On July 9, 2023, James William Lewis was found dead in his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home as a result of cardiac arrest . The 76-year-old had practiced an array of occupations during his lifetime, having been a web designer, an accounting firm owner with his wife, Leanne, and even a self-published novelist.

Yet, upon his death, retired FBI Special Agent Roy Lane told the Chicago Tribune , “James Lewis’ death ends a lifetime of cruelty to others and a compulsive need for revenge.” Meanwhile, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Margolis told ABC Chicago, “I was saddened to learn of James Lewis’ death. Not because he’s dead, but because he didn’t die in prison.”

What had this frail old man done to earn the ire of law enforcement, not to mention the national news coverage of his death? As his New York Times obituary read, Lewis had “offered prosecutors help in solving the Tylenol murders,” a series of poisonings that claimed at least 7 lives in the Chicago area in 1982.…