Episode 609: The DeFeo Family Murder

Summary

Podcast Summary: Morbid Episode 609 - The DeFeo Family Murder

Released on October 14, 2024, "The DeFeo Family Murder" is episode 609 of the "Morbid" podcast, hosted by Ash and Elena from Morbid Network | Wondery. This episode delves deep into one of America's most tragic and perplexing true crime cases, exploring the brutal murders of the DeFeo family and the subsequent connections to the infamous Amityville Horror hoax.

---

Introduction

The episode begins with Ash and Elena setting the stage for a detailed exploration of the DeFeo family murders, a case that has both shocked and mystified investigators and the public alike. They introduce the episode as the first part of a two-part series, with the second installment focusing on the Amityville Horror hoax.

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Background of the DeFeo Family

The DeFeo family resided at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, a picturesque coastal town often mistakenly associated with eerie legends due to the later Amityville Horror story. The family comprised Ronald DeFeo Sr. and Louise DeFeo, along with their five children: John, Mark, Allison, Dawn, and Ronald Jr.

Elena reflects on the family's standing in the community:

"[...] the DeFeo's were described as a nice, normal family who were always willing to lend a hand when someone else was in need."
[26:55] Elena

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The Night of the Murders

On the night of November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. borrowed his friend Bobby Kelsky's car to check on his increasingly unreachable family. Upon arriving at his home, Ronald discovered his parents had been brutally murdered. Moments later, Det. Kenneth Griguski and other officers arrived, finding the horrific scene: Ronald Sr. and Louise lying face down in their bedroom, and their two young sons, John (7) and Mark (12), similarly killed in their beds.

The investigation revealed no signs of forced entry, robbery, or struggle, leading authorities to ponder the motive behind the cold-blooded slaughter.

Elena emphasizes the perplexing nature of the murders:

"[...] the lack of evidence was very confusing and very strange. And the Defeos lived in one of the most expensive houses in Amityville and would have been prime targets for robbery. But whoever killed the six members of this family appeared to have done so just for something other than money."
[24:13] Elena

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Investigation and Arrest

Ron DeFeo Jr., the sole surviving member of the family, became the primary suspect. During interviews, Ronald presented a convoluted narrative involving alleged mob ties and claimed that a mafia hitman named Tony Mazio was responsible for the murders. However, inconsistencies in his story, coupled with his history as a "gun buff" and recent heroin use, raised significant suspicions among investigators.

Ash questions the plausibility of Ronald's account:

"The way he says it is almost like you haven't found these other two people. Like, oh, you missed these other two people."
[16:25] Ash

Despite his claims, forensic evidence began to mount against him. A crucial piece was the discovery of a box for a .35 caliber Marlin rifle, the same caliber suspected in the murders, hidden in Ronald's closet.

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Trial and Defense

Ronald DeFeo Jr.'s trial commenced on October 6, 1975. Prosecution Attorney Gerard Sullivan painted a picture of a methodical and premeditated act, highlighting Ronald's actions following the murders—such as cleaning his bloodstained clothing and disposing of the rifle—as evidence of his guilt.

The defense, led by William Weber, attempted to argue insanity, claiming that Ronald suffered from hallucinations and was not of sound mind during the murders. However, psychiatric evaluations contradicted these claims, with Dr. Harold Zolon asserting that while Ronald exhibited antisocial personality traits, he was aware of his actions and their consequences.

Elena summarizes the turning point in the trial:

"After considering the evidence and testimony, [Judge Stark] ruled that the confession was given voluntarily. It was going to be admissible in the trial."
[68:16] Elena

The jury, after nearly three days of deliberation, found Ronald DeFeo Jr. guilty on all six counts of second-degree murder. He was subsequently sentenced to six life terms, each with a minimum of 25 years, to be served consecutively.

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Conclusion and Impact

The DeFeo family murders not only left an indelible mark on the Amityville community but also set the stage for the creation of the Amityville Horror narrative. The tragic loss of six lives and the subsequent trial captivated the nation, intertwining true crime with paranormal folklore.

Ash and Elena conclude the episode by hinting at the upcoming discussion on the Amityville Horror hoax, teasing listeners with the intertwined nature of these two infamous stories.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Elena [26:55]: "[...] the DeFeo's were described as a nice, normal family who were always willing to lend a hand when someone else was in need."

• Ash [16:25]: "The way he says it is almost like you haven't found these other two people. Like, oh, you missed these other two people."

• Elena [68:16]: "After considering the evidence and testimony, [Judge Stark] ruled that the confession was given voluntarily. It was going to be admissible in the trial."

---

Final Thoughts

"The DeFeo Family Murder" is a harrowing exploration of a family torn apart by violence, the complexities of criminal investigations, and the fragility of trust within familial bonds. Ash and Elena expertly navigate the grim details while maintaining a respectful tone, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of a case that continues to resonate in the annals of true crime history.

For those intrigued by the unresolved mysteries and the connection to the legendary Amityville Horror, this episode serves as a compelling foundation for the forthcoming discussion in the two-part series.

Transcript

[Ash]

Wondery plus subscribers can listen to Morbid early and ad free. Join Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Elena]

You're listening to a Morbid Network podcast.

[Ash]

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[Elena]

I'm Elena.

[Ash]

And I'm Ash.

[Elena]

And this is morbid. Hello.

[Ash]

Hello. How are you?

[Elena]

I'm great. I'm tired, but I'm great. How are you?

[Ash]

I'm also tired and great.

[Elena]

I love the house.

[Ash]

Great and tired. Yeah, we did all of the tour, the book tour. We just finished last night.

[Elena]

And it was so much fun. So cool.

[Ash]

It was one of the coolest things I feel like we've gotten to do.

[Elena]

Yeah, you guys were rad as hell.

[Ash]

Thanks for inviting me, bitch.

[Elena]

Thanks for coming.

[Ash]

No problem.

[Elena]

It was so much fun.

[Ash]

I love.

[Elena]

And it was awesome, but I think my body just, like crashed at the end of it. It's just like, okay, go to sleep.

[Ash]

Well, the thing is. The thing you have to know about me and Elena, which most of you probably already know. We don't fucking go anywhere ever. And we don't socialize with really anyone other than each other. And like some family and a couple of friends.

[Elena]

We're very. I'm yawning right now. Sorry. I literally was yawning as I was talking. I was like, yeah, my social battery. My social battery has always been pretty null. Pretty little. Doesn't hold a lot and phew, it gets empty real quick.

[Ash]

Mine used to be so much larger and in charger.

[Elena]

It never was. It never was. And it's only gotten smaller as I've gotten older. So I have to pick very carefully what I. How I socialize. And this was a great. A great way to do it.

[Ash]

It was a great choice.

[Elena]

And now I'm exhausted.

[Ash]

As of this recording, this motherfucker sitting across from me is a number one New York Times best selling author.

[Elena]

I can't believe that.

[Ash]

I am so happy for you. I was.

[Elena]

I'm shook.

[Ash]

Literally pooping my pants when you got the news.

[Elena]

It's. I still. It's. I'm like, honestly speechless about it still.

[Ash]

It's incredible.

[Elena]

Thanks so much for supporting me, everybody. You're the. You're amazing.

[Ash]

Yay. And just know that I accidentally tackled her when she got the news.

[Elena]

She did. She side tackled me, which was.

[Ash]

I meant to hug, but it was way more forceful.

[Elena]

Full side tackle, you know. It's amazing, though. It's amazing and I can't believe it. And I can't wait to make more books. And. Yeah, it's crazy.

[Ash]

Hopefully the next one is also on the list. I see it.

[Elena]

I see it manifest.

[Ash]

We all manifested on tour.

[Elena]

We. Hell yeah, we did.

[Ash]

And you guys manifested. I'm sure of it.

[Elena]

You did it.

[Ash]

And you're just talented.

[Elena]

This is because you guys did it though. And yeah, you supported me. You bought the book. You pre ordered the book. You seem to be enjoying the book, which makes me pretty happy. And I just needed to tell you, you are appreciated. Your kind words have been unbelievably appreciated. I can't tell you how much it has meant this whole time seeing in person has been amazing and appreciated. And you are the real ones. So I just wanted to tell you.

[Ash]

That she's on the New York Times.

[Elena]

So I just wanted to thank you because you guys made it awesome.

[Ash]

Yay.

[Elena]

And you're the reason for the season. You know, you are.

[Ash]

I think that's all the happy stuff.

[Elena]

Yeah, that's all the happy stuff. And you know, I like it. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna. This is like. This is a two parter, but it's like a different kind of two parter.

[Ash]

Whereas, you know, it's still sort of. Well, not sort of. It is still very much spooky season.

[Elena]

But this is straight up true crime. This is straight up true crime. But it's connected to a spooky thing.

[Ash]

Cause we wanted to give you like a little bit of both this season.

[Elena]

Yeah, you gotta get both because that's what you're here for.

[Ash]

Makes everybody happy.

[Elena]

It does. And I get it. So this is one of the bigger ones that we've never covered before. I know.

[Ash]

It's actually kind of crazy that we.

[Elena]

Haven'T, which is shocking. So what we're going to do here is we're going to talk about the Defeo family murders. Those are largely connected to what came after, which is the Amityville Horror Hoax.

[Ash]

That is a big old hoax.

[Elena]

But it's such a big. That's almost a true crime in and of itself because it's such a massively orchestrated hoax.

[Ash]

It kind of was, right?

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Like in your crime. Because didn't. Isn't there like court transcripts about it? Were they.

[Elena]

I mean, I mean, that's one of the biggest hoaxes ever. Ever. Like, it's huge.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

So what we're gonna do is in this episode, I am purely going to tell you the true crime tale of the DeFeo murders. It's really sad. It's really brutal. Trigger warning right off the bat.

