According to The New York Times, Pfeil was then a 47-year-old housewife. Described as dainty, she was the mother of two sons who were 14 and 16. The New York Post reports that when the Druckers knocked on Pfeil’s door, she stated “Aren’t you a little old to be trick-or-treating?” The ages of the trick or treaters perturbed her so much that Pfeil decided to play a sinister trick on the older kids who came to her door. Pfeil wrapped ant poison buttons, steel wool pads, and dog biscuits and disguised them as candy. It’s believed she handed out a total of 12 ant buttons to unsuspecting trick-or-treaters.
Read Related Also: Stacey Abrams’ brother-in-law allegedly agreed to pay a 16-year-old for sex and choked her when she changed her mind
Coincidentally, Pfeil’s own teenage sons had also been trick-or-treating that night (via The New York Times). Mental Floss writes that the ant buttons were made of arsenic and were designed to kill small insects and mice. Needless to say, it was hazardous if consumed and it had the potential to kill smaller children. Elsie, then 13, and Irene, 15, identified Pfeil as the culprit. Police arrested her when they found empty boxes of the ant poison in her home. Despite this, her husband told police that the situation was only “a joke” (per the New York Post). The authorities, however, did not find this funny and Pfeil was sent to Central Islip Hospital for a mental evaluation.
