Ronald DeFeo, Jr.
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Ronald Joseph "Butch" DeFeo Jr. (September 26th, 1951 - March 12th, 2021) was an American mass murderer. He was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters. The case inspired the book and film versions of The Amityville Horror.
Background edit
Around 6:30 PM on Wednesday, November 13th, 1974, 23-year-old DeFeo 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 indeed dead. One of the group, DeFeo's friend Joe Yeswit, made an emergency call to the Suffolk County Police, who searched the house and found that six members of the same family were dead in their beds.
The victims were Ronald Jr.'s parents: Ronald DeFeo Sr. (44) and Louise DeFeo (42); and his four siblings: Dawn (18), Allison (13), Marc (12), and John Matthew (9). All of the victims had been shot with a .35 caliber lever action Marlin 336C rifle around three o'clock in the morning of that day. The DeFeo parents had both been shot twice, while the children had all been killed with single shots. Physical evidence suggests that Louise DeFeo and her daughter Allison were both awake at the time of their deaths and, according to Suffolk County Police, the victims were all found lying face down in bed. The DeFeo family had occupied 112 Ocean Avenue since purchasing it in 1965. The deceased were later buried in nearby Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.
DeFeo, also known as "Butch", was the eldest son of the family. 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 hit man, Louis Falini. However, an interview at the station soon exposed serious inconsistencies in his version of events. The following day, he confessed to carrying out the killings himself; and Falini, the alleged hitman, had an alibi proving 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 and the Marlin rifle and cartridges before going to work as usual.
DeFeo's trial began on October 14th, 1975. He and his defense lawyer, William Weber, mounted an affirmative defense of insanity, with DeFeo claiming that he killed his family in self-defense because he heard their voices plotting against him. The insanity plea was supported by the psychiatrist for the defense, Dr. Daniel Schwartz. The psychiatrist for the prosecution, Dr. Harold Zolan, maintained that although DeFeo was an abuser of heroin and LSD, he had antisocial personality disorder and was aware of his actions at the time of the crime.
On November 21st, 1975, DeFeo was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder. On December 4th, 1975, Judge Thomas Stark sentenced DeFeo to six concurrent sentences of 25 years to life.
DeFeo died on March 12, 2021, at the Albany Medical Center. An official cause of death is yet to be determined.
Trivia edit
- The house (112 Ocean Avenue) gained more notoriety when the Lutz family bought the house and fled from it after living there for 28 days. They claimed the house was haunted by a strong demonic force and they claimed that the demonic force in the house caused Ronald Jr. to kill his family.