the Chicago area. 26 years later, on September 30, 2008, a 74 year old man nearly died of salmonella after eating tainted peanut butter. Although it seemed like an ordinary case of food poisoning, the manufacturer knew his product was infected and knowingly endangered hundreds of people all over the country. Welcome to True Crime this Week part of Crime House Daily. I'm Vanessa Richardson. Every Sunday we'll be revisiting notorious crimes from this week in history. From serial killers to mysterious disappearances or murders, every episode will explore stories that share a common theme. Each week we'll cover two stories, one further in the past and one more rooted in the present. Here at Crime House, we know none of this would be possible without you, our community. Please support us by rating, reviewing and following Crime House Daily wherever you get your podcasts and for ad free and early access to Crime House Daily plus exciting bonus content. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. This week's theme is Deadly Outbreaks. First, we'll start on September 29, 1982, when men, women and children around Chicago suddenly died after taking Tylenol pills. The race to find out what was happening and who was responsible paralyzed the nation and changed the way products are packaged and sold almost overnight. Then we'll jump forward to September 30, 2008, when mismanagement at the Peanut Corporation of America caused one of the largest outbreaks of foodborne ill in American history. Today's killers kept themselves far removed from their victims. The Chicago Tylenol murderer didn't care who his victims were. His only priority was killing as many people as possible. Meanwhile, the CEO of the Peanut Corporation of America didn't intend to kill anyone. He just didn't care about trying to keep his customers safe either. So while these killers had very different motivations, the results were just as terrifying because nobody knew who might be next. If you're an experienced pet owner, you already know that having a pet is 25% belly rubs, 25% yelling drop it. And 50% groaning at the bill from every pet visit. Which is why Lemonade Pet Insurance is tailor made for your pet and can save you up to 90% on vet bills. It can help cover checkups, emergencies, diagnostics, basically all the stuff that makes your bank account get nervous. Claims are filed super easily through the Lemonade app and half get settled instantly. Get a'@lemonade.com pet and they'll help cover the vet bill for whatever your pet swallowed after you yelled drop it. On the morning of September 29, 1982, in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village, 12 year old Mary Kellerman woke up with a sore throat and a runny nose. She told her parents she wasn't feeling well and asked if she could stay home from school. But she didn't seem that sick. So instead of letting her hang back, Mary's parents told her to take some Tylenol and get ready. According to Mary's father, she took a single capsule, then went into the bathroom and closed the door. Moments later, he heard a loud thump as though something heavy had fallen on the ground. He knew, knocked on the door and asked Mary if she was okay. There was no answer. Mary's father barged into the bathroom to check on her and found his daughter sprawled on the floor, completely unresponsive. In a panic, Mary's parents dialed 911 and paramedics rushed her to the hospital. Unfortunately, her heart stopped en route and there was no saving her. She was pronounced dead just before 10am her doctors were baffled. One minute Mary Kellerman was a happy, healthy middle schooler with a mild cold. The next she was dead. The best explanation they could come up with was that she had had a sudden stroke. Mary's grieving parents returned home from the hospital in stunned disbelief. Meanwhile, just a few miles away, another shocking death was about to unfold. Fold Adam janis was a 27 year old mailman who lived in the Chicago suburb of arlington Heights, about 20 minutes away from Elk Grove Village. On that Same morning of September 29, 1982, he woke up with mild chest pains. After trying to tough it out all morning, Adam called in sick to work, picked up a bottle of extra strength Tylenol at the local Juul grocery store and went home to eat lunch with his wife. Around 1:30pm after they were done eating, Adam took two Tylenol capsules and moments later collapsed on the kitchen floor. Adam's wife called 911 and paramedics arrived in a few minutes. They loaded Adam into an ambulance and rushed him to the emergency room at nearby Northwest Community Hospital. Sadly, he died soon after he arrived at 3:15pm it was another medical mystery. Adam Janis was young and healthy with no pre existing conditions. When his wife said he'd been complaining of chest pains all day, doctors assumed he must have had a fatal heart attack. They weren't aware of Mary Kellerman's death earlier in the day at a different hospital, so nobody made the connection between the two events. In the hours after Adam's sudden and inexplicable death, friends and family gathered at his house to look after his wife and begin planning a fun funeral. Everyone was under a lot of stress, particularly Adam's brother, 25 year old