On Halloween, giving out candy to kids is a long-standing custom that usually brings joy to children. However, for eight-year-old Timothy O’Bryan from Texas, USA, it turned into a tragic nightmare. The young boy lost his life after consuming a Pixy Stix candy tainted with deadly potassium cyanide, given to him by his own father, Ronald Clark O’Bryan.
Ronald, also known as ‘The Man Who Killed Halloween,’ was an optician and a deacon at a local church. His heinous act of poisoning candy forever changed the perception of the festive holiday, casting a dark shadow over it.
On that ill-fated Halloween night in 1974, Ronald took his kids trick-or-treating in Pasadena, accompanied by a neighbor and his children. Ronald distributed Pixy Stix to the children, claiming he received them from a dark house they visited. Tragically, Timothy ingested the poisoned candy and fell critically ill, succumbing to the effects shortly after.
Investigations revealed that the Pixy Stix contained a lethal dose of potassium cyanide, enough to kill multiple adults. Fortunately, no other child had consumed the tainted candy. Ronald’s suspicious behavior and conflicting statements led authorities to uncover his sinister motive rooted in financial desperation, as he was heavily in debt and had taken out life insurance policies on his children.
Ronald’s scheme to murder his children under the guise of a random poisoning shocked the community. He was arrested and later convicted of murder, receiving the death penalty. His execution in 1984 marked the end of a chilling chapter in the history of Halloween, leaving a lasting impact on those who once celebrated the holiday with innocence and joy.
