THE AMITYVILLE HOO-HAH

And he seemed like such a nice boy.

The most interesting obituary this week -- other than that of Sharon
Osbourne's career -- was of Ronald DeFeo, Jr. If the name doesn't sound familiar, the name of his hometown -- Amityville -- likely will.

Yes, Ronald is responsible for the most famous mass murder in Long Island history, which lead to a book and movie titled The Amityville Horror. Pretty good work for a 23 year-old who initially claimed it was the work of a Mafia hitman!

Then and now: Black & white film, a dark sky, and police rope can make any house look scary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Defo's house was previously owned by George and Kathy Lutz, who moved out after less than a month, claiming they'd been terrorized by evil spirits, which everybody else calls in-laws.

The DeFeos moved in shortly thereafter. Proving they don't discriminate, the devil's sidekicks said to be residing at their home (112 Ocean Avenue) continued their shenanigans, driving Ron Jr. to create his own slaughterhouse six. The following year, he was sentenced to six sentences of 25 years to life in prison. Which meant, technically, he could have been released as early as 2125.

But don't forget to hire a
literary agent first.

The book The Amityville Horror -- which, it's good to remember, was a novel -- was published two years later. In 1979 came the movie version, allowing Rod Steiger to chew whatever scenery the devil hadn't gotten to first. For the next 11 years, The Amityville Horror was the highest-grossing independent movie of all time. 

I contributed to a few of its 86-million dollars. I remember nothing of the movie, except that it was scary and that I believed every minute of it. So you can imagine my embarrassment when DeFeo's lawyer, William Webber, admitted that he and the Lutzes "created this horror story over a few bottles of wine". The idea was to get his client a new trial, while hoping all of them made some dough on a book and, who knows, maybe a movie, too.

 Boy, did I feel like a used dish rag! The whole thing was a ruse, a lie inside a falsehood wrapped in a hoax. 

Yet three years later a sequel was released. At the time, I was working with a guy from Amityville who actually knew Ron DeFeo Jr. in high school and in the years leading up to the murder. He gave me further insight into the crime. 

While I can't recall his exact words, it was something like this (and you have to hear it in your head spoken in a deep voice with a Long Island accent): That whole haunted house thing was bullshit. DeFeo was a junkie. Everybody knew it. His father didn't know what to do, so he kept giving him money. Then he [the father] cut him off. DeFeo freaked out and killed them.

A desperate junkie looking to collect life insurance by claiming the murder was a Mafia job  is a lot less colorful than walls that drip blood, that's for sure. 

Subsequent owners of 112 Ocean Avenue haven't reported any signs of evil spirits.  This hasn't stopped the making of 23 horror movies with "Amityville" in their titles. At least the town has seen an uptick in tourists over the last 45 years.

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