Stanley, Janice and his 20 year old wife Teresa. They both had bad headaches, so they grabbed some Tylenol from the bottle Adam had bought earlier that day. Shortly after swallowing the pills, Stanley's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed, foaming at the mouth. Teresa called 911 while other relatives ran next door to get help from one of the neighbors who happened to be a n. When they got back to the apartment, the family was shocked to find Teresa had collapsed alongside her husband. Paramedics came to the house for the second time that day and rushed Stanley and Teresa to the same hospital where Adam had just died. Once again, doctors weren't able to save them. Stanley Janis died at 8:15pm Teresa was placed on life support and died three days later as the sun set. Local public health official Helen Jensen was sent to the Janis house to look for a common cause of death. When Helen interviewed witnesses, she noticed that Tylenol kept coming up. Adam, Stanley and Teresa had all taken it immediately before they died. After a quick search, she found the bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol they'd gotten their pills from and a receipt that showed it had been purchased. That Helen carefully counted out the pills from the bottle and found six missing, two for each of the three victims. She immediately confiscated the bottle for testing. Around this same time, Helen heard from a firefighter in Elk grove that a 12 year old girl had died suddenly that morning right after taking Tylenol as Soon as Helen learned about Mary Kellerman's passing, she notified her superiors that something was wrong with the city's Ty supply. Police were quickly sent to Mary Kellerman's house to retrieve the Tylenol she'd used so it could be tested as well. But before anyone could get the word out to the public, there was another death. Later that night of September 29th, 31 year old phone company employee Mary McFarland collapsed at work after taking Tylenol for a headache. She was rushed to the hospital in the suburban community of Downers Grove. But doctors couldn't save her. Mary McFarland passed away at 3am on September 30th. She was added to the list of Tylenol victims and her bottle was examined as well. Doctors and lab technicians worked through the night. One team was testing blood samples taken from the victims, looking for the toxin that killed them. Another group of medical experts was testing the Tylenol capsules taken from the Janus and Kellerman houses. In the early hours of September 30, investigators completed the blood tests and found high levels of the deadly poison cyanide in every victim's bloodstream. Shortly after, analysis of Tylenol capsules from the Kellerman and Janus households found that the pills had been dosed with approximately 65 milligrams of cyanide. That's 10,000 times the lethal dose. It was clear somebody had intentionally poisoned multiple extra strength Tylenol bottles throughout the Chicago area. And as the authorities tried to figure out how to respond, the body count continued to rise. As the sun rose on September 30, 27 year old Mary Reiner had just returned from the hospital after giving birth to her fourth child. Back at her home in the suburban community of Winfield. She wasn't feeling well, so she took some Tylenol. Minutes later, her husband found her on the floor having a seizure. Like the other victims, Mary Reiner was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. But doctors couldn't save her. She was pronounced dead just after 9am it had been less than 24 hours since the first victim, Mary Kellerman, took the first fatal pill. Now six people were dead or dying. And local officials knew that millions of other Chicagoans were at risk. But what they didn't know was even more frightening. How much poison Tylenol was out there. Who would be the next unsuspecting victim? And why would someone do something like this? This episode is brought to you by cars.com on cars.com you can shop over 2 million cars. That means over 2 million new car possibilities. Like making space for your growing family, becoming the type of person who takes spontaneous weekend camping trips or upgrading your commute wherever life takes you next, or whoever you're looking to be. There's a car for that on cars.com visit cars.com to discover your next possibility. This episode is brought to you by Netflix. Everyone is telling her she dreamt it, but in the woman in cabin 10 Lo Blacklock is determined to uncover the truth in the gripping new thriller coming to Netflix October 10th. Kieran Knightley plays a journalist aboard a luxury yacht who witnesses a crime she can't unsee. Adapted from Ruth Ware's best selling novel, directed by Simon Stone. Watch the woman in Cabin 10 only on Netflix. On October 10th on the morning of September 30th, 1982, officials from the Cook County Medical Examiner's office held a press conference. They announced that cyanide had been found in bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol throughout the Chicago area. The officials urged everyone in the area to avoid taking any until further notice. To get the word out to people who who hadn't watched the news, police drove through neighborhoods across the city using