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- [00:04]
Colin Brown
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Shifting a little money here, a little there, and hoping it all works out well? With the name your price tool from Progressive, you can be a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance and they'll help you find options within your your budget. Try it today@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law not available in all states and now let's get back to.
- [00:37]
Sponsor Voice
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- [01:07]
Colin Brown
Antiperspirant brand Warning the following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects.
- [01:20]
Courtney Brown
Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children.
- [01:27]
Colin Brown
This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.
- [01:32]
Courtney Brown
In the town of Babylon, New York, on Long Island's south shore, there's a village called Amityville. Before that name became stitched into the fabric of American horror, most people had never even heard of Amityville, because for decades it was nothing more than a quiet and peaceful bayside community. In the mornings, people would step out onto their porches overlooking the water and breathe in the fresh air, which smelled of salt and pine. For many of its residents, life in Amityville moved like the tide, slow and without incident. But that would all change on November 13, 1974, when one house on Ocean Avenue broke from that stillness, bringing in the storm that would forever mark their city. By the end of that day, six members of the DeFeo family would lay dead in their bedrooms, brutally gunned down, and one man paid the price. But in the decades after their murders, and still to this day, people have questions about the true story of the Amityville murders. So this is the story of the DeFeo family murders. I'm Courtney Browen.
- [02:48]
Colin Brown
And I'm Colin Brown, and you're listening.
- [02:51]
Courtney Brown
To Murder in America. Sam.
- [03:54]
Colin Brown
In the 1970s. If you were to have looked at the home at 112 Ocean Avenue, you'd see a beautiful Dutch Colonial that stood among a screen of trees. Behind it, a small boathouse rested at the water's edge. The house itself was painted black and white. It had a gambrel roof bent like a head bowed in prayer, and quarter round windows that almost resemble a pair of eyes. Neighbors had always admired the home for its simple elegance, the way it rested beside the sea. It was a simple but beautiful home, perfect for raising a family. Which is exactly why the DeFeo family moved here from Brooklyn, New York.
- [04:30]
Courtney Brown
Ronald DeFeo Sr. Was born on November 16, 1930. He was described as a very handsome man. He was slender, with a strong and powerful personality. He captivated the people around him, including a young woman named Louise Brigante. She was born on November 3, 1931, and like Ronald, Luis was beautiful. Soon after meeting, the two knew that they were meant to be together. And nothing was going to get in the way of that. Not even Louise's parents. You see, Louise came from a very affluent family. They had very high standards for their daughter. They didn't think Ronald was a good fit. They even told her that if she married him, they would cut off all ties. But Louise didn't seem to care, because soon after meeting, the two rushed off and became husband and wife. Not long after that, Louise found out she was pregnant. And eventually her parents came back around. Now, they still didn't approve of her husband, Ronald, but they wanted to get to know their grandson, Ronald DeFeo Jr. Who was born on September 26, 1951.
- [05:42]
Colin Brown
With their growing family, Louise's parents wanted to mend their fractured relationship. They also wanted to make sure they had plenty of money to support themselves. So Louise's parents even offered Ronald a job as a service manager at their family's Brigante Carl Buick car dealership. Which was definitely needed, because soon after Ronald Jr. S birth, Luis was pregnant again. Over the years, she would give birth to four more children. Don Teresa, born in 1956. Allison Louise, born in 1961. Mark Gregory, born in 1962. And John Matthew, born in 1965. Before they knew it, there were seven members of the DeFeo family cramped into a small Brooklyn apartment. And that's when they started looking into buying a house outside of the city. Somewhere quaint and peaceful where their children could run around in the yard. And eventually they found that dream house at 112 Ocean Avenue in the affluent Long island neighborhood of Amityville. Now, this house was well out of their price range. Most people in that area were very wealthy, and Ronald didn't make enough money to live in a house like that. But luckily for them, Louise's parents bought it for them. In addition, they also paid roughly $50,000 to create life size portraits of the entire DeFeo family. The portraits, which would take over a year to complete, would hang on the staircase wall of the DeFeo home, later bearing witness to the event that would earn Amityville its infamy.
