On the tragic evening of November 13, 1974, a young man
shot and kills his entire family with a 35-caliber Marlin rifle
as his parents, two brothers and two sisters apparently
sleep.
The parents were killed first, having both been shot twice,
while all four children were killed with single shots.
The gruesome murder of the DeFeo family shook up the
sleepy Long Island town of Amityville—and lead to decades
of horror storytelling.
The trial of Ronald DeFoe Jr. started on October 14, 1975.The
psychiatrist for the prosecution, Dr. Harold Zolan, maintained
that although DeFeo was an abuser of LSD and heroin, who
also had an antisocial personality disorder, he was aware of
his actions at the time of the crime.
On November 21, 1975, DeFoe was found guilty of six counts
of second-degree murder. The judge sentenced DeFoe to six
concurrent life sentences of 25 years to life.
DeFoe was housed at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in
Fallsburg, New York. He died in prison at age 69 on March
12, 2021. The official cause of death was not released to the
public.
DeFeo Jr.(right) with his four younger siblings.
Ronald DeFeo Jr. was just 23 years old when he killed
his family.
The grave of the DeFeo family at Saint Charles Cemetery.
The first edition of the book in 1977.
The Amityville Horror house in 2017, painted white with a sunroom added to the back of the house.
The ‘eye windows’ on the top floor have long been removed
and replaced with square ones.
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