Did Ronald Clark O'Bryan poison his son to collect the life insurance payments?
The Death of Timothy O'Bryan
On October 31, 1974, Timothy O'Bryan took his two children trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. O'Bryan's neighbor and his two children accompanied them. After visiting a home where the occupant failed to answer the door, the children grew impatient and moved ahead to other houses. But O'Bryan stayed behind and continued to wait. After a bit, O'Bryan eventually caught up with the group and showed 5 long Pixy Sticks to the kids. He claimed that he received the candy from the person who lived in the house that did not open the door for the kids. At the night's end, O'Bryan handed every child one Pixy Stick and sent them back home. Upon returning home, O'Bryan gave the fifth Pixy Stix to a 10-year-old boy he recognized from his church. Before going to sleep, Ronald allowed Timothy to eat one piece of candy. According to Ronald, he chose the Pixy Stix and quickly ate it. Timothy complained that it tasted bitter, but he didn't think about it much as he drank some Kool-Aid to wash away the bad taste.
Shortly after finishing the Pixy Stick, Timothy complained that his stomach hurt and ran to the bathroom, where he began vomiting and convulsing. O'Bryan later claimed he held Timothy while hurling, and the child went limp in his arms. Timothy would die en route to the hospital later that night. After Timothy's death, families in the nearby neighborhood were warned about the Pixy Sticks, and all of the other Pixy Stick that Ronald handed out that night were recovered before being eaten. When the police tested the Pixy Sticks, they found a very high dose of potassium cyanide. O'Bryan told police that he could not remember which house he got the Pixy Stix from. Police became suspicious after O'Bryan couldn't recollect which place he received the candy from because he had only taken the children to homes on two streets because of the heavy rain. Their suspicions increased after learning that none of the children's homes had given out Pixy Stix. After questioning, O'Bryan led the police to the home, where no one had answered the door. He said the owner of the house did not turn the lights on but did crack the door open and hand him five Pixy Stix. He claimed to have only seen the man's "hairy" arm. The house was owned by Courtney Melvin, an air traffic controller at William P. Hobby Airport. Melvin did not get home from work until 11 p.m. on Halloween night. He provided a solid alibi, and the police ruled Melvin out as a suspect when nearly 200 co-workers confirmed his alibi. Then, in a change of events, the police turned their focus on Ronald O'Bryan himself. They found that he was $100,000 ($520,000 in 2021) in debt and had taken out $20,000 in life insurance policies on his kids one month before the incident. Ronald O'Bryan was arrested for Timothy's murder on November 5, 1974.