- [07:10]
Courtney Brown
After moving into the home, it seemed like the DeFeo family had it all. The big house, secure jobs, plenty of money, and a bunch of children who were often seen laughing and playing in the front yard. Many of their neighbors described the defeos as quiet, but friendly and kind. At one point, an elderly woman in their neighborhood lost her husband and the defeos befriended the widow and helped take care of her from the outside looking in. They were a good Italian Catholic family who traveled together, prayed together and played games together in the neighborhood. But like every family, the defeos weren't perfect. Ronald Sr. Was known for his temper. Those who came to visit would claim that he and Louise had a habit of getting into shouting matches, and they didn't care who was around to hear it. At some point, for unknown reasons, Louise left her husband. She was done with him and ready to move on. But Ronald Sr. Fought for her. Desperate to get his wife back, he co wrote a song called the Real Thing. It was a declaration of his love. Jazz artist Joe Williams recorded and released the song on his album 1 is a lonesome Number. And after hearing the song, Luis returned to her husband. But their family struggles didn't end there. It was later discovered that Ronald Sr. Was abusive to his children. He ruled their home with an iron fist, which had a negative effect on the young kids. As they grew up, they often fought with each other, each spurred on by their violent father. But the child that seemed to have the most issues was their eldest son, Ronald Jr. Who many referred to as Butch.
- [09:02]
Colin Brown
Butch was the firstborn as well as a boy in the 1970s in an Italian family butcher, that meant much more than it does today. Fathers had high expectations for their sons, considering them the future men of the family rather than just children. As he grew up, Butch quickly learned to stay out of trouble. His father, Ronald Sr. Could be affectionate when he wanted to be, but this could change at the drop of a hat. One minute Ronald Sr. Would be hugging his son, the next, young Butch would be aggressively thrown across the room. But his father was not the only trial that Butch faced either. As a child, he struggled with being overweight. In the 1970s, being overweight meant being a social outcast. He would continue to struggle with weight until his teenage years, and his life at school was nothing less than misery. Butch was brutally teased by the children in his class. They would often call him names like the Blob and Porkchop because of his size. No one ever wanted to be his friend. He was socially rejected in almost every sense. Over the years, his inability to lose weight, in addition to the severe bullying he faced, led Butch to start dabbling in drugs to ease the pain. He started with amphetamines. But by the time he was 17, Butch had fully succumbed to addiction, regularly abusing LSD and heroin.
- [10:22]
Courtney Brown
And it didn't help that Butch's grandparents had a lot of money, which he often benefited from. It was widely known that Butch was usually given whatever he wanted. People described him as a spoiled brat. And eventually, after years and years of bullying, he became a bully himself. He had a reputation for drugs, drinking, and violence. At school, he was constantly getting into fights with people, so much so he was eventually expelled. After that, he decided he was done with school altogether and dropped out. It wasn't the life that his parents wanted for him, but it seemed as if there wasn't much they could do. They had always hoped that one day Butch would grow out of his immaturity and become a responsible adult. But it seemed as if the dysfunction of his upbringing carried over into early adulthood. His first real job was working with his father at the family's car dealership. But he spent nearly every cent he earned on drugs. When he ran out of his own money, he started stealing from others. In 1973, his family came home to see that some cash and valuables had been stolen from their house. Ronald Sr. Quickly called the police to report the robbery. But when detectives arrived, they noticed there was no forced entry into the home. And soon after, Ronald and Louise would learn that the thief was none other than their eldest son, Butch. He eventually admitted to stealing the items so he could purchase drugs and alcohol. And you would think that with this discovery, it would elicit a change in Butch, that he would at least try to get his act together. That wasn't the case. In fact, the following year, in late October of 1974, only a few weeks before the events of November 13, Butch was tasked with bringing the dealership's money to the bank. It was around $20,000 that he was supposed to deposit. But later that evening, Butch came running through the doors of his home, claiming that he had been robbed at gunpoint by two masked men who forced him to hand over the money. Once again, Ronald Sr. Immediately called the police. But at the very start of their investigation, there were inconsistencies in Butch's story. They found no witnesses, no descriptions of the suspects, nor any evidence of a struggle. There was nothing to indicate that anything had ever happened beyond the fact that the money had gone missing. And the detective's suspicions were right. Butch had stolen the entire payroll to buy himself booze and drugs. As you can imagine, his father was furious. But instead of being remorseful about his actions, Butch became violent. He threatened to kill his father, refusing to return the money that he had stolen.
