Ronald Clark O'Bryan

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Ronald Clark O'Bryan (born October 19, 1944 - March 31, 1984 in Huntsville , Texas ) was an American poisoner. The optician killed his eight-year-old son Timothy on Halloween 1974 with a powdered candy (trade name: Pixy Stix ) in which he had added potassium cyanide . He wanted Timothy's life insurance to be collected. To cover up his act, he distributed more poisoned sweets to other children. This earned him the nicknames The Candy Man (roughly "The Candy Man") and The Man Who Killed Halloween (" The Man Who Killed Halloween ").

background

Ronald Clark O'Bryan was married with two children, his son Timothy and a younger daughter named Elizabeth. He worked as an optician at Texas State Optical in Sharpstown , Houston . He was also a deacon of the Second Baptist Church, where he sang in the choir and ran the local bus program.

murder

A bucket of Pixy Stix. Pixy Stix are elongated paper sleeves filled with powder in different flavors.

On October 31, 1974, O'Bryan went on a trick-or-treat tour in Pasadena , Texas with his neighbor and four children . When the door of one house was not opened, the children became restless and ran to the next house. When he rejoined the group, he showed them five long Pixy-Stix, which he passed on to his two children and the two children in the neighborhood at the end of the tour. He passed a fifth on to a ten-year-old boy he knew. At home, Timothy asked his father if he could nibble on the candy he had collected. O'Bryan helped him open the Pixy Stick. When his son noticed the bitter taste from the poison, his father gave him some kool-aid to get rid of the taste. Timothy then suffered from stomach ache and began to hunch and throw up. He passed away on the way to the hospital an hour after consuming the poisoned candy.

Quite a number of parents handed over their children's sweets to the police. At first, O'Bryan was not under suspicion until it was discovered that the candies he allegedly received at a house had potassium cyanide added to them. The police seized the remaining five packs that had not yet been touched. All five packages had been opened and filled with cyanide powder and then closed again with a staple. The results of a laboratory test showed that the amount of poison in one pack would have been enough for two to four adults.

O'Bryan initially testified that he did not know from which house he got the candy. He became suspicious because he and his neighbor actually only walked two streets as it rained heavily on Halloween night. When the streets were walked several times, the house where allegedly Pixy Stix were distributed could not be located. O'Bryan eventually led the police to the house where the children had not been opened. He stated that he had not seen anyone. The resident would have just stretched out his arm and handed him the candy. However, according to witnesses, the resident of the house in question was at work.

Police eventually found out that O'Bryan owed more than $ 100,000. In the years leading up to the crime, he had 21 different jobs and was also threatened with losing his job as an optician because he was suspected of stealing from his employer. He had already lost his car and was about to lose his home. Shortly before the crime, he had taken out high life insurance for his two children. His wife didn't know about it. As the evidence increased, police began pressuring O'Bryan, but O'Bryan continued to insist on his innocence. He was finally arrested and charged on November 5, 1974.

Trial and sentencing

The police never found out where O'Bryan got the poison from. He was eventually charged with four counts of murder and attempted murder. He pleaded innocent. His trial began in Houston on May 5, 1975. During the trial, witnesses testified that he asked them what amount of cyanide was lethal, or asked them if they could buy the poison. At the funeral of his son, he had already made plans with the insurance money. Although now all the evidence spoke against him, he continued to plead innocent. His defense was based primarily on the modern legend of poisoned candy on Halloween . With no known real-world cases, his defenses collapsed relatively quickly. The trial caught the interest of the US public, and O'Bryan was nicknamed "Candyman".

On June 3, 1975, it took a jury just 46 minutes to find O'Bryan guilty on all charges. After 71 minutes of further deliberation, he was also sentenced to death. His wife immediately filed for divorce.

execution

Ronald O'Bryan was incarcerated on death row in the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas, where he was avoided and bullied as a child murderer by his fellow inmates.

His execution was scheduled for August 8, 1980. O'Bryan's attorney was able to obtain a reprieve. The next appointment was May 25, 1982. This appointment was also finally canceled. Judge Michael McSpadden finally set October 31, 1982, the eighth anniversary of the crime, and offered to personally drive O'Bryan to the execution. However, the Supreme Court postponed the appointment to give O'Bryan the opportunity to appeal. O'Bryan did not take this opportunity. The date was then set for March 31, 1984. The execution was to be done by lethal injection , a new technique for Texas. O'Bryan's attorney protested this type of execution for disproportionate severity but failed the hearing. O'Bryan was finally executed on March 31, 1984. In his last words, he pleaded innocence, but forgave anyone who would be responsible for his death penalty. During the execution, 300 demonstrators gathered in front of the prison, demonstrating both for and against the death penalty. Some people threw candy at protesters opposed to the death penalty. "Trick or treat" was also called out several times.

