Posted on 10/20/2001 3:26:18 PM PDT by earaiak
I called the Hackensack location (because I grew sick of the false alarms and rumors) and this information is true. Guys be careful a notice just came to me from someone that works in Costco. 2 Arabic guys bought more than $35,000.00 dollars worth of candy, in Wayne $15,000.00 & in Hackensack $20,0000.00. After they left they found out their Costco i.d was fake, & they paid the whole thing cash. The F.B.I. was notified just be careful with your kids for trick o' treating on Halloween!!! i just thought u wanted to know that. DON"T LET THOSE KIDS GO OUT FOR HALLOWEEN!
By far the most famous case was the murder of eight-year-old Timothy Mark O'Bryan at the hands of his father, Ronald Clark O'Bryan, in Houston, Texas. The child died at 10 p.m. on 31 October 1974, as a result of eating cyanide-laced Pixie Stix acquired while trick-or-treating.
To make it appear more like the work of a random madman, O'Bryan also gave poisoned Pixie Stix to his daughter and three other children. By a kind stroke of fate, none of the other children ate the candy.
The prosecution proved the father had purchased cyanide and had (along with a neighbor) accompanied the group of children on their door-to-door mission. None of the places visited that night were giving out Pixie Stix. Young Mark's life was insured for a large sum of money, and collecting on this policy has always been pointed to as the motive behind this murder.
Though the case was circumstantial (no one saw the father poison the candy or slip the Pixie Stix into the boy's bag), Ronald O'Bryan was convicted of the murder in May 1975. He received the death sentence and was executed by lethal injection on 31 March 1984 (not on the poetically-just 31 October as is often recounted in off-the-cuff retellings of the case).
The O'Bryan murder was an attempt to use a well-known urban legend to cover up the premeditated murder of one particular child. (Note that for this explanation of the boy's murder to have been believed, the legend had to have been in widely circulation by 1974.) Though cold-blooded and horrible to contemplate, this crime still does not qualify as a genuine Halloween poisoning because there was nothing random about Timothy O'Bryan's death.
(The spectre of the mad poisoner from the 1982 Tylenol murders was similarly employed by various murderers attempting to cover their tracks.)
By MITCHEL MADDUX and PETER POCHNA
Staff Writers
The FBI said Friday that it is investigating the cash purchase of "large quantities" of candy from Costco stores in Hackensack and Wayne.
"We have been advised and we are looking into the incident of a gentleman buying large quantities of candy," said Sandra Carroll, an FBI spokeswoman in Newark.
Carroll declined to identify the purchaser, but indicated that he is in federal custody for immigration law reasons not related to the purchase of the candy.
"I cannot comment on INS detainees," Carroll said.
Carroll said it would be premature to draw conclusions about the purchaser's intent for the candy, which agents had not found by Friday night. She declined to describe the candy.
"We have no evidence or information for us to suspect there is any reason to cancel scheduled events," Carroll said when asked if the FBI had concerns about the safety of Halloween. "However, the public is encouraged to remain alert but calm."
Hackensack police took a report from Costco about the candy purchase at the Hackensack store at 11:40 a.m. Wednesday. The police then contacted the FBI.
"They told us to stay out of it," said Hackensack Police Chief Charles "Ken" Zisa.
Zisa said the FBI had already learned about the purchase. A local Costco manager had reported the incident to corporate headquarters, near Seattle, and had sent a videotape from a store security camera, Zisa said.
An official at Costco's corporate headquarters said Friday night that no one was available to comment on the matter. Another Costco official, who declined to be identified, said such large purchases from the chain of wholesale grocery and household goods stores are not uncommon.
Kerry Gill, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in Newark, said he could not discuss the case because of confidentiality policies.
What could the terrorists do to us that would be more horrific than what they did on September 11? How about attacking millions of innocent children? And I wouldn't be so naive as to think that because you know your neighbors you are less vulnerable. These people aren't going to hand it out. They will get it into retail outlets. (Who runs a large number of this nations convenience stores?) Anybody remember the Tylenol scares that prompted the extra protection sealing of over the counter medicine bottles? We really don't know how far the reach of these monsters extends. Why take that chance? Take the kids to a fair or something else fun instead, and don't apologize for putting their safety first.
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2001 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson This material may not be reproduced without permission
Just remember anyone can put anything up on the internet and someone is going to believe it. You say you never heard of Urban Legends? haha
Better question: "How are blown to sheet dead arabic guys going to service 72 virgins?"
When I was probably ten or so (around 1980) I was going trick-or-treating by myself. Just was told to stay within a two-block radius. Not quite thirty years ago, though admittedly getting distressingly-close to it.
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