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Encyclopedia > Ronald DeFeo, Jr.

Ronald ("Butch") Joseph DeFeo Junior (born September 26, 1951) is an American murderer. He was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father and mother, two brothers and two sisters. The case is notable for being the real life inspiration behind the book and film versions of The Amityville Horror. is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Amityville Horror is a best-selling book by the author Jay Anson which was published in September 1977. ...

Contents

The murder of the DeFeo family

Mug shot of Ronald DeFeo Jr. taken shortly after his arrest
Mug shot of Ronald DeFeo Jr. taken shortly after his arrest

At around 6:30 on the evening of November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo Junior burst into Henry's Bar in Amityville, Long Island, New York and declared: “You got to help me! I think my mother and father are shot.” DeFeo and a small group of people went to 112 Ocean Avenue, which was located not far from the bar, and found that DeFeo's parents were indeed dead. One of the group, Joe Yeswit, made an emergency call to the Suffolk County Police, who searched the house and found that six members of the same family were dead in their beds. [1] Image File history File links Ronald_defeo. ... Image File history File links Ronald_defeo. ... is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A blonde haired, very skilled worker with a 70s look. ... Amityville is a village located in Suffolk County, New York. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... NY redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...


The victims were Ronald DeFeo Senior, 43, Louise DeFeo, 42, and four of their children, Dawn, 18, Allison, 13, Marc, 11, and John Matthew, 9. All of the victims had been shot with a .35 caliber lever action Marlin rifle at around three o'clock in the morning of that day. DeFeo's parents had both been shot twice, while the children had all been killed with single shots. The DeFeo family had occupied 112 Ocean Avenue since purchasing it in 1965. Dawn in Peng Chau, Hong Kong. ... Allison, which may come from a medieval Norman nickname for Alice, meaning noble type, or from the Irish name Iseult, may refer to: // Bernard Allison, a blues musician Bobby Allison, a race car driver Davey Allison, a race car driver Donnie Allison, a race car driver Dorothy Allison, American novelist... Marc (or Mark) is a western European forename, a variation on the Roman name Marcus (see ‎List of names derived from Marcus ). This version, originally the French form, is spelled in the Latin manner, using a c. This variation is becoming increasingly common in the UK and US. Marc is... Marlin Model 60 22LR rifle manufactured in 1982 The Marlin Firearms Company of North Haven, Connecticut manufactures Marlin Rifles. ...


Ronald DeFeo Junior was the eldest son of the family, and was also known as "Butch". He was taken to the local police station for his own protection after suggesting to police officers at the scene of the crime that the killings had been carried out by a mob hit man named Louis Falini. However, an interview with DeFeo at the station soon exposed serious inconsistencies in his version of events, and the following day he confessed to carrying out the killings himself. He told detectives: "Once I started, I just couldn’t stop. It went so fast."


DeFeo's trial began on October 14, 1975. He and his defense lawyer William Weber mounted an affirmative defense of insanity, with DeFeo claiming that voices in his head had urged him to carry out the killings. The insanity plea was supported by the psychiatrist for the defense, Doctor Daniel Schwartz. The psychiatrist for the prosecution, Doctor Harold Zolan, maintained that although DeFeo had an antisocial personality disorder and was an abuser of heroin and LSD, he was aware of his actions at the time of the crime. On November 21, 1975, DeFeo was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder. On December 4, 1975, Judge Thomas Stark sentenced Ronald DeFeo Junior to six consecutive sentences of 25 years to life. DeFeo is currently held in Green Haven Correctional Facility, Beekman, New York, and all of his appeals to the parole board to date have been turned down. is the 287th day of the year (288th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... An affirmative defense is a defense used in litigation between private parties in common law jurisdictions. ... ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ... Antisocial personality disorder (abbreviated APD or ASPD) is a psychiatric diagnosis in the DSM-IV-TR recognizable by the disordered individuals disregard for social rules and norms, impulsive behavior, and indifference to the rights and feelings of others. ... Heroin (INN: diacetylmorphine, BAN: diamorphine) is an opioid synthesized directly from the extracts of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. ... Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly called LSD, LSD-25, or acid. ... is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Murder is both a legal and a moral term, that are not always coincident. ... December 4th redirects here. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Life imprisonment is a term used for a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment. ... Green Haven Correctional Facility is a prison in New York, USA. The prison is located in the Town of Beekman in Dutchess County. ... Beekman is a town located in Dutchess County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 11,452. ... In law, an appeal is a process for making a formal challenge to an official decision. ... It has been suggested that Medical parole be merged into this article or section. ...