Ronald O'Bryan was buried in Forest Park East Cemetery in Webster , Texas.

literature

  • David J. Skal: Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween . Bloomsbury, 2003, ISBN 1-58234-305-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Heather L. Nicholson: 'Candy Man's legacy still haunting today. yourhouston.com, November 1, 2010, accessed July 30, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Halloween death planned for convicted candy killer . In: Park City Daily News . October 24, 1982, p. 15-A ( Google News ).
  3. ↑ a b c Mike Glenn: 'Man Who Killed Halloween' still haunts holiday. chron.com, October 29, 2004, accessed October 19, 2015 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Eric Dexheimer: 35 years later, memories of notorious Halloween 'Candyman' murder remain vivid. statesman.com, November 3, 2009, accessed October 19, 2015 .
  5. ↑ a b Joe McQuade: Countdown to Death: O'Bryan tripped over string of lies . In: The Houston Chronicle . March 31, 1984.
  6. ↑ a b Max Haines: Death Row Inmates Say Goodbye . In: Ottawa Citizen . March 10, 1984, p. 48 ( Google News ).
  7. ↑ Skal, p. 10
  8. ↑ The Halloween Handbook . Citadel Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8065-2227-5 , pp. 197 .
  9. ↑ Mark Babineck: Impact of the 'Candy Man' . In: The Free Lance Star . October 31, 1999, p. A3 ( Google News ).
  10. ^ Houston Trail To Open . In: The Victoria Advocate . May 3, 1975, p. 7B ( Google News ).
  11. ↑ Man convicted of poisoning son . In: The Dispatch . June 5, 1975, p. 3 ( Google News ).
  12. ↑ a b Chemist Heart In Murder Trial . In: Lakeland Ledger . November 12, 1974, p. 5A ( Google News ).
  13. ↑ a b O'Bryan found guilty of Halloween murder . In: Beaver County Times . June 4, 1975, p. C-3 ( Google News ).
  14. ^ Poison Candy Trial Testimony To End . In: The Victoria Advocate . May 27, 1985, p. 8B ( Google News ).
  15. ↑ David Crump / George Jacobs: A Capital Case in America: How Today's Justice System Handles Death Penalty Cases from Crime Scene to Ultimate Execution of Sentence . Carolina Academic Press, 2000, ISBN 0-89089-729-8 , pp. 119 .
  16. ↑ Skal: Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween. P. 12.
  17. ↑ Court rejects condemned man's plea . In: The Free Lance Star . March 26, 1984, p. 1 ( Google News ).
  18. ↑ Skal, p. 8
  19. ^ Lethal injection ends life of Texas dad who killed his 8-year-old son with cyanide candy . In: The Deseret News . March 31, 1984, p. 1 ( Google News ).
  20. ↑ Father Pleads Innocent To Poison Murder Of Son . In: The News and Courier . November 13, 1974, p. 2-A ( Google News ).
  21. ↑ Boy's Father Charged In Halloween Death . In: The Victoria Advocate . November 6, 1974, p. 1 ( Google News ).
  22. ↑ Poisoned Candy Trial to Begin . In: The Victoria Advocate . May 5, 1975, p. 11A ( Google News ).
  23. ↑ Barbara Mikkelson: Halloween Poisonings. snopes.com, October 31, 2013, accessed April 14, 2014 .
  24. ↑ Michael Kinsella: Legend-tripping Online: Supernatural Folklore and the Search for Ong's Hat . Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2011, ISBN 1-60473-984-3 , pp. 13 .
  25. ↑ Ron Franscell: The Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Texas . Globe Pequot, 2010, ISBN 0-7627-7493-2 , pp. 65 .
  26. ^ O'Bryan is sentence to death by jury . In: Beaver County Times . June 4, 1975, p. A-11 ( Google News ).
  27. ^ A b Paul Recer: 'Candy Man' executed by injection in Texas . In: Beaver County Times . April 1, 1984, p. 3-A ( Google News ).
  28. ^ Carroll Pickett: Within These Walls: Memoirs of a Death House Chaplain . Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 0-312-28717-8 , pp. 197 .
  29. ↑ Paul Recer: O'Bryan Death Slated For May . In: The Victoria Advocate . April 6, 1982, p. 9A ( Google News ).
  30. ↑ Skal, p. 15
  31. ^ Court Refuses To Allow Execution . In: Ocala Star-Banner . October 30, 1982, p. 20A ( Google News ).
  32. ^ Judge Rejects Big To Halt Execution . In: The Victoria Advocate . October 30, 1982, p. 5B ( Google News ).
  33. ↑ Franscell 2010, p. 88
personal data
SURNAME O'Bryan, Ronald Clark
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American poisoner
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1944
DATE OF DEATH March 31, 1984
Place of death Huntsville