DATELINE: CHICAGO – In an ongoing investigation into the Tylenol murders of 1982 the FBI has asked for a DNA sample from convicted "UNABOMBER" TED KACZYNSKI, law enforcement officials confirmed.
In 1982, seven victims in the Chicago area died after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol from packages that had been tampered with.
Kaczynski, who pleaded guilty in 1998 to setting 16 explosions that killed three people and is currently serving a life sentence in federal prison, declined to voluntarily provide a DNA sample to feds .
Chicago FBI spokeswoman Cynthia Yates said the FBI wants the DNA from Kaczynski and "numerous individuals," although she declined to provide details about the other suspects.
The feds would try to compel the convicted madman to give a DNA swab, but in a motion filed in California, Kaczynski’s lawyer stated he was told the FBI would try to force his hand.
John Balasz, Kaczynski's attorney, said he believes the FBI is wants Kaczynski's DNA simply to eliminate him as a suspect in the ongoing Tylenol investigation.
Balasz said he's "completely convinced" that Kaczynski had no involvement in the case.
The U.S. Marshals Service is currently auctioning off items seized from Kaczynski's home. Ahead of that auction, he filed the court motion in California asking the court to order the government to keep certain items taken from his cabin in 1996, including journals that could prove his whereabouts in 1982 and other evidence that could clear him in the Tylenol case.
Balasz said he's told the FBI they'll need a court order to get the DNA sample.
The Tylenol Murder cases involved potassium cyanide placed inside seeming normal bottles of the pain killer. The deaths triggered a national scare resulted in a mass recall and the creation of tamper resistant packaging for over the counter pharmaceuticals.
Kaczynski claims he has "never even possessed any potassium cyanide."
The Tylenol poisonings case has baffled law enforcement investigators for nearly 30 years, and no charges have ever been filed in the murders.
