Hump Day Horror
In the spirit of Halloween this month, I have some horror history to share today.
On November 13, 1974 Ronald DeFeo Jr entered an Amityville bar and told everyone his parents had been shot. A number of people returned to the house with him, police were called. Inside the home they found Ronald Sr, his wife Louise, and their children; Dawn, Allison, Marc, and John.
On November 14, Jr confessed to the crimes, after claiming it had been a mob hit.
On this day in 1975, his trial began. His attorney argued for an insanity defense, but he was convicted on six counts of second-degree murder.
The interesting thing is all six of the victims were killed in their sleep, with no sign of a struggle, and no neighbors reported hearing gunshots, even though the rifle did not have a silencer...
In December 1975, the Lutzes moved into the home. They had been advised of the murders, and got a nice deal. They only stayed 28 days before leaving everything behind, claiming that the house was haunted.
Author Jay Anson was introduced to the Lutzes by an editor for Prentice Hall. They didn't work directly with Anson as he wrote the novel, but they did provide 45 hours of taped recollections, which are the basis of the book.
There has been controversy specifically with regards to the role of Father Pecoraro (Mancuso in the book). It was indicated that he had heard a voice telling him to "Get out!" as he blessed the house, and he later developed blisters on his hands. During the lawsuit, he claimed he had never been to the house. But in an interview with Leonard Nimoy in 1980, he confirmed hearing the voice and having the blisters.
Of course, there's always controversy about how true any of this is, especially since Anson took some liberties in his book. He suggested that the house had been built on a native Shinnecock site where the mentally ill had been abandoned but the local Native American leaders rejected this.
The Lutzes maintain that the book is "mostly true."
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