the loudspeakers to warn people about the poisoned Tylenol. This immediately became the biggest news story in Chicago and across the United States. Poison control centers all over the country were swamped with calls from panicked people who'd recently taken Tylenol. Thankfully, there was no reason for them to worry because cyanide is such a fast acting poison. Operators told the anxious callers that if they were able to talk on the phone, they almost certainly hadn't been poisoned. Tragically, word didn't get out in time to save everyone. On October 1, a woman in Chicago named Carol Prince went to check on her sister Paula. Carol hadn't heard from Paula in a couple of days, and she was getting worried. Unfortunately, she was right to be. When Carol arrived, she found Paula dead on the floor. Police later found a bottle of poisoned Tylenol in Paula's bathroom, along with a receipt showing that she'd purchased the lethal pills three days earlier on September 29, the same day that three of the previous six victims had died. As millions of Americans threw out their Tylenol, the drug's manufacturer, pharmaceutical corporation, Johnson and Johnson flew into action to get it off the shelves. On October 1, the same day Paula Prince was found dead, Johnson and Johnson announced a recall of all the Tylenol in the Chicago area. Within a week, they expanded their recall to include every bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol in the United States. It was estimated that the recall cost the company over $100 million at the time, the equivalent of billions in today's money. But the company didn't just do it out of the goodness of their heart. Executives recognized that a tragedy like this had the potential to destroy the company. By then, it was the biggest story in the world. Johnson and Johnson needed to regain public trust by showing they were doing everything in their power to protect their customers, including establishing a 24 hour crisis hotline for consumers. And they weren't the only ones trying to save face. The Chicago Police Department, the FBI and the Food and Drug Administration joined forces to form the Tylenol Task Force dedicated to finding whoever was responsible for poisoning seven people. They started their investigation by confiscating all the Tylenol from every drugstore within a 50 mile radius of where the lethal pills were bought. When they tested the capsules, investigators found cyanide in several bottles. These bottles had been on shelves in six different stores throughout the Chicago area. And the tainted bottles all came from the same batch of pills identified as lot number MC2880. As a result, police began to suspect they were poisoned by someone involved in the Tylenol manufacturing process. It turned out the pills in lot MC2880 had been produced in multiple factories and shipped to states all over the eastern half of the US but the tainted pills only showed up around Chicago. So they clearly weren't poisoned by somebody in the Tylenol distribution network. Instead, police determined that someone in the immediate area had taken individual bottles off store shelves, added cyanide, then put them back in place in 2025. It would be impossible to commit a crime like this. You're probably familiar with the tamper proof seals on food and medicine at the grocery store. But in 1982, it was a different story. Back then, you could pick up any item, open it and close it again without anybody knowing. Nobody ever considered that someone would randomly poison people by contaminating products. Once word got out that people were dying from poisoned Tylenol in the Chicago area, terror swept the country. Americans realized they could no longer trust that the things they bought at the store were safe. Adding to that sense of panic was a sudden spike in copycat poisonings. In the month after the Chicago Tylenol murders, There were over 250 reports of attempted poisonings of consumer goods all over the country. A Colorado man nearly died after he took an extra strength Excedrin that had been poisoned with Mercuric chloride. Two people suffered severe burns after using over the counter nasal spray and eye drops that had been injected with hydrochloric acid. In Florida, a police officer became seriously ill after drinking a bottle of orange juice that had been contaminated with insecticide. After children reported finding pins and nails hidden in candy bars, entire towns cancelled their Halloween celebrations. Most terrifying of all, the people behind these copycat attacks were never caught. It was just more proof of how easy it was to get away with this sort of crime. Within six weeks of the Chicago Tylenol murders, Johnson and Johnson debuted the tamper resistant packaging we have today, like glued on foil seals and tearaway plastic wrapping. Every other major consumer brand followed suit, ensuring that crimes like these could never happen again. Meanwhile, Chicago police were still hard at work trying to track down the murderer who'd kicked off the panic. And they were beginning to zero in on some very promising suspects. In the months after the killings, the 140 members of the Tylenol task force sifted through thousands of tips. But finding the culprit wasn't