[Ash]

It's a story.

[Elena]

It's like pretty gruesome. It's like gun stuff. It's rough.

[Ash]

Unfortunately, some of the victims are children.

[Elena]

Some of the victims are children. So it's just really sad. But and then in part two of this series almost, it'll be a totally different episode, but it's going to be talking about the Amityville horror hoax and some of the real stuff that could be associated with it. We're going to see Ed and Lorraine Warren again in part two.

[Ash]

They make, they always, they come to stay for spooky season.

[Elena]

They do. They just like, they really involve themselves. So yeah, today we're going to be talking about the Defeo family murder case. So buckle up everybody.

[Ash]

All righty.

[Elena]

So when 23 year old Ronald DeFeo Jr. Borrowed his friend Bobby Kelsky's car on the night of November 13, 1974. So this was a while ago, it was with the understanding that he was just going to be going down the street just a few blocks to his house and he was going to be right back. So since he'd gotten out of work that afternoon, Ronald had been trying to reach anyone at his house. He said he just couldn't get anyone on the phone and he was starting to make him nervous. He couldn't get a hold of his parents, any of his brothers or sisters. And he was like, that's not normal. I've been trying to get them. I can't. So he had told Bobby, I'm going to have to go home and break a window to get in. Because he was really worried at that point. It was late.

[Ash]

Damn.

[Elena]

So he took off in the direction of his house and he was saying, I'm just going to go there, check on things and I'll come right back with your car. A bit later, Ron came skidding into the parking lot of Henry's bar where he had left. And he had barely made it through the door of the bar when he said, bob, you've got to help me. You've got to help me. Someone shot my mother and father. I can't imagine hearing that.

[Ash]

No.

[Elena]

So everyone in Henry's bar was just like, what the fuck? Like none of them knew how to respond. And Henry's regular John Altieri said he was hysterical. He was shouting, everybody come on. Somebody shot my father and mother. Like hysterical, all upset, you gotta come now.

[Ash]

Okay?

[Elena]

So of course, as he's saying that, like, you gotta help me. A handful of guys jumped up, went out to their cars and they were like, we'll follow you there. So at the time, no one knew what to expect because they were like, are we really gonna like walk into dead bodies? Like, what's gonna happen here? But when they got to their destination, the scene at 112 Ocean Avenue was eerily quiet.

[Ash]

Oh, I immediately hate that.

[Elena]

And it gets worse because it's eerily quiet. And then there's just an alarm clock going off from somewhere on the second floor of the house.

[Ash]

Oh, my entire body just warmed.

[Elena]

The sound. The feeling of that. The sound of that was just like.

[Ash]

Oh, no, I have come home from vacation before and heard my alarm clock going off because, like, I've forgotten to. To put it on or to put it off. And it's when you walk in your house and you just hear a faint alarm and you're like, what the fuck?

[Elena]

There's something about that. I don't know.

[Ash]

Oh, yeah. I don't know. Something about something being, like, so still.

[Elena]

And quiet and then not a very normal.

[Ash]

Yeah, exactly. Disrupting a very routine, like, why. And. And it's the. Why hasn't somebody shut that off?

[Elena]

Yes, that's the thing. And when you. Why is that still going like that? And. And that's the thing. They know that there's brothers and sisters in this house. There's four other siblings in this house. So hearing somebody shot my mother and father and then rolling up and hearing an alarm blaring from the second floor, and no one's shutting it off.

[Ash]

Oh, my God, that's.

[Elena]

I'd be like, what are we about to walk into? So once he had the car in park, Bobby Kelski and John Altieri didn't hesitate for a second before rushing straight into the house, which, like, whoa. Good for them. The other people who showed up were a little more cautious. They didn't run right in.

[Ash]

Also good for them.

[Elena]

Yeah. Ron, on the other hand, waited outside with them, and it was.

[Ash]

That's interesting.

[Elena]

Yeah, very interesting.

[Ash]

I wouldn't be outside if I thought my entire family was dead inside.

[Elena]

Nope, definitely not. It was Altiri who found the bodies in the main bedroom, the father and mother. Then they found the two young boys across the hall. And Altiri was later quoted as saying, the little one was in pajamas and had blood all over him. I couldn't see where the bullet hole was.

[Ash]

Just, I think of, like, a little boy in his pajamas in bed, covered in blood. Is.

[Elena]

Oh, it's so horrific. Yeah. While Alteri and Kelski searched the house, another bar patron, Joey Yeswit, called the police from the phone in the DeFeo's kitchen. He told the Suffolk county police dispatcher, we have a shooting here. There's a guy here, he says there's been a shooting and everyone's dead. Which. That's Interesting to me, that phrasing, because Ron, you know, some people are saying, like, he's coming into the bar, he says, my mom and dad are shot.

[Ash]

Yep.

[Elena]

He's still saying that. When they get to the house, they're thinking it's just the mom and dad. And then they find, like. Then they find the other two boys, John and Mark. But then this patron, Joey Yeswick, calls the police from the kitchen and says that Ron came into the bar saying that everybody was shot, everybody's dead.

[Ash]

So in the commotion, story got fucked up.

[Elena]

Yeah, it's a weird little thing, and that happens a little bit. But Officer Kenneth Griguski was in his police car just a few blocks away from the house when the call came.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

So he was the first one to hear it over the radio. And he went right to the DeFeo house. When he pulled in, Ron DeFeo was crying, and he told Griguski that his father and mother were dead again. And before taking any statement from Anyone, Griguski had DeFeo and Bobby Kelski take him into the house because he was like, whoa, like, we gotta figure out what's going on here. And he had them wait in the kitchen. And he often searched the entire house to make sure that the killer was not still inside the house. Now, upstairs, Griguski located the main bedroom, which was a very lavishly decorated, you know, bedroom. It had, like, ornate furniture. There was a lot of religious statues. They were a devout Catholic family. The photos of Louise and Ronald Sr's five children in there. This was a very nice home. They were, like, pretty well off.

[Ash]

It's a nice area.

[Elena]

Yeah. Yeah. Grigowski, though, was not. He could only look at that for so long because he immediately saw two bodies laying face down on the bed. Louise on the left and Ronald Sr. On the right. Louise was covered with the gold bedspread, but Griguski could see a large hole in her nightgown, and the blood had soaked all over the mattress between the. I mean, it was a brutal scene. Ronald Sr. Was uncovered by the like, did not have the blanket over him and was dressed only in boxer shorts. And his right leg was kind of like, hanging a little bit off the bed. And there was a bullet hole in the small of his back, and a trail of blood was leading down onto his boxers. And they were both face down, face down. Everyone was face down. Now, Officer Grigewski made his way from the parents room to the room across the hall, and he said he could immediately tell this was, like, a Young boy's bedroom. From the way it was decorated, he could see toys and games on the floor. That's so sad. And Griguski immediately saw the two boys, 7 year old John and 12 year old Mark, lying face down in their beds just like their parents. And he said the blanket covering the boy on the left had been pulled down to his ankles. And Griguski could tell his pajamas were soaked through with blood. And he could see a very ragged bullet hole in his lower back. Oh my gosh. The boy on the right was also uncovered. His white T shirt was pulled up around his chest and it revealed a bullet hole in his lower back. So it's interesting how this is all laid out.

[Ash]

Shot in the back too. Everybody like lower back.

[Elena]

Yeah. Now, after discovering those four bodies, Griguski returned to the first floor and called the station to report what he'd just seen. And he requested additional assistance, more officers. He wanted the coroner there. And as he talked, the officer could see Ron Defeo out of the corner of his eye. He said, and he said Ron was crying. He was crying softly, but he said he could tell that he was also listening to what I was saying.

[Ash]

Hate that.

[Elena]

Like it was one of those things like the, and then like the look over to see what's happening. And when Griguski hung up the phone, Defeo said immediately that he had sisters that were also in the house.

[Ash]

Uh huh.

[Elena]

One on the bedroom on a second floor. On the second floor. And his oldest sister dawn was in the attic bedroom.

[Ash]

And immediately it's like, I don't know if this is just me, but like, you find your parents, you have four other siblings, correct?

[Elena]

Four, yeah.

[Ash]

You don't immediately search for your little siblings when you find your parents dead.

[Elena]

Thank you. Because if I found my parents dead, my first thought would be, my little sisters and brothers are in danger.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

I need to gather them all up and get them to out of this house.

[Ash]

Yes.

[Elena]

And then call the police.

[Ash]

Exactly.

[Elena]

But instead you left the house, left four children in the house with somebody who shot your parents.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

That doesn't make sense. And also you've just heard this officer now say that your two brothers are dead. One, you would be losing your mind. And two, my first thought wouldn't be, well, I have two sisters. One's on the second floor and one's in the attic. I'd be like, are my sisters okay? Where are they? Like, what's going on? Like, you'd be like, wait a second, like, are they all right? Tell me you didn't say anything about them.

[Ash]

The way he says it is almost like you haven't found these other two people. Like, oh, you missed these other two people.

[Elena]

Exactly. So Griguski heard that, heard there's two sisters, raced back upstairs to Allison's room on the second floor. And like the boys bedroom, there were two beds in the room, but one was made up. Obviously it had not been slept in. And then in the other bed, Griguski could see that and he was joined by another patrol officer. At this point they found the body of 13 year old Allison lying face down. And there was a pink bedspread covering her up to her shoulders.

[Ash]

That's interesting.

[Elena]

She'd been shot in the side of the face.

[Ash]

Oh my God.

[Elena]

And a large pool of blood had collected on the floor next to her bed.

[Ash]

Oh, that's awful.

