The Candyman

It was October 31st, 1974: a rainy Halloween night. Timothy O’Bryan was only 8 years old when he dressed up for Halloween, not knowing this would be his last.  

Young Timothy headed out with his 5-year-old sister Elizabeth and a few neighbors to go trick-or-treating with his father and another neighborhood dad. After a few streets, the children came across a dark house where no one appeared to be home. After knocking a few times, the kids determined there was no one there and moved on. 

However, someone later dubbed as the “Candyman,” came from the house holding up Pixy Stix. The kids took them joyfully and continued with their night. 

After heading home, Elizabeth and Timothy were allowed to pick one candy to eat before bed. Unfortunately, Timothy’s choice proved to be fatal. Elizabeth was lucky. Timmy had chosen the Pixie Stix given to him by the “Candyman,” while Elizabeth chose something different. 

Timothy initially complained of the bitter taste of the sugar, and only moments later began vomiting and convulsing. His father called 911, but it was not enough as Timothy died en route to the hospital. 

Investigations later revealed this bitter taste came from a lethal dose of potassium cyanide, enough to kill three grown men. This was revealed when Elizabeth’s Pixy Stix was taken into the lab for testing. The candy had been opened, packed with cyanide, and resealed with a staple. Elizabeth, as well as the neighbors they were with, all had the laced Pixy Stix. 

When police began investigating Timothy’s father, Ronald, he was very

 inconsistent with his story. He didn’t know what street they got the candy 

from; he couldn’t remember when; what the person who gave them out looked like; many details that would have broken the case open. However, he eventually determined it was a house owned by a man by the name of Courtney Melvin.  

This is when the story gets interesting: Melvin wasn’t home that night. He was a shift worker and had not returned home until 11 p.m. that night. He had a solid alibi. 

Then, Ronald’s behavior became even more strange. He had recently sold the family’s home to cover the abundance of debt he was in and had purchased $20,000 life insurance policies for each of his children. And it only took him 9 hours to inquire about this policy after Timothy’s death. Investigators had also discovered that over the summer, Ronald had asked an acquaintance who worked at a chemical plant asking about cyanide and how much made a dose fatal. 

As all these pieces came together, investigators realized that Timothy’s own father was the 

infamous “Candyman.”  

Ronald O’Bryan was put under arrest and was charged with capital murder of his own son, and four counts of attempted murder, including his daughter. 

When the case went to trial, it only took the jury one hour of deliberation to find Ronald guilty, and he was sentenced to death by electrocution. 

The “Candyman” is remembered every Halloween when parents across the country check their children’s candy to make sure it has not been tainted or poisoned. Ronald O’Bryan will forever be remembered as “The Man Who Killed Halloween,” because the only thing scarier than the skeletons and the bats is the fear of death.