easy. Surveillance cameras weren't as widespread as they are today, and most purchases were made with cash, so it was difficult to determine who'd been in the affected stores when the pills were tampered with. Still, police were able to develop some leads. In early October 1982, shortly after the murders, police got a tip from the owner of a Chicago pub named Marty Sinclair. The Marty said that six months earlier, one of his regular customers had bragged about buying a large amount of cyanide. His name was Roger Arnold, a recently divorced 48 year old who lived in Chicago's Lincoln park neighborhood and was a dock worker at a jewel grocery store where two of the eight tainted Tylenol bottles had been found. When police searched his house, they found five guns, laboratory equipment, a mysterious white powder, and a book about how to make homemade cyanide. Roger admitted to previously owning cyanide, but said he'd thrown it away and insisted he was innocent. Roger was repeatedly interviewed by the police but never charged. However, when his name leaked to the press, he was constantly hounded by reporters and ostracized by his friends. Friends. Roger blamed the pub owner, Marty Sinclair, for ruining his life by talking to the police. Several months later, he tried to get revenge by shooting him dead. Except Roger had killed the wrong person thinking he was Marty, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the crime. After his death in 2008, Chicago police took DNA samples from Roger's body to compare with samples collected from the contaminated Tylenol bottles. They didn't match. Even though he seemed like a likely suspect. Roger Arnold wasn't the poisoner. Back in 1982, though, police had another suspect in their crosshairs, One who was eager to take credit for the murders. On October 6, 1982, executives at Johnson and Johnson received a handwritten note from someone claiming to be responsible for the poisonings. The writer bragged about how easy it was to put cyanide into Tylenol capsules whose bottles were sitting on store shelves, and threatened to continue his killing spree unless executives paid him $1 million. The letter included a bank account number for the company to transfer the money into. The bank account belonged to a Chicago man named Frederick McCaughey, who'd owned a travel agency that recently went out of business. Police tracked McCahey down, but it was immediately clear that he had nothing to do with the letter. Somebody was trying to frame him, and Frederick had a pretty good guess who it was. James Lewis, a tax consultant and the husband of one of his former employees. James reportedly held a grudge against Frederick for not sending his wife her last paycheck. And James was exactly the sort of petty, vengeful person who would try to frame an innocent man over a minor disagreement. When police looked into James Lewis, they found that he already had a criminal record. In 1966, when he was 20 years old and living in Missouri, James spent years 22 years in a mental hospital for attacking his adoptive mother with an Axe. In 1978, he'd been charged with murder after police found the body of one of his tax preparation clients dismembered in his attic. However, the charges were dropped on a technicality, and James went free. A few years later, he and his wife changed their names and fled to Chicago to avoid charges and a credit card fraud fraud scheme. To the Tylenol investigators, James Lewis seemed exactly like the sort of person who would go on a poisoning spree. So they launched a nationwide manhunt for their prime suspect. Finally, on December 13, 1982, police tracked James down at the New York Public Library, where he was reading a book about America's largest corporations. For a moment moment, it seemed like the Chicago Tylenol killer had finally been caught. But it was too good to be true. James Lewis denied any involvement in the murders. And as the police investigated his movements over the past several months, they reluctantly agreed with him. James and his wife had left Chicago and moved to New York on September 3, 19, 1982, 26 days before the poisonings. And it didn't seem like he'd returned to Chicago. Since then, there was no way he could have planted the poisoned pills before he left either. Cyanide's shelf life is very short. It only takes a few days for the powder to eat through the gelatin Tylenol capsules. Whoever poisoned the pills needed to do it on the same day they were put on the shelves. And on September 29, James Lewis was hundreds of miles away. However, James did admit to police that he wrote the letter and was taking advantage of the media circus around the Tylenol murders to get revenge on his wife's old boss. He also claimed to have a grudge against Johnson and Johnson, whose products he blamed for the death of his daughter several years before. But just because he wasn't the killer, that didn't mean he was completely innocent. For writing the fake letter, James Lewis was charged with attempted extortion and spent 12 years in prison. The Chicago Tylenol murders killed seven people, sparked a nationwide panic and completely changed the way our food and drugs are packaged. And yet today, this day, nobody knows who's responsible. Every suspect