The urban legend, or fear of strangers poisoning the Halloween candies they hand out has a horrific origin.

In 1974, Timothy O’Bryan died because his father, Ronald, put cyanide in his Pixy Stix in order to collect insurance money. When Timothy died, Ronald claimed “a stranger must have poisoned my kid’s Halloween candy.”

It was a clever crime by a heartless man that spooked us to this day of not trusting candy from a stranger.

Police were able to prove the father killed his own kid, and in March of 1984, Ronald was executed for infanticide.

This all happened in Texas, and for amere $20,000 insurance claim. He had taken out $40,000 in life insurance for his son and daughter beforehand. Luckily, the daughter didn’t eat the Pixy Stix.

The fear of strangers poisoning your children must stem from this murder case. Because this monster also poisoned some of the candy he handed out to others, so his son’s death would seem more believable and less suspicious.

Luckily, no other children died along with Timothy.