However the brutal murder of the DeFeo family with hyped claims of supernatural involvement in tabloids from coast to coast just wouldn't fade from public consciousness, coming as it did in the wake of Roman Polanski's horror classic 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968), hot on the trail of 'The Exorcist' (1973) and during the phenomenally popular Hammer horror movie genre when claims of demonic involvement in DeFeo's deeds struck a well ingrained cord in popular culture. Hollywood rode the wave of public fascination with the satanic and supernatural with a host of new horror movies, including 'The Exorcist II: The Heretic' (1977), the 'Omen' trilogy and a host of other blood and gore celluloid schlock paving the way for 'The Amityville Horror'.

As is so often the case in brutal homicides the slaughter of the DeFeo family was seen as a great business opportunity, not least by Butch's lawyer William Webber who befriended the current residents of 'High Hopes' George & Kathleen Lutz. Whose residency amounted to all of three weeks in 1975, financial problems seeing them vacate the property without having made a single mortgage payment. Weber was already considering writing a book based on the story and they had an instant symbiosis, together over a few bottles of wine Webber said they invented the myth of the house being built on a cursed Indian burial ground, whose subterrainium inhabitants compelled those foolish enough to live within the house above to kill. The foundation of the 1977 best seller 'The Amityville Horror', a work of fiction marketed as a true story and selling over 3.000.000 copies. The movie version released in 1979 became an immediate hit, grossing $35.000.000 in the first three weeks, $80.000.000 before the years was out in the US alone. The Lutzes traveled coast to coast promoting the book and movie, appearing on syndicated TV and radio programs telling their ghost story to an audience in the millions.

Prior to this they realized the financial possibilities and contracted Jay Anson to write the book for them based on 35 hours worth of their taped commentary, they also copyrighted the title 'Amityville Horror' and squeezed Weber out of the venture. Peeved that his idea had been ripped out from under him he took legal action for his due slice of the pie. Presiding Judge, Weinstein, expressed his professional disdain at his behavior, stating the canons and ethics of legal practice prevented him from being the integral partner in DeFeo's defence and appeals while developing movie and book treatments based on his case. He also stated that the book was a load of nonsense, full of discrepancies and exaggerations. Weber settled with the Lutzes out of court and once his clients appeals were out of the way he teamed up with ghost hunter Hans Hotzer to co-author 'Murder in Amityville', a highly fictionalized treatment of the last weeks in the life of the ill fated DeFeo family, which subsequently became the basis of the movie 'Amityville II - the Possession'.

Husband and wife ghost hunters Edward & Lorraine Warren jumped on the bandwagon making the house even more famous with their colorful account of investigating the property, after the Lutzes had fled in terror. Arriving at the house late one evening in the company of a TV reporter and ghost hunters packing sacred relics of Padre Pio for spiritual protection, Mrs. Warren claimed to have been bombarded by visions and ghostly messages pertaining to the horrors possessing the house, while shadow ghosts in the cellar tried to push her husband to the ground and lift him in the air before he repelled them via religious convictions. The Warrens went into rooms where the DeFeo's were murdered, sat on the beds in which they died gripped by intensifying forms of supernatural horror. Nonetheless they tried via Séance to communicate with the entities to discover what was going on, whereupon members of the party fainted from fear, complained of chest pains or had to be carried out of the unoccupied house before they all fled vowing never to return.

Like the Lutzes the Warrens maintain the house is haunted, that all the stories they told are true, refuse to accept the origin of 'High Hopes' being haunted was DeFeo's insanity defence, as Ronald DeFeo Jr himself has declared. Stating that the ghost stories are a load of rubbish and his family's memory was exploited for the enrichment of others, when asked about his thoughts on the Amityville Horror genre of books and movies he said, "the only thing that's real were the murders ... yes it's all a hoax ... it's all about money ... a cold blooded murder period … no ghosts, no demons … This ain't funny no more, people look in my eyes like I'm possessed or something, I'm sick of it."

I wont get into a detailed rebuttal of the Lutz story as most will be familiar with it, suffice to say proponents of the Amityville Horror myth maintain the house is built on an ancient Indian burial ground and sanitarium where Indians were left to die exposed to the elements. Near the site of a cottage alleged owned by warlock John Ketchum, an escapee from the Salem witchhunts, which explains why the house is haunted. They maintain this position regardless of the fact native American anthropologists and historians have disproved it conclusively. They also maintain that everyone who lived in the house before and after the Lutzes suffered calamity after calamity, regardless of the fact descendants of John & Catherine Moynahan who built the house in 1924 and lived in it for generations are on record saying that the 41 years they lived in it were blissful and nothing supernatural ever happened. Descendants of the Moynahan's sold the house to the DeFeo's in 1965 and they themselves resided there for nine happy, albeit dysfunctional, years prior to the murders. Happy enough to spend a fortune on renovations, putting in a swimming pool, new amenities and landscaping the grounds. After the Lutzes relinquished the mortgage it was purchased by Barbara & James Cromarty, prior to the release of the books and movies. They laughed at the idea the house was haunted, poked their tongue out at the horror stories by hosting Halloween parties every year. The current owner, Brian Wilson, lives there with his wife and two adult children and like the Cromarty's love it, scoffing at the notion it is or ever was haunted. The Warrens recently replied to such criticisms by saying, "as long as fraud stories persist, and as long as people who experience real such trauma are ridiculed, Satan and evil forces can continue to do their work here on earth. It is only through information and understanding that good can prevail" - who can argue with such logic?.

