244: The Halloween Candy Killer, Ronald O'Brien | USA

244: The Halloween Candy Killer, Ronald O'Brien | USA

On Halloween night in 1974, eight-year-old Timothy O’Brien came home from trick-or-treating in Deer Park, Texas, excited to sample his candy haul. Among the treats was a Pixy Stix — one that would become infamous in American true crime history. Within hours, Timothy was dead, poisoned by cyanide.
Investigators soon discovered that the killer wasn’t a mysterious stranger slipping poison into Halloween candy. It was someone much closer to home — his own father, Ronald Clark O’Brien. His crime forever changed the way parents across the United States viewed Halloween, giving rise to decades of fear over tampered sweets.
Books:
Read collections of The Evidence Locker Files, available in print and digital editions.
Follow us on: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok
For more information, visit: Evidence Locker Website
For ad-free content: Visit our page at Patreon
25% of Evidence Locker Patreon proceeds are donated to support the Doe Network, solving international cold cases. To learn more, visit their website at: https://www.doenetwork.org/

Resources
Articles
In 1974, 'Candyman' turned Halloween truly terrifying in Pasadena, Texas - ABC13 Houston
The Man Who Killed Halloween - Fort Worth Weekly
'Man Who Killed Halloween' still haunts holiday - Houston Chronicle
The Haunting Legacy of Ronald Clark O'Bryan, the Man Who Killed Halloween - A&E True Crime
50 years ago, a Houston killer dubbed the 'Candyman' poisoned his son's Halloween candy - KHOU
Looking into the eyes of evil: The day I covered the execution of Texas' infamous Halloween killer - Breckenridge Texan
The True Story of the Notorious Trick-or-Treat Murderer - Vice
Halloween Horrors: The Poisoning of Timothy O'Bryan - Criminal
The ex-wife of Ronald Clark O'Bryan - UPI Archives
The neighbor who accompanied condemned killer Ronald Clark O'Bryan - UPI Archives
Web Resources
Ronald Clark O'Bryan - Wikipedia
Timothy Marc O'Bryan - Find a Grave Memorial
Ronald Clark O'Bryan - Murderpedia
Ronald Clark O'Bryan - Alchetron
1984: Ronald Clark O'Bryan, candyman - Executed Today
Court Documents
THE CASE OF THE HALLOWEEN CANDY KILLER - Harris County District Clerk
Video Archives
Ronald Clark O'Bryan Murder Trial (1975) - KPRC-TV Collection

Created & Produced by Sonya Lowe
Narrated by Noel Vinson
Music: “Nordic Medieval” by Marcus Bressler
Background track: Doblado Studios: https://www.youtube.com/c/DobladoStudios

This True Crime Podcast was researched using open-source or archival materials.

Episoder(274)

255: The Real Twin Peaks Case: Murder of Hazel Drew | USA

255: The Real Twin Peaks Case: Murder of Hazel Drew | USA

In the sweltering summer of 1908, 20-year-old domestic servant Hazel Drew was found floating face-down in Teal's Pond, New York. Her skull had been crushed by repeated blows. A corset string wrapped a...

22 Mar 24min

254: The Gang of Amazons | Russia

254: The Gang of Amazons | Russia

On a quiet September night in 2013, a routine traffic stop on the outskirts of Aksai unraveled a mystery that had haunted southern Russia for years. A violent shootout led police to a forest campsite,...

8 Mar 23min

253: The Murder of Au-Pair, Sophie Lionnet | England

253: The Murder of Au-Pair, Sophie Lionnet | England

In 2017, 21-year-old French au pair Sophie Lionnet was found burned in a garden in Southfields, London. What began as a dream opportunity became a nightmare of abuse, torture, and ultimately murder at...

22 Feb 21min

252: The Vanishing of the Krnak Family | USA

252: The Vanishing of the Krnak Family | USA

Between September 2003 and April 2006, Wisconsin prosecutors built one of the most challenging murder cases in the state's history: proving a family annihilation without bodies, a crime scene, or eyew...

8 Feb 27min

251: The Wanda Beach Murders | Australia

251: The Wanda Beach Murders | Australia

On a windy January day in 1965, two fifteen-year-old best friends walked into the sand dunes at Wanda Beach near Sydney. They never came home. What followed was one of the largest investigations in Au...

25 Jan 18min

Nordic Campsite Killings 4: The Shadow Between the Cases

Nordic Campsite Killings 4: The Shadow Between the Cases

Between 1959 and 1987, a series of brutal attacks in the forests and lakesides of Finland and Sweden left multiple victims dead – and investigators haunted by their similarities. From Tulilahti and La...

21 Jan 19min

Nordic Campsite Killings 3: The Tent Murders at Lake Appojaure - Revisited

Nordic Campsite Killings 3: The Tent Murders at Lake Appojaure - Revisited

In July 1984, beneath Sweden’s midnight sun, a remote campsite near Lake Appojaure became the scene of a brutal double murder. Dutch tourists Marinus and Janny Stegehuis were stabbed to death as they ...

19 Jan 39min

Nordic Campsite Killings 2: Lake Bodom Murders - Revisited

Nordic Campsite Killings 2: Lake Bodom Murders - Revisited

In the summer of 1960, four teenagers went camping at Lake Bodom. In the pre-dawn hours, an unknown assailant attacked them inside their tent, slashing them with a knife and hitting them with a blunt ...

12 Jan 38min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
aftenpodden
giver-og-gjengen-vg
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
aftenpodden-usa
konspirasjonspodden
popradet
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
grenselos
wolfgang-wee-uncut
min-barneoppdragelse
alt-fortalt
synnve-og-vanessa
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
fladseth
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
198-land-med-einar-trnquist
rss-frekvens-med-anine-olsen