[Elena]

Hers was a very rough one, brutal. The two officers found the stairs that went to Don Defeo's attic bedroom. And they went up slowly, you know, wondering if the killer could possibly be up there.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

But instead upstairs they found 18 year old Dawn. Like the rest of her family, she was face down in bed, covered by the blanket and shot in the chest. So that tells you something different. She's face down, but she was shot in the chest. By the look of things. Nothing had been disturbed in any of the rooms and there was no apparent sign of struggle. Okay. If they had to guess, both officers said they, it looked like someone had entered the DeFeo home in the middle of the night and killed all six of these people in their sleep in the matter of like seconds. Yeah, like otherwise, and to this day, even though we'll get into everything and like, you know, Ron DeFeo did this for sure, but there is a question of how the fuck did he do.

[Ash]

This without anybody running out of the.

[Elena]

House or getting out of the way systematically? No, no one woke up. Like, what, why are they all in bed? Like they're all where they were shot.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

So like how did this happen? It's, that's why there is like theories and I'm not saying they're like credible. I'm just saying like that's why people do question, like, was someone else involved here? Like was there another, like what happened here?

[Ash]

I only know that he, that Ron DeFeo did it and that like I don't know all the major details or I know all the major details. I don't know all the little details.

[Elena]

Yeah. Well, the two officers returned to the first floor and Grigewski called the station Again, to report, actually, we have six bodies in the house, and they said there's no sign of a shooter. Can't find anyone. Just the Defeo's. Only living family member, Ronald DeFeo Jr. Sus. Now, over the next few hours, you know, homicide detectives showed up, local and county, various crime scene technicians, you know, the coroner. Tons of people are at the Defeo house. And in the back of the house, they discovered the family sheep dog, Shaggy. But he was okay.

[Ash]

Shaggy.

[Elena]

Shaggy. He's very cute. Oh, he was tied to the handle of the back door.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

Shaggy did not sleep outside. That's not how Shaggy slept. Shaggy slept in the house tied to.

[Ash]

The handle of the back door.

[Elena]

He was deliberately tied outside.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

For what had happened. He was very stressed out.

[Ash]

Yeah, of course.

[Elena]

Like, barking like crazy, going nuts. All the activity in the house, like he was losing his mind.

[Ash]

Sheepdogs in particular, too. Like, something happening to their family. It's their job to round everybody up. Yeah. So he's like, I can't protect anybody. Yeah.

[Elena]

Like, I need to go get everybody. And it is. It's amazing what dogs do for their family. Like, it's wild. Like, we have, like, just a little side note.

[Ash]

No, it's true.

[Elena]

Like, Blanche in particular, our dog Blanche is obsessed with John. Like, literally would crawl into his skin.

[Ash]

I always say she wants to live inside of his ribbon.

[Elena]

She does. She wants to live inside of him. Like, she loves him so much.

[Ash]

If you talk to John, she starts barking at you.

[Elena]

Yeah. She doesn't want you to talk to him. But if John, like, pretends to tickle me or the girls and, like, does it, like, he'll pretend to do it. Like, hehehe, I'm coming. Blanche will sail through the air and, like, go after him. Like, all loyalty ends there. And the loyalty to, like, you are hurting the rest of my family or what? I see that. I think you are hurting. She goes nuts. Like she is. And then, like, the same. But then the same goes back. If you pretend to hurt John, she gonna get you. Like, she is loyal to this family. She says, like, ride or die.

[Ash]

She says ohana means fucking family.

[Elena]

But she's like, even family. You don't fuck with family.

[Ash]

Like, Sid too.

[Elena]

Yeah. And Sid will lose it. Like, they are. So it's like. It's wild how dogs just. They tell you a lot.

[Ash]

Well, because you're their pack.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Like, it's. It's just innate.

[Elena]

It's so crazy. Like, I fucking love dogs.

[Ash]

Dogs are great.

[Elena]

Dogs are so goddamn cool.

[Ash]

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[Elena]

But so. So, yeah, this is weird. This poor dog, Shaggy, is tied up outside to the handle of the back door. So officers searched every inch of the house and the property looking for any evidence. And by all accounts, there was very little, if anything, to be found. It was like nothing had. They had been shot and this person just disappeared. And there was also no signs of a robbery or a home invasion. Nothing was missing or even out of place.

[Ash]

So what would the motive be?

[Elena]

There was no sign of a struggle. To investigators, the lack of evidence was very confusing and very strange. And the Defeos lived in one of the most expensive houses in Amityville and would have been prime targets for robbery. But whoever killed the six members of this family appeared to have done so just because for something other than money, there was no or apparent.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

You know, like. And it's also weird to me, I wonder if people in Amityville are annoyed by this. I associate Amityville with the word like, with the Amityville horror. Yes. So when you hear it in reference of just like the residents of Amityville, I'm like, oh, that's like a real place. No, I'm just like, oh, shit.

[Ash]

I was just thinking that as you were saying it. It is. I was like, oh, Amityville is a town.

[Elena]

Just a regular town. Like, it's not like a spooky town. It's supposed to just be like a regular town.

[Ash]

It's a beautiful town. It probably is.

[Elena]

So fucking probably so annoying. And I'm sorry for the people of Amity. Yeah. And it's like. And like this, you know, so it's like. I always think Amityville is so synonymous with like, ooh, spooky. And it's like, I feel bad. Like, I'm sorry. You're a real place.

[Ash]

Isn't it just like a coastal town?

[Elena]

Yeah, I think it's just like a nice town and this, this particular. And we'll get, you know, we'll get into it. But they had to. They had to do a lot to keep people from coming back to this house a lot.

[Ash]

No, I'm sure.

[Elena]

Got a little annoying.

[Ash]

Does it. I'm sorry, does the house still exist today?

[Elena]

I think it does. I thought so.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

But it's been renovated. It looks a little different.

[Ash]

It's a. It is a beautiful home.

[Elena]

It is. Yeah. There was, they had a sign out front that said High Hopes. That was always pointed at like this, this really tragic story. And like there's this little sign that says High Hopes outside it.

[Ash]

Just like the DeFeo family had that out.

[Elena]

It was always this. Just a really chilling thing.

[Ash]

Is that in reference to something?

[Elena]

I think it's just like, you know, prosperity and, you know, all that, like, you know, good luck.

[Ash]

Huh. I'm not, I've never seen anything like that.

[Elena]

Now. While canvassing the neighborhood, officers took statements from several neighbors that kind of helped narrow down the timeline of what happened here. According to one neighbor who didn't want to be identified in the press, she said she had gone to bed around 10pm the night before and noticed that all the lights were on in the house at the failed. And she described this as very unusual and something I've never noticed before.

[Ash]

And at 10:00pm like what?

[Elena]

Yeah, she said usually at that late hours of the evening, she said there were lights on, but that house was only like partially lit up. And another neighbor, 15 year old John Nemeth, told officers he'd been woken up by barking of one of the DeFeo's dogs at around 3:00am okay. And he claimed that this was. And he said it was very unusual at that time of night. The dog did not bark in the middle of the night. And he said that the barking actually went on for about 20 minutes.

[Ash]

Oh, that's so sad.

[Elena]

Stopped. So that's upsetting.

[Ash]

That's really sad.

[Elena]

And given that he was the only living member of the DeFeo family and the only obvious person who stood to gain from the deaths of his parents, investigators quickly turned to Ronald to say what was going on? What were you doing? And in their interview with Bobby Kelsky, you know, Ronald's friend Bobby Kelsky, they learned that Ronald was what Kelski described as a gun buff. He owned several guns.

[Ash]

And I'm only saying because of what.

[Elena]

In Ronald's bedroom, investigators found a.22 caliber semiautomatic rifle, a 12 gauge shotgun.22 caliber bank revolver, a ton of ammunition. But according to Kelsky's statement to police, Ronald's.35 caliber Marlin rifle looked to be missing. Remember that rifle? Okay. Now, a little past 8pm that night, county detectives Gaspard Randazzo. Excuse me. And Gerard Gozaloff sat down. They all have very interesting last names. They do. Gerard Gosaloff sat down with Ronald for what would be the first of many interviews with Ron DeFeo. Ron told detectives, I'll do whatever I have to do. I'll help you in any way I can.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

And what's funny is, like, I prod you to go, like, watch an interview with him.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Because you can see how he comes off as, like, he's got this New York accent and he's like, you know, like one of those guys, you know, I'm just talking to him. I'm just talking about stuff. He would come off as very like, oh, I'll just help you. I'm just here to help. I'll cooperate.

[Ash]

I'm a good guy.

[Elena]

I'm just good guy over here. You know, like, it's just.

[Ash]

I'm obsessed with what you're doing here.

[Elena]

He comes off that way.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And you could see how if he continued that act and somehow got through it, he could probably get away with this.

[Ash]

That's so scary.

[Elena]

Now, when they asked who he thought could be responsible for the murders, they were expecting him to say, I have no fucking clue. Who would kill my entire family? I don't know.

[Ash]

I could not think of anybody that would murder my entire family.

[Elena]

Well, Ron could think of someone.

[Ash]

I just need a side note here. He was 23 when this all happened, and I need you all to go look at his bug shot, because you could tell me this man is like, 45, and I'd be like, yeah, yeah, he is. He's a.

[Elena]

That's a rough 23. He. He was. Lived a rough life.

[Ash]

Oh, did he?

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Okay. So I totally had to interrupt him. Sorry.

[Elena]

Well, Ron knew of somebody who he thought would kill his whole family.

[Ash]

Tell me everything.

[Elena]

He thought of a guy named Tony Mazio. He said he was the best suspect for this. According to Ron, a faction of the New York Mafia had a grudge against his family because of his family's involvement in mob related activity.

