Sketches, Recording of Suspect in Capsule Poisonings Released

Two composite sketches and a tape recording of “Gary,” the man suspected in the recent poison contamination of Contac, Teldrin and Dietac capsules, were released Tuesday by the FBI.

“This individual’s actions are considered to represent a grave danger to society, and the FBI continues a very intensive investigation to identify and apprehend him,” said W. Douglas Gow, special agent in charge of the Houston FBI office.

The FBI has established a toll-free telephone number--1-800-222-3081--for people to call with information about the case, he said.

Witnesses’ Accounts

The sketches are based on information from witnesses who believe they saw a man place capsules in an Orlando, Fla., store March 19. Six tainted capsules were later found at the store and four others were discovered in Houston.

The sketches, made by Orlando police, show a white male of undetermined age. In one sketch, he is wearing sunglasses.

Gow said no one is known to have ingested the capsules, tainted in each case with a chemical used in rat poison. The amount of poison in the capsules, however, would not likely cause death, he said.

The Proprietary Assn., a trade organization that represents 83 manufacturers of over-the-counter medicines, is offering a $300,000 reward in the case.

10 Telephone Calls

Gow said a caller identifying himself as Gary has made at least 10 telephone calls, including one to WCBS radio in New York City.

Also Tuesday, leaders in the pharmaceutical industry promised to make capsules more tamper-resistant but vowed to fight attempts to remove them from the market.

The industry officials held a news conference during a national convention of pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, where new technologies designed to make capsules tamper-resistant were unveiled.

Most of these technologies involve chemically binding together the two halves of a capsule. The bond would make it extremely difficult to open a capsule and put it back together again, but not impossible, manufacturers said.

So far, only Johnson & Johnson Co., makers of Tylenol, has permanently pulled capsules off the market.