- [13:22]
Colin Brown
And disturbingly, this wasn't the first time that Butch had threatened to kill Ronald Sr. Allegedly the year prior, in 1973, the two got into an argument that ended with Butch pulling a gun on his father. And things continued to escalate. At some point, Butch aimed the gun at Ronald Sr. And pulled the trigger. But luckily the weapon misfired. So as you can see, Ronald Sr. And Luis had been struggling with their eldest son for years. He was constantly drinking and doing drugs, stealing money and getting into fights. It's said that he was stealing $500 from his father every week, doing anything he liked, so long as he believed he could get away with it. Butch had also gotten in trouble with the law. By November of 1974, he was on probation for previous crimes. But he was still drinking and doing drugs despite the threat of random drug testing. Now, surprisingly, despite Butch's alarming and criminal behavior, the Defeo seemed to keep his crimes hidden from the public. At the end of the day, they loved their son and they didn't want him to have a bad reputation. So from the outside, no one in town knew just how badly their family was struggling. The Defeos carried a general reputation as good hearted people. Which is exactly why no one expected the events of November 13, 1974.
- [14:45]
Courtney Brown
That evening, after the sun set on the town of Amityville, a number of residents gathered at a local bar called Henry's. It was a popular little bar where many people came to drink away the stresses of their day. And this day was no different. But around 6:30pm as patrons sipped their cocktails and beers, they suddenly heard the front door slam open. Everyone's eyes darted in that direction where they saw a panicked man standing on the threshold. It was 23 year old butch Defeo. He started screaming that he needed help as he had Just found his parents shot to death inside their home. Now, as luck would have it, Butch's best friend, Robert Kelsky happened to be at the bar that night. Robert quickly ran to his side where Butch collapsed to the ground, hysterically crying. As Butch looked up at his friend, he begged for help.
- [15:43]
Colin Brown
Bobby, you gotta help me. Somebody shot my mother and father.
- [15:47]
Courtney Brown
Are you sure they're dead? Robert asked. Frantic, Butch admitted that he walked into his parents bedroom and saw them bloodied and lifeless, lying in their bed. So hearing this, Bobby felt like there was nothing else to do but to go and see for himself. He called out to the other patrons for help and a small party gathered to go and investigate the scene.
- [16:10]
Colin Brown
John Altieri, Joey Yeswit, Al Saxton and William Scottamaglia all gathered together inside of Butch's car, a 1970 Buick Electra 225. Butch was so distraught, his best friend Bobby decided to drive them to the house at 112 Ocean Avenue. The home was only a block away, yet he drove frantically. His friend in the backseat was in a genuine panic. He could tell that something was very wrong. One of the passengers cried out for Bobby to slow down, but Bobby ignored him and within just seconds the car was parked outside of the Defeo household. The home, built in 1925 with those spooky farmhouse windows, loomed over the party like a cliff. It was massive though, long and narrow, with the front yard bearing a signpost that read High Hopes. Behind the sign, statuettes of children posed in prayer toward a larger figure of St. Thomas holding a baby Jesus. It was a stark contrast to the sense of foreboding in his heart. As Bobby walked up to the front lawn and approached the door.
