The Truth Behind The Amityville Horror

Mass murder, evil spirits, and American folklore from the infamous Long Island home.

Akos Peterbencze
CrimeBeat

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The house under the address 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York, is a moneymaker. Although, since 1974, the Long Island home has been sold four times under market value, it never stopped earning. Perhaps not directly, but the events that took place in that house were the cause and inspiration of several lawsuits, bestseller books, blockbuster horror films, and documentaries making a lot of people rich.

Ironically, the only man who never profited anything from it is Ronald ‘Butch’ DeFeo Jr., who made the house a part of American history.

The Mass Murder in 1974

Ronald DeFeo Jr. is currently serving six concurrent life sentences at the Sullivan Correctional Facility for the killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters.

In court, Ron and his lawyer William Weber pleaded insanity and self-defense, claiming that Ron heard his family member’s voices plotting against him. One of the many reasons why that was so hard to believe is because he was a drinker and regularly consumed heroin, speed, and LSD. According to his high school classmates, he had a violent personality.

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Akos Peterbencze
CrimeBeat

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