[Ash]

Oh, and he just immediately gave that up.

[Elena]

He was just like, bada boot. I'm like, he believed Mazio, a supposed mafia hitman, had likely killed his family in order to send a message. Now, this sounds like what? Like, you know, we're like, excuse me, what you're bringing the mob into here? But they weren't totally out of the realm of possibility when it was brought up. It seemed unlikely, but it wasn't one of those, like, you know anybody else who says that. That you like the mob did it? Like, really? Because according to the Suffolk Police Department's Organized Crime Control Bureau, Ronald DeFeo Sr. S uncle, Peter Defeo was a captain in the Vito Genovese crime family.

[Ash]

That's kind of a big fucking deal.

[Elena]

And had been known to police as a member of the Genovese organization as early as 1934.

[Ash]

Holy shit.

[Elena]

Now that's interesting.

[Ash]

I find that shit so fascinating.

[Elena]

Very interesting. But at the time of the murders, Peter DeFeo was 74 years old.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

And he hadn't been involved in criminal activity for nearly a decade. At that point he had kind of retired.

[Ash]

He's like, Uncle June.

[Elena]

Yeah, he's just, you know, I'm, I'm just over here. Yeah, I'm just Peter Defeo. Okay. I don't know. I'm not into this. So any connection between him and the murders was seeming pretty unlikely because, like.

[Ash]

Why I don't think a 74 year old man could kill six. I mean, call me crazy things happen.

[Elena]

But also, like what?

[Ash]

A 74 year old man killing six members of a family.

[Elena]

And like, well, and even if you say like, okay, maybe it wasn't him, maybe he did something that caused them to go after the family. Yeah, that still doesn't jive, really, because this is an Italian family we're talking about the Italian mafia, Italian mob. There is a code of conduct and one of those very specific things in that code of conduct for the Italian mob is you do not kill children.

[Ash]

No kids.

[Elena]

So this doesn't fit. Like, it's just not something that would happen because like, you know, that is a thing. That's a real thing. So. In his statement to police, Ron explained that the day before the murders, he stayed home from work because he wasn't feeling well. After sleeping for most of the day. He woke up early the next morning around 4am and he said when he woke up, he saw his brother Mark's wheelchair in front of the bathroom door. I know, like, I'm like, this poor kid didn't have a chance to even get out of bed. That's so sad. And the light was on in the bathroom, so he assumed his brother was in the bathroom. Instead of waiting, he said he used another bathroom, then decided to go into work early because he was up. And why not?

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

After work he went to Henry's bar and had a few drinks with his friends like he normally did. And while he was there, he called the house several times but didn't get an answer.

[Ash]

Because you always call your house multiple times when you're out drinking with your friends.

[Elena]

Of course you do. After a while, he said he became concerned and borrowed Kelsky's car to go buy the house and check on everyone, which is when he discovered his parents bodies in their bedroom and didn't bother.

[Ash]

To check if anybody else was okay.

[Elena]

Yep.

[Ash]

Got it.

[Elena]

Did not bother to check on his siblings.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

He said he had to force the kitchen window lock. And since all. Because he said all the doors were locked and he didn't have a key to the house. Now, back at Henry's, he gathered all his friends. He returned to the house, but he never went inside again. Now, to the detectives, DeFeo's narrative was.

[Ash]

A little confusing because also, how did the person get out of the house that did this to your entire family if all the doors are locked and there's no sign of forced entry?

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Just wondering.

[Elena]

They thought it was a pretty meandering narrative that he was giving, and both the detectives found it difficult to follow. At points. They were like, wait, what? Like, kind of like us. We're like, what? You did what? Yeah. And while Ron talked, Detective Gazel off watched his body language, and he said he definitely had some interesting body language. And he said, but he also noticed some marks on his arms. And when he asked about the marks, Defeo confessed that he was a regular heroin user.

[Ash]

Oh, okay.

[Elena]

And had shot up at a friend's house earlier that afternoon. Oh. But Ron was very clear that he didn't want the detectives to get the wrong idea about him. He wasn't an addict. He said. He explained he was a chippy shooter and only used drugs casually. I don't think you can use heroin casually. That's just me. But it was an interesting note. They just were like, okay, that's an interesting. Because when you add that into it, you got to look at it different avenues here. So eventually, the conversation got back around to the family's supposed mob connections and the man Ron believed was responsible for the murders, Tony Mazio. According to Defo, he had been doing some work for his grandfather's car dealership a few weeks earlier and was on his way to the bank to deposit several thousand dollars when he was held up by two gunmen.

[Ash]

All of a sudden, this is coming out okay.

[Elena]

And when he told his father about the robbery, Ronald Senior didn't believe him and got angry with him that this is what he's telling everybody. Apparently, according to him, his father said, not only do I have to worry about you as far as this phony robbery, but I've also got to lose a good friend. Because Ronald explained that Tony Mazio and his father had been friends, but the robbery had caused a rift between the men because his father believed Mazio was.

[Ash]

The guy responsible, even though he didn't believe it happened.

[Elena]

Thank you. This ended their friendship and made the Defeos a target for a hitman, According to Ron DeFeo Jr. Did he, like.

[Ash]

Think about this at all?

[Elena]

No.

[Ash]

You didn't run this by anyone?

[Elena]

Apparently not.

[Ash]

I mean, I'm glad you did, but.

[Elena]

Now, at the time, the detectives found Ron to be very cooperative, and the confusing parts of his story could be chalked up. They said to now that they know he's using heroin, they were like, you know, he could be under the influence also because he's admitted that he shot up, like, this afternoon, essentially. Yeah. And also he's under a lot of stress. He just lost his whole family. So if it's a little confusing or a little strange, we'll give him a minute to look at it with a benefit of the doubt kind of situation. The statement, you know, and that's the thing. The statement could have ended there. He gave a statement. He told a little bit of a wild tale, but it could have just ended there. But Ron just could not help it. He just wanted to add more details. He's learned is when someone's just wanting to add detail after detail, they're probably fucking lying.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Because you just. It's just the way it is. So he explained that while he did own three rifles, his father had actually taken them away from him a few weeks earlier, and he'd actually sold one of them, but he couldn't recall the caliber of the gun or the manufacturer. Wouldn't that be so convenient, though, he just happened to sell the one. One gun?

[Ash]

And also, first of all, why the fuck would you ever do that? Second of all, why did they find the guns that were taken away from you in your bedroom?

[Elena]

Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. It's a little weird. He also told them about a cash box that his father kept hidden in their bedroom. Tony Mazio, he said, had helped them carve the hiding place in the floor where the box was kept.

[Ash]

That's kind of sick.

[Elena]

So if they checked and the box was missing or empty. Tony, your killer is Tony over here. Because he was there. He knew where that cash box was. Tony Mazio.

[Ash]

Okay, so does Tony Mazio exist?

[Elena]

Yeah, actually. So they. And they were like. So you just kind. You kind of just know what happened then? Like, you seem like you're just telling us like this. You know what? I bet you'll find an empty cash box. And I bet it's him. Yeah.

[Ash]

And you just. You didn't go straight to Tony Mazio's house when you assumed that he killed your whole family?

[Elena]

Definitely not. Now, eventually, Defeo's eagerness to cooperate crossed over from very useful if, you know, exhaustive. But it then it got unnecessarily detailed and started to border on suspicious. Yeah, like, as he talks, we're heading down that lane. It's like, we. Something's weird here. He rambled on about his recent criminal past and how what landed him on parole.

[Ash]

Oh, he was on parade.

[Elena]

And he said, oh, yeah, he was on parole. He said, I don't want you to think I'm hiding anything from you. And that's why he said he was telling all the details. Okay. And the interview process went on until nearly 2:30am Damn. And when the detectives asked where Defeo wanted to sleep that night, he said he couldn't stay with family because he was worried the hitman might find him. So they allowed him to sleep on a cot in the homicide division because they were like, well, we'll protect you.

[Ash]

I guess he spent the night there.

[Elena]

Yeah, he spent the night. Because they were like. They didn't know where else to bring him, because he was like, I can't go anywhere. The hitman will find me. Can you protect me? And they were like, okay. So they just set up a cot for him in, like, one of the holding cells and were like, you can stay here. That's insane. So for Ron, this was preferable because it would allow him, you know, to stay up to date on the investigation as well. Oh, because he could hear everything.

[Ash]

Yep.

[Elena]

While detectives looked into Defeo's claim about familial mob ties, the medical examiner had begun the autopsies on the six unfortunate victims. Ronald and Louise Defeo were each shot twice. Ronald in the lower back, which had pierced his kidney and shattered part of his spine.

[Ash]

Oh, God.

[Elena]

Louise was shot in the side and the chest, which broke ribs and punctured one of her lungs. Wow. According to the medical examiner, Dr. Howard Adelman, both could have remained alive anywhere from a matter of seconds to a few minutes.

[Ash]

Wow. They just bled internally.

[Elena]

And based on her body position when she was found in the trajectory of the bullets, Adelman did theorize that Louise had been shot, had been shot second, and had partially risen out of bed when her husband was shot.

[Ash]

Oh, God, that's horrific.

[Elena]

Yeah, it breaks my fucking heart.

[Ash]

Like, I can't imagine.

[Elena]

John and Mark Defeo were each shot one time in the back at close Range. Adelman theorized that the killer had stood between the boys beds and fired in quick succession, shooting each and roughly the same part of the back. The bullets destroyed several organs before exiting out the abdomen and becoming lodged in the box springs of the bed. The bullets? Yeah.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Adelman was almost certain neither boy had woken up before being killed. Oh. Which I guess is a good thing because they didn't wake up to know what was happening. They just were shot in their sleep and never became conscious to know.

