TRUE CRIME FRIDAY: RONALD CLARK O’BRYAN

It’s a spooktackular True Crime Friday as Ninetoes delves into the case that made parents paranoid every Halloween…

Hey there, true crime lovers! It is your favorite investigator, Ninetoes, and I am on the beat with The Case of Ronald Clark O’Bryan. I have my notebook in hand and coffee in my system, so let’s get to it!

Ronald Clark O’Bryan was a family man. He lived in Deer Park, Texas, with his wife, Daynene, and their two children: Timothy (8 years old) and daughter Elizabeth (5 years old). He worked as an optician at Texas State Optical in Houston. He was a deacon at the Second Baptist Church, where he sang in the choir. He also ran the local bus program.

Ronald Clark O’Bryan was also $100,000 in debt.

Ronald’s solution to his problem was as evil as it was deadly.

Ronald poisoned Pixy Stix with potassium cyanide on Halloween 1974. He then gave one of the poisoned candies to his son Timothy, as well as his daughter and a few of their friends. Only Timothy ate the candy, and as a result died. Ronald intended to collect the insurance money.

Let that sink in for a moment. The man (if you can call him that at this point) killed his son for insurance money; in my mind, that is the very definition of EVIL.

This action gave Ronald several nicknames: The Candy Man, The Man Who Killed Halloween, and The Pixy Stix killer.

So, the question in my mind becomes how he got the candy into the hands of his children and a couple of their friends without being detected. He took his children trick-or-treating, and they got to a house, and nobody answered the door. The kids grew impatient and ran on to the next house while he stayed behind. When he caught up to the kids, he produced five 21-inch Pixy Stix. He told the kids that the people in the house finally answered the door and gave him the candy.

Before bed that night, Timothy asked if he could eat some candy and chose the Pixy Stix. He had difficulty getting the candy out, so Ronald loosened it for him. Timothy complained the candy tasted bitter, so Ronald gave him some Kool-Aid to wash it down. Timothy immediately complained that his stomach hurt. He ran to the bathroom and started to vomit and convulse. Ronald claimed he held the boy while this was going on, and he went limp in his arms.

Timothy died on the way to the hospital.

Timothy’s death raised fear and concerns in the community. Parents turned over all of the candy the kids got to the police department. Ronald was not a suspect until Timothy’s autopsy revealed that the Pixy Stix he had consumed was laced with potassium cyanide. Four of the five Pixy Stix Ronald gave out were recovered. The parents of the fifth child became frantic when they could not find the candy. They ran up to his room and found him asleep with the uneaten candy in his hand. He could not open it because the top was stapled.

All five of the sticks were opened, and the top two inches of the wrapper were filled with the poison. Each amount of poison was enough to kill 3-4 adults.

The police investigation went through the neighborhood, and all of those questioned told the police they did not give out Pixy Stix. Ronald took them to the home he said he got the candy from, owned by a man named Courtney Melvin. Melvin was an air traffic controller who did not get home until 11:00 p.m. on Halloween night, and he has over 200 people who could vouch for his whereabouts.

Ronald became a suspect when the police dug into his financial records. Ronald could not hold a job to save his life. He had 21 jobs in 10 years and was close to being fired from his current job because of theft. Police also took notice that he took a $10,000 life insurance policy out on both of his kids, and one month before Halloween, took an additional $20,000 policy out on Timothy.

The police were never able to find out where O’Bryan got the poison. That being said, Ronald O’Bryan was arrested on November 4, 1974, for the death of his son, Timothy. He was indicted on one count of capital murder and four counts of attempted murder. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.

His trial started on May 5, 1975. A chemist who was acquainted with O’Bryan testified that he was asked how much potassium cyanide was needed to kill someone. Another chemical supply salesman testified that O’Bryan asked how he could get some of the poison. Friends and co-workers testified that in the months leading up to Timothy’s death, O’Bryan had an unusual fascination with the poison and spoke about how much was needed to kill a person. His brother-in-law stated that at Timothy’s funeral, O’Bryan was overheard saying he was going to take a vacation with the insurance money.

Then his wife testified. She told the court that Timothy did not even want to eat the poisoned candy, and his father forced him to eat it.

O’Bryan’s defense countered with the decades-old urban legend of the “mad poisoner”, the person who poisoned candy, or put needles and razor blades in candy apples.

On June 3, 1975, the case went to the jury. It took them 41 minutes to find him guilty of all charges. The jury took another 71 minutes to sentence him to death.

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

Ronald O’Bryan was executed on March 31, 1984.

Over 300 demonstrators were outside the prison when he was executed. Many cheered. Others yelled, “Trick or treat!”

Darren “Ninetoes” Perdue is a book and media reviewer. When he is not reading, he is watching true crime shows, cooking for his family, or working on a plan for universal domination. If you see him on his porch, say hi. He does not bite…much.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.