Was Ronald DeFeo possessed? 'Amityville Horror' killer, who murdered parents and 4 siblings, dies at 69 in prison
For several years 'The Amityville Horror' case has continued to fascinate both supernatural enthusiasts and Hollywood with the sinister tales and lores that surround the infamous house. Situated in Long Island, the address 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville is the site for one of the most gruesome murders that left the whole nation shocked.
The series of events that surround the murder and the aftermath of the murder had both the public and Hollywood fixated for nearly two decades. On November 13, 1974, the whole DeFeo family, except the oldest son Ronald DeFeo was found murdered in their beds inside the house. Ronald, who was later nicknamed "Butch" was arrested and tried for murdering his family. He was found to be guilty, and was charged with six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. On March 12, 2021, Ronald died while serving his sentence at Sullivan Correctional Facility in New York.
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Although Ronald was found guilty of murder, over the years, several wild theories have begun doing rounds to explain what prompted the oldest son of the DeFeos to murder his parents and four siblings. From theories of being possessed to being forced by his lawyer to plead guilty, there have been several theories. But one theory that piqued everybody's interest was that of Ronald being possessed. Read on to know more about this theory.
What is the 'Amityville Horror' Case?
Although it's the murder of the DeFeo family that's central to the 'Amityville Horror Case', it's actually the harrowing experience that the Lutz family faced in that house that brought the house and its mysteries into the light. It all began when on November 13, 1974, Ronald made a call to the police to report the murder of his family members. When the police arrived at the scene they found the bodies of Ronald's father Ronald DeFeo Sr., and his wife Louise on their beds with two gunshots on their body. The couple's four children- Dawn, Allison, Marc, and John Matthew — were each shot once. All six victims were found by police in their beds, lying on their stomachs. All the six family members were reportedly shot by a .35 caliber Marlin 336C rifle.
The identical positioning of all six bodies is what creeped everybody out. As reported by Bustle, the police had determined that the rifle used for the shooting wasn't fitted by the silencer, so the gunshots could have been heard by the neighbors, or even woken up the DeFeos when they were fired. But strangely enough, there were neither any signs of struggle or evidence of usage of any sedatives to keep the DeFeos silent or quiet at the time of the shooting. Also, the neighbors reported that they never heard any gunshot noises, but only heard the family's dog barking.
A year after the murders, the Lutz family moved into the Amityville home. The five-member Lutz family which comprised of George and Kathleen Lutz, their three children, and a family dog. The family lived in that house for only 28 days, but they claimed to have experienced several paranormal activities in that house and branded it as haunted. The Lutz family claimed that the house was haunted by poltergeists who slammed windows, banged walls, and wrenched doors off their hinges. The couple's harrowing experiences while living in that house was documented by Jay Anson in his 1979 book 'The Amityville Horror: A True Story'. It was eventually made into a Hollywood movie in 1979 starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder. The film became a smashing hit, which led to an entir franchise based on the events that transpired in the house.
Was Ronald DeFeo possessed?
Ronald, who was 23, at the time of murders, initially told the police that he found the bodies when he got back from work. According to him someone had broken into the house and killed his whole family. But the police investigation revealed that the murders were carried out in the morning, which is when Ronald changed his story and accused a mafia member named Louis Falini of the murders. He later changed the story and confessed, saying, “Once I started, I just couldn’t stop. It went so fast.”
Ronald's seven-week trial focussed heavily on why he could have possibly killed his family. Ronald's court-appointed lawyer William Weber resorted to insanity defense. During the trial, Ronald claimed that "voices" told him to commit the murders. A psychiatrist too testified for the defense saying that the accused was suffering from dissociative disorder, which basically meant that he would have experienced the murders as an outsider or watching it rather than realizing that it was him who was carrying out the act. But the prosecution's psychiatrist made a very strong case of Ronald actually suffering from antisocial personality disorder which meant that he was aware of what he was doing but just didn't care about whether it was right or wrong.
He was found guilty of six counts of second-degree murder. But over the years, his story of the events surrounding the murder continuously kept changing. In an interview with former Newsday reporter and editor Bob Keele, Ronald blamed his sister and mother for the deaths. He told, "People look in my eyes, that I’m possessed or something. I’m sick of it." He said in the interview that his sister Dawn shot their father, and his mother shot Dawn and the other children.
He later went on to accuse his lawyer of pressurizing him into insanity defense against his wishes in order to secure book deals and movie contracts.The 'Amityville Horror' case to this day continues to intrigue the people, with some people believing that Ronald was guilty and very well aware of what he was doing, while others believe that he was actually suffering from mental disorders that possessed him into carrying out such a gruesome act.