- [17:15]
Courtney Brown
One of the other members of the party warned Bobby to be cautious. But Bobby said he didn't care. He opened the unlocked front door to hear the frantic barks of the family's dog, named Shaggy. As Bobby looked around, he saw the pristine marble floors, the red velvet textured wallpaper and the crystal chandelier. Everything looked perfectly in place. There were no signs of a struggle, no signs of a killer lurking within. So Bobby took the lead as the rest of the party formed up behind him, creeping up the stairs to the second floor. Bobby had his eyes set on the primary bedroom, the very room where Butch claimed to have found his dead parents. Now, Bobby was a regular visitor at the home, so he knew exactly where to go. But as soon as he made it to the second floor, he noted something that chilled him to his core. It was the overwhelming stench of death. He didn't know it at the time, but that home was filled with blood and he was about to see it for himself. Bobby stopped in the doorway of the primary bedroom, preparing himself for what he was about to see when he turned on the light. When he finally worked up the courage to flip the switch, nothing could have prepared him. On the bed, 43 year old Ronald DeFeo Sr. Was lying on his stomach, a hole in the center of his bare back. Dry blood trickled from the wound, pulling down to soak his boxer shorts. Next to him, 42 year old Luis Defeo was lying motionless, but her wounds were not that visible. Her bloody form was covered by an orange blanket as if she had been hiding. Bobby found himself feeling faint looking at the gruesome scene in front of him. He and the other men quickly ran down the stairs, passing by the life size portraits of the family members. The eyes of the mother and father bore down on them as they descended. Though no one even knew just how depraved this crime actually was, John Altieri would be the unfortunate soul to discover that. Wanting to check on the children, John approached a bedroom on the northeast side of the house. Upon entering, he saw the boyish wallpaper with ships, cannons and eagles that cover the room. He saw the toys and shoes that littered the floor, the Catholic statuettes on the dresser. The boys who owned them were still in their beds. They were lying face down just as their parents had been and both were soaked in blood.
- [20:05]
Colin Brown
Nine year old John Defeo was in the bed to the left of the door. It was impossible to see where he had been shot as there was far too much blood stained on his sweatshirt. The bed to the right bore the corpse of 12 year old Mark Defeo, a bullet hole piercing his back, A mirror of his father, a wheelchair and a pair of crutches lay beside his bed as he had recently been injured in a football game. John Altieri's eyes were wide when he backed out of the bedroom. He quickly came back downstairs and reported what he had seen to the other men. Joe Yeswit quickly picked up the house phone and dialed 911 to report the grim discovery. On the phone Joe reports that there were four bodies in the house, but little did they know there were two more. The men had yet to find the bodies of 18 year old dawn and 13 year old Allison. When the police arrived, they located the girls in their bedrooms with gunshot wounds disfiguring their bodies. Walking room to room, they counted six members of the DeFeo family brutally murdered. They knew right Then that they had just responded to the most gruesome and heinous crime their town had ever seen. And the main person they wanted to speak with was the only surviving member of the family, Butch. The questions came like rapid fire. What had he seen? What could he tell them? And who could do something like this? And Butch had an answer for them. He believed that the person responsible was a mob hitman named Louis Fellini. Now, this man's name wasn't pulled out of thin air. As it turns out, Ronald DeFeo Sr. Came from a family of mobsters. In fact, his brother Peter was the captain of the Genovese crime family. That's actually part of the reason why Luis's parents didn't want them to get married all those years ago. And according to Butch, Louis Fellini, who was in that mob, had a grudge against his family.
- [21:53]
Courtney Brown
After getting the name of their newest suspect, they returned to their other questions. One of them was, how did the bodies remain undiscovered for so long? Much of the blood at the scene had dried up, so they had been laying there dead for quite some time. Butch had an explanation for that, too. He stated that he had taken off work the day before the murders because he was sick. But when he woke up on the 13th, he felt good enough to go in. However, when he arrived at work that day, there wasn't much for him to do. So he left around lunchtime. From there, Butch said he spent some time with his girlfriend, Mendy. And when he finally got back home, he realized he had forgotten his house key. Butch said that he knocked on the door for several minutes, but no one answered. He assumed no one was home, so that's when he left and went over to a friend's house where he relaxed for most of the afternoon. Finally, later that night, he returned home once again. But still, the door was locked and no one was letting him inside. Butch said that at that point, he decided to climb into the house through a window. And shortly after, he discovered the bodies of his parents.
