Real-life Halloween 'Candy Man' killer filled trick-or-treat straws with cyanide
A real-life 'Candy Man' killer filled sherbet straws with cyanide and handed them out to his son and local children - murdering his own flesh and blood in a chilling Halloween horror story.
The sickening story of Ronald Clark O'Bryan - known as 'The Candy Man' and 'The Man Who Killed Halloween' will send shivers down your spine.
Houston-born O'Bryan worked as an optician and lived with his wife, Daynene, with whom he shared two kids, Timothy and Elizabeth. O'Bryan was convicted of killing eight-year-old Timothy on October 31, 1974, after filling Pixy Stix sherbet straws with potassium cyanide, which the youngster collected whilst trick-or-treating in the local neighbourhood.
O'Bryan was known in his local community in Deer Park, Texas as a normal, model citizen. He was the deacon of the local baptist church, where he also sang in the choir.
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Timothy O'Bryan
Ronald O'Bryan maintained his innocenceBut behind the mask formed by the church and his esteemed qualifications, O'Bryan had a secret. The eye doctor was a whopping $94,000 in debt and the extreme financial problems had him seeking a drastic way out.
On the fateful night, O'Bryan, along with Timothy and Elizabeth, went trick-or-treating with neighbour Jim Bates and his two children. Bates, according to the plan agreed by the parents, would wait outside the homes while O'Bryan walked up to the front door with the young kids.
The murder shocked the local communityThe arrival at one door proved unsuccessful - nobody was home - and the children quickly rushed off to the next house. Sometime later, O'Bryan, who had stayed behind, emerged with more treats for the children including five Pixy Stix straws.
O'Bryan told Bates the people living in the house simply hadn't opened the door in time and the night continued until the rain thwarted their plans. Later, young Timothy fatefully asked his father for more sweets.
O'Bryan, 30, in District Court in Houston, Texas, Nov. 12, 1974, as his lawyers try to get his $100,000 bond reduced (ASSOCIATED PRESS)As little Timothy was climbing into bed, he begged his dad for some of his Halloween sweets and O'Bryan handed him the Pixy Sticks he had 'collected' from the house while he was alone. Chillingly, he even helped his little boy open the sealed packet.
Soon after, little Timothy buckled in agony and began being sick, convulsing in the bathroom. He was in an ambulance within the hour and then passed away - a post-mortem revealed he had been poisoned with potassium cyanide.
Young Timothy's graveAs police began to suspect O'Bryan, he continued to claim the sweets had come from the empty house. Thankfully, none of the youngsters had been able to open their Pixy Stix - one even fell asleep holding the sugar straws.
The father told police he couldn't remember which house he thought the poisoned sweets had come from but then, after he was forced to a walkabout, recognised the home. He insisted he had only seen a man's arm and that no lights had been turned on.
The botched alibi was easily countered - homeowner Courtney Melvin was an air traffic controller and had been at work until 11pm that night so there was no way he could have handed over the poisoned sweets.
Ronald Clark O'Bryan is shown in his cell, March 21, 1984 (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
O'Bryan took out life insurance on his children (ASSOCIATED PRESS)It was then that police found the massive debt and the father had taken out a $10,000 insurance policy on each of his children's lives in January, 1974. This was increased by $20,000 just a month before Timothy's death and, just days before the murder, O'Bryan further increased the premium by $20,000 on each child.
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He was charged with one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder and it was found he had called the insurance companies about collecting the cash only the morning after his little boy had died. Despite pleading not guilty to all five charges, it took the jury just 46 minutes to find him guilty and then just over an hour to sentence him to death.
Until the day he died, O'Bryan claimed his young son had been killed by a 'mad-poisoner', a local urban legend of a figure who hands out poisoned candy.
It took the jury just 46 minutes to find O'Bryan guilty (ASSOCIATED PRESS)"We were all shocked that someone would kill their own son, their own flesh and blood, for a lousy $40,000 life insurance policy," former Harris County Assistant District Attorney, Mike Hinton, who prosecuted the case said.
Before his execution on March 30, 1984, O'Bryan said: "What is about to transpire in a few moments is wrong! However, we as human beings do make mistakes and errors. This execution is one of those wrongs yet doesn’t mean our whole system of justice is wrong.
"Therefore, I would forgive all who have taken part in any way in my death. Also, to anyone I have offended in any way during my 39 years, I pray and ask your forgiveness, just as I forgive anyone who offended me in any way."
O'Bryan at a 1984 news conference in Huntsville, Texas, said he was 'steady as a rock' as he faced his scheduled Saturday execution because he had the courage of innocence and the conviction of a Christian who has been saved (ASSOCIATED PRESS)He continued: "And I pray and ask God’s forgiveness for all of us respectively as human beings. To my loved ones, I extend my undying love.
"To those close to me, know in your hearts I love you one and all. God bless you all and may God’s best blessings be always yours."
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