The Amityville Horror

Amityville House

> **This is a Level 5 haunting.**
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## History

### **DeFeo Legacy**

The Amityville House is in the small town of Amityville, Long Island, just 30 miles outside of New York City. In November 1974, the seemingly normal DeFeo family resided in the Amityville home.

Around 6:30 PM on Wednesday, November 13, 1974, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo Jr. entered Henry's Bar in Amityville, Long Island, New York, and declared: "You got to help me! I think my mother and father are shot!" DeFeo and a small group of people went to 112 Ocean Avenue, which was located near the bar, and found that DeFeo's parents were indeed dead. One of the group, DeFeo's friend Joe Yeswit, made an emergency call to the Suffolk County Police, who searched the house and found that six members of the same family were dead in their beds.

The victims were Ronald Jr.'s parents: Ronald DeFeo Sr. (44) and Louise DeFeo (42); and his four siblings: Dawn (18), Allison (13), Marc (12), and John Matthew (9). All of the victims had been shot with a .35 lever action Marlin 336C rifle around three o'clock in the morning of that day. The DeFeo parents had both been shot twice, while the children had all been killed with single shots. Physical evidence suggests that Louise DeFeo and her daughter Allison were both awake at the time of their deaths and, according to Suffolk County Police, the victims were all found lying face down in bed. The DeFeo family had occupied 112 Ocean Avenue since purchasing it in 1965. The deceased were later buried nearby in Saint Charles Cemetery, Farmingdale.

DeFeo, also known as "Butch", was the eldest son of the family. He was taken to the local police station for his own protection after suggesting to police officers at the scene of the crime that the killings had been carried out by a mob hit man, Louis Falini. However, an interview at the station soon exposed serious inconsistencies in his version of events. The following day, he confessed to carrying out the killings himself; and Falini, the alleged hitman, had an alibi proving he was out of state at the time of the killings. DeFeo told detectives: "Once I started, I just couldn't stop. It went so fast". He admitted that he had taken a bath and redressed, and detailed where he had discarded crucial evidence such as blood-stained clothes and the Marlin rifle and cartridges before going to work as usual.

### **Lutz Story**

After the murders, the house was vacant for over a year. It was then purchased for an extremely low price of $80,000 by George Lutz, his wife Kathy, and their sons Daniel and Christopher. The family moved in but they only lasted for 28 days.

The Lutz family claimed to have seen slime coming out of the walls, knives being thrown off kitchen counters, and a red-eyed creature resembling a pig. They’ve seen figures wandering inside the home when it was supposed to be empty. George says he saw his wife levitating above their bed, and was woken up every morning at 3:15 a.m., the exact time that DeFeo killed his entire family. The Lutz family eventually brought in a priest to bless the home, but he left after hearing a voice telling him to “get out”.

Everyone in the Amityville community began hearing of the Lutz’s spooky stories and were questioning the legitimacy of the levitation, the voices, the pig, etc. The family was also apparently in a lot of debt, which led to rumors that they simply wanted movie and book deals out of their stories. The Lutz’s had a falling-out with their lawyer due to financial issues; he has since said that the haunted house stories were an elaborate ruse by the Lutz family to get themselves out of debt. To prove their story, George and Kathy Lutz took a lie detector and passed. Daniel Lutz, who currently lives in Queens, says he still has nightmares about those 28 days in the Amityville home.

### **After the Horror**

The house has had five different owners since the DeFeo murders. One of the owners even changed the address from 112 Ocean Avenue to 108 Ocean Avenue. Most recently, it sold for $605,000 ($200,000 below asking price) in February 2017.

The Lutz family’s paranormal experiences inspired Jay Anson’s 1977 book, *The Amityville Horror*, as well as the 1979 original movie and the 2005 remake. Today, there are 18 different films about the house. Several documentaries have also been made, including some that feature Ronald DeFeo Jr.

## Notable Hauntings and Activities

* Slime oozing from the walls.
* Many reports of screaming, whispering, possession, laughing, items thrown and unexplained sounds.
* Many reports of faces in reflections, humanoid apparitions, demonic voices and pig noises.