Who are George and Kathy Lutz? The family terrorized by Amityville haunting
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Six members of Ronald DeFeo's family were shot and killed in a sizable Dutch Colonial home in a suburban Amityville community in 1974. DeFeo claimed he was insane at the time and "voices had instructed" him to carry out the carnage.
After George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house a year later, the killings eventually served as the basis for the plot of The Amityville Horror book and movies. DeFoe, the murderer who either caused or inspired the Amityville Horror franchise has died, but what about George and Kathy Lutz?
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Who are George and Kathy Lutz?
George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house they had purchased for a bargain in December 1975. The sole catch? A mass murder took place there less than a year before. The couple moved in with Kathy's three children from a previous marriage, but they were gone from the home after just 28 days. They asserted that odd activities began soon after they moved in. “There were…odors in the house that came and went. There were sounds. The front door would slam shut in the middle of the night…I couldn’t get warm in the house for many days,” George told ABC News
The supposed events allegedly grew even stranger; the couple said they discovered unusual gelatinous droplets on the carpet, Kathy Lutz apparently changing into an elderly woman, and George even saying he saw her levitating. The family eventually left the house, leaving behind all of their possessions that were still there. After some time, the Lutz family collaborated with author Jay Anson to write 'The Amityville Horror' utilizing 45 hours of their own tape recordings.
Where is the Lutz family now?
In 1980, Kathy and George got divorced; both have since died. Emphysema claimed Kathy's life in 2004 and heart disease claimed George's life in 2006.
Their kids, especially Missy, have a tendency to avoid the limelight. Daniel Lutz, who made an appearance in the 2013 documentary 'My Amityville Horror', steadfastly maintained that the hauntings actually took place. While son Christopher Quaratino told the Seattle Times that the book was greatly exaggerated even though it wasn't a fraud. He frequently fought with his stepfather, and at age 16 left the household.