Crime Chronicles: The Man Who Killed Halloween

Halloween is an occasion that many people really enjoy. It's a night where the veil between the worlds is thinnest, and while it's more associated with horror and the macabre nowadays, it was long affiliated with remembering and honoring the dead. It's a night of fun and games as creepy decorations line the walls and fences of the neighborhood and eyes of the Jack 'o' Lantern's shine bright with eerie, orange light.

Every year, the streets are filled with everyone from witches to vampires and all things that go bump in the night. It's a night of costume parties, games, and sweets. Most of the time, it's harmless, but the holiday also tends to bring out the weirdos in society - it's not all harmless pranks either with theft and vandalism being frequent problems. Unfortunately, nowadays Stranger Danger is a huge part of growing up with parents warning their kids to be wary around strangers but what if the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing isn't a stranger? What if the wolf in sheep's clothing is someone close to you, a friend, a relative?

It's a scenario out of a crime drama, where the victim is betrayed by someone they love. Most of the time, it's in movies, but sadly this situation became all too real for one family in 1974.

I should probably warn any parents reading that this may be a rough one to read. For this edition of Crime Chronicles, we'll be looking at the disturbing case of Ronald Clark O'Bryan.

The O'Bryan Family

Remarkably little is known about Ronald Clark O'Bryan, but here's what we do know.

He was born on October 19, 1944. He lived with his wife Daynene in Texas - in a place called Deer Park (which I'm guessing is a suburb in Houston). He was an optician in Houston and was very active with his local church. How active was he? Well, he was the church deacon and sang in the choir, he was also in charge of the bus program.

In 1966, Daynene gave birth to their first child, Timothy and, three years later in 1969, she gave birth to a second child - a girl they named Elizabeth.

So far, so good, we have a family man who was very active in his church, had a beautiful wife, and two cute kids. Sounds good so far, but like all things, it had to end some time.

Halloween Night - 1974

October 31, 1974 - Halloween night, that's when our story really kicks off.

A major, and popular tradition of Halloween is for all the kids to go trick or treating. Now, we don't do Halloween in South Africa, but the idea is that you go from door to door in your neighborhood asking for treats. If denied, you then play a trick on the one who denies you your treat...I could be very mistaken here but that's my understanding of it.

Among the many children that were prowling the streets in search of candy that night were Tim and Elizabeth O'Bryan. During the course of the night, the two kids, accompanied by their father and their neighbor and his two kids presumably had quite a successful haul. At one house, however, the owner didn't answer the door so the two kids went on to the next one.

Ronald caught up with them a short while later and gave them each a Pixy Stix. He also gave his neighbor's kids a Pixy Stix each and one more to a 10 year old boy from their church. Pixy Stix is a candy that we don't get in South Africa, but we have something similar; a sherbet straw - at least, that's what I think it is.

So far everything seems to have gone well, but this is Crime Chronicles so we know that this isn't going to last.

The Death of Timothy O'Bryan

After a night of successful Trick or Treating, the O'Bryan children returned home and asked to eat some candy before bed. This is where things go pear-shaped.

Timothy O'Bryan chose the Pixy Stix and his sister chose something else. Tim had an issue with getting the powder out of the straw so his dad loosened the powder for him. He complained almost immediately about the flavor and was given some Kool-Aid to wash out the taste. After that, Tim started convulsing, vomiting, and he complained about stomach pain.

Timothy O'Bryan was rushed to the hospital, but died before he even got there. He was only 8 years old at the time.

The Discovery of Poison

As you can imagine, parents all over the neighborhood panicked and went to the police with their kids' Halloween candy to turn it in fearing it had been laced with poison. Now, initially the police didn't have any suspect Ronald of any wrongdoing...until the autopsy results came in. The report showed that the little boy had potassium cyanide in his body - courtesy of the Pixy Stix having been laced with a lethal dose of the deadly substance.

The other four Pixy Stix were promptly recovered and every single one of them was found to have been opened and partially filled with a lethal dose of potassium cyanide. The autopsy report indicated that the amount of cyanide in Timothy's body was enough to kill TWO adults and the other Pixy Stix candies had enough of the substance to kill two or three adults.

Suspicion Sets In

So, initially police didn't suspect Ronald Clarke O'Bryan of anything. That was until the autopsy report came out. After that, the investigation really picked up steam after that. The police found that O'Bryan and his neighbor had only been on two streets in their area due to inclement weather (it was raining). Additionally, none of the homes they visited gave out Pixy Stix - so, where did the candy come from?

O'Bryan initially said that he didn't remember where he'd gotten the Pixy Stix, but he later - after three roundtrips - took police to the house where he'd allegedly gotten the poisoned candy. The house in question was where nobody answered the door. That house was owned by a man named Courtney Melvin. He was an air traffic controller at the William P. Hobby Airport and had been at work until 11 pm on Halloween night. This was later confirmed by 200 witnesses who saw him at work that night.

Things got worse for O'Bryan when the police discovered that he was over $100k in debt, couldn't hold a job (he'd had 21 jobs between 1964 and 1974). He was close to being fired from his job because he was suspected of theft, his car was on the verge of being repossessed and his house had been foreclosed.

Police also found out that Ronald took out life insurance policies on his children:

• January, 1974 - $10,000 policies on each child.
• September, 1974 - $20,000 policies on each child.
• October, 1974 - $20,000 policies on each child.

