Houston's Candyman

[Randy W]

Most of us baby-boomers remember a time when Hallwe'en was a time to go out and trick-or-treat - and get as many grocery bags full of candy as you could - often getting a full year's supply in just one evening. That all changed after 1974.

Houston's Candyman a real-life Halloween nightmare

 

Forty years ago this Halloween, the Houston area saw perhaps the worst Halloween crime ever to hit the U.S.

 

Pasadena father-of-two Ronald O'Bryan laced candy with poisonous cyanide and handed it to five children including his own 5-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son.

The optician had taken out a life insurance policy on the children; prosecutors later argued he was trying to kill them simply to claim the $40,000 payout.

 

Only his son, Timothy, ate the candy, hidden in old style Pixy Stix which O'Bryan had opened and then re-sealed with staples. Timothy was killed in a crime that shocked and stunned the nation, changing Halloween for Pasadena forever.

 

 

 

[Thomas Promise]

Tylenol deal in Chicago in 1980 comes to mind as well.

[Randy W]

Tylenol deal in Chicago in 1980 comes to mind as well.

 

 

The Tylenol wasn't handed out at Hallowe'en, of course, but, (from Wikipedia)

 

the culprit was believed to have entered various supermarkets and drug stores over a period of several weeks, grabbed several bottles of Tylenol capsules from the shelves, removed them from the stores and took them to another location. Once there, the poisoner opened the bottles, took the capsules out, added the cyanide, then put the now-laced capsules back in the bottles and returned to the stores to place the bottles back on the shelves.

 

 

 

This one incident "led to reforms in the packaging of over-the-counter substances and to federal anti-tampering laws.", such as anti-tampering seals. Johnson & Johnson, makers of Tylenol, got much positive press for their handling of the crisis.

 

As a result of the Halowe'en incidents, many parents insisted on throwing away any "treats" that weren't sealed and an increase in Hallowe'en parties over allowing children to go on door-to-door "trick-or-treating", as had previously been the custom.

[Joecy]

Thanks for sharing!