In the early morning hours on 15 December 2024, Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his entire family in cold blood — and claimed that demonic voices told him to do it.
For tenner , The Amityville Horrorhas enchant audiences . A shivery movie about a stalk firm that forced a family to flee after just a month , this film has exalt many people to seek out the actual Long Island home behind the eery story . But often lost in the shuffling is the brutal offense that purportedly made the house “ haunted ” — the Amityville Murders .
The real - lifespan repulsion chronicle begin on November 13 , 1974 , when a 23 - year - old man name Ronald DeFeo Jr. fatally film his parents and his four younger siblings while they were at peace in their plate in Amityville , New York . hour after bump off them , DeFeo went to a nearby bar , crying for help .
DeFeo ab initio lay claim to the police force that the murders had likely been a ring hit , and his act was apparently so convincing that he was taken to a local station for protection . But it did n’t take long for cracks to make in his tale , and by the next day , he had already confessed to kill his kin himself .
However , the Amityville Murders case was far from over . When DeFeo go on trial , his lawyer built a case that he was an “ insane ” human who became a killer because of the diabolical vocalism in his head . And about a year after the slaughter , a new family moved into the home where the execution took place . They flee the hall after just 28 day , claim it was haunted .
Though the offence has often been an reconsideration throughout the yr — thanks in part to the popularity ofThe Amityville Horror — it ’s even more horrible than anything that Hollywood could ever woolgather up .
The Troubled Home Life Of The DeFeo Family
Public DomainThe DeFeo children . Back course : John , Allison , and Marc . Front row : Dawn and Ronald Jr.
On the outside , the DeFeos appeared to live glad lives on Long Island during the former 1970s . According toThe New York Times , one of their neighbors described them as “ a nice , normal sept . ”
The family was comprised of Ronald DeFeo Sr . and Louise DeFeo , and their five children : Ronald Jr. , Dawn , Allison , Marc , and John Matthew .
They endure in an moneyed part of Long Island called Amityville . Their Dutch Colonial home had a swimming kitty and a nearby boat dock . Inside the house , there were living - sized portrayal of the family advert on the wall .
One local girl told theTimesthat Ronald DeFeo Sr . had frequently given her ride to her family ’s restaurant in Brooklyn . Another neighbour name Catherine O’Reilly said the DeFeos had befriended her after her husband passed away . It seemed as if the fellowship were kind , loving people .
But the DeFeos were a very different family behind closed threshold .
Paul Hawthorne / Getty ImagesThe “ Amityville Horror House ” at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville , New York , where the Amityville Murders have billet .
Ronald DeFeo Sr . managed an car franchise , a task that certainly could n’t support the family ’s overgenerous lifestyle . Instead , much of their money came from Louise ’s father , Michael Brigante , who purchased the family ’s dwelling house for them , allowing them to move out of their pocket-size Brooklyn flat . Brigante later give his Logos - in - law about $ 50,000 to have the syndicate portrait paint .
So , for all of the wealthiness and sumptuousness that Ronald “ Big Ronnie ” DeFeo Sr . showed off , he had , in the true , earned very footling of it himself .
Public DomainThe DeFeo children. Back row: John, Allison, and Marc. Front row: Dawn and Ronald Jr.
“ Big Ronnie ” was also reportedly an opprobrious and tearing man . Most often , he take his choler and frustration out on his firstborn child , Ronald DeFeo Jr. , who usually get going by “ Butch . ” And as Butch produce up , he struggled to determine any common ground with his father , grant toBiography .
Butch was also bullied at school for being overweight , with kids calling him names like “ Pork Chop ” and “ The Blob . ” By his teenage years , he had lost most of that weight — through his use of pep pill , which he had come to rely on , along with alcohol , as a cope chemical mechanism .
He and his don continued to fight ofttimes — Butch once draw in a gun on Ronald Sr . — and although Butch was technically employed at his kinsfolk ’s dealership , he seldom usher up to work and left early when he did .
Paul Hawthorne/Getty ImagesThe “Amityville Horror House” at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York, where the Amityville Murders took place.
In oecumenical , he drop most of his time doing drugs or drinking , getting into fight , and arguing with his parents . Still , no one expected that Ronald DeFeo Jr. ’s problem would lead him to commit the Amityville Murders .
Inside The Gruesome Amityville Murders
Don Jacobsen / Newsday RM via Getty ImagesRonald DeFeo Jr. was just 23 eld old when he wipe out his family .
Butch ’s on-going conflict with his Church Father came to a tearing head when he fatally shot Ronald DeFeo Sr . with a .35 - caliber Marlin rifle as he slept during the early hours of November 13 , 1974 . But of course , he did n’t just kill his Fatherhood . He also turned the hitman on his mother , Louise DeFeo .
Then , 23 - class - erstwhile Butch went into the bedrooms where his sibling were sleeping and murdered 18 - yr - old Dawn , 13 - class - old Allison , 12 - yr - honest-to-goodness Marc , and 9 - year - sometime John Matthew with the same arm .
Don Jacobsen/Newsday RM via Getty ImagesRonald DeFeo Jr. was just 23 years old when he killed his family.
