BOSTON -- A Chicago area police department commander is hopeful that officials may have a break in the case of the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that claimed the lives of seven people when they consumed capsules laced with cyanide.

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Arlington Heights Police Commander Kenneth Galinski said an officer from the department was in Boston on Wednesday when Cambridge officials searched the home of a man convicted of extortion in connection with the case.

FBI spokesman Tom Simon said the search was related to authorities' decision to review the poisonings case.

The killings happened in the Chicago area and involved Extra-Strength Tylenol medicine capsules that were laced with poison. The perpetrator was never caught, but James Lewis was charged with extortion in connection with the case.

Lewis, who claimed he was involved in the case, sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million to stop the killings. Officials later determined that he had nothing to do with the crimes, but he was convicted of extortion and served 12 years of a 20-year sentence.

The FBI searched Lewis' Gore Street apartment on Wednesday, but released little information about what, if anything, was found. No one was taken into custody.

Lewis moved to Massachusetts after being released from prison in 1995. In 2004, he was charged with rape and kidnapping, but the charges were dismissed after the alleged victim refused to testify, according to the office of Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone.

FBI officials launched a "complete review of all evidence developed in connection with the 1982 Tylenol murders." In a statement, officials said the review, in part, was prompted by the "recent 25th anniversary of this crime and the resulting publicity."

The tainted pills were from bottles that came from different factories. At the time, the person was believed to have taken packages of Tylenol from grocery and drug stores in the Chicago area and added cyanide at another location before returning the pills to store shelves.

Mary Kellerman, 12, of Elk Grove Village, Ill., Adam Janus, 27, of Arlington Heights, Ill., Janus' 25-year-old brother, Stanley, and his wife, Theresa Janus, 19, Mary Reiner, 27, of Winfield, Ill., Paula Prince, 35, of Chicago and Mary McFarland, 35, of Elmhurst, Ill., died after ingesting the laced pills.

A nationwide recall of Tylenol products was issued in October 1982, and customers were urged not to consume any products that contained Tylenol.

The case led to the addition of tamper-evident safety seals to medicine and other bottles.