The Real Amityville House: Seperating Fact From Fiction

The beautiful Victorian house sitting at 112 Ocean Avenue In Long Island,New York, was a sort of dream house for the Defeo Family. With a finished basement,two floors,an attic,and even a boat house and swimming pool,the house was big enough to fit the entire family,and still have an enormous amount of space left over.

They even hung a sign that said "high hopes" in the front yard,displaying exactly how they felt about their home. Most people viewing this family from the outside would think they led a wondrous,happy life. After all, what more could they ask for? But,trouble was brewing beneath the surface,and the Defeo's often had a difficult time just getting along with one another.

Ronald Defeo Jr. (Also known as "Butch"),especially had difficulties getting along with his father. It is said that Mr. Defeo was a very strict father,and would not allow that which he considered intolerable behavior. As Butch got older,he also got bigger,and while Butch used to take his punishments quietly,he now was able to match his father in strength and would fight back. There were many occasions where they would shout,and even come to blows with each other.

In the weeks before the murder,Butch was working at his fathers car dealership. One day,he was sent by one of the other employee's to the bank. He was directed to deposit $1,800 in cash,and $20,000 in checks. Butch and one other employee left for the bank,and devised a plan. They would keep the money and split it between the two of them,telling the bank that they were robbed at gunpoint while waiting at a red light. A fool proof plan,atleast as far as they saw it.

When they arrived back at the bank,the police were called. The boys were gone for 2 hours,and it was asked why they didn't return back to the bank right away after being robbed. This,and Butch's irritability with the police,led them to suspect that Butch Defeo was not telling the whole truth. Mr. Defeo did not beleive their story,and was not at all happy with his eldest sons actions. Days later,Butch agreed to look at some mug shots that the police had put together. However,he pulled out at the last minute,further infuriating his father. When confronting Butch about why he would not help the police,Defeo Sr. is noted as telling his son "You have the devil on your back".

Around 3:00 AM on November 13,1974,Butch Defeo would murder his family members in cold blood. The story goes that he was in his bedroom getting high on drugs,when he came upon the decision to put an end to the lives of his mother,father,and 4 brothers and sisters. As he thought his plan over,he pulled from the closet a .35- caliber Marlin rifle. A very loud,and high powered gun,able to end lives with a single,well placed shot.

He headed first to his parents bedroom,where Robert and Louise both lay sound asleep in their bed,unaware of the danger creeping upon them. He took aim,and fired a single shot into his fathers back,tearing into his kidney. A second shot hit his spine,and lodged in his neck. Death was thought to be instant.

It is said that Louise likely woke up after hearing shots being fired in the room. Butch shot her dead before she had a chance to show much of a reaction,by aiming two bullets at her. One shredded its way into her ribcage,and the other collapsed her right lung. It is assumed that she also died an instant death.

His two younger brothers were next,and strangely enough,according to the their positions at the time of death,it seemed that they had slept right through the sounds of their parents being murdered. Butch stood between their beds,with John on one side and Mark on the other,and fired a single bullet into each child's sleeping body. Mark was instantly killed,but John twitched about on the bed for a few moments,a result of spinal cord damage.

Butch at this point had killed 4 out of six members of his family. Only his two younger sisters remained alive in the house,and he headed towards their bedroom without hesitation or even a feeling of remorse. As he entered the room,Allison heard him,and raised her head to look up. Within seconds,the girl lay dead,from a bullet to the face. Immediately afterwards,he shot his sister Dawn as well,causing extreme damage to her facial area.

Also a mystery,is the fact that no neighbors were reported to have heard any of the gun shots going off in the Defeo home that night. The only sound anybody noticed was that their dog,Shaggy,was barking abnormally loud outside by the boathouse.

Ronald Defeo Jr's case finally went to trial almost an entire year after the murders took place. William Weber acted as Ronnie's attorney,and attempted to convince the jury that Ronald Jr. was not in his right mind when he committed the murders,basically using an insanity plea.

It is famously known that Ronald Jr. had quite a temper,and was a habitual liar. In fact,he had changed his story about the murder so many times,that anything he said was not to be taken seriously. Initially,he said that he had heard voices in his head telling him to kill the family.Then,at some point,he blamed his sister Dawn for helping murder the family. He blamed the mafia. And even suggested his own mother was involved. The insanity plea did not go very far with the jury,and he was found guilty of six counts of second degree murder. He was given six consecutive sentences of 25 years to life,leaving it very unlikely that he will ever have the opportunity to do harm to anybody ever again.

In December of 1975,George and Kathy Lutz,along with their 3 children, moved into 112 Ocean Avenue. The same home where the Defeo's were murdered in their sleep,only a little over a year before. According to interviews,the Lutz's knew before buying the home that the famous murder had taken place there.

