1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:10,800 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: a show that unmasks history even when it isn't pretty. 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Blusier, and today we draw our Halloween week 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: to an especially dark close by looking at the story 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: of a father who poisoned his own son's Halloween candy. 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: It was a case that terrified the nation and forever 8 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:35,199 Speaker 1: tainted and otherwise harmless holiday. As you've probably gathered, today's 9 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: episode covers a very disturbing subject. It includes descriptions of 10 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: violence involving children, and it may be too upsetting for 11 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: some listeners. If that sounds like you, or if you 12 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: just prefer to hear something a little less scary, check 13 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: out our Halloween themed episodes from last year. Otherwise, I'll 14 00:00:53,360 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: see you back here tomorrow for a much lighter episode. 15 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: The day was October one, nineteen seventy four. Ronald Clark 16 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: O'Brien gave cyanide disguised as candy to five unsuspecting tricker treaters, 17 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: including his own children. The weaponized suites were part of 18 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: a monstrous scheme to collect the life insurance policies he 19 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: had recently taken out on his young son and daughter. Tragically, 20 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,320 Speaker 1: O'Brien succeeded in killing his eight year old son, Timothy, 21 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: but police were able to reach the other four children 22 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:38,119 Speaker 1: before they could ingest the poison. When O'Brien's heinous crime 23 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: was exposed, it lent credence to the already circulating stories 24 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 1: of tainted Halloween candy, transforming what had been mere urban 25 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: legend into cold, hard fact. From that day forward, O'Brien 26 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: became known both as the candy Man and as the 27 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: man who killed Halloween. Thirty year old Ronald Clark O'Brien 28 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: and lived with his wife, Danine, and their two children, 29 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: Timothy and Elizabeth, in Deer Park, Texas, a working class 30 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: suburb of Houston. O'Brien worked as an optician for Texas 31 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: State Optical, making corrective lenses for vision problems. In the 32 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: eyes of his small community, he was an upstanding citizen. 33 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: He served as a deacon at his local Baptist church, 34 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: where he also sang in the choir, and his pastor 35 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: once described him as quote a good Christian man and 36 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: an above average father. But O'Brien's squeaky clean image belied 37 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:36,839 Speaker 1: his own inner darkness. It would later come to light 38 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: that he had been fired from twenty one different jobs 39 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: over a ten year period, sometimes for negligence, sometimes for 40 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,919 Speaker 1: his fiery temper, and sometimes for fraud. By the fall 41 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy four, he was also struggling with severe 42 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: financial problems due to his own reckless spending habits. He 43 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: was roughly one hundred thousand dollars in debt, having defaulted 44 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: one roll Bank loans, His family home was under foreclosure, 45 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: and his car was about to be repossessed. It was 46 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: in this precarious situation that O'Brien hatched one of the 47 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,359 Speaker 1: most sadistic plans imaginable. He would murder his own children 48 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: and collect enough life insurance payouts to settle his debts 49 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: and live comfortably from then on, and he decided that 50 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: Halloween night would be the ideal time to put his 51 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: plan into action. Like most American parents, O'Brien was aware 52 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: of the urban legends about strangers distributing Halloween candy laced 53 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: with drugs or stuffed with pins or razor blades. He 54 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: hoped that by playing into that widespread fear, he could 55 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: deflect suspicion away from himself. A loving father and onto 56 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: some anonymous boogeyman. The O'Brien's began their Halloween evening by 57 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: having dinner at the home of their friends, Jim Bates, 58 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: his wife, and their two children. After the meal, the 59 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: two dads left the Bates house in Pasadena, Texas, to 60 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: go trick or treating with three of the children, Bates 61 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: son and O'Brien's son and daughter. Eventually, the group came 62 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: to a darkened house along the route. The kids rang 63 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: the doorbell just in case, but when nobody answered, they 64 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:18,280 Speaker 1: moved on to the next one. O'Brien, however, lagged behind 65 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: the group, and when he came running back up a 66 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,919 Speaker 1: few minutes later, he was waving five giant pixie sticks, 67 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: the ones that come in two foot long plastic straws. 68 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 1: He told the kids that not only had someone been 69 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: home at the dark house, after all, they were giving 70 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: out the good, expensive candy. It was their lucky day, 71 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: he said. No One questioned O'Brien's story about where the 72 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: candy had come from, but the truth was that he 73 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: had been carrying the straws with him all evening. He 74 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 1: had kept them hidden up the sleeve of his raincoat 75 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,040 Speaker 1: until he could find the right opening. He passed one 76 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,359 Speaker 1: of the pixie sticks to each of the three children 77 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,160 Speaker 1: on the walk, and Jim Bates took another to give 78 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: to his five year old daughter, who had aid behind 79 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: at home. O'Brien gave the final straw to another tricker 80 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,840 Speaker 1: treater they encountered on their route, a ten year old 81 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: boy that he recognized from church. When they got home 82 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: later that evening, O'Brien told his kids they could each 83 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: have one piece of candy before bed. His daughter, Elizabeth 84 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: said she was too tired and wanted to save all 85 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: her candy for tomorrow, but Timothy jumped at the chance. 