Halloween Candy Horror Stories

FaCT or FICTION? HALLOWEEN CANDY 18 HORROR. STORIES Over the years various experts have tried to debunk the various candy tam- pering stories. However, upon close examination, nearly all candy tampering claims are false or hoaxes created by the child. CYANIDE-LACED PixY STix Location: Houston, Texas Date: October 31, 1974 Eight-year-old Timothy Mark O'Bryan died on Halloween night in Houston in 1974 after eating a cyanide-laced Pixy Stix. His dad, Ronald Clark O'Bryan, had given the poisoned Pixy Stix to him, his sister and three other kids. Luckily, none of the other children ate them. CFACT NEEDLES IN SNICKERS Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Date: October 31, 2000 James Joseph Smith put needles in Snickers bars and gave them out to kids on Halloween. A 14-year-old boy was pricked when he bit into the candy, but no one needed medical care. FACT SNICKERS BARS Location: Hercules, California Date: October 31, 2000 Some kids came home from trick-or-treating with packets of marijuana done up to look like mini Snickers bars. The police traced the fake candy to a single house. They found the homeowner didn't know the Snickers were actually mini marijuana packs, He was a postal worker who took the candy home when it ended up in the dead letter office. FACT POISONOUS CANDY Location: Vancouver, Canada Date: November 01, 2001 Tiffaney Troung, 4, died a day after eating candy she got trick-or-treating. The cause of death was found to be non-contagious sepsis-causing streptococcus bacteria. The Hallow- een candy had no part. FICTION 3 CYANIDE IN CANDY Location: Township, Michigan Date: 1964 After a child became ill, his doctor misread the lab results and went public with charges of cyanide poisoning and doctored Halloween candy. The Food and Drug Administration tested the candy. They found no contamination. FICTION POISON PACKETS JOKE Location: Greenlawn, New York Date: October 31, 1964 Helen Pfeil was sick of older kids trick-or-treating after she thought they'd outgrown the practice. So she put together "treat" packages for them that included steel wool, dog biscuits and ant buttons, which were marked "poison." No one was hurt. But the potential for harm was there, and she pled guilty to endanger- ing children. FACT COCAINE-LACED TR EATS Location: San Jose, California Date: October 31, 1996 Ferdinan Siquig, 7, collapsed after eating candy and cookies from his trick-or-treating stash, The first urine test showed traces of cocaine. Other tests came back negative and the initial test was concluded to be wrong. FICTION DR.UGS IN CANDY Location: New Britain, Connecticut Date: October, 1994 A child aged 3, was diagnosed as suffering from cocaine poison- ing. The first suspect was tampered Halloween candy. But there was no trace of drug in it. FICTION 3 NEEDLE IN APPLE Location: A lot of different cities and states Date: mid-1960s About 75% of the cases were hoaxes, where the parents or the kids put the razors in themselves. FICTION FR.UIT SNACKS Local: New Jersey Date: October, 1988 The New York Times reported that traces of strych- nine were found in a box of Sunkist Fun Fruits pur- chased in a grocery store. The Food and Drug Administration tested the substance and found out it was cornstarch. FICTION Sources: Sunsentinel.com I Snopes.com MEDICAL. Information provided by: http://www.medicalinsurance.org/