What Were the Amityville Murders? Why Ronald DeFeo Jr. Claimed His House Told Him to Kill His Parents and 4 Siblings By Emily Blackwood

When Ronald DeFeo Jr. confessed to murdering his family in 1974, he claimed “voices from the house” made him do it. Fifty years later, his true motive remains unknown.

On Nov. 13, 1974, Ronald Jr., who was 23 at the time, ran into a dive bar in Amityville, N.Y., and claimed that his parents had been shot, according to A&E. He drove a group of men to his family’s three-story home and they discovered the bodies of his father, Ronald DeFeo Sr., his mother, Louise DeFeo, and his four siblings, 18-year-old Dawn DeFeo, 13-year-old Allison DeFeo, 12-year-old Mark DeFeo and 7-year-old John Matthew DeFeo. 

Though the eldest DeFeo child — who went by the nickname “Butch” — initially claimed his family had been the target of a mob hit, he later confessed to the killings. He reportedly told police, “Once I started, I just couldn’t stop.”

The horrific slayings not only rocked the small town of Amityville but also inspired the long-running Amityville Horror franchise after the family who moved into the DeFeos’ residence claimed they also heard voices.

George and Kathy Lutz’s alleged paranormal experiences were chronicled in Jay Anson’s 1977 novel The Amityville Horror: A True Story, which was adapted into a horror film two years later. The 1979 movie spawned several other sequels and spinoff films, including a 2005 remake starring Ryan Reynolds.

Despite the crime scene’s ghostly reputation, no evidence of paranormal activity has ever been proven. According to Biography.com, Ronald Jr.’s attorney attempted an insanity plea during his October 1975 trial based on the voices his client claimed to have heard, but he was still found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder.

Here’s everything to know about the Amityville murders and why Ronald DeFeo Jr. claimed that his house told him to kill his family.

Who was Ronald DeFeo Jr.?

Ronald Jr. was the eldest son of Ronald Sr. and Louise, born on Sept. 26, 1951, per The New York Times. He and his four siblings grew up on Long Island, N.Y., and were described by neighbors as “a nice, normal family.”

Paula Uruburu, a friend of Dawn’s, told A&E’s Crime + Investigation in August 2024 that Ronald Jr. was “the black sheep” of his family.

“In Italian families, first-born male sons are the heir apparent, and he was not headed in that direction,” she said. “He was always lurking around, and he seemed like a creepy guy. He kind of looked like Charles Manson.”

Reports also suggested that Ronald Jr. was a heroin and LSD user and had a tense relationship with his father, with whom he worked at a car dealership in Brooklyn. He allegedly once pulled a 12-gauge shotgun on Ronald Sr. and embezzled $20,000 from the dealership by staging a mock robbery in the month before the murders, per Biography.com.

When his father questioned his story about the alleged robbery, Ronald Jr. threatened to kill him.

What did Ronald DeFeo Jr. do?

At first, Ronald Jr. blamed a mafia hitman named Louis Falini. But evidence inside the home told a different story — one that led him to confess.

According to Biography.com, police found an empty box of a recently purchased .35-caliber Marlin gun in his room. Ronald Jr. then admitted to using the weapon to kill his family during the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 1974.

He added sleep-inducing drug barbiturates to their dinners and then shot his parents while they slept, followed by his brothers and then his sisters, The New York Times reported.

The mass killings happened within 15 minutes, and each of the family members was found lying in the same position.

Afterward, Ronald Jr. showered and got ready for work. He dumped his bloody clothes and the murder weapon down a storm drain and spent the rest of his day attempting to create an alibi. Police later found the rifle in a creek behind the family’s home.

Why did Ronald DeFeo Jr. kill his family? 

Ronald Jr. never revealed his motive for murdering his entire family, aside from blaming the alleged voices he heard in their house. However, those close to the incident have their theories.

“I think his primary motive was financial,” Uruburu told A&E Crime + Investigation. “But [I believe] he was also motivated by his growing anger and hatred for his father. And he was probably resentful of the attention Dawn and the little ones got.”

At his trial, which began on Oct. 14, 1975, Ronald Jr.’s attorney pursued an insanity defense. Despite juries agreeing with the assessment that he was disturbed, he was found guilty of all six homicides and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for each.

Nearly 20 years later, the convicted killer sought a retrial, claiming his attorney was more interested in a potential movie deal than his defense.

“He told me I had to do this,” Ronald Jr. told The New York Times. “He told me there would be a lot of money from book rights and a movie. He would have me out in a couple of years and I would come into all that money.”

He also claimed that it was his sister, Dawn, who killed the rest of his family and that he was only guilty of murdering her. No evidence has ever surfaced to support that claim.

What happened to Ronald DeFeo Jr.? 

After his conviction, Ronald Jr. was sent to Green Haven Correctional Facility in Beekman, N.Y., according to Biography.com. All of his appeals to the parole board over the years were denied, and he was later sent to Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, N.Y.

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The 69-year-old convicted killer was transferred to Albany Medical Center in February 2021. A month later, on March 12, 2021, he died. His official cause of death has yet to be released to the public.

Does the Amityville house still exist?

Yes, the Amityville house still exists. Sitting on Ocean Ave. in Amityville, N.Y., the five-bedroom Dutch Colonial home became notorious after the DeFeo family murders — and the paranormal allegations that followed.

In 1975, George and Kathleen Lutz fled the home after living there for only 28 days. They claimed they saw green slime oozing from the walls, a pig-like creature with red eyes and demonic presences that ripped a door off its hinges. They also allegedly experienced levitation and temporary paralysis.

Though their claims were the basis of the Amityville Horror franchise, the validity of the Lutzs’ story has been heavily debated over the years. Many — including Ronald Jr.’s original defense lawyer — accused the couple of staging a hoax.

Multiple families have resided in the home since the DeFeos and the Lutzs. It was last sold for $605,000 in 2017, per the New York Post, and remains a private residence that is not open to the public.