The father killed his eight-year-old son for an unthinkable reason (Image: undefined)
Handing out sweets to youngsters on Halloween is a time-honoured tradition, with 31 October typically being one of the most joyous days of the year for children. However, for eight-year-old Timothy O’Bryan from Texas, USA, it was anything but.
The young boy tragically lost his life on Halloween after consuming a Pixy Stix sherbet candy that had been laced with deadly potassium cyanide. The perpetrator of this horrific crime? None other than Timothy’s own father, Ronald Clark O’Bryan.
Known as ‘The Man Who Killed Halloween’, Ronald O’Bryan was an optician by trade and also served as a deacon at his local church. His monstrous act forever altered the perception of Halloween, especially for his neighbourhood, transforming a festive holiday into something deeply sinister.
On the fateful Halloween night in 1974, Ronald took his two children, Timothy and Elizabeth, trick or treating in their neighbourhood in Pasadena. They were joined by their family friend and neighbour, Jim Bates, along with his two children. Throughout the evening, the group knocked on several doors.
When one house didn’t answer, the eager children ran ahead to the next, while Ronald hung back. Eventually catching up with the group, Ronald handed each of the four children – his own offspring and the neighbours’ kids – a Pixy Stix each, marking the end of the night.
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Ronald laced Halloween candy with cyanide and gave them to both his children (Image: undefined)
The ends of their straw-like containers had reportedly been resealed with staples after being opened. Ronald claimed to have gotten the popular sweet from the dark house which hadn’t answered the door. A fifth Pixy Stix was allegedly handed to a 10 year old lad whom Ronald recognised from his church.
That night, before going to bed, young Timothy asked for some sweets to eat. According to Ronald, his son chose to eat the Pixy Stix out of his collection from the evening. While trying to consume the sweet, Timothy apparently struggled with getting the powdered candy out of its straw, and his dad reportedly helped him loosen the powder and eat the sweet treat.
Upon tasting the sweet and complaining it was bitter, Ronald then gave his son some Kool-Aid to wash away the repulsive taste. Almost immediately, Timothy began to complain of stomach upset and became violently ill, vomiting and convulsing.
His father later claimed he held his son in his arms while Timothy vomited and went limp while in his arms. The eight-year-old died on his way to the hospital less than an hour after he eaten the poisoned sweet.
Timothy O’Bryan was poisoned by potassium cyanide-laced candy on Halloween (Image: undefined)
While the police initially didn’t suspect Ronald of any wrongdoing, Timothy’s autopsy revealed the Pixy Stix he’d consumed had been laced with a fatal dose – enough to kill two adults – of the powerful poison potassium cyanide.
Four of the five Pixy Stix that Ronald handed out to the youngsters were recovered, and fortunately, no other child had consumed the deadly sweets. The remaining four Pixy Stix allegedly contained sufficient cyanide to kill three or four fully-grown adults, according to a pathologist who examined the poisoned confectionery.
Ronald had originally told police he couldn’t recall which house he obtained the Pixy Stix from, which officers found dubious since the adults had only visited homes on two streets in the area as it had been raining. Following further investigation, the authorities discovered that none of the houses had distributed Pixy Stix as treats that Halloween, reports the Mirror US.
Ronald subsequently claimed to have received the sweets from the house that didn’t respond to knocks, alleging he was given the confectionery by a “hairy” man who didn’t switch on the house’s lights, but only opened the door slightly, meaning he only glimpsed his arm.
On June 3, 1975, a jury found Ronald O’Bryan guilty of murder and sentenced him to death (Image: Associated Press)
The property was owned by Courtney Melvin, an air traffic controller who was employed at William P. Hobby Airport. Courtney informed authorities he didn’t arrive home from work until 11pm on Halloween – a fact which was confirmed by over 200 of his colleagues and people at work. The chilling motive behind the horrific crime?
Ronald was reportedly drowning in over $100,000 of debt and had cunningly taken out two life insurance policies worth $30,000 each for Timothy and Elizabeth.
Prosecutors firmly believed that Ronald had hatched a sinister plan to murder not only his own children but also the Bates youngsters, in an attempt to make the crime appear random.
Ronald was apprehended for his son’s murder on November 5, 1974, sending shockwaves through his church community and neighbourhood, who were thereafter terrified of Halloween, fearing that sweets could be laced with poison. Infamously known as The Candyman, Ronald’s trial as the Man Who Killed Halloween grabbed national headlines.
On June 3, 1975, a Harris County jury found Ronald O’Bryan guilty of murder and handed down a death sentence. The man who committed the unthinkable act of killing his son on Halloween was executed on March 31, 1984.