in the case has been cleared. The person who committed what some commentators call America's first major act of domestic terrorism got away with it. Barring some miraculous break in a 42 year old cold case, we'll never know who poisoned Mary Kellerman, Adam Stanley and Teresa Janis, Mary Reiner, Mary McFarland and Paula Prince. But we can see the killer's legacy every time we open a fresh bottle of Tylenol and find a tamper resistant seal. Coming up, another mass poisoning with deadly consequences. At New Balance, we believe if you run, you're a runner, however you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running is all about. Run your way@newbalance.com Running Imagine fast hydration combined with balanced energy. Perfectly flavored with zero artificial sweeteners. Introducing Liquid Ivy's new energy multiplier, Sugar free. Unlike other energy drinks, you know the ones that make you feel like you're glitching. It's made with natural caffeine and electrolytes so you get the boost without the burnout. Liquid IV's new energy multiplier, Sugar free hydrating energy. Tap the banner to learn more. On September 30, 2008, 26 years after Chicago area residents began dying from poisoned Tylenol, another contaminated product, was wreaking havoc on American consumers. But this time around, the crisis wasn't concentrated around One city. The victims were all over the United States. And the perpetrator wasn't an anonymous murderer lurking in the shadows. He was a greedy businessman desperate to cut corners at any cost. August 2008 had been a rough month for Vernon Knudsen. The retired 74 year old had already been diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and an enlarged heart. But by late August, his health had taken a turn for the worse. He was having trouble breathing and was suffering from severe stomach pains and a fever. Finally, Vernon's wife took him to the emergency room, where he was placed on a breathing machine. During his stay at the hospital, doctors ran tests and found that Vernon was suffering from salmonella, the most common cause of food poisoning in the United States. Salmonella is usually caused by eating foods that are undercooked or contaminated by animal waste. And it's always an unpleasant experience. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever, nausea, and vomiting. Most people get over salmonella after a few miserable days. But for young children or older people with weakened immune systems like Vernon Knudsen, salmonella can be very dangerous, even deadly. After nine days in the hospital, Vernon went home on September 8, 2008. But he continued to suffer from debilitating stomach pains for the next two weeks, and on September 23rd, he returned to the emergency room. This time, doctors found that his salmonella had progressed into an even more serious stomach illness called Clostridium difficile, or C. Diff. His immune system was so weakened by the infection that he'd contracted pneumonia. His heart was failing, and he was growing confused and disoriented. Vernon spent the next week in the hospital, and on September 30, a nurse found him unconscious and barely breathing. Vernon was rushed to the icu, where a team of doctors barely managed to save his life. After his narrow brush with death, he eventually left the hospital, but he continued to suffer long term side effects from his salmonella infection with for the rest of his life. Vernon and his family would later find out that the cause of his suffering was salmonella tainted peanut butter in a Keebler sandwich cracker. And he wasn't alone. In 2008, more than 700 people across America suffered similar symptoms to Vernon's after consuming contaminated peanut butter. It was all produced by a single manufacturer, the Peanut Corporation of America. Nine of the victims later died of their illness, and many of the survivors have never fully recovered. It's considered one of the largest outbreaks of foodborne illness in American history, and it was no accident. In 1976, Texas Vending Machine salesman Hugh Parnell discovered that the chopped peanuts in the products he sold came from factories in northern states. As it turned out, there weren't any peanut processing plants in the south, even though there were plenty of farms. So Hugh bought a few bags of peanuts and a chopping machine. With that, Parnell's Peanuts was born. The company experienced rapid growth over the next few years. Hugh opened processing plants in Texas, Georgia and Virginia. The chopped nuts and peanut butter produced by Parnell's peanuts were then sold in bulk to other food production facilities. It was just another link America's complex supply chain. But it was very profitable for Hugh Parnell. By the time he sold his company and retired in 1994, Hugh was making $30 million a year and employed over 100 people. Three of those employees were his sons, who stayed on as consultants for the company's new owners. But his oldest son, Stuart Parnell, was determined to reclaim the family business. So in the year 2000, 2000, 46 year old Stewart bought back the company now named the Peanut Corporation of America and took over as CEO. Stewart ran a tight ship at pca. He spent most of his time on the road, visiting his plants and