At 6:30 AM on November 13, 1974, Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr, 23, was found sleeping in his 1970 Blue Buick Electra 225 Sedan at the dealership he worked at, Brigante-Karl Buick in Brooklyn, New York. The dealership was owned by his grandfather, Michael Brigante, and he and his father, Ronald “Big Ronnie” DeFeo Sr, were both employed there. His father had not arrived for work, but this had been expected. Thanks to a football injury that occurred in September, Big Ronnie had been left using crutches and a wheelchair to move around and had told his coworkers in the days preceding that he would not be in to work that day. He was supposed to be at therapy, but unfortunately, Ronald DeFeo Sr was instead lying dead in his bed (Maddi).
At 6 AM a neighbor walking his dog noted that the third story lights were on in the DeFeo house, something notably unusual. Catherine O’Riley, a neighbor of the DeFeo’s, came to the home to pick up DeFeo Jr’s siblings, Dawn, 18, Allison, 13, Marc, 12, and John Matthew, 9, for school. She noted that both DeFeo parents’ cars were still at the house and found that no one was answering the door. After returning around 8:40 AM, after dropping her own children off for school, she found that the family was still not answering the door. Around 10:30 AM the mailman arrived to deliver the mail and found that the family dog, a sheepdog named Shaggy, was not barking as usual. In the past, this had been due to the dog being tied out in the yard, but as he left he didn’t see the dog outback. O’Riley attempted to call the DeFeo’s at 5 PM to no avail,and at 6:30 PM DeFeo Jr arrived at Henry’s Bar, not far from the house, declaring he needed help and that his parents had been shot. DeFeo Jr, along with patrons from the bar, headed to the house, where the grizzly murders that occurred the night ebfore were finally discovered (Maddi)(Kelly)(Brodner).
While the murders have been made famous due to the book and movies, The Amityville Horror series, the reality is not quite as presented. Initially, DeFeo Jr was interviewed for information of who may have wanted to kill his family, and during this initial interview was when investigators became suspicious. According to DeFeo Jr, a window noted by his interviewer as being open had been used to enter the house when he got home, as no one was answering the door and he didn’t have his keys. During the interview, that same window closed and shattered, indicating to investigators that it had not been broken into in the manner DeFeo Jr described. His grandfather, Michael Brigante, soon arrived and told investigators that Big Ronnie had mentioned some suspicious phone calls he had been receiving recently. While DeFeo Jr was taken into custody for further interviewing, theories began to circulate. Many believed Brigante had connections with organized crime and believed that DeFeo Jr was taken in for protection (Maddi). DeFeo Jr pointed to known hitman Louis Falini, claiming that he had killed his family and made him watch. Unfortunately for DeFeo Jr, Falini had been out of New York at the time of the murders and this story fell apart (Kelly).
The DeFeo’s were found in their beds, shot while sleeping with a .35-caliber Marlin rifle (Brodner)(Maddi). Big Ronnie and Louise, both in their forties, had been shot twice each, while the DeFeo sisters, Allison and Dawn, had both been shot once in the head. The brothers, Marc and John Matthew, had each been shot once in the back, and the gunpowder found on all the bodies indicated they had been shot at close range. An empty box for a .35-caliber Marlin rifle was found in the house, but the gun itself was not present. Later, the gun would be found in a nearby creek and it would be learned that DeFeo Jr had cleaned up the casings from the crime scene (Maddi). As the stories DeFeo Jr told fell apart, he eventually confessed to killing his family.
In October 1975, his attorney William Weber sought a plea of innocence due to insanity. According to Weber, DeFeo Jr had been hearing voices telling him to kill his family. Eventually, these claims would feed into the future claims of the home being haunted. The prosecution argued that, while DeFeo Jr was notably troubled and had a history with LSD and heroin, he knew exactly what he was doing at the time of the murders. The jury agreed with the prosecution and DeFeo Jr was found guilty of six counts of second degree murder and sentences to six concurrent sentences of 25 years to life in prison (Kelly)(Dziemianowicz).
Throughout his time in prison, DeFeo Jr changed his story a couple times. One story he told was that Dawn had killed his father and his mother, distraught, had murdered the rest of his siblings while he killed her. In another story, he claimed Dawn had done all the killings and he had killed her. DeFeo Jr died in prison on March 12, 2021 (Dziemianowicz).
The story didn’t end with the murders, however. A year after the murders, George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house and lived there for only 28 days. They left the home and eventually approached Weber, talking about a story claiming the house was haunted, which would eventually lead to the common theory that DeFeo Jr was possessed on the night of the murders. According to Weber, the Lutz’s had come up with the story over a few bottles of wine, though the two would later pass a lie detector test about their story. Their sons, Daniel and Christopher, would also later come out with claims of paranormal experiences and even moments of possession. George and Kathy Lutz did eventually publish the book with another partner and were sued by Weber, who demanded $60 million in shares of the profits made. The case settled for @2,500 plus a further $15,000 for his services in connection with the Amityville Horror series (Kelly).
Brodner, Brett. “Seven Little Known Facts About The Storied ‘Amityville Horror’ Murders”. New York Daily News, 2016, https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/facts-amityville-horror-murders-article-1.2830746.
Maddi, Trish. “The True Story Of Ronald Defeo Jr & The Amityville Murders – CDP”. Criminal Discourse Podcast, 2020, https://criminaldiscoursepodcast.com/ronald-defeo-jr/.
Kelly, Erin. “The Real Amityville Horror Is Even Scarier Than The Movie”. All That’s Interesting, 2020, https://allthatsinteresting.com/amityville-murders-ronald-defeo-jr.
Dziemianowicz, Joe. “JOE DZIEMIANOWICZ”. Oxygen, 2021, https://www.oxygen.com/family-massacre/crime-news/amityville-horror-true-story-behind-ron-defeos-family-massacre.
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