Now, the Wikipedia page for this particular...ahem...criminal (got to be careful with my words here) says that the policies totalled approximately $60k. I was admittedly never very good at math, but when you've got four $20k policies and two $10k policies, that's a lot more than $60k! In fact, that's exactly $100k! Methinks someone wasn't paying attention in class.

Anyways, things were looking pretty sketchy for Ron now. Police had also learned that he had reached out to his insurance company to ask about cashing in on his son's policies...the day after he died. Now, I don't know about you guys, but that's not something I'd be doing if my kid had just suffered a horrible death!

Things only got worse when police discovered that Ronald had gone to a chemical store to purchase, wait for it, potassium cyanide. Now, he didn't actually buy any - probably because the smallest amount he could get was five pounds and that would be difficult to hide - but that still raised more than a few eyebrows.

The Mad Poisoner: The Candy Man goes to Trial

The police had a theory, and it was a doozy; their theory was that Ronald intended to poison his own children and then cash out on their insurance policies. To that end, he laced the Pixy Stix with cyanide and slipped the doctored candy to his kids under the guise of a Halloween trick or treat sweet. They also theorized that, in order to cover up his crime, he slipped doctored candy to other children...talk about psychotic, yikes!

Despite the limited evidence, there was enough probable cause for an arrest. Ronald Clark O'Bryan was arrested on November 5, 1974 and charged with one count of capital murder and four counts of attempted murder. He plead not guilty to all five counts and the trial kicked off on May 5, 1975.

The prosecution's case was laid out quite simply. They talked about his financial troubles, the life insurance policies, and, most damningly, a peculiar interest in cyanide. In the months leading up to Timothy O'Bryan's death, his father had demonstrated a strange interest in the substance and asked a number of strange and incriminating questions. Some of those questions were about where to purchase the substance and how much would be a lethal dose...this guy was definitely not a smart cookie.

By contrast, his defense played mostly with the idea that it was some maniac that had given him the tainted Pixy Stix. This was, of course, drawing on the urban legend of the Mad Poisoner - a villainous stranger who deliberately hides harmful items (i.e. razor blades, drugs, etc.) in the candy that he distributes.

The jury retired to deliberate on June 3, 1975. It took only 46 minutes for them to return with a verdict; guilty on all five counts. It took a further hour or so for them to decide on a sentence before they sentenced Ronald Clark O'Bryan to death. Now, I could be wrong, but my understanding here is that the jury can pass a sentence, but the judge has the final say. In this case, the judge agreed and signed off on the execution.

The Death of Ronald Clark O'Bryan

It took four tries to execute this guy...that bothers me on a level that I can't adequately describe.

Initially, he was scheduled for execution on August 8, 1980, but his lawyer managed to get a stay of execution - essentially a postponement. The second date was May 25, 1982 - that was also postponed. A third date, October 31, 1982, was scheduled and his lawyer managed for a third time to postpone his client's execution. At that point, electrocution had been replaced with the lethal injection; O'Bryan was meant to be the first man in Texas to get the new method.

As you can imagine, people were getting frustrated, but O'Bryan failed to get a new trial - which is why the third date was postponed. The fourth and final date was March 31, 1984. O'Bryan's lawyer tried to get a fourth stay of execution...and failed.

Ronald O'Bryan was led to the death chamber on March 31, 1984 and strapped to the gurney. Now, if you're thinking this is where he finally broke down and confessed his guilt; you're sadly mistaken.

"What is about to transpire in a few moments is wrong! However, we as human beings 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 Clark O'Bryan

Yeesh, what a mouthful! So, let me summarize that for you, just in case you missed it: he's innocent and forgives anyone involved in getting him on the gurney. Ronald Clark O'Bryan was executed by lethal injection shortly after midnight on March 31, 1984 to the delight of some 300 demonstrators who pelted anti-death penalty activists with candy.

A Terrible Legacy

To say that Ronald O'Bryan's crimes had an impact would be an understatement. Even today, some 40 years after its conclusion, this case continues to haunt those involved with it. Towards the end of his life, O'Bryan was known as the Candy Man and the man who killed Halloween, and it took years before the holiday felt like a holiday again.

So, did anything good come out of this case? Well, it may please you to know, dear reader, that during his incarceration in Texas, he was completely friendless. It seems even cold-blooded killers have standards because the other inmates HATED this guy for killing his child. Now, while I've never been to prison and have no plans to end up there, I've heard there are some things that you just don't do - harming a child is pretty much right at the top of the list of no-nos.

What about his Family?

Okay, so I've talked mostly about Ronald in this piece, but what about his wife and daughter; Daynene and Elizabeth? Well, it's with great satisfaction that I tell you Daynene filed for divorce soon after her husband's conviction. She later remarried and her new husband adopted Elizabeth as his own daughter.

As satisfying as that is, however, I can't help feeling a bit sorry for them - especially Elizabeth - in this situation. Her brother died horribly, and her father ended up on death row for his murder. How is a kid supposed to process that? How, as a parent, do you explain to a five-year-old that her father's a murderer?

You're supposed to be safe with your parents, your dad is supposed to be the protector, the one who keeps you safe from the bogeyman and his cronies. He's supposed to scare away the monsters in the closet and under your bed, not become one of them! I don't know where Daynene and Elizabeth are now, but wherever they are, I hope they're living their best lives. I know that little Timothy's death will never leave them, but I hope that they managed to and continue to find happiness.

As for Ronald Clark O'Bryan...all I can say is good riddance! He was the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing, he betrayed his family for money and pretended to grieve with them over his son, while knowing that he was the one responsible. I'm not a religious guy by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm told there's a very special place in Hades for people like him.