There is an inexplicable pull when, as you settle down to watch a movie, you realise that the plot of the movie was based on a true story. One such movie, that went on to be a cult classic, was ‘The Amityville Horror’. Initially introduced to the world in a book written by Jay Anson in 1977, the murders and subsequent mysterious going-ons spawned multiple different movies; most notably the 1979 original starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger as well as the 2005 remake with Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George and Philip Baker Hall. But what exactly happened at the rumoured haunted house?
The History of the Amityville House
In 1974, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo Jr. walked into a bar and exclaimed,
“You got to help me! I think my mother and father are shot!”
When DeFeo and the people that he gathered from the bar made it to 112 Ocean Avenue, they discovered that his whole family – father Ronald DeFeo Sr. (43) and mother Louise DeFeo(43)as well as siblings Dawn (18), Allison (13), Marc (12), and John Matthew (9) – had been shot. While his parents had been shot twice, his siblings had all been shot once; all of them were found lying face down in their beds. After initially trying to pin the blame on an alleged hitman, DeFeo admitted to killing his family.
“Once I started, I just couldn’t stop. It went so fast”.
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During his initial trial, DeFeo had pursued an insanity defence, claiming that he had killed his family after he “heard voices” that told him to kill them. In 1975, DeFeo was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder and was levied a sentence of 25 years to life. Later, in 1992, while requesting a retrial, he claimed that his then 18-year-old sister was the one that had killed the rest of the family and that he had shot her after.
Were the hauntings at Amityville real?
It depends on who you believe. As with anything supernatural, there are supporters and sceptics on opposing ends of the argument. The reason why the ‘Amityville Horror’ grew to be one of the most well-known horror movie classics is the reports of real-life hauntings that the family that next lived in 112 Ocean Avenue reported having experienced. In December 1975, George and Kathy Lutz, as well as their three children, moved into the house only to move out 28 days later. According to the family, they experienced paranormal activity that ranged from walls oozing green slime to sightings of demonic pigs. On top of that, the Lutz family reported seeing eyes at windows, peering in from outside as well as random noises and weird odours. At the same time, George and Kathy Lutz would (apparently) be floating in bed at 3:15 AM every day – the supposed time the murders went down. When the family called in a priest, the priest was supposedly slipped by an invisible hand and told to get out. As a result, not only did the priest vacate the premises, the Lutz’s did too.
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Today, the house has been given a new address – 108 Ocean Avenue instead of 112. It was recently sold for $605,000 in 2017.
Where is DeFeo now?
Well, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision announced on the 12th of March that DeFeo had passed away at the Albany Medical Center in New York. Pending an autopsy, DeFeo was 69 when he passed.
*Cover image credit: Suffolk County Police Department
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