Ronald Clark O'Bryan (October 19, 1944 – March 31, 1984), nicknamed The Candy Man and The Man Who Killed Halloween, was an American man convicted of killing his eight-year-old son Timothy (April 5, 1966 – October 31, 1974) on

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. ...

1974 with a

potassium cyanide Potassium cyanide is a compound with the formula KCN. This colorless crystalline salt, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications i ...

-laced

Pixy Stix Pixy Stix are a sweet and sour colored powdered candy usually packaged in a wrapper that resembles a drinking straw. The candy is usually poured into the mouth from the wrapper, which is made out of plastic or paper. Pixy Stix contain dextrose, ...

that was ostensibly collected during a trick or treat outing. O'Bryan poisoned his son in order to claim

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

money to ease his own financial troubles, as he was $100,000 in debt. O'Bryan also distributed poisoned candy to his daughter and three other children in an attempt to cover up his crime; however, neither his daughter nor the other children ate the poisoned candy. He was convicted of

capital murder Capital murder was a statutory offence of aggravated murder in Great Britain, and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, which was later adopted as a legal provision to define certain forms of aggravated murder in the United States. In so ...

in June 1975 and sentenced to death. He was executed by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

in March 1984.

Background

O'Bryan lived with his wife, Daynene, in

Deer Park, Texas Deer Park is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The city is located in Harris County and is situated in Southeast Texas. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population of Deer ...

, with their son Timothy and daughter Elizabeth (born 1969). O'Bryan worked as an

optician An optician, or ''dispensing optician'', is a technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses lenses for the correction of a person's vision. Opticians determine the specifications of various ophthalmic appliances that will give the nec ...

at Texas State Optical in

Sharpstown, Houston Sharpstown is a master-planned community in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greater Sharpstown), Southwest Houston, Texas. He was a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

at the Second Baptist Church, where he sang in the choir and ran a local bus program.

Death of Timothy O'Bryan

On October 31, 1974, O'Bryan took his two children

trick-or-treating Trick-or-treating is a traditional Halloween custom for children and adults in some countries. During the evening of Halloween, on October 31, people in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "trick or treat". The ...

in a

Pasadena, Texas Pasadena () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, U.S. census, the city's population was 151,950, making it the List of cities in Texas by population, twentieth most populous city in the ...

, neighborhood. O'Bryan's neighbor and his two children accompanied them. After visiting a home where the occupant failed to answer the door, the children grew impatient and ran ahead to the next home while O'Bryan stayed behind. He eventually caught up with the group and produced five

, which he would later claim he was given from the occupant of the house that had not answered the door. At the end of the evening, O'Bryan gave each of his neighbor's two children a Pixy Stix and one each to Timothy and Elizabeth. Upon returning home, O'Bryan gave the fifth Pixy Stix to a 10-year-old boy whom he recognized from his church. Before bed, Timothy asked to eat some of the candy he collected, and according to Ronald, he chose the Pixy Stix. Timothy had trouble getting the powdered candy out of the straw so O'Bryan helped him loosen the powder. After tasting the candy, Timothy complained that it tasted bitter. O'Bryan then gave his son

Kool-Aid Kool-Aid is an American brand of flavored drink mix owned by Kraft Heinz based in Chicago, Illinois. The powder form was created by Edwin Perkins in 1927 based upon a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. History Kool-Aid was invented by E ...

to wash away the taste. Timothy immediately began to complain that his stomach hurt and ran to the bathroom where he began vomiting and convulsing. O'Bryan later claimed he held Timothy while he was vomiting and the child went limp in his arms. Timothy O'Bryan died en route to the hospital less than an hour after consuming the candy. Timothy's death from poisoned Halloween candy raised fear in the community. Numerous parents in Deer Park and the surrounding area turned in candy their children got from trick or treating to the police, fearing it was laced with poison. The police did not initially suspect O'Bryan of any wrongdoing until Timothy's autopsy revealed that the Pixy Stix he had consumed was laced with a fatal dose of

