A legacy of horror 50 years after ‘Candyman’ was tainted by trick-or-treating

DEER PARK, TX – Check-ups of your children until 2024 Halloween Candy is a necessity for many parents. In 1974, checking sugar wasn’t a problem until an 8-year-old. Deer Park The kid died from dirty Pixie Stix.

“The case has stuck with me ever since,” said John Ditmars of Houston.

Dimars was 11 years old and southeast Houston When the news warns parents to check their kids’ candy on Halloween.

“My mother went out with my brother that night and made us throw the candy we bought from the garbage,” Ditmars said.

That night impressed Ditmars so much that he began collecting all the information he could about the incident, possibly so he could write a book. The subject is Ronald Clark O’Bryan, also known as ‘Candyman’ and ‘The Man Who Killed Halloween’.

EVIDENCE ROOM: The Man Who Killed Halloween

“What O’Bryan did was truly incredible,” Ditmars said.

In 1974, O’Bryan was accused of administering cyanide to Pixie Stix to her son Timothy, daughter, and three other children. Police said O’Bryan had a large amount of debt and, without his wife’s knowledge, took out an insurance policy for his children less than a month before Tim was killed. Ditmars said O’Bryan specifically told the insurance agent not to tell his wife about the policies.

Ditmars said that on Halloween night, O’Bryan’s son asked for a piece of candy before bed and was given spoiled Pixie Stix. When the boy complained that it tasted bitter, O’Bryan gave him Kool-Aid to soothe the taste, Ditmars said.

EVIDENCE ROOM: Candy Man’s Servants

Ditmars said O’Bryan was probably on his way to his daughter’s room when his son began vomiting excessively. O’Bryan called an ambulance and Timothy died in hospital. None of the other kids ate their Pixie Stix.

An autopsy determined that Timothy was administered enough cyanide to kill three adults.

“Then it turned out that this child had actually been poisoned,” Ditmars said.

O’Bryan claimed he picked up the spoiled candy from a house in the neighborhood while trick-or-treating with the children. Police became suspicious when O’Bryan took them to the house where he claimed to have bought the candy.

EVIDENCE ROOM: The Devil Within

“The police were stunned that they didn’t have to restrain (O’Bryan). I mean, there’s a man here who killed your child, so to speak, and you’re not going to go after him like most fathers do,” Ditmars said.

Police later quickly learned that the man living in that house worked in a business. Hobby Airport On Halloween; an alibi supported by numerous witnesses.

Police later learned of the secret insurance policies and heard from many associates and friends that O’Bryan was asking questions about where to buy cyanide and how much it would cost to kill a person.

O’Bryan was having trouble keeping a job, was living beyond his means, was heavily in debt and was planning to cash in the insurance money. Police said O’Bryan gave the spoiled candy to other children to make the crime appear random.

EVIDENCE ROOM: Children Won’t Leave You

O’Bryan never admitted guilt but was found guilty and sentenced to death.

“I believe he was such a narcissist that he believed he would be saved. He made the mistake of taking a stand in his own defense,” Ditmars said.

During closing arguments, Harris County Prosecutor Vic Driscoll told jurors: “O’Bryan didn’t have the truth in him, even if the truth served him well. He used his friends, his family, and his church. He sacrificed his only son, not on the altar of God, as Abraham did, but on the altar of his own greed.”

Ditmars said he spoke with the prison chaplain who interviewed O’Bryan and described a private phone conversation between the death row inmate and his father.

“He called his father and said, ‘Dad, don’t worry about the business you’re doing with me.’ You did a good job. I know I’m going to heaven,” Ditmars said the priest told him. “It gave the priest goosebumps.”

Other death row inmates so despised O’Bryan that they petitioned the guard and were given permission to celebrate when he was executed, Ditmars said.

O’Bryan was executed in March 1984.

Ditmars said 1974 was the last year of trick-or-treating. remembers Halloween Houston In 1975 the area was unusually quiet.

“He was dead, no one used any tricks or jokes. There was no party, there was nothing. Nobody was trick-or-treating,” Ditmars said. “We didn’t even buy candy because no one came to the house.”