Real-life Candy Man who poisoned kids with trick or treat sweets hid chilling secret

It's a Halloween tradition dating back centuries, but the nightmare became terrifyingly real for one little boy.

For many, trick or treating is the highlight of the spooky season, with youngsters knocking on neighbours' doors asking for sweets.

But one 'Candy Man' murdered his own son in a real-life horror story after filling sherbet straws with cyanide to hand them out to local children.

Ronald Clark O'Bryan was thought to be a model citizen in the community of Deer Park, Texas, acting as deacon of his local baptist church, where he also sang in the choir. He lived with his wife Daynene and their two children, Timothy and Elizabeth.

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Behind closed doors however, the optician was hiding a big secret. The eye doctor was £70,000 in debt and his extreme financial problems had him seeking a drastic way out.

His solution was unthinkable - on October 31, 1974, O'Bryan secretly filled Pixy Stix sherbet straws with potassium cyanide. The murderer proceeded to take his children trick or treating with neighbour Jim Bates and his two kids. While Bates waited outside the homes, O'Bryan walked up to the front doors with the youngsters.

At one door there was no answer and while the kids rushed onto the next house, O'Bryan loitered behind. He emerged with more treats for the children, including the poisoned straws, telling his neighbour the people at the house had opened the door.

After more trick-or-treating, rain ended the night for the two families and when Timothy went to bed, he begged his father for a few more treats. Chillingly, O'Bryan opened a Pixy Stick and handed it to his youngster.

Soon after, little Timothy keeled over in agony and was sick, going into convulsions in the bathroom. The kid was in an ambulance within the hour but sadly passed away, with a post-mortem revealed he had been poisoned with potassium cyanide, which is used as a deadly weapon in warfare.

Police began to suspect O'Bryan, who continued to claim the sweets had come from the empty house. Luckily, the other children had all fallen asleep and hadn't consumed the sweet straws.

The father suspiciously claimed he couldn't remember which home the poisoned treats had come from, but indicated a property when forced to take a walkabout. He insisted he had only seen a man's arm and that no lights had been turned on.

The botched alibi was easily countered - homeowner Courtney Melvin was an air traffic controller and had been at work until 11pm that night so there was no way he could have handed over the poisoned sweets.

Police then uncovered O'Bryan's massive debt and the fact he had taken out a $10,000 (£7,400) insurance policy on each of his children's lives in January, 1974. This was increased by $20,000 (£14,800) just a month before Timothy's death and, just days before the murder, O'Bryan further increased the premium by $20,000 on each child.

The killer dad was charged with one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder and it was found he had callously called the insurance companies about collecting the cash the morning after his little boy had died. He pled not guilty but it took the jury just 46 minutes to find him culpable and just over an hour to sentence him to death.

Until the day he died, O'Bryan claimed his young son had been killed by a "mad-poisoner", a local urban legend of a figure who hands out poisoned candy.

Before his execution on March 30, 1984, he said: "What is about to transpire in a few moments is wrong! However, we as human beings do make mistakes and errors. This execution is one of those wrongs yet doesn’t mean our whole system of justice is wrong.

"Therefore, I would forgive all who have taken part in any way in my death. Also, to anyone I have offended in any way during my 39 years, I pray and ask your forgiveness, just as I forgive anyone who offended me in any way."

He continued: "And I pray and ask God's forgiveness for all of us respectively as human beings. To my loved ones, I extend my undying love. To those close to me, know in your hearts I love you one and all. God bless you all and may God’s best blessings be always yours."