overseeing operations. This hands on management style paid off. Over the next few years. PCA sold peanut products to major brands like Sara Lee, Louis, Little Debbie and Kellogg's and also landed government contracts to supply peanut butter to school lunch programs, FEMA and the military. By 2005, PCA was processing millions of pounds of peanuts per month. They even expanded their operation, opening a new plant in Plainview, Texas. The secret of Stuart Parnell's success was low overhead. Despite being one of America's largest peanut producers, PCA didn't have a corporate office space. To save money, Stewart ran the business out of his garage in suburban Virginia. He sourced the cheapest peanuts he could find, even if they were old and nearly rotten. And he paid his employees minimum wage to work long shifts in stiflingly hot factories without air conditioning. But the biggest corner Stewart cut was hygiene. Employees from every PCA plant reported that the factories were filthy. Processing machines were covered in dust and sometimes mold. The ceilings were full of holes, so when it rained, rainwater would run across the dirty roof and leak directly onto the machinery. The factory floor was often littered with dead insects and rodents. An employee told reporters that on at least, least one occasion, a rat got roasted alive along with a batch of peanuts. PCA's customers didn't know this was how their peanuts were being processed. A company brochure bragged that PCA produced, quote, the world's finest peanut products with a remarkable food safety record and state of the art food safety techniques. But customers didn't have to just take the company's word for it. Every shipment from PCA's moldy rat infested factories came with a document from an independent laboratory. It certified that the contents had been tested for bacteria and were safe for human consumption. Stuart Parnell got these stellar test results through a simple lying. Sometimes he'd take samples from a single batch of peanut butter that he knew was clean and send them to the lab claiming they were from multiple batches. Then Stuart would use those test results for everything going out. But as much as Stewart tried to avoid it, he still had to get some batches tested. And those tests often came back positive. When this happened, Stuart would just send a different sample from the batch to another lab. If the second lab did didn't detect any salmonella, Stewart would attach those results to the packages he was shipping out to customers. And salmonella wasn't the only issue with PCA's products. In April of 2007, an employee wrote to Stewart that a batch of chopped peanuts was covered in dust and rat droppings. Stewart told them to ship it anyway. He was willing to do anything to protect his bottom line. And in February 2008, when Stewart learned that employees at one of his plants were planning to throw away over 1300 pounds of peanut products that had been labeled as waste, he was furious. In response, he sent his staff an angry email. In bold and all caps, he wrote, these are not peanuts you are throwing away every day. It is money. It is God damn money that we do not have because of how long I have allowed you to let this go on. Stop the money from ever getting out of the production flow. Six months after this email, people all over the country started to get very, very sick. And they didn't all survive. Trip Planner by Expedia. You were made to outdo your holiday, your hammocking and your pooling. We were made to help organize the competition. Expedia made to travel well I was down on my last dollar Then I started saving because the bank said fiscal restraint is what you're craving so I put my earnings in a high yield let the savings compound and the interest mount I'm optimizing cash flow putting debt in check now time is my friend and not a pain in the neck and we've got a little cash to rebuild the old debt Boring money moves make kind of lame songs but they sound pretty sweet to your wallet PNC Bank. Brilliantly boring since 1865, as the CEO of Peanut Corporation of America, Stuart Parnell prioritized profits over all else. He cut corners, faked test results and knowingly shipped out unsanitary products. And in the fall of 2008, the bill for this reckless behavior was about to come due. But 54 year old Stewart wouldn't be the one to pay the price. In early September 2008, 74 year old Vernon Knudsen got extremely sick and nearly died. And after contracting salmonella from a sandwich cracker made with PCA peanut butter. Although Vernon narrowly survived his ordeal, there were more victims to come and some wouldn't be as lucky. In October, 82 year old World War II veteran Robert Moss began suffering from severe digestive issues. He spent the next year in and out of the hospital before eventually dying of a salmonella related infection. On November 23, 2008, 60 year old Pete Hullett also got sick. He died of kidney failure three days later. The outbreak only got worse by December. Minnesota bowling alley owner Shirley Almer, age 72, was hospitalized a week before Christmas. She died four days later. On December 27th in North Carolina, 53 year old Betty Shelander lost consciousness at her home after a bout of severe