Ronald Clark O’Bryan was a man who was given the nickname “The Candy Man“ after he killed his own son and attempted to kill other children after poisoning their Halloween candy in 1974.
Ronald Clark O’Bryan was a 39 year old optician living in Deer Park, Texas. He had a wife named Daynene and they had two children: a son named Timothy and a daughter named Elizabeth. Along with being an optician, Ronald was also a deacon at the Second Baptist Church and was in charge of the bus program.
On Halloween of 1974, Ronald took 8 year old Timothy and 5 year old Elizabeth trick-or-treating. The children began to run ahead of their father after already going to a few houses with no answer. When Ronald finally caught up with the children, he took out 5 Pixy Stix candies from his pockets. He claimed that one of the people from the previous houses gave them to him.
After giving his 2 children 1 Pixy Stix each, Ronald handed 1 to each of his neighbors’ kids as well, leaving him with 1 more. He later gave the last one to a 10 year old boy he recognized from church.
Before heading to bed, Timothy asked to have a candy, as he and Elizabeth had not had any of their candy yet. When his parents allowed him to take a candy, Timothy chose the Pixy Stix. Upon opening it, he had trouble getting the powdery candy out, so Ronald helped him. Timothy then complained that the candy tasted bitter, so his father gave him some Kool Aid to wash it down.
Soon after, Timothy began to complain that his stomach hurt. He then went to the bathroom and began throwing up and convulsing. The ambulance quickly arrived at the house, but Timothy unfortunately died on the way to the hospital, just less than an hour after he ate the candy.
After Timothy’s autopsy was done, it was found that the child had been poisoned with a fatal dose of potassium cyanide after eating the Pixy Stix. The other Pixy Stix that Ronald had given out were recovered from the other children. The parents of the 5th child began to panic when they couldn’t find the candy their son had, fearing he ate the poisoned candy. But it was later found in the child’s hand as he was sleeping, still unopened.
It was discovered that each of the Pixy Stix had been ripped open and partially dumped out. The candy that was dumped out was then replaced with the cyanide and then the wrapper was stapled shut. The Pixy Stix that Timothy had consumed had enough cyanide to kill 2 adults, and the rest of the candies had enough to kill 3 to 4 adults.
Ronald was questioned about which house he got the candy from, but he claimed that he couldn’t remember. The police later found that the children had only gone trick-or-treating on about 2 blocks before returning home because it started raining. They then discovered that none of the houses that the children went to had given out Pixy Stix.
After investigating Ronald’s background further, it was found that he had taken out a life insurance policy on both his children months before Timothy’s death. Days before Halloween, Ronald had visited a chemical supply store and purchased cyanide.
After putting the pieces together, investigators determined that Ronald had poisoned his son and attempted to poison his daughter to collect life insurance money. He gave the poisoned candy to the other kids as well to cover his tracks. Ronald was arrested for the murder of Timothy on November 5, 1974.
Despite the evidence against him, Ronald maintained his claim of innocence. Ronald’s trial for his son’s murder began on May 5, 1975. A chemist that Ronald was acquainted with testified claiming that in 1973, Ronald asked him about how much cyanide could be fatal. Other acquaintances of Ronald further claimed that Ronald had become more interested in cyanide. Ronald’s in-laws also claimed that at Timothy’s funeral, Ronald talked about plans to use the insurance money to go on vacation and other purchases.
On June 3, 1975, Ronald was found guilty of capital murder and 4 counts of attempted murder. Shortly after his conviction, Ronald’s wife Daynene divorced him and began living a new life with their daughter Elizabeth and her new husband. Ryan was executed by lethal injection on March 31, 1984.
It’s so horrifying that a person could commit such a sick crime against their own child. It is fortunate that Ronald didn’t get away with this crime and that no other children suffered like poor Timothy did. This murder changed Halloween forever; now parents constantly double check their kid’s candy to prevent such incidents from happening.
Resources-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Clark_O%27Bryan
https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/the-man-who-killed-halloween
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