They discussed what had happened with their children,and the family agreed together that they would not be bothered by what happened. As the movie says, "Houses don't have memories" They even decided to keep some of the Defeo's furniture,such as headboards,and a dining set. The reason they said was because the furniture was very nice,and better than what they already had. Not once did they think "maybe I shouldn't keep this stuff in the house".

At first the family had no real issues with their new home. George and Kathy both felt that they were skeptics of all things paranormal before their experience,so even any small occurrences probably were brushed aside as mere coincidence. However,as the days went on,it seemed that paranormal activity was on the rise. Someone,or something, didn't want them in that house.

The family later reported several strange things as happening on a regular basis within the home. There were many times when they would notice a strange,black substance seeping out from the key holes,a substance that George often explained to have been like epoxy. Also a jello like substance was also found on a few occasions,scattered about the floors in the house. They thought at first that the children were making the mess with some sort of substance that they mixed together,but realized that due to other circumstances,the children could not have done it. George began waking up in the middle of the night,with the urge to check on the boathouse. He would lock it,and upon checking again some time later,would find that the doors would be unlocked and swinging open.

The house had many cold spots as well,and in general,the house was very cold at times. The furnace would be running,but there would be 40-50 degree differences compared to what temperature they had put the thermostat on. On top of that,there seemed to be a fly infestation. Now keep in mind,this was the middle of winter. And the flies only were found in one room. George and Kathy said that it was hundreds of flies,and killing them did no good....because they always came back.

Much to their surprise,their daughter,Missy, had what seemed to be an imaginary friend. She referred to this friend as "Jodie". They felt that it was fairly innocent,until the friend told her that her and her family were going to live there forever. Supposedly the friend could take on many forms,and presented itself to George one night,in the form of what appeared to be a pig with glowing red eyes.

Even stranger things began occurring as time went on. The family began to change emotionally from the way they once were before moving in. It was as if the house was changing them into different people. George even stopped going into work,because he felt as though he just didn't want to leave the house. He later told the public that after they left the house for good,and discussed the things that happened,each and every family member had different feelings and experiences within the home.

One night he woke up to find his wife levitating off the bed,and had to physically pull her back down. Even worse,he watched her transform right before his eyes into an old,wrinkly woman,with gray hair. She also saw the transformation in the bedroom mirror,and was quite frightened. By morning,her looks had returned to normal,as though it never happened.

Another odd occurrence is that when they had the house blessed by their priest,he told them not to use the one room on the second floor as a bedroom. He told them that he had a strange feeling in there,and that they could use the room,but to leave the door open,and not to sleep in there. The priest did not tell them at the time,but the day after,he suffered unexplainable welts and blisters on his hands. Also,he has confirmed in an interview that a very deep voice yelled from behind him to "get out". One reason he may not have told them right away is that they had a hard time communicating with the priest. Any time that they tried to contact him by telephone,the call would be ruined by static.

Some of the things that went on in the house were never ever mentioned to the public by any member of the family. They refused to discuss certain aspects of the final night that they stayed,only letting it be known that there were a lot of bad things going on that night. After staying for 28 days,the Lutz family decided they needed to get out.

They didn't intend to never come back,so they left their belongings there and went to stay with Kathy's mother. They only wanted their home to be fixed,and had hoped to move back in as soon as possible. But they never did come back. Paranormal experts felt that the house was unfix-able, without endangering the lives of anybody who tries to rid the home of its demons. The Lutz's auctioned off some of their belongings,and had friends gather some of the more important items. And they moved on with their life,only to find that the public had a huge interest in their story. Books and movies soon followed,all of which became very,very popular.

Many people have accused the Lutz family of making up the whole thing just so they could make money. However,if you know all of the details,it appears that the family really did not profit a whole lot from any of it. The movies dramatized the whole experience for better viewing, and some of the things in the movies never actually happened,or were even said to have happened by anybody in the house. Until the day they died,George and Kathy stood by their original stories.

None of the other families that have lived there have reported anything strange. However,it is likely that even if there was anything happening,the families would probably keep silent about it after seeing the public hassle the Lutz family about their experience. The Lutz family kept many of the Defeo's furniture items. This seems possible that it could have caused a sort of energy just in having the murdered families belongings. Something that also seems strange to many,is how much Ronald Jr.,and George Lutz look alike. Maybe the spirits of the murdered family actually confused George with Ronnie Jr,and could be why the Lutz family was the only family to experience the hunting's. Or,maybe the Lutz's were just more sensitive to the paranormal world. We may never know for sure. Each and every one of us have our opinions,and whether it's true or not,we do know that a terrible tragedy occurred there. And maybe,just maybe,houses actually do have memories.

The actual house still stands today,but many changes have been made since the time of the hunting's. The famous windows that looked like eyes have been removed. The pool is no longer there,and the house has been painted. It also is rumored to have been remodeled drastically on the inside. Even the address has been changed,but it still does not deter people from trying to get an up close look at the famous Amityville home.