Ronald Clark O'Bryan was 100,000$ in debt, and hatched a plan to cash in on an insurance policy. He put cyanide in 5 pixy stix on Halloween night 1974, and gave them to his children and some of their friends. Once at home, his son ate some of the candy and complained that it was too bitter. "Candy Man" Ronald gave him Kool-Aid to wash it down, and then watched his son die in his arms. He was convicted of murder and put to death. This story is why parents started checking their kid's candy, although that might not have helped in this case because Ronald re-stapled the pixy stix shut.
An unrelated interesting thing is that the word bonfire comes from the phrase "Bone Fire." It is hypothesized that "bone fires" started in Denmark when the bodies of the losing side of a conflict would be piled up and burned in celebration by the victors. Or the word might be named after Edward Bonner, the Bishop of London in Tudor times. In 1555, on his orders over 300 English men and women were burned at the stake for their faith and the fires became known as Bon’s fires as a result.
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Date: 2023-10-31 05:21 am (UTC)Ronald Clark O'Bryan was 100,000$ in debt, and hatched a plan to cash in on an insurance policy. He put cyanide in 5 pixy stix on Halloween night 1974, and gave them to his children and some of their friends. Once at home, his son ate some of the candy and complained that it was too bitter. "Candy Man" Ronald gave him Kool-Aid to wash it down, and then watched his son die in his arms. He was convicted of murder and put to death. This story is why parents started checking their kid's candy, although that might not have helped in this case because Ronald re-stapled the pixy stix shut.
An unrelated interesting thing is that the word bonfire comes from the phrase "Bone Fire." It is hypothesized that "bone fires" started in Denmark when the bodies of the losing side of a conflict would be piled up and burned in celebration by the victors. Or the word might be named after Edward Bonner, the Bishop of London in Tudor times. In 1555, on his orders over 300 English men and women were burned at the stake for their faith and the fires became known as Bon’s fires as a result.