[Ash]

He didn't think that they could have woken up. Like, when the parents were killed, they didn't hear the shots.

[Elena]

That's the thing. That's what doesn't really make sense.

[Ash]

I don't know a lot about guns. Is it possible he used a silencer?

[Elena]

I don't think so. I don't think they had any evidence that referenced a silencer.

[Ash]

Okay. Because I'm like, did anybody in the neighborhood report hearing gunshots? Because an assault rifle is loud.

[Elena]

That's the thing. By everything I could find, the gun was not fitted for a silencer. There was no silencer involved. They never found a silencer, Your gun specifically. You have to, like, get it fitted for one. It did not.

[Ash]

Huh.

[Elena]

This is what makes no fucking sense. And this is the parts of this that make people go, what the fuck happened in that house? Because like you said, like we were talking about, neighbors heard the dog barking.

[Ash]

But they hear the gunshots.

[Elena]

And why is everyone on their stomach? Everyone's not sleeping on their stomach.

[Ash]

Did he turn them around so. So as not to see their faces?

[Elena]

A lot of them were shot in the back and a lot of them were shot while in bed. And the shot went through to the box spring. I mean, like, it was like they. It's like they were ordered to do that or something.

[Ash]

The only thing that you can think of, though is like. Like in the middle of the night, like. Or like, remember, like, when you would fall asleep in the car and like, your parents would carry you up to your bed? Maybe he turned them over and they just didn't wake up.

[Elena]

But like, he had already shot the parents on the same floor. I know. That's the part in fact, across the hall, like, John and Mark were in a room across the hall from their parents who just got shot four times total.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

With an. With a rifle.

[Ash]

And that's. And like I was just saying, rifles are loud.

[Elena]

They're loud. So it doesn't make sense that John and Mark wouldn't hear it. It doesn't make sense that the neighbors didn't. Allison wouldn't hear it. She's on the same floor. She's on the second floor as well.

[Ash]

Even dawn, you would hear that from upstairs.

[Elena]

She would probably hear it, too. But the ones on the same floor, how that is weird, how it doesn't make sense, and no one's really been able to figure it out. It's one of these, like, enduring mysteries. But luckily, neither Boy John or Mark seem to have woken up. They seem to have. Which, again, very strange that they were both on their stomachs. Yeah, it's just not a.

[Ash]

Not everybody. Not everybody sleeps on.

[Elena]

I don't sleep on my stomach.

[Ash]

No. I can't.

[Elena]

So Allison, on the other hand, had likely seen her killer as she rose from her bed.

[Ash]

Like, she. It seemed like she heard something.

[Elena]

But, like, again, it's very strange because her wound indicated that she had turned around just in time to see her killer fire. The bullet entered her cheek, and it lacerated her brain before exiting through her skull and lodging in the wall behind the bed.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Allison saw her killer.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Like, that's horrific.

[Ash]

And she must have died, like, very quickly, though, if it went through her brain.

[Elena]

Through her brain, just like. And again, she was found in the bed. But, like, he doesn't say anything. Nobody says anything about, like, carrying them back to bed or anything like that. So I'm like, what is this?

[Ash]

Do they know, like, around what time everybody was shot?

[Elena]

They don't have, like, not exact times. Yeah. It's not weird that they would be in bed because it was nighttime. It was bedtime.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Like, they would be in bed.

[Ash]

You're such a mom. It was bedtime.

[Elena]

It was bedtime. Everyone was in their pajamas. Like, you know, I wonder if he ordered them to face down, but he obviously never brings that up in his stories. But it's even weird. But what.

[Ash]

But the medical examiner thought the boys were sleeping.

[Elena]

The boys, it seems, were sleeping. And I. But I don't. I don't know. It's like, this is what's so weird. It doesn't make sense. None of it makes sense. Every time you think you can figure it out, you're like, why, though?

[Ash]

And even if he had ordered them to stay down, I feel. I mean, Don is 18. The. He obviously got rid of the parents first. But, like, I feel like Don could have, like, potentially overtaken him somehow, you know? And it doesn't sound like there's evidence that she tried to.

[Elena]

Yeah. I mean, he's got a rifle, which is terrifying, so.

[Ash]

But there's other guns in the house.

[Elena]

If he's holding a rifle at you and saying, turn around, I guess, like, you know, I'm not gonna argue with a rifle pointed at me. No, I can understand that for, like, the first couple. But, like, then the rest of them are hearing the shots. Why aren't they running? Hearing the shots?

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

They're waiting until he gets to their bedroom, and then.

[Ash]

Well, okay, so maybe. So he gets rid of the parents immediately. Like, that makes sense. Like, they couldn't do anything. The two boys were sleeping. Sometimes kids don't fucking wake up. Like, it's crazy to think that, like, with a assault rifle shot, they wouldn't wake up. Yeah, but maybe he walked in their room and ordered them to turn around, and he just. Boom, boom. And then Allison wakes up because she's here. She's heard all of that. That. And that's why she's up. And he shoots her essentially in the face. And then who knows? Maybe Don did try to get past him and he ordered her back up the stairs with the assault rifle.

[Elena]

But, like, why didn't any of the neighbors hear gunshots? That they heard a dog barking?

[Ash]

That I can't explain.

[Elena]

Like, it just. I'm so confused.

[Ash]

Or I don't. I mean, I know this is, like, a nice area.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Maybe people heard things and said. Just didn't want to say that they did.

[Elena]

But why? Like, people were found dead by gunshots. Like, it's not like, you'd be, like, weird to be like, oh, I heard.

[Ash]

Maybe they just.

[Elena]

Something that I didn't want to know was a gunshot.

[Ash]

Maybe they just didn't want to be involved at all.

[Elena]

But they were. They were offering information. They were saying, I heard the dog barking. They were saying, like, let me tell you about this family. They were saying, I saw lights on.

[Ash]

It is bizarre.

[Elena]

It just doesn't make sense. It really doesn't. It's so strange.

[Ash]

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[Elena]

But Don's wounds were the most horrific, I would say.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

The killer had stood about two feet away from her, according to the medical examiner, as she slept, shooting her in the back of the neck just below her left ear. Wow. And according to the autopsy report, the left side of her face had collapsed and brain particles mixed with the blood saturating on her pillow.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

She had a very disfiguring injury.

[Ash]

Yeah. And nobody else really did. Aside, I guess, from Alison.

[Elena]

Yeah. And she was shot right in the back of the neck. And it's again face down and from what the medical examiner was thinking was sleeping.

[Ash]

Why? How can you know if somebody's sleeping?

[Elena]

Probably just because of the trajectory and what they're looking at. They're saying, like, there was no movement, you know, like, they didn't try to move away from the bullet.

[Ash]

Like, which your instinct, natural instinct, is.

[Elena]

To move away from something that's going to hurt you. So if you're not moving away from it, they assume you have to be in an unconscious state.

[Ash]

But then if you're in bed and you know he's coming, there's not really any way out of that. So maybe she just cowered in bed.

[Elena]

But she didn't even do that.

[Ash]

What do you.

[Elena]

Head was on her pillow, and she was shot right in the back of the neck. If she had cowered, it would have, like, potentially, like, skimmed another side or, like, moved. That's what they did. Like, seeing where the bullet goes in and how there's no, like, movement to get away from it will tell you that that person wasn't conscious.

[Ash]

I don't know.

[Elena]

Because her head was right on her pillow.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And if she's trying to.

[Ash]

Like, she was sleeping on her side and.

[Elena]

No, she was. She was face down as well because she was shot right in the back of the neck. But I think what happened was it, like, went out her.

[Ash]

Just the exit.

[Elena]

Okay.

[Ash]

All right.

[Elena]

The way it had hit, like, collapsed to the side of her face.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Kind of thing.

[Ash]

I don't know. I'm trying.

[Elena]

Yeah. People have been trying for decades. I think it's just, like. It doesn't make sense. That's why this is such a, like, strange case, because not only is the crime horrific, and when you look at it, there's really no fucking real motive for this. There's also just these weird parts of, like, what? And, like, the family's a little mysterious when you really dig into it.

[Ash]

And it's like, oh, really?

[Elena]

Then you got those, like, you know, there's not mob ties, but it's like, you know, like, somewhere in that family, there's, like, mob ties, and it's like, history. This has nothing to do with the mob, but it's like that. It's just, like a weird layer on top of it. It's all very strange. But all six members of the DeFeo family had died from, quote, massive hemorrhaging due to bullet wound. Yeah. Now, when the news of the murders hit the press the next morning, everyone in Amityville were stunned. They were stunned that such a brutal crime was happening in that Small town. It's a very idyllic town, like we said. Everyone described the defeos as a nice, normal family who were always willing to lend a hand when someone else was in need. One of the neighbors said, like Ronald DeFeo Sr. Drove her to work every day when her car died. One neighbor told the reporter of Ronald and Louise they could not do enough for their children. The whole world was oriented around their children.

[Ash]

Wow.

[Elena]

They were very involved in their community as well, according to most. Like all the good things. While the neighbors had nothing but kind words to say about the victims, most people were decidedly less enthusiastic about Ronald DeFeo Jr. Yeah. According to one neighbor, Ronald was part of a crowd that would drink and then get into fights, but the next day, they'd apologize.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

She recalled an instance in recent months where Ronald had gotten into an argument while at a bar with some friends. And he had broken pool Q in half because he was angry.

[Ash]

Yikes.

[Elena]

Now, neighbors referred to him as creepy, always lurking around. It was theorized that because it was a big Italian family, the firstborn son is usually like the heir, you know, and just was supposed to carry look to as an important part of the family line.

[Ash]

Yeah, of course.

