THE TRUE STORY OF THE AMITYVILLE HORROR HOUSE | Visiting the Crime Scene, Bar, & DeFeo Family Graves

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Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. (September 26, 1951 – March 12, 2021) was an American mass murderer who was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters in Amityville, New York. Sentenced to six counts of 25 years to life, DeFeo died in prison on March 12, 2021. The case inspired the book and film versions of The Amityville Horror.

Around 6:30 p.m. on November 13, 1974, DeFeo, who was then 23, entered Henry's Bar in Amityville, Long Island, New York, and declared: "You got to help me! I think my mother and father are shot!" DeFeo and a small group of people went to 112 Ocean Avenue, which was located near the bar, and found that DeFeo's parents were dead inside the house. One of the group, DeFeo's friend Joe Yeswit, made an emergency call to the Amityville Police Department, who searched the house and found that six members of the family were dead in their beds.

The victims were Ronald Jr.'s parents: Ronald DeFeo Sr. (43) and Louise DeFeo (née Brigante, 43); and his four siblings: Dawn (18), Allison (13), Marc (12), and John (9). All of the victims had been shot with a .35 caliber lever action Marlin 336C rifle around 3:00 a.m. that day. The children had been killed by single shots, while the parents had each received two shots. Physical evidence suggests that Louise DeFeo and her daughter Allison were awake at the time of their deaths. According to Suffolk County Police, all the victims were found lying face down in bed. The DeFeo family had occupied 112 Ocean Avenue since purchasing the house in 1965. The six victims were later buried in Saint Charles Cemetery nearby in Farmingdale.

Ronald DeFeo Jr., also known as "Butch", was the eldest child of the family and was its lone surviving member. He was taken to the local police station for his own protection after suggesting to police officers at the scene of the crime that the killings had been carried out by a mob hitman named Louis Falini.
However, an interview at the station exposed serious inconsistencies in his version of events. The following day, he confessed to carrying out the killings himself; Falini, the alleged hitman, had an alibi proving that he was out of state at the time of the killings. DeFeo told detectives: "Once I started, I just couldn't stop. It went so fast." He admitted that he had taken a bath and redressed, and detailed where he had discarded crucial evidence such as blood-stained clothes, the Marlin rifle, and cartridges, before going to work as usual.

On November 21, 1975, DeFeo was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder. On December 4, 1975, Judge Stark sentenced DeFeo to six sentences of 25 years to life.

DeFeo was held at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in the town of Fallsburg, New York until his death, with all of his appeals and requests to the parole board being denied.