daylight savings time....

[Thomas Rogers]

Richard L,



I meant no disrespect. I just gravitated to where you said:

Also, consider that many communities have banned Trick-or-Treating on Halloween because of the incidents of adults handing out harmfull altered and dangerous treats.

When you say that, it seems to be stating a matter of fact that there are such incidents and this is a big enough of a problem that communities are banning trick or treating.



I only questioned it because I was wondering to the validity of the claims of incident of trick or treat candy tempering. Does it really happen, a lot, or is it all just hooey. Is there really a problem?



I asked because I don't know. I've heard the tales and the stories, but to me they have been lore more than anything...I don't know of anyone this has happened to and in my 46 years have never seen it reported in the paper, on the news, etc, in the areas I have lived.



That's why I asked. If you say it happens, I believe you.



TJR

 

[Bill V]

Rich, very interesting. Just curious--as a result of the incident you mentioned, are there cities which did cancel trick-or-treating? If so, is it still canceled? Like TJR, I'm not doubting you--just never heard of it, and am interested in learning more. Frankly, around here, I suspect that if officials tried to cancel trick-or-treating, lots of the kids would go anyway, under the premise of, "What are they going to do--arrest a six year old in an Angry Bird costume for trick-or-treating?"

 

[Richard L]

Bill V,

I was stationed in Indianapolis while I was in the military and eventually went back to Germany within 6 months, so I don't know the final outcome. The only details I know is that a little girl died, they traced it back to the Pixie Stixs and only one person was giving out Pixie Stixs. He did not poison all of them, just one and mixed it in with the others so even he did not know who would get that particular one...really cold blooded. It was also nearly 40 years ago so I don't know how much info you or the writer can find on it now.



PS: My bad...I said he was arrested and convicted...He was arrested and confessed to doing it. I was not there for the trial, if he even had one?



...Rich

 

[Bill V]

When I did an online search for "Indianapolis halloween pixie stix poison", I found nothing--although i did find mention of a pixie stix poisoning at Halloween, in that same general time frame (1974), but it was in the Houston, TX, area. Rich, are you sure it was a local story, and not a national one, to which you are referring? Again, not doubting you, but it does seem odd that there would be nothing on the web regarding the story you're describing in Indy, while there is plenty of info on a story which is nearly identical in every way except for the location.



In the Houston story, it turned out that it wasn't a random poisoning after all. The kid's own father poisoned the pixie stix, and put them in the kid's Halloween haul, trying to make it look like it was a random Halloween candy poisoning. So while the story helps fuel the boogeyman legend of tainted Halloween treats, as people remember the original story but not the ultimate resolution, it's not an actual case of random tainted halloween treats being distributed.



The snopes article below happens to be the first story to pop up when I did my search; for those of you who distrust snopes, I'm confident you can find many more articles to your liking...

 

[Richard L]

Bill, you are correct. There was an incident in Indianapolis a few blocks from my house that involved a little girl, at the same Halloween time the Pixie Stix incident occured in Texas... I guess that after 40 years my senior memory may have gotten the details of the two incidents mixed. :banghead:



I also recalled that I left for Germany that following December so I was in Indianapolis less than two months after the incident occured and I never heard the end results of either case.



This is the article you are referring to:

Has anyone ever really handed out poisoned Halloween candy?

To random children? Not that we know of. In 1974, an eight-year-old Houston boy named Timothy OBryan died after eating cyanide-laced Pixy Stix while trick-or-treating. Although the poisoning initially looked like it might have been the work of a deranged homeowner, the investigation into OBryans murder soon centered on his father, Ronald Clark OBryan.



A bit of digging revealed that Ronald OBryan had recently taken out hefty life insurance policies on both of his children, and police quickly built a case, albeit a circumstantial one, that OBryan had given both Timothy and his daughter, Elizabeth, the poison candy to try to collect on the policies. To help cover his tracks, OBryan also gave two other children cyanide Pixy Stix. Luckily, his daughter and the other two children had passed up the poisoned powders in favor of other treats.



OBryan was eventually convicted and executed for murdering his son. While his crime was certainly a horrific one, it was hardly the sort of random poisoning that parents fear.

Perhaps there has never been a truely documented case of random Halloween candy poisonings?? I can certainly see how we can get the facts confused.



...Rich

 

[Bill V]

Rich, no problem. My memory of events from 40 years ago isn't too great either. (Then again, I was 2 at the time...)

 

[Thomas Rogers]

So, does there exist a documented case of some nut poisoning and indiscriminately passing out Halloween candies or not?



TJR

 

[TomT]

I remember well the Pixie Stix incident in Houston. It panicked a lot of people and pretty much ruined Halloween for years to come even though it was not a random act. (Thank goodness we have the death penalty in Texas and he got what he had coming to him). Here's a good article about the incident from the Houston Chronicle. I am not aware of any actual random incidents either, other then a lot of rumors.

 

[Bill V]

TJR, my (admittedly brief) searches couldn't find any...