[Elena]

But according to those that knew him, Ronald DeFeo Jr. Was, like, not the ideal heir. He was a mess. Like, just a mess. He was always in trouble, always getting into things. He would go out partying, and then he would bring those parties back to the DeFeo house late at night, always causing issues. There was a lot of theories about, you know, his relationship with his father, which seemed to not be a good relationship.

[Ash]

Well, his dad was probably disappointed.

[Elena]

Yes. And I think they also had, like, a very volatile relationship where it got physical a lot between the two of them. That's true. Like, they would get into, like, a fist fight, like, essentially.

[Ash]

That should never happen.

[Elena]

No, it's awful. Now, for their part, a spokesperson for local law enforcement told reporters the murders were a real need job, indicating that there was very little evidence left at the scene and very few leads to work with. They were like, there's literally nothing very clean. There was no signs of struggle, robbery, leading investigators to believe the motive had just been murder. Yeah, like a murder. They were either going after one of the people and the rest were collateral, or it was all of them. It was just so. While Defeo slept in the homicide unit that night, investigators got word from the medical examiner that all of the Defeos had been killed with a.35 caliber Marlin rifle.

[Ash]

Imagine that.

[Elena]

Exactly. The model and caliber Bobby Kelsky had mentioned when police interviewed him at the scene. And the only gun that Ronald DeFeo could not account for. I'm like, you.

[Ash]

Really? You only lost that one.

[Elena]

Only that one. A little bit later, they got word from one of the technicians that upon a second search of the house, they discovered a box for a.35 caliber Marlin rifle. Like a back box of a. Like to hold the gun.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Hidden in Ron DeFeo's closet.

[Ash]

I gotta go.

[Elena]

The gun they couldn't find. At the very least, the box indicated that DeFeo had owned the same model gun used in the murders. Until that point, investigators had given Ron the benefit of the doubt. You know, losing your whole family in one night, you know, he might be under the influence. There's a lot going on.

[Ash]

Yeah. Many factors here.

[Elena]

But now they were starting to wonder if they just had their suspect in custody already, willingly, literally. Around 9 the next morning, November 15th, Detective Golov and several other homicide detectives returned to the office and woke up Ron, who immediately asked whether they'd found Tony Mazio yet. Okay. Gozaloff told him, well, we got people out looking for Tony Mazio, but he said, to tell you the truth, I think you're the guy we want.

[Ash]

Damn. Just like.

[Elena]

Like, woke him up and said, hit him. DeFeo was like, what are you talking like? Incredulous. Insisted Tony Mazio was the guy they wanted, but the detectives read him his rights and took him into custody for the murder of his parents, brothers and sisters. Yeah. When he was asked whether he wanted to speak to his lawyer, Ron said he waived his right to counsel and he said he was willing to cooperate. Ron began the second interview by insisting that his family had been killed by the New York mobile. But by then, go off. And the other investigators had assembled and presented the evidence that strongly indicated that Ron was involved.

[Ash]

Was Ron.

[Elena]

At one point, he claimed that he was just smoking pot in the basement when it happened, and he didn't hear anything.

[Ash]

Well, that doesn't make sense.

[Elena]

And then later, he claimed he heard the gunshots. Like, he. He came up with so many different things. But before that, go off. Said, let's go back to the day before and let's start over.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

And then he said, let's start with supper.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

Now, being confronted by all the evidence and the fact that they were like, we pretty much know you were involved, seemed to flip a little switch. And Ron. But before then, he was crying. He was upset. He was. I will do nothing but cooperate here, Whatever I can do. But now it's like, he took off a mask and his true failings came out because he. So the. So Gazelov said, let's start with supper. And he said, my mother was a lousy cook. And they were like, oh.

[Ash]

And they were.

[Elena]

And she said she cooked up some brown stuff in a bowl. It looked like shit and it smelled like shit.

[Ash]

Nice.

[Elena]

And they were like, fun.

[Ash]

Nice to speak of your recently deceased and murdered mother that way.

[Elena]

Yeah. And these unkind comments about his mother seemed wildly inappropriate to the investigator set. And they were like, wow, okay. But Rome was just getting started. He wasn't done.

[Ash]

Oh, no.

[Elena]

When they asked him about John and Mark, his little brothers, he said, my brothers is a couple of fucking pigs. And he said, I often use the bathroom that they used on the second floor and I go in there and sometimes there's toilet paper hanging out of the bowl.

[Ash]

I mean, yeah, they were like 7 and 12. 12. That checks.

[Elena]

Yeah. Kids are gross a lot. And it's like, try following up a bathroom after a kid.

[Ash]

Yeah, exactly.

[Elena]

And also they're your little brothers who were shot in their beds.

[Ash]

And you're just talking about them calling.

[Elena]

And you're just calling them pigs and like, what?

[Ash]

They just were murdered.

[Elena]

And his feelings about his sisters were not any better about Don. And this is like, terrible. Just so everybody knows, he said. He said that fat fuck Don.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

And then he talked about the kind of music that she listened to over and over. And he used a racial slur. Over and over. Oh, that the one you're thinking over and over. He said, she listened to that music all day and all night. And I can't even tell her to turn it down because if I tell her to turn it down down, I get my ass kicked. Okay, so now he's referring again to the allegations that Ronald Defeo Senior was abusive to his family.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

Now, he claimed that. Now after this, he claimed that Don shot all the family members, including the kids, and then he shot her in a rage about it.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

And then he also claimed he shot Don in self defense because she was going to shoot him with a rifle.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

Yeah. After ranting about his mother and the rest of the family and claiming that Don did it. No, she didn't, actually. She did. Maybe not. I don't know. I shot her. But then, whatever. Ron launched into a big long rant about his father, who he referred to as a cheap bastard. And he talked about his grandfather kind of equally the same way as unkind. Yeah. And the other members of the family when he was finally done giving his brutally honest roast opinion of his family. DeFeo still hadn't confessed to the murders at this point, but it was pretty clear. But to Gozaloff and the others, it seemed like he was pretty ready to do that. Without saying a word, the detectives got up from the table and left the room and were replaced by Dennis Rafferty, who was a homicide detective with the Amityville Police. Rafferty spent the next six and a half hours with Ron, and during this, he completely confessed to the murders of the family. Okay, it was clear that Ron hated his family. Like, it was very clear. He was acting all broken up before, but suddenly when that evidence was presented, it was like, mask off. They all suck ass. Let me tell you about all of them. He especially hated his father. Yeah, he fought with his father constantly, but it seemed like his motive was not that completely. At least his motive was money.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

According to DeFeo, his parents had a life insurance policy worth $200,000. Okay? In 2024. Money, that's over a million dollars. Over $1.2 million, actually.

[Ash]

Damn.

[Elena]

And as the only surviving member of the family, Ron would have been the beneficiary of that policy. On the night of the murders, Ronald woke up on the couch a little before 3am he went up to his bedroom, loaded his rifle, and went room by room shooting and killing his whole family. 3:00am Yep. He told Rafferty, I just started and it went so fast, I couldn't stop.

[Ash]

He just woke up and just in that moment, decided to kill them. Okay.

[Elena]

When he killed everyone in the house, Ron collected the shell casings and his bloody clothing into a pillowcase. He took a shower, he trimmed his beard, and then he left the house. He threw the rifle into a pond down the street. And eventually he ditched the pillowcase and other evidence in a storm drain in Brooklyn on his way to work. Then he just went to work.

[Ash]

What the.

[Elena]

When he was finished giving his confession, Rafferty asked whether DeFeo would sign a sworn statement that what he told them was true. But he refused. And he told the detectives he would not because he feared his grandfather, Michael Brigante, would see it. Okay, and it's like he's gonna hear about it, huh? Now, using the two diagrams Ron had drawn for them, detectives were able to locate the gun and the pillowcase full of shells and other evidence, which were brought back to the precinct. And DeFeo identified them as his belongings. Meanwhile, the clothing Ronald was wearing was taken as evidence, and he was charged and booked with six counts of second Degree murder. And he was taken into custody and held in detention until a grand jury was going to be convened in the coming days. Now, Dave found an interesting tidbit here. That first degree murder at the time was reserved for those who killed a police officer or prison guard.

[Ash]

Oh, so it had nothing to do with malice of Warthog?

[Elena]

Yeah, it was just like that was at the, at the moment, that was what that. In 74. We have come across this before. I, I'm fairly certain of it, but I always find it interesting.

[Ash]

Yeah, that is interesting.

[Elena]

Now, the news of Ronald's arrest shocked Amityville almost as much as the murders had shocked Amityville. DeFeo's friend Glenn Hoffman told a reporter, I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Even if they say it's true, he could have been set up for it. You, you don't know what's involved.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

For many, Ron's original claim of mafia involvement seemed more plausible than a son and a, and a brother murdering his entire family for no fucking reason.

[Ash]

I mean, yeah, that is hard to swallow.

[Elena]

Even his probation officer, William Benjamin, was stunned and said nothing indicated he could have resorted to violence of this kind.

[Ash]

That's kind of crazy.

[Elena]

Now, DeFeo was arranged in the First District Court on November 15, where his defense attorney, Leonard Simmons, requested a psychiatric examination. He told the judge, I have doubts about the defendant's ability to help in his own defense. Simmons also claimed that DeFeo had bruises on his body, which implied that he'd been abused by investigators while in custody. Judge Donald Opperin refused the defense's request for a psychiatric examination and refused bail. Wow. Nearly a year went by between the arrest and the trial. Damn. Yeah. Most of it was like pre trial hearings. The defense team's repeated and unsuccessful attempts to get Ron's confession grip thrown out. Yeah, they wanted to get it thrown out on the grounds that it was obtained through coercion. During this whole period, the prosecution called on a lot of the detectives who were involved in the interview process. And Dennis Rafferty said it was a tricky situation. We started out dealing with a guy who was the sole survivor of a family massacre. But the more we questioned him, the more holes there were in his account. And he kept changing things until finally he started crying, put his head on my shoulder and told me it just started. It went so fast, I just couldn't stop.

