John Stanisha: How Did He Die? Who Killed Him?

Netflix’s ‘Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders’ is a three-part true crime documentary series that primarily focuses on the tragic and unexpected Tylenol murders that took place in the Chicago area in 1982. Following the poisoning deaths, an experienced computer programmer named John Stanisha also lost his life when one of the suspects thought he was responsible for leading the authorities to his direction. Featuring interviews with the loved ones of the victims and the officials tied to the investigation, the docuseries provides a detailed look into John’s unfortunate killing.

A Night Out With Friends Turned Out to be Deadly For John Stanisha

John Raymond “Jack” Stanisha entered the world of John A. Stanisha and Wanda E. Nawrocki Stanisha on December 27, 1936, as a little bundle of joy. Growing up as the only child in a Catholic household near the Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois, he did not have to share the love and care of his parents with anyone else. At school, he impressed everyone and was allowed to skip a couple of grades because he was smarter than his peers. After graduating from high school with flying colors, he attended DePaul University. Described as someone who was ahead of his time, he was a computer programmer by occupation

In his free time, John also loved bowling, unaware that it would eventually lead him to meet his future wife. During a game of bowling in a league, he crossed paths with Loretta, whose father was also participating in the league. As John and Loretta got to know each other, sparks flew, and the two started dating. In 1960, they exchanged vows and tied the knot in the presence of their friends and families. Over the next decade or so, the couple welcomed three loving daughters, including Laurie Edling, while residing in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood neighborhood. Unfortunately, the marriage eventually fell apart, and they parted ways in 1971. Despite moving to the North Side neighborhood of the city, John maintained a close bond with his daughters.

He took time from his busy schedule and spent quality time with them, teaching them how to drive and taking them to concerts. He even took his 13-year-old daughter, Laurie, on one of his business trips to New York City in 1980. John was known to be highly passionate about music, especially classic rock and folk music. On the night of June 17, 1983, he caught up with three of his close friends at a local bar. A few hours later, in the early hours of June 18, he and his three friends were walking on North Wells Street when he was shot in the chest. It all happened so fast that the witnesses didn’t have time to do anything except see the license plate of the shooter fleeing the scene of the crime. When the authorities arrived at the site, they found the 46-year-old father of three dead and launched a homicide investigation immediately.

The Killer Mistook John Stanisha to be Someone Else

Several months earlier, in late September 1982, the Chicago area was horrified when seven people died after ingesting cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules. While the authorities were in search of the perpetrator responsible for the tampering of the capsules, a bar owner named Marty Sinclair tipped them about Roger Arnold, who he claimed had a large amount of cyanide in his possession. However, the police did not find any concrete physical evidence connecting him to the poisonings. When Roger learned that Marty, the owner of the bar he frequented, had put the police onto him, he decided to confront him.

With the intention of shooting down Marty, Roger reportedly mistook John Stanisha for the bar owner. He confronted the latter out of nowhere outside of a Lincoln Avenue bar, before proceeding to pull out his gun and fire the fatal shot. After he drove away from the scene of the crime, the shooter disposed of the murder weapon in the Chicago River and checked into a motel in Indiana. After consulting his lawyer and admitting that he had killed an innocent man due to mistaken identity, Roger surrendered himself to the police the following morning. In 1984, his murder trial commenced, during which he testified that he mistook John for Marty.

After listening to both sides of the story, the jury deliberated for four hours before reaching the final verdict. On January 11, 1984, Roger was convicted of killing John Stanisha and sentenced to 30 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 15 years. When the killer filed a petition for early release after more than a decade into his sentence, he claimed that he was sorry and that he had “killed an innocent man that did him no harm.” Meanwhile, John’s daughter, Laurie, requested the board to keep the killer imprisoned. Although the board denied his release, Roger was eventually released after a few years.