Tabloid sensationalism combined with pseudo historical books and movies have had a profound affect on how the public perceive the murders and the man convicted of them, if not for these exploitative pop cultural products they would have faded into history long ago. They also cast Ronald DeFeo Jr as a devil possessed version of Charles Manson forever dooming his chance of parole or fair hearing, which is regrettable as there are serious inconsistencies and defects in the police investigation and prosecution which warrant reexamination.

Three decades in America's harsh penal system haven't had a positive effect on DeFeo's state of mind, seeking attention for diversions sake his story has changed frequently. In a 1986 interview with Bob Keeler of Newsday he claimed his mother was partially responsible, out of her mind due to years of marital abuse she snapped, Dawns behavior being the catalyst. He claimed she'd say "you're all better off dead" in moments of depression and that after a vitriolic fight between Dawn and her father she shot him, her distraught mother snatching the rifle and shooting her in retribution before killing her children and shooting herself in despair. He claims to have been in the basement with his mysterious friend Richard Romondoe and upon stumbling on the carnage picked up the rifle and shot his wounded mother dead in anger, "everybody was dead" he told Newsday, "there's no doubt in my mind that Dawn killed my father. My mother killed Dawn and the kids." Fearing he would be blamed he tried to conceal his presence in the house, he also claimed he was pressured by relatives into taking the wrap, to cover for his mother because her elderly Mafiosi father worshipped her and wouldn't have been able to suffer the truth.

"It's preposterous," said Gerard Sullivan, former assistant District Attorney of Suffolk County who prosecuted DeFeo in 1975, "the new story is inconsistent with key physical evidence". Detective Robert Dunn, who investigated the homicide agrees, saying "DeFeo's new story is almost literary".

The twist in this saga comes with the possibility that Dawn was involved in the murders, forensic experts at the time reported finding traces of gunpowder residue on her nightdress indicating she may have discharged a firearm, but the circumstances remain unknown. Police never followed up on it, satisfied with their investigation resulting in a conviction even today they won't perform tests to ascertain the full details. At the time of the murders Dawn was at odds with her parents for not allowing her to move to Florida with boyfriend William Davidge. He told police she hated them, had a violent temper and abused alcohol and drugs. Many have theorized that in league with Butch - both of whom were financially dependent on their father - she aided in the killing of the family for a split of the inheritance but was double crossed. A theory given credence by Butch's lawyer, Jacob Siegfried, who took a statement from a dubious fellow by the name of Augusto Degenaro who stated that Dawn had tried to get him to kill her father for a share of money she claimed he stashed in the house. He also claimed she had asked him to get hold of an unmarked gun and flavorless sleeping tablets, she said her brother was in on the plan as he wanted to get away from the family too. Prosecutor, Gerard Sullivan, said he felt Butch may have had an accomplice was it Dawn?, does this explain how the family were killed so fast, two gunmen, and why gunpowder residue was found on her nightdress?.

Authorities at the time and historians since have over estimated the time and skill needed by one person to perpetrate the homicides, the victims bedrooms were centralized on the second floor with the exception of Dawn's, it would have taken Butch seconds to shoot his parents with his lever action Marlin rifle and minuets to shoot four more dashing commando like from room to room. Although his rifle held six rounds and he used a total of eight that night the fact it didn't have a detachable magazine sped the process, he would have been able to feed the additional two rounds without having to pause recalibrating the weapon. Gunpowder traces on Dawn's nightdress could have resulted from police mishandling of evidence or cross contamination on the night in question, sleeping on the floor above she may have been woken during the fusillade and struggled with Butch when he arrived in her room resulting in residue rubbing off before he shot her. If he struck fast, perhaps inspired by the war movie he just watched his family wouldn't have had time to rub the sleep out of their eyes to react the bangs, negating the need of a second gunman. Which is in keeping with his confession, "…it went so fast". The fact he gathered and discarded spent cartridges, tidied up the crime scene and even adjusted his victims blankets before leaving the house is misinterpreted as evidence of crime scene tampering or a cover up, it was an attempt by Butch to destroy evidence as he told psychologists. The fact he tucked his former brothers and sisters in their deathbeds was a guilt induced reaction to make them look peaceful, as if sleeping, a parting act of affection common in fratricide.

By any modern standard the investigation and prosecution had flaws, the trial was a three ringed circus made all the more ridiculous by the Lutzes supporting DeFeo's innocence plea on the grounds 'High Hopes' was haunted by mythical demons. That aside there are innumerable instances of police coercing witnesses, official conflicts of interest, disappearing and reappearing evidence, detectives violating DeFeo's constitutional rights while in custody, attorney misconduct along with the mob influencing events from the sidelines. Regardless of all that there's no doubt Ronald 'Butch' DeFeo is responsible for the murder of his family, conspiracy theories and claims other family members were responsible are as rightly dismissed by police as those pertaining to the devil making him do it. Raised in an abusive, dysfunctional home, coming from Mafiosi stock whose way of life was violence and crime it isn't surprising he turned out the way he did. The aftermath of the murders serves to show how purveyors of pop culture can manipulate history and transform factual events into something entirely different, even the protestations of key players and historians are ignored in a rush to believe the fantastic, in the end myths which spring up around such heinous crimes say more about society then the events they supposedly reflect.

John Godl
Email: godl@email.com

Recommended further reading:

"The Amityville Horror Conspiracy" by Stephen Kaplan.

"The Night the DeFeo's Died" by Ric Osuna.

All photographic images courtesy of Ric Osuna.