[Ash]

Damn.

[Elena]

Like, what are you gonna do? And Rafferty explained they began to suspect DeFeo was lying when he went from telling them he'd heard nothing that night to then changing his story several times to say he heard multiple gunshots and that he had even seen his brother John's toes twitching at one point when he discovered them. Because then he went back and said, well, I did discover the bodies of my siblings, and I saw John was alive.

[Ash]

What?

[Elena]

Yeah. Rafferty said that indicated to me that he was there right after the shooting took place. Right. And when Rafferty pointed that out, DeFeo changed his story again and said a hitman came to do it. The mob story again. And that the hitman actually made him watch everything at gunpoint, and that's why he saw his brother John's toe twitching.

[Ash]

And you would totally be super down to then tell the cops everything.

[Elena]

Yeah. And he said. So Rafferty had said to him, they wouldn't walk out without making you a piece of it. They must have made you. They must have made you do one of the shootings. Like, right? That's how hitmen work. Like, that's how the mob works. You're not leaving here unless you have blood on your hands. So you'll shut your mouth.

[Ash]

You won't go and talk to the police.

[Elena]

It was at that point that DeFeo broke down and confessed to the murders.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

Now, DeFeo, on the other hand, claimed that while he was in custody, the detectives beat him until he finally told them everything that they wanted to hear about how, quote, I supposedly killed every member of my family.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

According to DeFeo's testimony, investigators started abusing him at the house next to the DeFeo home, which they had set up as a command post at first, and continued abusing him until he, through him, being placed under arrest. Okay. So according to him, they think this man just lost his entire family, and they started beating the out of him.

[Ash]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[Elena]

Peloton has a ton of training programs, such as Pilates, boxing marathon prep, strength training, boot camps. There's so many ways to challenge yourself. And personally, I am always trying to do just that. I'm trying to do just a little bit more each week to build on my best. And Peloton helps because you can see your actual progress right there on the screen. It's honestly something that's so motivating to me. I love it. And whether it's trying to get a new PR or working towards shaving time off your mile, the instructors, classes and programs make you want to dig deep and get after it. My personal favorites are, of course, my Bradley Rose. He is always making me laugh and always making me feel so motivated. But I also have found some new instructors that I love, like Robin Arzone. She is so motivating. She makes me feel like I can push a mountain. She's amazing. So they pushed me hard enough to feel like I can beat my best. Find your push, find your power. With [e-mail] now he claimed they refused to let him eat or sleep during interrogation, and they denied him his request for an attorney, even though he had waived his right and they gave him.

[Ash]

A cop to sleep on.

[Elena]

Defeo told Judge Stark, I fell down. They stomped on my stomach, then my back and my legs. They put a telephone book on my head and hit me with blackjacks and then finally put a shopping bag over my head and slam my head into either the wall or the filing cabinet.

[Ash]

Totally.

[Elena]

Considering that the prosecution's case rested almost entirely on the confession, the claim that it was obtained illegally was taken very seriously, I'm sure.

[Ash]

And you have to take that seriously.

[Elena]

And the prosecution had to prove that it was. The problem for Defeo, though, was that his claims were extraordinary. And so they very much needed to be backed up by evidence of this supposed beating. But the only injury anyone saw at the time of his arraignment was a small, mostly healed cut above his eye. And in the rebuttal, the prosecutor, Gerard Sullivan, called on one of DeFeo's school friends who told the judge that he had been at the house about a week before the murder and had seen Ronald and his father get into a fistfight fight. Oh, and he said during that fist fight he got that minor injury above his eye.

[Ash]

That's really sad.

[Elena]

Which is sad Now. Judge Stark later wrote, I found that DeFeo's testimony was largely untruthful. His testimony was that he was given no food or drink, not permitted to sleep for over 24 hours. It was seemed totally unreasonable and unbelievable his failure to complain to the district court judge on November 15 about the alleged extreme police brutality the previous day, nor to mention it in any documents supporting his pretrial motions was a factor leading me to believe it never occurred.

[Ash]

Yeah. Because also, why wouldn't he bring down there after? First of all, I don't think the cops would beat the shit out of him a day before he has to stand before a judge.

[Elena]

Yeah, it's not a good look.

[Ash]

And a judge would notice that and do something about it. And he would complain about it. Yeah.

[Elena]

He would say, they beat the shit out of me. This is why I'm here.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

This is so He. So this was the biggest factor in Stark's decision. And after considering the evidence and testimony, he ruled that the confession was given voluntarily. It was going to be admissible in the trial.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

So with the pre trial hearings out of the way, Ron DeFeo's murder trial began on October 6, 1975, in the Supreme Court of New York. In the opening statements, Gerard Sullivan laid out the State's theory that DeFeo had murdered his family because of his, quote, deteriorating relationship with his parents and because of another separate and distinctive reason, a thirst for money. Money. Sullivan told the jury the prosecution would pre prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ron had commit. Hadn't committed the murders impulsively, but had, in fact, acted on a methodical plan that began with tying the dog outside. Because that's a big part of this. Yep, you tied the dog up.

[Ash]

Exactly.

[Elena]

You didn't just walk up there and start shooting. You tied the dog up. That shows a plan. And it ended with him calmly and methodically picking up exhausted bullets and casing, taking off his bloodstained clothing, trimming his beard, and getting rid of all of that in a Brooklyn storm drain.

[Ash]

Also, the thought of him just trimming his beard in the house where all of his family lay dead because of him.

[Elena]

Yeah.

[Ash]

Is fucking horrifying.

[Elena]

Chilling.

[Ash]

Chilling to the bone.

[Elena]

Meanwhile, the dog is tied up outside barking his ass off because you tied him up, because you planned it.

[Ash]

That's so scary.

[Elena]

In his opening remarks, the defense attorney, William Weber, who is a real piece of work, told the jury they would prove that DeFeo's confession was beaten out of him and that he was not mentally competent when the slayings took place. Which is like, what. Where did that come from? Weber assured the jury that DeFeo would take the stand and, quote, tell you the truth about what happened at that house that night. I doubt it. And they would also call multiple psychiatrists who would testify that Ronald DeFeo Jr. Was not of sound mind and thus couldn't be held responsible for whatever it happened that night.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

The prosecution had a relatively straightforward tale to tell. It was the one that most people were already familiar with because it had a lot of press coverage. The medical examiner testified, you know, to the extent of the victim's wounds, including the fact that at least two of the victims, Louise and Don, had been conscious and aware before they were shot. I think also Allison, they believed was possibly conscious.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

In the days that followed, several investigators detailed their experiences at the crime scene and their interactions with DeFeo before and after his arrest. Detective Gozaloff for example, told the jury about his various interviews with DeFeo and Ron's disclosure that he was an active heroin user who had injected drugs as recently as the day of the murders. Now, the most important testimony came from those investigators who had taken multiple statements from Ron DeFeo. In his testimony, Dennis Rafferty told the jury that Ron had given multiple accounts, ranging from him simply discovering some of the bodies to his hearing the shots, and then eventually his confession that he acted alone in killing all six members of his family. By then, the detective explained that they already strongly suspected that he was the murderer.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

Based on the inconsistency in his stories and the various pieces of evidence that they got from the scene, which included the ammunition. Tons of it. And the box for the Marlin rifle that was used in the murders.

[Ash]

And hidden.

[Elena]

Yeah. So Rafferty's testimony was backed up by the other detectives present during this time, including Lieutenant Robert Dunn, who told the jury, I got up and left the room in awe of the horror of what I had just heard. Dunn, who was a member of the Organized Crime unit, explained that he was called in by the local authorities because of that whole claim about the Tony Mazio thing. The members of the Mafia involved, however, they investigated that claim, and he said, there's absolutely no ties to that whatsoever. Yeah. Finally, Dunn also refuted the claim that DeFeo was mistreated and abused while in police custody. And he said, as far as he knew and saw, he gave his confession completely voluntarily.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

Now, the State's case against DeFeo was strong and supported by evidence, but Sullivan nonetheless anticipated an insanity defense and was prepared with witnesses to combat that claim. Time.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

In her testimony for the prosecution, DeFeo's aunt, Phyllis Presido. So DeFeo's aunt told the jury, Ronald's history of mental illness was a hoax perpetrated in order to keep Ron from being sent to Vietnam. Oh, yeah. According to Thickens, it does. According to the aunt, about a year before the murders, she was, quote, introduced to a man who claimed to have been paid $5,000 to keep Ron out of the US Army.

[Ash]

Oh, fuck.

[Elena]

This was among several examples where Ronald Senior seemingly paid or otherwise compensated individuals to keep his son out of trouble or to get him out of trouble that he had already been in.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

On November 6th, Ron DeFeo Jr. Took the stand to testify on his own behalf.

[Ash]

That must have been something.

[Elena]

And he wanted to provide support for that insanity defense. According to his testimony, DeFeo told Weber and the jury that he felt, quote, duty bound to kill Anyone he considered a threat yet. And he saw nothing wrong with killing his entire family, which he claimed was done in self defense.

[Ash]

Oh, good.

[Elena]

Even the seven year old.

[Ash]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[Elena]

He said, quote, when I have a gun in my hand, I'm God. According to DeFeo, he woke up on the couch the night of the murders and saw his sister dawn standing before him in the living room with the rifle in her hands. And she told him that she was going to kill everyone.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

So he said, I took the rifle away from her and she just disappeared. And I walked a few feet into my parents bedroom and I just started to shoot.