86 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: His first choice was a lollipop, but his dad suggested 87 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: he have the pixie stick instead, after all, he reasoned, 88 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: it was much bigger than a lollipop. Timothy took the bait. 89 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: He put the straw to his lips and tipped it 90 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: back to swallow what he believed was flavored sugar. But 91 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: after the first taste, the boy knew something was wrong. 92 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: He said it didn't taste sweet at all. In fact, 93 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 1: it was bitter. His father said not to worry, though, 94 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 1: and gave him a glass of cool aid to wash 95 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: it down. Timothy finished the rest of the straw, and 96 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 1: less than an hour later he was dead. When the 97 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: boy's body was taken to the morgue that night, the 98 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: medical examiner noted the smell of almonds coming from his 99 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: mouth that's often an indicator of cyanide poisoning, and an 100 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 1: autopsy later confirmed that suspicion, Timothy had consumed enough potassium 101 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:21,720 Speaker 1: cyanide to kill two or three grown men. Back at 102 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: the O'Brien house, police found evidence of tampering, both on 103 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: Timothy's empty pixie stick and on the one his sister 104 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: hadn't opened. The killer had unfastened the straws, replaced most 105 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: of the candy with cyanide, and then stapled them shut. 106 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: The police spent the rest of that Halloween night rounding 107 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,359 Speaker 1: up the other three poisoned sticks. They arrived at the 108 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 1: Bates house at eleven p m. And, thankfully the children's 109 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: mother hadn't let either of them eat any candy that night. 110 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: It took a few hours to track down the last 111 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,239 Speaker 1: child to receive a pixie stick, the tricker treater from church, 112 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: but police finally found him at two a m. His 113 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: mother also saved his life by not allowing him to 114 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: eat any candy that night. It was a close call, though, 115 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:09,039 Speaker 1: the boy was actually found asleep in bed with a 116 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: poisoned pixie stick beside him. He had attempted to eat 117 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: it in secret, but tired himself out trying to undo 118 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: the staple and eventually fell asleep before getting it open. 119 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: Once the rest of the candy tubes were recovered, police 120 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: turned their attention to O'Brien. His story about where he 121 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: had gotten the deadly treats was awfully suspicious. At first, 122 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: he claimed to not remember which house had given them out. 123 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: Then he identified the dark house on their route, but 124 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: said he couldn't describe the suspect because all he had 125 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: seen was a hairy arm thrusting the straws through the doorway. 126 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,160 Speaker 1: The man who lived at that house turned out to 127 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: be an air traffic controller who was working a shift 128 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,720 Speaker 1: on Halloween night. He had about two hundred witnesses to 129 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: confirm his alibi, including his wife and daughter, who had 130 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: stayed home to distribute candy before they ran out and 131 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: turned off the light. This revelation led the police straight 132 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: back to O'Brien. It turned out he had contacted several 133 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 1: chemical companies about where to buy cyanide, and it even 134 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: jokingly asked how much it would take to kill someone. Next, 135 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: the police turned their attention to O'Brien's many financial woes. 136 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: They learned he had just taken out sixty dollar life 137 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 1: insurance policies on his children at the start of October. 138 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: When detective searched his house in early November, they found 139 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: a paper with all of his debts listed out in writing, 140 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: how much he owed on the house, the car, and 141 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: so on. When the figures were added up, they totaled 142 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: the exact amount O'Brien stood to collect from insurance. A 143 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 1: few days later, he was arrested and charged with Timothy's murder. 144 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: O'Brien's wife, Danene, insisted she was completely unaware of what 145 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 1: her husband had done, and later testified against him. At trial, 146 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: O'Brien maintained his innocence as well, but the Harris County 147 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: jury wasn't have it. They found him guilty after just 148 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: forty six minutes of deliberation and determined his sentence the 149 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: death penalty, in just over an hour. O'Brien appealed many times, 150 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: and the case dragged on for nearly ten years. Eventually, 151 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: though on March thirty one, Ronald Clark O'Brien was executed 152 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: by lethal injection. Before the sentence was carried out, he 153 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: enjoyed an untainted last meal of French fries, peas, and 154 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: a Boston cream pie for him. The poison came later, 155 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 1: and it provided a far more peaceful death than the 156 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: one he gave his son. But since its Halloween, and 157 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: since O'Brien was a monster, let's treat ourselves to the 158 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: assumption that he had least heard the demonstrators who had 159 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,560 Speaker 1: gathered outside the prison, because there were hundreds out there. 160 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: Many were parents, some were dressed in masks and costumes, 161 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: and as the candy man sentence was carried out, they 162 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: all cheered him on his way, yelling what else trigger treat? 163 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: I'm gay, bluesier and hopefully you now know a little 164 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. You can 165 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,679 Speaker 1: learn even more about the story of today's show by 166 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d 167 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: I HC Show and if you have any comments or suggestions, 168 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: please send them my way at this day at I 169 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. I hope your Halloween is a 170 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: happy and safe one. Statistically speaking, it probably will be. 171 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,319 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks 172 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:40,679 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 173 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in history class. For more podcasts 174 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 175 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.