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From green slime reportedly oozing from the walls to windows suddenly shattering to family members allegedly levitating in bed, their claims sounded like something straight out of a horror film. And after DeFeo mentioned a notorious mob hitman who could have killed his family, police soon found out that the hitman was out of state. In the early evening, Butch ran to a nearby bar, screaming for help, according to the New York Daily News. He told the patrons there that “someone” had shot his family and begged them to come back with him to his house. After killing his family, Butch took a shower, got dressed, and collected incriminating evidence. On his way to work, he threw the evidence — including the gun — into a storm drain.
The property has a dark history
"Anson listened to 35 hours of taped interviews with the Lutzes, then he sat down and wrote the book," says Bartholomew. "The best way to describe Jay Anson is a writer who didn't let the facts get in the way of a good story." Weber and the Lutzes parted ways after a fight over how money from the book deal would be split. The Lutzes took their story to Jay Anson, a journalist and filmmaker who had made a short documentary on the making of "The Exorcist." DeFeo and his lawyer, William Weber, claimed that DeFeo was driven mad by a satanic presence in the house and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Paranormal investigators offer insight into the phenomena
In support of his motion, DeFeo asserted that Dawn and an unknown assailant, who fled the house before he could get a good look at him, killed their parents and Dawn subsequently killed their siblings. He claimed the only person he killed was Dawn and that it was by accident as they struggled over the rifle. When John and Catherine Moynahan died, their daughter, Eileen Fitzgerald, moved in with her own family. She lived there until October 17, 1960, when John and Mary Riley bought the house.
The haunting experiences of the Lutz family
He has covered pop culture and commerce professionally for over a decade. His past journalistic writing can be found on sites such as Yahoo! and Comic Book Resources, his podcast appearances can be found wherever you get your podcasts, and his fiction can’t be found anywhere, because it’s not particularly good. The effort to preserve the site was led by Sandi Brewster-Walker, the executive director of the Montaukett Indian Nation. Indeed, the land that Anson's book claimed was used by the Shinnecock would have actually been occupied by a Western cluster of the Montaukett. The book then alludes to a settler named John Catchum, or Ketcham, who was apparently buried on the property after being forced out of Salem, Massachusetts "for practicing witchcraft." Director Stuart Rosenberg had, once upon a time in 1967, directed Paul Newman in the critically lauded classic Cool Hand Luke, a film with both theological and countercultural themes.
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After the film's release in 1979, it didn't take horror fans long to start traveling various distances in order to gawk at what they believed to be a real hellmouth of demonic phenomenon. It was James and Barbara Cromarty who, while living in the house at the time, chose to change the address from 112 Ocean Avenue to 108 in an attempt to thwart unwelcome observers. It was last listed on the market in 2016 for $605,000 and sold in 2017 (via New York Post). In March of 2021, Ronald Defeo Jr. died in prison at the age of 69 (per Rolling Stone). In the meantime, DeFeo made multiple attempts to free himself, growing increasingly resentful of the attention he received in prison. He changed the story of what happened during the Amityville Murders multiple times, at certain points claiming that his mother or sister had committed some of the killings.
According to Osuna, DeFeo claimed that he had committed the murders with his sister Dawn and two friends, Augie Degenero and Bobby Kelske, "out of desperation," because his parents had plotted to kill him. Allegedly, DeFeo claimed that, after a furious row with his father, he and his sister planned to kill their parents and that Dawn murdered the children to eliminate them as witnesses. He said that he was enraged on discovering his sister's actions, knocked her unconscious onto her bed, and shot her in the head.
And Weber, DeFeo Jr.'s attorney, said the haunting was all a hoax — which he purportedly conjured up with Anson while drinking. But it wasn't until after the Lutz family moved into the house in December of 1975 that the purported haunting of the Amityville Horror house allegedly set in. George and Kathy Lutz believed their purchase of the 4,000-square-foot house at $80,000 was a steal — but moved out 28 days later after terrifying incidents allegedly forced them to flee. From Jay Anson’s bestselling book to the iconic 1979 film adaptation and subsequent sequels, remakes and spin-offs, the story has captured the public’s imagination.
The house itself, with its distinctive gambrels and upper-story windows framing the brick chimney into something like a face, has become a horror icon and may be the distinctive ideal of a “haunted house” in American culture. The house at 112 Ocean Avenue is still a privately owned residence, and while signals of the paranormal have all but disappeared from the site as the years have passed, the memory of its tragic past will linger forever. On a cold November night in 1974, Amityville, New York resident Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his entire family in cold blood at their 112 Ocean Avenue residence.