. Four of the five Pixy Stix O'Bryan claimed to have received were recovered by authorities from the other children, none of whom had consumed the candy. The parents of the fifth child became hysterical when they could not locate the candy after being notified by the police. The parents rushed upstairs to find their son asleep, holding the unconsumed candy. The boy had been unable to open the staples that sealed the wrapper shut. All five of the Pixy Stix had been opened, with the top refilled with cyanide powder and resealed with a staple. According to a pathologist who tested the Pixy Stix, the candy consumed by Timothy contained enough cyanide to kill two adults, while the other four candies contained enough to kill three to four adults. O'Bryan initially told police that he could not remember which house he got the Pixy Stix from. Police became suspicious because O'Bryan and his neighbor had only taken their children to homes on two streets because it had been raining. Their suspicions increased after learning that none of the homes they visited had given out Pixy Stix. After walking the neighborhood with police three times, O'Bryan led them to the home where no one had answered the door. O'Bryan claimed that he went back there before catching up with the group. He said the owner of the home did not turn the lights on, but did crack the door open and hand him five Pixy Stix. He claimed to have only seen the man's arm, which he described as "hairy". The home was owned by a man named Courtney Melvin. Melvin was an air traffic controller at William P. Hobby Airport and did not get home from work until 11 p.m. on Halloween night. Police ruled Melvin out as a suspect when over 200 people confirmed that he had been at work. As their investigation progressed, police learned that Ronald O'Bryan was over in debt and had a history of being unable to hold a job. In the ten years preceding the crime, O'Bryan had held 21 jobs. At the time of his arrest, he was suspected of theft at his job at Texas State Optical and was close to being fired. His car was about to be repossessed, he had defaulted on several bank loans, and the family home had been foreclosed on. Police discovered that O'Bryan had taken out life insurance policies on his children in the months preceding Timothy's death. In January 1974, he had taken out life insurance policies on both of his children. One month before Timothy's death, O'Bryan took out additional $20,000 policies on both children, despite the objections of his life insurance agency. In the days preceding Timothy's death, O'Bryan had taken out yet another $20,000 policy on each child. The various policies totaled approximately $60,000. O'Bryan's wife maintained that she did not know about the insurance policies on her children's lives. Police also learned that on the morning after Timothy's death, O'Bryan had called his insurance company to inquire about collecting the policies he had taken out on his son. After learning that O'Bryan had visited a chemical supply store in Houston to buy cyanide shortly before Halloween 1974 (he left without purchasing anything after learning the smallest amount available to purchase was five pounds), police began to suspect that Ronald O'Bryan had laced the candies with poison in an effort to kill his children to collect on their life insurance policies. They believed he gave the other children poisoned candy in an effort to cover up his crime. Police repeatedly questioned O'Bryan but he maintained his innocence.

Trial and conviction

Although police never discovered when or where O'Bryan bought the poison, he was arrested for Timothy's murder on November 5, 1974. He was indicted on one count of

and four counts of attempted murder. O'Bryan entered a plea of not guilty to all five counts. O'Bryan's trial began in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

on May 5, 1975. During the trial, a chemist who was acquainted with O'Bryan testified that in summer 1973, O'Bryan contacted him asking about cyanide and how much would be fatal. A chemical supply salesman also testified that O'Bryan had asked him how to purchase cyanide. Friends and co-workers testified that in the months before Timothy's death, O'Bryan showed an "unusual interest" in cyanide and spoke about how much it would take to kill a person. O'Bryan's sister-in-law and brother-in-law testified that on the day of Timothy's funeral, he spoke of using the money from Timothy's insurance policy to take a long vacation and buy other items. As well, his wife rejected the claim that Timothy chose the Pixy Stix, stating that O'Bryan had, in fact, forced him to choose the Stix. O'Bryan continued to maintain his innocence. His defense mainly drew upon the decades-old

