Police ID ‘Unknown Wanderer’ found dead in church, probe possible tie to 1982 Tylenol murders

BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) - Police in Idaho said they have identified a man found dead under a church pew more than 40 years ago. Dr. Mathew Francis Betkouski was known as “the Unknown Wanderer” and had poisoned himself with cyanide, according to police. A suicide note and $1,900 were found with his body at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. “He didn’t appear to be a man that had been living on the street. Whoever he was up until the moment he walked into that church, he’d clearly been taking care of himself, but none of that told us his name. Additionally, his fingerprints didn’t match anything on file, locally or with the FBI,” Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford said Wednesday. Police said they were able to identify him using a property deed related to a key found on his body and a DNA swab from his brother. Betkouski came from a prominent Los Angeles-area family, according to Detective Tim Cooper, with the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. His grandfather was president of the Los Angeles City Council and interim mayor. His father was a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power official. “With elements of dye detected in his hair, it’s believed that Dr. Betkouski took intentional steps to conceal his identity, his cause of death and the reason for his death,” Cooper said.

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