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Son of family that were driven out of Amityville horror house recalls voices saying 'will you please stop' as - Daily Mail
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It’s since been proven to be a myth, with the people alleged to have called the land home, the Shinnecocks, having never actually lived in the area, nor did they use it as a burial site. John Cornell/Newsday RM via Getty ImagesRonald DeFeo Jr. sought a new trial in 1992, years after he was convicted of murdering his family. Each member of the DeFeo family was found lying face down in bed — with fatal bullet wounds. Ronald DeFeo Sr. and Louise DeFeo had both been shot twice, and their children had been shot one time each. New York Police DepartmentA crime scene photo of Ronald DeFeo Sr. and Louise DeFeo, two victims of the Amityville Murders. He feigned ignorance as to why his father hadn’t shown up for work as planned and even called him.
Their spine-tingling tales of paranormal activity are what propelled the legend of the Amityville Horror and spawned a torrent of books, documentaries and films. The 1979 film, based on Jay Anson's novel, is the best known in the series. The part of the priest who blesses the house (renamed Father Delaney in the film) was played by Academy Award–winning actor Rod Steiger. The first three Amityville films received a theatrical release, while the fourth film was made for television by NBC. The sequels from the 1990s were released direct to video and contain virtually no material relating to the Lutz family or the DeFeo murders.
Glance down Albany Avenue, and you can see Colored School #6, which the Amityville Record notes "was one of the Island’s first schools to be desegregated," thanks to the efforts of Charles Devine Brewster, an ancestor of the aforementioned Sandi Brewster-Walker. It quickly became a best-seller, and fittingly was snapped up by Hollywood to become a major motion picture—one that would put Amityville on the map for reasons the town wish had stayed uncharted. The team took several photos inside, including a now-infamous image apparently showing a “ghost boy” peering out from one of the bedrooms. The psychics agreed that there was some kind of demonic force present in the house. In December 1975, a month after DeFeo was convicted of the murders, the Lutz couple and their three young kids moved into the house, which they had reportedly snatched for $80,000. The couple’s terrifying tale of demonic possession inspired the 1977 book “The Amityville Horror,” a hit 1979 movie of the same name and several sequels, including a 2005 remake.
Meanwhile, the new wave of curiosity sparked by the movie was affecting the entire community. When Jim and Barbara Cromarty bought the house for $55,000 in April of 1977, they were unaware that a book would soon be published about it. By November, the Cromartys had been bombarded by so many unwanted visitors, they decided to change the address of the house. This, however, did nothing to stop curious onlookers from coming by at all hours of the day. In the early morning hours of November 13, 1974, six members of the DeFeo family were found murdered inside their home. Ron Sr. and Louise had each been shot twice, while four of their children—Dawn, Allison, Marc, and John—had each been shot once.
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Although the brutal murders were sensational in their own right it wasn’t until the house was purchased by the Lutz family that the home haunted its way into infamy. The Lutz family only lived in the Dutch Colonial house for less than a month, claiming that they were driven out by relentless paranormal events. Among the many claims made by the Lutz’s were swarms of flies, walls that oozed slime, spectral voices, and multiple sightings of a demonic, pig-like creature.
After looking inside the Amityville Horror house today, read about the house that inspired 'The Conjuring' and its fearless new owners. After an uneventful decade living within its walls, they sold it to Peter and Jeanne O'Neill in 1987. The O'Neills sold in 1997 for $310,000, to Brian Wilson — not the Beach Boys singer. With an abusive father and passive mother, the boy's troubled childhood led to substance abuse as an adult. He not only lashed out at his father but once even threatened him with a gun. The parents hoped letting him live at home and with a weekly stipend would help.
DeFoe claiming he killed his family in self-defence because he heard their voices plotting against him. DeFeo Jr. and a small group of people went to the house at 112 Ocean Avenue, which was located near the bar, and found that DeFeo’s parents were dead. One of the group, DeFeo’s friend Joe Yeswit, made a call to the Suffolk County Police, who searched the house and found that six members of the same family had all been shot dead in their beds. After the DeFeo’s, George and Kathy Lutz moved into the property and then moved out in 28 days. Their stay was so short that they did not even make a payment on the $60,000 mortgage they had on the house. On August 30, 1976, the Lutz family returned the house to Columbia Savings and Loan.
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