Razor blades in apples and poisoned Halloween candy was nothing more than an urban legend until one tragic night in a quiet Texas neighborhood. It was Halloween of 1974 and eight-year-old Timothy O’Bryan joyfully picked out a piece of candy from his Halloween bounty and fell ill almost immediately. He was dead within an hour of consuming it.
The O’Bryan Family Of Deer Park Texas Seemed Normal Enough…
Ronald O’Bryan lived in Deer Park Texas with his wife Daynene and their two children, son Timothy and their daughter Elizabeth. He worked as an optician at Texas State Optical Company, but was in severe financial debt, which he discussed openly with friends and family members.
Despite his financial hardships, somehow O’Bryan was able to increase the life insurance policies on both of his children in mid-October of 1974. Both children had policies worth $30,000 dollars each, while he and his wife had much smaller policies.
On Halloween Night, Of 1974 O’Bryan Set His Horrific Plan In Motion
On October 31, 1974, Ronald O’Bryan took Timothy and Elizabeth trick-or-treating with the Bates family, whom they had dinner with earlier. The Melvin’s house was dark and ignored the enthusiastic knocks of the excited trick-or-treaters, so the children ran off while O’Bryan hung back a little. He soon caught up with the group and handed out five 21-inch Pixy Stix, making it appear as if the seemingly empty house was simply slow to answer.
He distributed the mysterious Pixy Styx to five children; both of his children, his neighbor’s two children, and he handed off the fifth to a random trick-or-treater on the street. Eight-year-old Timothy O’Bryan was the only one who tried the giant sugar stick. He complained that it tasted bitter and O’Bryan gave him Kool-Aid to help wash it down. Timothy began vomiting and convulsing almost immediately.
Timothy Died An Hour After Consuming The Candy
O’Bryan called an ambulance for his son but Timothy died within an hour of consuming the candy. An examination of Timothy’s body revealed his Halloween candy was laced with potassium cyanide. The small amount of candy he consumed was well above the fatal dose. Police became suspicious of O’Bryan pretty quickly.
O’Bryan claimed the candy came from the Melvine home, but Mr. Melvine was at work all night. Then O’Bryan claimed he couldn’t remember which house the candy had come from. Police questioned everyone, no one gave or received Pixy Styx in the neighborhood, except for the five children O’Bryan handed them out too. Thankfully no one else ate them.
Trail Of Cyanide Lead Straight Back To Timothy’s Own Father
During their investigation, police discovered O’Bryan tried to obtain cyanide at his place of work but was unsuccessful back in August of that year. He also allegedly called a friend in September to discuss the varieties cyanide and what was easily available. O’Bryan then went into a chemical outlet in Houston but the company only had cyanide in large quantities, the salesperson remembered O’Bryan asking where he could get a smaller amount.
O’Bryan Was Charged With The Murder Of His Son And Plead ‘Not Guilty’
O’Bryan’s multiple attempts to purchase cyanide paired with the increase in his children’s insurance policies secured his fate and branded him “The Candy Man.”
Police were never able to prove when or where O’Bryan actually bought the poison, but they were able to prove his intent on acquiring it.
He was arrested on November 5th, 1974 and was indicted for one count of capital murder and four counts of attempted murder for the other children he almost poisoned.
Testimonies Revealed How Long O’Bryan Had Been Planning This Horrific Crime
On May 5th, 1975 O’Bryan entered a plea of not guilty to all five counts and maintained his innocence throughout the whole trial. During which, it was revealed that O’Bryan had been asking around about cyanide as early as the summer of 1973–this monster had been planning to murder his own children for quite some time.
Friends and co-workers all testified that in the months leading up to Halloween showed an “unusual interest” in how much it would take to kill someone with cyanide. O’Bryan’s sister-in-law and brother-in-law both testified that he actually had the audacity to say he was thinking about using Timothy’s insurance money to go on a long vacation.
O’Bryan Was Found Guilty And Sentenced To Death
It comes as no surprise that it only took the jury 45 minutes to come back with a guilty verdict. They probably only sat in there as long as they did out of a sense of obligation to the court. It’s hard to believe anyone would doubt O’Bryan’s guilt.
On June 3, 1975, Ronald O’Bryan was convicted on one count of capital murder and the four counts of attempted murder.
He was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Ronald O’Bryan was executed on March 31, 1984.
His wife Daynene filed for divorce before the execution and built a new life for her daughter Elizabeth.
Halloween Safety Programs Launched Soon After This Case
Naturally, all the parents in the area had panicked and tossed out all their kid’s Halloween candy. But this wasn’t a case of some faceless madman poisoning the town’s children. This was a premeditated, isolated incident and little Timothy had been targeted by his own father.
This was a case that brought the old urban legends about poisoned candy and apples with razor blades to life. Prior to this case, nothing like this had ever happened before. Halloween safety programs were soon launched throughout Pasadena. Parents were taught how to properly inspect candy and many other tips for safe trick-or-treating.
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