After killing his family , Butch take a exhibitioner , got trim , and collected incriminate evidence . On his way to work , he threw the evidence — including the gunman — into a violent storm drain . Then , he went about his day .
He feigned ignorance as to why his father had n’t show up for piece of work as plan and even called him . As the day went on , he decide to leave work and pass the afternoon with his friends , making sure to mention to all of them that he could n’t get in jot with his family for some reasonableness .
Then , he prepared for the “ discovery ” of his family ’s bodies .
New York Police DepartmentA crime scene photo of Ronald DeFeo Sr. and Louise DeFeo, two victims of the Amityville Murders.
In the other evening , Butch scat to a nearby bar , screaming for help , according to theNew York Daily News . He state the patrons there that “ someone ” had shot his syndicate and begged them to total back with him to his home . There , the shocked bargoers were greet by a in truth terrible scene .
New York Police DepartmentA criminal offence scene pic of Ronald DeFeo Sr . and Louise DeFeo , two victims of the Amityville Murders .
Each member of the DeFeo crime syndicate was come up lying face down in seam — with fateful bullet wounds . Ronald DeFeo Sr . and Louise DeFeo had both been shot twice , and their children had been shoot one time each .
John Cornell/Newsday RM via Getty ImagesRonald DeFeo Jr. sought a new trial in 1992, years after he was convicted of murdering his family.
accord toHistory , police arrived at the picture and notice an in - shock Ronald DeFeo Jr. waiting for them . DeFeo ab initio claimed to the authority that he conceive his family had been targeted by the mob . At first , it seemed like the cops might buy his story . They even took him to a constabulary station for his aegis . But they soon find details that did n’t line up .
For example , DeFeo conserve that he had been at work all aurora and with friend all good afternoon — therefore , he could n’t have kill his phratry . But police chop-chop determined that the bodies had been shot sometime in the early morning , well before DeFeo would have decease to bring .
And after DeFeo mentioned a notorious mob hitman who could have killed his family , police presently observe out that the hired gun was out of state .
American International PicturesJames Brolin memorably portrayed George Lutz in the 1979 filmThe Amityville Horror.
By the next day , Ronald DeFeo Jr. had confessed to the crime . He told the law , “ Once I set forth , I just could n’t stop . It become so fast . ”
The Chilling Aftermath Of The Amityville Murders
John Cornell / Newsday RM via Getty ImagesRonald DeFeo Jr. sought a new tryout in 1992 , year after he was convict of murdering his family .
DeFeo ’s criminal trial in October 1975 captured attention for two reasons : the transparent brutality of his offence and the unusual details circumvent the defense . His lawyer built a case claim that he was an insane man who down his family in “ ego - defense ” because of the demonic voices in his head .
Ultimately , DeFeo was found shamed of six counts of 2d - stage murder in November . He would later be sentenced to six sequential sentences of 25 years to lifespan in prison . But the history of the Amityville Murders was not over .
Though DeFeoclaimedto have drugged his family ’s dinner , expert note that a retentive clock time had surpass between the repast and the family ’s expiry .
Perhaps most chillingly , the grampus ’s motive remained uncertain . Though it ’s clear that DeFeo had many issues with his father , it baffled many that he would go after the rest of his family member — especially his youngest siblings . And considering the fact that DeFeo would transfer his level multiple times in prison , he shed very piddling brightness on the haunting mystery .
And then , in December 1975 , a new family go into the DeFeos ’ old home . George Lutz , his married woman Kathy , and their three child detain at the hall for just 28 Clarence Day before flee the prop in terror — claiming that the house was haunt by the spirits of the asleep DeFeos .
American International PicturesJames Brolin unforgettably depict George Lutz in the 1979 filmThe Amityville Horror .
From green goo reportedly oozing from the walls to window suddenly shatter to crime syndicate members allegedly levitate in bed , their claims fathom like something straight out of a repugnance film .
And just a duad of years later in 1977 , author Jay Anson release a novel titledThe Amityville Horror , based on the Lutz family ’s claims of extrasensory activity happening in the home , which was enquire by famed ( andcontroversial ) ghost huntersEd and Lorraine Warren . In 1979 , a movie by the same name was release to the joy of horror fans , some of whom actively seek out the realAmityville Horror Housein hunting of paranormal natural process .
fantastically , there have been over a dozen film base on the slaying released since then , but the 1979 moving picture starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder as George and Kathy Lutz remains perhaps the best live .
In the lag , DeFeo made multiple effort to free himself , growing progressively resentful of the tending he received in prison . He exchange the story of what pass off during the Amityville Murders multiple time , at certain points claim that his mother or sister had committed some of the killing . He remained in prison until the day he choke at age 69 in 2021 .
“ I guess the Amityville Horror really is supposed to be me , ” DeFeo once said . “ Because I ’m the one that got convict of vote out my kinsperson . I ’m the one they say who did it , I ’m the one that ’s supposed to be possessed by the devil . ”
After learning the true story of the Amityville Murders , read morereal - life revulsion stories that ’ll make your cutis crawl . Then , tally out55 of history ’s creepiest pictures and the disturbing backstories behind them .