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

concerning a "mad poisoner" who hands out Halloween candy laced with poison or needles or

candy apple Candy apples (or toffee apples in Commonwealth English) are whole apples covered in a sugar candy coating, with a stick inserted as a handle. These are a common treat at fall festivals in Western culture in the Northern Hemisphere, such as H ...

s with razor blades inserted. These stories have persisted despite the fact that there are no documented instances of strangers poisoning Halloween candy. The case and subsequent trial garnered national attention and the press dubbed O'Bryan "The Candyman". On June 3, 1975, a jury took 46 minutes to find O'Bryan guilty of capital murder and four counts of attempted murder. The jury took 71 minutes to sentence him to

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

by electrocution. Shortly after he was convicted, his wife filed for divorce. She later remarried and her new husband adopted her daughter Elizabeth.

Execution

At the time, men sentenced to death under Texas law were confined to the Ellis I Unit near

Huntsville, Texas Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas. The population was 45,941 as of the 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area. Huntsville is in the East Texas Piney Woods on Interstate 45 and home t ...

. According to Reverend Carroll Pickett, a former

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

who worked for the

Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jai ...

, O'Bryan was shunned and despised by his fellow death row inmates for killing his child and was "absolutely friendless". The inmates reportedly petitioned to hold an organized demonstration on O'Bryan's execution date to express their hatred of him. O'Bryan's first execution date was set for August 8, 1980. His attorney successfully petitioned for a

stay of execution A stay of execution is a court order to temporarily suspend the execution of a court judgment or other court order. The word "execution" does not always mean the death penalty. It refers to the imposition of whatever judgment is being stayed and ...

. A second date was scheduled for May 25, 1982. That date was also postponed. Judge Michael McSpadden scheduled a third execution date for October 31, 1982, the eighth anniversary of the crime, and he offered to personally drive O'Bryan to the death chamber. It was to have been the first time Texas executed an inmate by

. The Supreme Court delayed the date yet again to give O'Bryan a chance to pursue an appeal to seek a new trial. A fourth date was scheduled for March 31, 1984. O'Bryan's lawyer sought a fourth stay on the basis that lethal injection was a "cruel and unusual punishment". On March 28, a federal judge rejected the request. On March 31, 1984, shortly after midnight, O'Bryan was executed by lethal injection at the

Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional ...

. His last meal consisted of T-bone steak (medium to well done), french fries and ketchup, whole kernel corn, sweet peas, lettuce and tomato salad with egg and french dressing, iced tea, sweetener, saltines, Boston cream pie, and rolls. O'Bryan last words were "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. 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. Ronald C. O’Bryan P.S. During my time here, I have been treated well by all T.D.C. personnel." During the execution, a crowd of 300 demonstrators gathered outside the prison cheered while some yelled "Trick or treat!" Others showered anti-death penalty demonstrators with candy. Ronald O'Bryan is buried in Forest Park East Cemetery in

Webster, Texas Webster is a city in the U.S. state of Texas located in Harris County, within the Houston–The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area. Its population was 12,499 at the 2020 U.S. census History The community was founded in 1879 by James W. ...

. Timothy is buried in Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* Kuffner, Charles
"The Candy Man", 30 years later"
in ''Off the Kuff'', October 29, 2004. * Babineck, Mark
"O'Bryan's Deed Haunts Halloween "
Associated Press, October 31, 1994. * The Malefactor's Register
"The Man Who Ruined Halloween"
* Glenn, Mike and Ruth Rendon
"'Man Who Killed Halloween' still haunts holiday"
The Houston Chronicle, October 29, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Obryan, Ronald Clark 1944 births 1984 deaths 1974 murders in the United States 20th-century American criminals 20th-century executions by Texas 20th-century executions of American people American male criminals American murderers of children American people convicted of murder Baptists from Texas Burials in Texas Filicides in Texas Murderers for life insurance money Place of birth missing People convicted of murder by Texas People executed by Texas by lethal injection People executed for murder People from Deer Park, Texas Executed people from Texas Poisoners People from Huntsville, Texas 20th-century Baptists