The 5 Creepiest Murders on Halloween

By Gabriella Orta on October 16, 2017

Image via Pexels

Whenever the time for Halloween comes, we think about dressing up and going out to some party; kids go trick-or-treating and candy is one of the main attractions.

We know Halloween is basically the night of the year where being scared is supposed to be exciting and fun. However, this night can also become someone’s worst nightmare ending up in death. Today, I bring you some of the creepiest and most disturbing murders committed on Halloween night!

1. The Murder of Chaim Weiss

On November 1, 1986, Chaim Weiss, a 16-year old religious student at an Orthodox Jewish school, is found dead in his room with a blow to his head that seemed to be caused by a sharp object.

There was no evidence of robbery or signs of struggle at the scene. In fact, the homicide appeared to be committed while Chaim slept. The murderer ended the boy’s life on his own bed and then moved the body closer to the window. The police detective assigned to the case, Don Daly, investigated the scene and came to the conclusion that the killer was familiar with the yeshiva and the customs of Orthodox Judaism.

According to Det. Daly, Chaim’s window was left open with a purpose:

pexels.com

It would be customary in the religion to open a window or a door to let the spirit out. It would also be customary for the body to be taken off the bed because the body should be at the lowest point and the coolest point. The coolest point being the floor, compared to the bed.”

Another clue that lets us know that the killer is possibly from the Orthodox school is simply a candle. One of the rabbis asked to leave a memorial candle in Chaim’s room for seven days before sealing the room for investigation. Two days later another candle was mysteriously found in the room. When authorities asked who was responsible for placing the candle, no one in the school claimed to be the one who did it. This grabbed Det. Daly’s attention since for him placing another candle in the boy’s room would be usually considered as a gesture of sympathy and love. Why wouldn’t anyone come forward and say that?

There is definitely something else going on behind that story and authorities are still trying to figure it out. There is no murder weapon, no suspect, and no purpose. Chaim Weiss’s death remains a mystery.

2. The Candy Man

On Halloween night in 1974, a horrible monster walked around the neighborhood while the kids went trick-or-treating — and he was dressed as a dad.

Ronald Clark O’Bryan, also known as “The Candy Man” or “The Man Who Killed Halloween,” murdered his own 8-year-old son, Timothy, with cyanide.

Based on an article from the New York Daily News called “Candy Man’ killer dad serves his own son a poisoned treat on Halloween in 1974,” O’Bryan’s Halloween evening started with dinner at a friend’s place in Pasadena, Texas.

Image via Pexels

After dinner, O’Bryan and his friend, Jim Bates, took their children — Timothy, O’Bryan’s daughter, and Bates’ son — out for a candy hunt.

The group decided to ring the doorbell of a dark house; the house seemed to be empty. Since there was no answer, they moved on and kept walking. O’Bryan, on the other hand, didn’t walk so fast and stayed way behind the group. Moments later he came running to catch up with five Pixy Stixs (22-inch straws full of sugar) in his hands.

He told the three kids he got the candy from rich neighbors that were giving away fancy treats. Each kid got a Pixy Stix. Later, O’Bryan gave the fourth Pixy Stix to Bates’ 5-year-old daughter and the fifth one to a kid that stopped by Bates’ house for Halloween treats.

Before the night ended, O’Bryan told his children that they could each have one more treat before bedtime. Unfortunately, Timothy was the one who picked the Pixy Stix. After his first taste, Timothy immediately started to feel sick and complained that his stomach hurt.

An autopsy was performed and the results found lethal levels of cyanide — a sufficient amount of cyanide to kill three grown men without any trouble.

Investigators started to dig into the case and found that O’Bryan was about $100,000 in debt and that he had taken out about $60,000 in life insurance on his children. Police hypothesized that O’Bryan had planned to kill his kids for insurance money.

O’Bryan was found guilty in trial and he was sentenced to the death penalty. As his execution by lethal injection was performed, voices from the outside of the prison could be heard screaming “Trick or Treat!”

3. The Murders Of Ronald Sisman And Elizabeth Platzman

In 1981, during the early hours of Halloween, the couple Ronald Sisman and Elizabeth Platzman experienced what could be described as the worst days of their lives.

Image via Pexels

The couple was heavily beaten and later shot in the head, execution-style; their apartment was found totally ransacked. Police initially believed that the murder was linked to drugs, but then a revelation came to light.

A prison informant told the authorities that one of his fellow inmates had predicted the crime weeks before it happened. The inmate turned out to be David Berkowitz, also known as the “Son of Sam” killer. Apparently, Berkowitz told the inmate that his cult was planning to break into a residence on Halloween day to perform a ritual murder.

When Berkowitz was questioned, he told the police that Ronald Sisman had video footage of one of the “Son of Sam” shootings and was planning to give it to the authorities in exchange for dropping drug chargers, but no evidence was found to support Berkowitz’ claims.

The case is still open and no murderers have been found.

4. The Bizarre Drowning

On Halloween night, 2002, Christopher Jenkins — a 21-year-old student at University of Minnesota — after being kicked out of a bar, found himself on the street in 20-degree weather wearing an American Indian costume with no coat, no wallet, no cell-phone nor keys to his car or apartment.

Image via Pixabay

No one is sure of what happened to Jenkins after that night, but four months after his disappearance he was found dead floating in the Mississippi River still wearing his Halloween costume.

Given the fact that Jenkins was under the influence of alcohol that night, police believed that the cause of his death was either an accident or a suicide. On the other side, the victim’s family refused to accept this conclusion and pressed for further investigation.

In 2006, the case was reclassified as a homicide. Police told the press that an “incarcerated suspect” testified and said that he was present when Jenkins was killed and then thrown off a bridge into the river. While the story is convincing, there is not enough evidence to file charges.

There is a possible theory to help explain Jenkins’ death. Perhaps he could have been a victim in the unsolved “Smiley Face Murders,” the sick killings involve approximately 40 male college students who were drugged and then forced to drown. Somewhere near the body, there was unexplained smiley face graffiti: a deadly signature.

Everything seemed to point to the “Smiley Face Murders” on Jenkins’ case, but the deadly signature was nowhere to be found.

His death is still unsolved and there is a killer on the loose.

5. The Lost Bunny

Cindy Song, a Pennsylvania State graduate student, disappeared after leaving a Halloween party in 2001.

Image via Flickr

Cindy, who was dressed as a bunny, was dropped off at her off-campus apartment by one of her friends when she was last seen. After this day, Cindy was completely wiped off the face of the earth.

No trace of her has ever been found and the case has taken some odd twists. An active lead to uncover Cindy’s whereabouts includes the Selenski Case.

Hugo Marcus Selenski was convicted of murder after five bodies were found in his backyard two years after Cindy’s death. A police informant linked Selenski and another man, Michael Kerkowski, to Cindy’s disappearance, claiming that the two men kidnapped and killed an Asian girl wearing bunny ears on Halloween night, 2001.

The bizarre detail about this case is that Selenski’s partner in crime, Kerkowski, was also found dead in his backyard years later.

Something definitely went wrong for Kerkowski and he ended up having his head under the dirt.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format