[ad_1]
Ronald DeFeo, who was convicted of murdering his parents and four siblings at the family home in Amityville, New York, in 1974 – a frenzy that spawned a series of books and of films, including the 1979 film “The Amityville Horror” – died Friday at a hospital in Albany. He was 69 years old.
The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed the death on Monday and said the cause would be determined by the Albany County coroner.
Mr. DeFeo, who was serving 25 years in life in prison, had been held at Sullivan Correctional Center in Fallsburg, New York, since 1975. He was transferred to Albany Medical Center for medical treatment on 2 February.
Mr. DeFeo was convicted in 1975 on six counts of second degree murder after confessing to using a gun to fatally shoot his father, Ronald DeFeo Sr. and his mother, Louise; her sisters, Dawn and Allison; and his brothers, Mark and John Matthew.
The victims were found in their beds with gunshot wounds on November 13, 1974. Mr. DeFeo, the oldest sibling, was 23 at the time.
Amityville, a village on the south shore of Long Island, has since been the setting for dozens of books and documentaries, including the 1977 book “The Amityville Horror” by Jay Anson and a 1979 film of the same name that inspired multiple remakes, prequels and sequels.
They focused not only on the 1974 murders, but also on the Lutz, who moved into the house about a year later. The family of five stayed there for just 28 days and claimed they were haunted by poltergeists who slammed windows, banged walls and ripped doors off their hinges.
Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr., was born September 26, 1951. According to a 1974 report in the New York Times, his family was seen as kind, religious and well-off.
For about nine years, the family lived in a three-story house at 112 Ocean Avenue, not far from South Oyster Bay. The house had a swimming pool at the back and a statue of Saint Joseph holding a baby Jesus on the lawn.
Mr. DeFeo worked with his father at Brigante – Karl Buick, a large car dealership on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn. They appeared to have had a strained relationship and residents of Amityville said Mr DeFeo had a reputation for drugs, drinking and fighting, The Times reported shortly after the murders.
A friend of Mr DeFeo said he was part of a crowd that “drank and then fought, but the next day they apologized”.
On the evening of November 13, 1974, Mr DeFeo went to a bar near his home and claimed that his parents had been shot, witnesses said. He also called the police to report the deaths.
Mr DeFeo later confessed to the murders, and his seven-week trial in 1975 was not about whether he had killed his loved ones, but about the reasons. His court-appointed defense attorney mounted a madness defense.
In November 1975, Mr. DeFeo was convicted of six counts of second degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in life. In the decades that followed, he insisted that his lawyer pursued the insanity defense against his will in order to make the story more appealing for possible book and film deals. He had also sought to have his conviction overturned, blaming his sister Dawn for the murders.
Mr. DeFeo became eligible for parole in 1999 and is said to have had his next parole hearing in July.
[ad_2]
Source link