This Day in History: The Amityville murders trial began on this day in 1975. In the previous year, Ronald DeFeo Jr. walked into his home at 112 Ocean Avenue and shot his parents and four siblings while they were sleeping, which was a strange aspect of the case since the rifle DeFeo used didn’t have a silencer. There was no struggle, and neighbors didn’t hear any gunshots. DeFeo’s attorneys argued that he had been driven to murder by voices in the house telling him to do it.
Ronald DeFeo Jr. died earlier this year on March 12, 2021. He was 69 years old. There is no official cause of death at this time.
Another family, the Lutzes, bought the house soon after but ended up abandoning the home and all their belongings one night after a month of alleged paranormal activity. The 1977 Jay Anson book The Amityville Horror was based on this time in the house, and with a blockbuster film to follow (There are a total of 21 Amityville Horror related movies).
The book has led to controversy and lawsuits over its truthfulness. Defeo's attorney, William Weber eventually admitted that the entire haunting story was invented over several bottles of wine with the Lutzes so they can make money off the incident. Parapsychologist Dr. Stephen Kaplan was asked to investigate the house. Kaplan doubted the claims made, and his reading of The Amityville Horror confirmed his doubts. This led to his writing The Amityville Horror Conspiracy, co-authored by his wife, Roxanne.
Five years ago, the Amityville house went on the market for $850,000. If you check the address on google maps, the house is blurred out on street view. The original address for the Amityville house was 112 Ocean Avenue, but was changed to 108 to deter tourists.
Download: The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
Buy : Halloween and the Strange in Story and History for 99 cents (50 Chapters) and Buy this Kindle book on Amazon on Vampires and Werewolves for only 1.99
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