Controversies surrounding the case

Ric Osuna's book The Night the DeFeos Died offers an alternative but controversial explanation of the murders
Ric Osuna's book The Night the DeFeos Died offers an alternative but controversial explanation of the murders

All six of the victims were found lying face down in their beds with no signs of a struggle or sedatives having been administered, leading to claims that someone in the house would have been woken up by the noise of the gunshots. Neighbors did not report hearing any gunshots being fired. The police investigation concluded that the victims had been asleep at the time of the murders, and that the rifle had not been fitted with a silencer. Police officers and the medical examiner who attended the scene were initially puzzled by the rapidity and scale of the killings, and considered the possibility that more than one person had been responsible for the crime. Ronald DeFeo has given several accounts of how the killings were carried out, all of them inconsistent. Image File history File links Amityville_osuna. ... Image File history File links Amityville_osuna. ... A coroner is the presiding officer of a special court to investigate deaths that occur under unusual circumstances where conventional criminal proceedings are not immediately called for. ...


On November 30, 2000, Ronald DeFeo gave an interview to Ric Osuna, the author of The Night the DeFeos Died, which was published in 2002. DeFeo claimed that he had committed the murders "out of desperation" with his sister Dawn and two unnamed friends. He claimed that after a furious row with his father, he and his sister planned to kill their parents, and that Dawn murdered the children in order to eliminate them as witnesses. He said that he was enraged on discovering his sister's actions, knocked her unconscious on to her bed and shot her in the head. Attempts to contact the two alleged accomplices have failed, since one died in January 2001 and the other is said to have entered a witness protection program. Ronald DeFeo Junior had a stormy relationship with his father, but why the entire family was killed remains unclear. The prosecution at his trial suggested that the motive for the murders was to collect on the life insurance policies of his parents. [2] [3][4] is the 334th day of the year (335th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In the United States, the Witness Protection Program (also known as WITSEC) is established by the Witness Protection Act, which in turn sets out the manner in which the U.S. Attorney General may provide for the relocation and protection of a witness or potential witness of the federal government... Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the policy owners death. ...


Joe Nickell notes that given the frequency with which Ronald DeFeo has changed his story over the years, any new claims from him regarding the events that took place on the night of the murders should be approached with caution. [5] Joe Nickell was born December 1, 1944 and is a prominent investigator of the paranormal. ...


The book and film versions linked to the murders

Main article: The Amityville Horror

Jay Anson's novel The Amityville Horror was published in September 1977. The book is based on the 28-day period during December 1975 and January 1976 when George and Kathy Lutz and their three children lived at 112 Ocean Avenue. The Lutz family left the house, claiming that they had been terrorized by paranormal phenomena while living there. The Amityville Horror is a best-selling book by the author Jay Anson which was published in September 1977. ... Jay Anson (4 November 1921-12 March 1980) was an American author whose first (and most famous) work was The Amityville Horror. ... The Amityville Horror is a best-selling book by the author Jay Anson which was published in September 1977. ... // Paranormal is an umbrella term used to describe a wide variety of reported anomalous phenomena. ...


The 1982 film Amityville II: The Possession is based on the book Murder in Amityville by the parapsychologist Hans Holzer. It is a prequel set at 112 Ocean Avenue, featuring the fictional Montelli family who are said to be based on the DeFeo family. The story introduces speculative and controversial themes, including an incestuous relationship between Sonny Montelli and his teenaged sister, who are based loosely on Ronald DeFeo Junior and his sister Dawn. [6] Parapsychology is the study of the evidence involving phenomena where a person seems to affect or gain information about something through a means not currently explainable within the framework of mainstream, conventional science. ... Hans Holzer(b. ... A prequel is a work that portrays events which include the structure, conventions, and/or characters of a previously completed narrative, but occur at an earlier time. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...


The Hollywood film versions of the DeFeo murders contain several inaccuracies. As an example, the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror contains a fictional child character called Jodie DeFeo, who was not a victim of the shootings in November 1974. The claim that Ronald DeFeo Junior was influenced to commit the murders by evil spirits from a Native American burial ground on the site of 112 Ocean Avenue has been rejected as false by local historians and Native American leaders, who argue that there is insufficient evidence to support the claim that the burial ground existed. [7] ... The Amityville Horror is a 2005 horror film directed by Andrew Douglas for United Artists and Dimension Films. ... Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ...


References

External links



 

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