[Ash]

That doesn't make any sense.

[Elena]

What? When he was cross examined by Sullivan, DeFeo reiterated that he had killed all six members of his family. But then later in his testimony to the prosecution, he claimed he believed his sister Don had killed his brothers.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

According to DeFeo, Don was constantly at odds with their parents and their arguments did frequently escalate to violent confrontations between her and their father. This is according to Rom DeFeo.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

He said on the stand, he said, I should have let them kill each other. Oh, I believe this was not a happy household all the time. That's sad. But it's all, you know, this is all just coming from his mouth as well.

[Ash]

Yeah. So you have to take it with a bit of a grain of salt.

[Elena]

In defense of his insanity plea, Ronald told the jury he frequently heard voices in the house. House coming from the house, which is where we get the next the haunting. And had command hallucinations that instructed him to act out violently. He said, for months before the incident, I heard voices and whenever I looked around, there was no one there. So it must have been God talking to me.

[Ash]

Probably not.

[Elena]

When Weber asked if he thought anyone in the courtroom had been trying to kill him, he replied, yeah, Phyllis presedo my aunt who was sitting out there.

[Ash]

That's new. New information.

[Elena]

Yeah. So upon redirection, Sullivan said, is there anyone else you think is trying to kill you? And he said, you. So he's really trying for that insanity defense.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

It seems that Phyllis Presido wasn't the only witness. The prosecution had planned to undermine DeFeo's claims of insanity. They also called out a former cellmate of his, A cellmate that he had apparently boasted about his planned defense to.

[Ash]

Oh, God.

[Elena]

According to John Kramer, who shared a cell next to DeFeo in the sickbay, Ron had told him about his plan to plead insanity and boasted that he was, quote, bigger than Charles Manson.

[Ash]

Oh, please.

[Elena]

Kramer told the jury, he was in the cell next to me in the sick bay area of the jail, and he kept telling me all these things, even after I told him I didn't want to hear anything or get involved. Sullivan also subpoenaed several of the guards at the jail who testified that DeFeo had asked them how the mentally ill inmates acted when they were locked up.

[Ash]

I always wonder why inmates will do that, because I'm like, do you not think that these people have. Like that they're not going to rat on you?

[Elena]

Do you think they.

[Ash]

That's their literal job.

[Elena]

Like, do you think they have any loyalty to you?

[Ash]

Do you just think.

[Elena]

Do you think at all? Do you think so? One of the guards, James DeVito, basically, when DeFeo had asked him, like, how do they act? He said he told him inmates burned things, pretended to forget the names of prisoners and guards whom they knew sat on a shelf in the cell and feigned suicide attempts.

[Ash]

Okay.

[Elena]

And according to DeVito, right after I told him those things, he began doing them all and yelling at me to enter them in the logbook. But I considered them silly and refused to make any entries, except for the incident when he tried to set the cell on fire.

[Ash]

Oh, my God.

[Elena]

Now, towards the end of the trial, Sullivan called Dr. Harold Zolon to testify as to his experience evaluating Ron following his arrest. Zolon testified that he diagnosed DeFeo with an antisocial personality.

[Ash]

I could see that.

[Elena]

But he added that the diagnosis did not affect his ability to tell right from wrong.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

And insisted he, quote, was aware of what he was doing when he killed his parents and four brothers and sisters.

[Ash]

Yep.

[Elena]

Zolon further said if he was in any paranoid psychosis, there would be no compulsion for him to hide the signs of his wrongdoing, such as trying to destroy the evidence or lie to the police. Right. On November 19, the trial came to a close after each side gave their closing remarks. And in his statement, Gerard Sullivan went over all the evidence, all the testimony for the jury and reminded them that DeFeo had confessed to the crime, but only recently had started claiming that he was mentally ill when he killed his family.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

Rather than insanity, Sullivan restated the state's belief that DeFeo callously, calmly, and coldly planned the execution of his family, carried them out, and then went about carefully taking the murder rifle and the used cartridges and his bloodstained clothing and hiding them in an obscure Brooklyn storm drain to cover up his role in the murders. He reminded the jury that no one was denying that DeFeo was sick only that he wasn't so impaired that he didn't know what he was doing was wrong. Now, William Weber, on the other hand, said while his client had committed the murders, he had only done so because he was insane at the time and was heavily influenced by psychedelic psychotic delusions. Excuse me. Also, he continued to assert that DeFeo had only confessed after being beaten and abused by investigators. Now, at the time, Ron Defo's trial was the longest criminal trial held in Suffolk County.

[Ash]

Oh, wow.

[Elena]

Lasting nearly a month and a half. After almost three days of deliberation, the jury emerged before a little before noon on November 21st and announced that they had reached a unanimous decision, finding Ron DeFeo guilty on all six counts of second degree murder. Suffolk County District Attorney Henry O'Brien said in a statement to the press, I'm extremely pleased the members of this jury realize the viciousness of the defendant and have removed a menace to our community. When asked for comment on the verdict, defense attorney William Weber shook his head and said, I'm glad I wasn't a member of that jury.

[Ash]

What does that even mean?

[Elena]

Okay, you are the defense attorney, though that's an even worse position.

[Ash]

I'm like, I don't really get it because you lost. Yeah.

[Elena]

So for the jurors, it really all came down to his attempts to hide the evidence and conceal his guilt after committing the murders.

[Ash]

That's what it would be for me.

[Elena]

Yeah. Like the spent shells, his clothing that.

[Ash]

He showered in, trimmed his beard.

[Elena]

He was of sound mind. He knew what he was doing. One of the jurors said that was a major sign of guilt. He knew what he was doing. Yep. On November 4th, Ronald Ron was back before Judge Thomas Stark for sentencing. And at the time, Sullivan urged the court to show. To not show any mercy in handing down DeFeo's sentence, describing the crime as an event so appalling and cataclysmic that it is without equal. Yeah, it's true. It's a annihilation. Like the jurors, Judge Stark couldn't ignore the extent that DeFeo went to. To conceal his criminal acts and deflect the guilt onto innocent people as well. He's trying to get someone else to go down for this.

[Ash]

Right.

[Elena]

He said. I stated my intention to impose life sentences with the longest minimum period possible. I then imposed six sentences of life imprisonment, each with a minimum of 25 years to run consecutively with respect to each other.

[Ash]

Damn.

[Elena]

So he handed down six life sentences to him.

[Ash]

So I think that's what he deserved.

[Elena]

So I found this article by Marvin Scott from Long Island. We'll include it somewhere. But he had followed the story closely, and he had spoken via letters to DeFeo a lot. And one of the letters with DeFeo. DeFeo said he admitted there was absolutely no voices in the house, even though he had claimed on the stand that there was. He said there was no insanity. And he wrote there was no demon. You know who the demon is? I'm the demon. Well, that's even scarier now. And he also claimed later that there was never a question of sanity and everyone knew it. He said his defense attorney, William Weber, capitalized on that and he wanted to get book deals and a movie going about the case. So he incur. He wanted that insanity defense. And he actually tried to get a new trial later based on his claims of this with the previous defense, but he didn't get one. Now, in the years that followed, Ronald DeFeo and his defense attorney, William Weber, did file multiple appeals and petitions. Petitions for parole at various points maintaining his innocence and claims of mental illness, even though later they would abandon that.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

But each of the attempts was denied by the appeal ports and the courts and the parole board. And ultimately DeFeo would spend the rest of his life in New York's prison system. Until his death on March 12, 2021, I was gonna say, but no one knows how he died.

[Ash]

How old was he?

[Elena]

He was 69.

[Ash]

And there's. They don't know how he died at all.

[Elena]

They know how he died. We don't know how he died. It's undisclosed.

[Ash]

Do you.

[Elena]

Can't find it anywhere.

[Ash]

Do you think it's just to add to the. I don't know. I mean, I don't know why anybody.

[Elena]

Would want to do that.

[Ash]

But.

[Elena]

But I. I don't know.

[Ash]

That's bizarre.

[Elena]

Yeah. I don't know if someone took him out or what. And. And under normal circumstances, this, you know, Ron DeFeo's post conviction life would probably have just like, faded into obscurity, like resurfacing every now and then, you know, as one does. Sure. But a few years after his conviction, DeFeo's crimes in his defense would become the basis for one of America's most sensational and controversial paranormal stories. You know what I'm talking about? The Amityville horror. We're talking about Kathy and George. George Lutz. That's what it is. I was like, what's George?

[Ash]

Basic white man names.

[Elena]

Yep. So they. It ensured that his legacy went much further than his death. Which.

[Ash]

Yeah.

[Elena]

But next we will be talking about the wild tale that is the Amityville Horror, the bleeding losing walls, the bleeding the pigs. Yep, we'll be talking about it all. We'll talking about the the Ed and Lorraine Warren of it all, the preachers, all the things associated with it. Because there's so many things it's gonna.

[Ash]

Get wily as next time.

[Elena]

See you Wiley. See you then.

[Ash]

So we hope you keep listening and.

[Elena]

We hope you keep it we but.

[Ash]

That'S where that you annihilate your entire family because what the is up with that? That's really up.

[Elena]

That's way too weird. I hate that.

[Ash]

That's if you like morbid, you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey.

[Elena]

Hotshot Australian Attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own.

[Ash]

She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld and she's informing on them all.

[Elena]

I'm Marcia Clark, host of the new podcast Informed Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created.

[Ash]

She just didn't know how to stop.

[Elena]

Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informants Lawyer X exclusively on one replacement. Join Wondry plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify and listen to more. Exhibit C True Crime shows early and ad free right now.