vomiting. She died at the hospital the following day. All of these people had consumed PCA peanut butter before getting sick. By the first days of 2009, public health officials in several states knew some something was wrong. In addition to the multiple deaths, hundreds of people were showing up at emergency rooms with severe food poisoning. Following standard procedure, investigators asked victims families what they'd eaten before they got sick. It didn't take long for them to zero in on PCA peanut butter as the common denominator. On January 13, 2009, under pressure from from federal regulators, PCA issued a partial recall for some of their peanut butter products. But as more salmonella cases were reported, the company reluctantly expanded their recall to include everything they'd produced since 2007. This wound up being over 4,000 food products, including school lunches and FEMA emergency meal kits. With an estimated cost of over $1 billion, it was one of the largest and most expensive food recalls in history. By January 21, FDA officials were on the ground conducting health inspections at PCAs factories. They were appalled at what they found. In addition to rampant mold, leaky roofs and uncontrolled rat infestations, investigators found students Stuart Parnell and his top employees to be cagey and uncooperative. One of PCA's plant managers first tried to claim that their products had never tested positive for salmonella, then reversed course three days later and admitted that the company had received three positive tests. After catching the company's leadership in a lie, the FDA subpoenaed two years of inf internal emails and text messages to get the real story. That's how the government learned that Stuart Parnell had knowingly shipped at least 12 batches of Salmonella tainted peanut butter between 2007 and 2008. On February 10, Congress invited Stewart to testify about the salmonella outbreak and PCA's business practices. Stewart skipped the first half of the hearing, during which dozens of grieving family members spoke to lawmakers about loved ones who died from eating PCA products. When he did show up, Stewart refused to answer any questions. Sitting with his arms crossed, he repeatedly invoked his fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination. The Peanut Corporation of America filed for bankruptcy four days later. By then, the FBI and the FDA had already teamed up to launch a criminal investigation into Stuart Parnell and his business. Agents served a search warrant at PCA's headquarters in Stewart's garage, where a giant banner with a picture of a cartoon squirrel read welcome to the nut. In September 2015, after a lengthy battle in federal court, 61 year old Stuart Parnell was sentenced to 28 years in prison for knowingly distributing salmonella tainted food. Today, Stewart is an inmate at a federal prison in West Virginia. For the past six years, he's been petitioning the courts to reduce his sentence, arguing that media coverage of the outbreak prejudiced the jury against him. Still, prison life isn't all bad. Thanks to safety regulations that passed in the wake of the outbreak, the food Stuart Parnell eats is safer than it was when the Peanut Corporation of America was still in business. Looking back on this week in Crime history, we can see how much of society operates on trust. We want to trust that nobody has gone to the drugstore and snuck deadly poison into our Tylenol. We want to trust that the peanut butter in our favorite snacks was prepared in a sanitary facility run by someone who cares that his food doesn't make us sick. In the end, the most chilling thing about today's cases isn't the crimes that were committed. It's the knowledge that some people out there are aren't playing by the same rules as the rest of us. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is True Crime this week part of Crime House Daily. Crime House Daily is a Crime House original powered by Paint Cave Studios at Crime House we want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making this possible. Please support us by rating, reviewing and following Crime House Daily. Wherever you get your podcasts, your feedback truly matters. And for ad free and early access to Crime House Daily plus exciting bonus content, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. We'll be back tomorrow. True Crime this Week is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson, and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios, this episode was brought to life by the True Crime this Week team Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertzovsky, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Truman Capps, Leah Roesch, and Michael Langsner. Thank you for listening. It's okay not to be perfect with finances. Experian is your big financial friend and here to help. Did you know you can get matched with credit cards on the app? Some cards are labeled no Ding Decline, which means if you're not approved, they won't hurt your credit scores. Download the Experian app for free today. Applying for no Ding Decline cards won't hurt your credit scores if you aren't initially approved. Initial approval will result in a hard inquiry which may impact your credit scores.