SEVERAL PEOPLE wrote in after reading my article saying that Halloween candy tampering is "by and large a myth" to point out that 8-year-old Timothy O'Bryan of Houston, Texas actually did die in 1974 after eating a Pixie Stick laced with cyanide on Halloween night — which is true, but there's a kicker. Investigators found that the candy had been poisoned by O'Bryan's own father, who, unbelievable as it may seem, hoped to collect on a life insurance policy he had taken out on his son.
This was, in fact, one of the incidents which, when first reported, fueled the candy tampering panic of the 1970s. Please note, what sociologist Joel Best and others are categorizing as a myth is the notion that there have been a great many instances of strangers putting poison, razor blades, or needles in items handed out to trick-or-treating children on Halloween. Best's research has shown that of the five alleged child fatalities attributed to candy tampering between 1970 and 2001, four were eventually determined to have been due to natural causes and one, the O'Bryan case, was an instance of a parent poisoning his own child.
Every year or so a new case crops up in the media, and, while we oughtn't to dismiss such reports given that copycat crimes can and do occur, experience has shown that it's only after a proper investigation that we can say for sure in any particular instance what really happened. Plus, the occasional isolated incident does not a widespread phenomenon make.
Speaking of which...
Halloween 2007: Razor Blade Found in Candy Bar in Minneola, Florida
At this point we only have the barest details, but local news sources reported on November 1 that police in the small town of Minneola, Florida are investigating the discovery of what was described as a small blade "from a disposable razor" in a partially-opened Three Musketeers mini bar a child picked up off the street while trick-or-treating. The Orlando Sentinel has a close-up photo of the candy bar.
Halloween 2007: Needle Found in Candy Bar, Littleton, Colorado
The parents of an 11-year-old boy filed a complaint with police the day after Halloween when the youngster reported finding a large-gauge sewing needle in a Milky Way bar he received while trick-or-treating (via KWGN-TV News).
Halloween 2007: Candy Scare at Wahlgreens in Tucson, Arizona
A Walgreens store on Grant Rd. in Tucson stopped selling Halloween candy for a short time on Halloween night after an open pack of needles was discovered on the floor of the candy aisle. Apparently, one needle was missing from the pack. Health Department officials inspected some of the candy and found no evidence of tampering, but police advised anyone who purchased candy at the store to check it thoroughly before handing it out or consuming it.
Read More About It:
• Is Halloween Candy Tampering a Myth? - About.com Urban Legends
• Halloween Sadism: The Evidence - Report by Joel best
Comments
A local TV station in Denver (channel 9) this morning, Nov 3, had a report of a boy who found a needle in a Milky Way bar in his candy. It is rather scary because his parents had examined the candy after the children brough it home and they saw no evidence of tampering. The story can be also be found on 9news.com – 11-year-old’s treat more of a trick
Late 1960′s yes… I received slashed end wrapper full sized Milky way bar with glass inserted. My father cut it to see what was in it.
Same era a retiree decided to get even with the kids bothering him so he cooked hard thread candy with glass and pins and put it into commercial hard candy wrappers (unwrapped good and put his in) and handed them out. Found out because of rewrapping looked suspicious.
Nearby larger town, xrayed apples with double edge razor blade and full sized candy bars with those and pins. Hospital offered to xray suspicious halloween loot free of charge and would turn stuff up regularly.
The above comment is either extremely mistaken or very misinformed.
http://snopes.com/horrors/poison/halloween.asp
http://snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.asp
Both articles discuss candy tampering scenarios and solidify the argument against the “Halloween sadist”
Mistaken or misinformed… actually happened. I actually received glass imbedded candy. Reported in news every year about xrayed candy in nearby town and finding razorbladed apples. Circa mid 60′s to early 70′s, why lie?
The local newspaper that could back it up is states away, at that era it’d take searching microfilm archives if they have them or old paper copies which I am unable to do. Same for the hospital that did the xraying.
Snopes is run privately by a couple, they are not 100% infallable either, they do make mistakes.