Ronald Clark O'Bryan

A warning that came around every single Halloween and then faded away just as fast once all the candy was gone and everyone in the house was still alive.

But Ronald O'Brien, he didn't invent the idea of poisoned Halloween candy.

By the time he stapled those pixie sticks shut, parents had already been whispering about it for years, and a few real cases had given them good reason to.

In Detroit, back in 1970, five-year-old Kevin Toston died of a heroin overdose, and the first report said somebody had hidden the drug in his Halloween candy.

The scary version was short and sensational.

And the correction came later and that never went nearly as far.

So four years later, when Ronald O'Brien told police a stranger had handed him poison candy, he was telling a story that people already believed in.

That's why he didn't stop at Timothy.

In the reporting, Ronald was given the nickname the Candyman.

And, because of the new current of fear running through parents who even thought about their kids trick-or-treating, he was also called the Man Who Killed Halloween.

The truth is, despite how horrifying Timmy O'Brien's murder is, it can't really be blamed on trick-or-treating.

Candy was the camouflage, but not the culprit.

I feel like some people already know this story.

Um, Also known as the Candyman, the man who killed Halloween and the Pixie Stix Killer, it's Ronald Clark O'Brien.

And you know he's a twat because he's referred to by all three of his names.

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The one historical child death involving poisoned candy was perpetrated by the child's father.

In 1974, Ronald Clark O'Brien became known as the man who killed Halloween.

The real danger on Halloween is traffic.

Stay in big neighborhood groups.

[upbeat music] The O'Briens were a family of four living in Deer Park, Texas.

This consisted of parents Ronald and Danene, and their two children, Timothy and Elizabeth.

The O'Briens were a very well-liked family within their community.

Ronald was a very familiar face.

He worked as an optician, but was also a deacon at his local church.

Here, his main priority was helping the people within his congregation, helping out the pastor when they needed it, and just being there for anyone who needed him.

He was chatty, social, polite, and everyone who had the pleasure of meeting Timothy loved him.

The evening of Halloween, the 31st of October 1974, was a cold, wet, and windy one, but that wasn't going to stop eight-year-old Timothy and his five-year-old sister Elizabeth hitting the streets for their trick or treating fix.

Right.

Well, there was one real Halloween candy killer, Ronald Clark O'Bryan.

He was real.

Wow.

There it is.

Ronald Clark O'Bryan, they always go by the three names-

Mm-hmm

... who had taken out life insurance policies on his children.