3rd Cyanide Death, Sudafed Link Probed : Poisonings: A man who told paramedics he had taken a cold tablet dies. There are differences between this case and two earlier fatalities.

In what may be the third fatality tied to tainted Sudafed, a 30-year-old man died Monday after reporting that he had ingested the cold medication, medical authorities said.

State toxicologists later determined that Jack Durham of Everett, a community straddling Interstate 5 about 30 miles north of here, died of a lethal dose of cyanide.

However, the Durham case did not fit circumstances surrounding two deaths and a near-death last month in Sudafed tampering cases in the Tacoma-Olympia region of western Washington state, FBI officials said. For one thing, investigators were unable to find any evidence of Sudafed in Durham’s home.

A joint investigation by the FBI, Everett police and the Snohomish County medical examiner’s office was trying to determine whether Durham’s death was homicide, suicide or accidental.

Authorities said Durham had attempted suicide before.

Durham called paramedics at 6:30 a.m. Monday and told them he had taken a Sudafed tablet, not a capsule, at about 1 a.m. and began to feel ill an hour later. He died at General Hospital Medical Center in Everett at 10:35 a.m., said hospital spokesman Mark Sigfrinius.

“Durham said he took a tablet, but he could have been mixed up,” Sigfrinius said. “We conducted a search and found no Sudafed in his house.”

In the earlier cases, each of the victims were believed to have taken Sudafed 12-Hour capsules laced with cyanide.

In addition, “the other victims became ill in a matter of seconds after ingestion,” said John Eyer, FBI assistant agent in charge. “Here, the victim said he ingested something at 1 a.m., but he didn’t pass away until 10:35 in the morning.

“It doesn’t precisely fit with the other cases,” Eyer said. “But we can’t discount that possibility until we complete our investigation.”

Separately, the FBI is conducting an ongoing investigation into what may be the first reported case of possible tampering outside of Washington.

A woman in Hawaii became ill Friday after taking a Sudafed 12-Hour capsule that she purchased at airports either in Los Angeles or San Francisco, or at a drug store in Hawaii, said William D. Gore, Seattle FBI special agent in charge.

Blood samples taken from the woman revealed traces of cyanide, although the amount was only slightly higher than what would be considered normal levels, Gore said.

“This incident does not appear to be related to the current investigation in Washington state involving cyanide-tainted Sudafed 12-Hour capsules,” Gore said.