Crime Corner: The Defeo Family
![Photo of the DeFeo family prior to murders. The DeFeo children. Back row: John, Allison, and Marc. Front row: Dawn and Ronald Jr.](https://elcidonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2HYYf3QwAiTYTKTuRw4Qmyx4WV4AY45jGf5Aahex.jpg)
Photo of the DeFeo family prior to murders. The DeFeo children. Back row: John, Allison, and Marc. Front row: Dawn and Ronald Jr.
The night of November 14, 1974, will forever be etched in the minds of the residents of Amityville, Long Island. On that fateful night, a horrific crime took place at 112 Ocean Avenue that would send shivers down the spine of anyone who hears the story.
The DeFeo family, consisting of Ronald DeFeo Sr., his wife Louise, and their four children, were brutally murdered in their sleep. The killer was the eldest son, Ronald DeFeo Jr., who had shot his entire family with a .35 caliber rifle. After the murders, he calmly walked to a local bar and claimed that he had found his family dead.
The police arrived at the scene and discovered the gruesome sight of six dead bodies. The investigation soon led to Ronald Jr., who confessed to the murders. He was found guilty of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to six concurrent life sentences.
The tragedy that struck the DeFeo family would have been enough to send shockwaves throughout the small town of Amityville, but it was only the beginning. A year later, the Lutz family moved into the house at 112 Ocean Avenue, hoping to start a new life. They didn’t know what horrors awaited them.
The Lutzes, George and Kathy, along with their three children, moved into the house in December 1975. Almost immediately, they began to experience strange phenomena. Doors would slam shut on their own, strange odors permeated the house, and they saw ghostly apparitions. They also claimed that the house was plagued with swarms of flies, despite it being the dead of winter.
The Lutzes tried to ignore the strange occurrences, but they soon became unbearable. The family claimed that they were being terrorized by malevolent spirits and that they felt as if they were being watched at all times. George Lutz even claimed that he saw red eyes staring at him from the darkness.
As the days passed, the Lutzes became more and more terrified. They began to experience physical assaults from the unseen entities, with Kathy Lutz claiming that she was levitated off her bed. The family eventually decided to flee the house and never return.
The story of the Amityville haunting quickly spread throughout the country, with many people speculating that the house was cursed. The Lutzes’ claims were met with skepticism, but the eerie and spooky nature of the events captured the public’s imagination.
Despite the skepticism, the house at 112 Ocean Avenue became a popular destination for paranormal enthusiasts. Many people claimed to have experienced strange phenomena while visiting the house, and some even reported seeing the ghostly figure of a young boy in one of the upstairs windows.
The story of the Amityville haunting was turned into a bestselling book, which was later adapted into a movie. The book and the movie both brought the story to a wider audience, cementing the legend of the cursed house in popular culture.
However, not everyone believes that the events that took place at 112 Ocean Avenue were supernatural in nature. Some believe that the Lutzes fabricated the story in order to make money. Others believe that the events were the result of a toxic combination of stress and imagination.
Despite the doubts, the story of the Amityville haunting remains one of the most chilling and terrifying true crime stories of all time. Whether the events were truly supernatural or simply the result of a disturbed mind, the story has captivated and terrified people for decades.