- [23:13]
Colin Brown
During Butch's interrogation, he completely denied having anything to do with his family's murder. But he did confess to other crimes he committed. He told them that he had recently broken into a neighbor's home and stole their antiques so he could sell them for drug money. He also said that even though he was on probation, he had been using heroin. When the police asked how he had managed to do that, he said that his little sister dawn, had been giving him clean urine for his drug tests. Butch consistently stated throughout these confessions that he Wanted to be honest with the police, Emphasizing his dedication to helping them in this devastating situation. And given his willingness to talk, the police didn't know what or who to believe. In the beginning, they hadn't completely crossed Butch off the suspect list, but they were also looking into this mafia hitman possibility. Just in case the family was murdered by the mafia, Butch was placed into protective custody. Meanwhile, police continued looking at the evidence at the scene.
- [24:09]
Courtney Brown
As police look through the house, Luis's father, Michael, arrived. He was clearly distraught after learning that his daughter was murdered along with most of her family. And the police wasted no time asking him questions. They asked Michael if he believed the family had been murdered by the mafia. But Michael quickly shut that down. Next, they asked him about Butch. Do you think he could be responsible for this? But Michael said, no, he couldn't have. He was a wonderful grandson, and Michael was very, very proud of him. But soon enough, Michael, the police would find something at the scene that would completely change the direction of their investigation. During their walkthrough of the defeo home, Authorities stepped into Butch's bedroom, Where they found a box of ammunition for a.35 caliber Marlin gun, the exact type of ammunition that had been used to take the lives of the six family members. Soon after, they also found the gun itself Thrown into a canal near the edge of the property. And it was at that moment where they knew that this was not the work of a mafia hitman. The defeo family was likely murdered by their eldest son, butch. After finding this evidence, Authorities took another look at the timeline he gave them. And that also didn't make much sense. You see, the family had all been found in bed, still wearing their pajamas, Meaning that the murders most likely occurred late the previous night or early that morning. It couldn't have happened while Butch was at work, Meaning he was home at the time of the murders.
- [25:53]
Colin Brown
Further searches of the house produced several more guns. Investigators learned that in addition to delving into drugs, Butch had become a gun buff. A dangerous combination. So considering the evidence found in his bedroom, the. Along with the timeline Inconsistencies in Butch's story, they began to form a new, more disturbing theory. Eventually, police sat down with Butch for another interview. But once again, he denied any involvement. And he continued pushing the theory that his family was murdered by the mafia. But the police turned up the heat. They began asking him questions about his family, and right before their eyes, they watched his attitude turn hostile. When asked if he had eaten dinner with his family the night before, Butch responded that he hadn't because his mother was a lousy cook and that she had made some brown shit in a bowl for dinner that night. When asked about his siblings, he called his two younger brothers fucking pigs and his sister Dawn, a fat fuck who played her music too loudly. He had nothing to say about Allison, but this attitude was far from what the police had expected. Usually when someone has just lost their entire immediate family, they are wracked with grief, not spouting insults and expletives. At one point, Butch even asked the detective how he would go about collecting his father's life insurance money. So the more he talked, the more they believed he was their suspect. And that's when they laid out their hand, telling Butch all about the evidence they found in his bedroom. They also told him that based on their findings, his family was murdered at around 3 or 4am not while he was at work. And slowly but surely, they saw a look of defeat fall across Butch's face. And it's here where he changed his story this time.
- [27:38]
Courtney Brown
Butch claimed that Louis Fellini, the mobster who held a grudge against his family, randomly showed up at their home early that morning. There was another man there with him, but Butch didn't recognize him. He said that when Fellini saw him, he pressed a gun to his head and the two mobsters forced him to watch as they walked room to room, killing off his family. But eventually this story began to unravel as well. When police asked Butch if he had been forced to take part in the murders, he placed his head in his hands and told them, give me a moment. Then finally, after a few minutes, he changed his story again. This time he said he lied. There were no mobsters that came to his house. Butch then uttered these infamous words.
- [28:27]
Colin Brown
Once I started, I couldn't stop. It went so fast.
- [28:31]
Courtney Brown
According to Butch's new story, he got out of bed sometime between 2:30 and 3:30am on November 13, 1974. He said he opened up his gun stash that he had kept a secret within the house. There were a number of guns inside, but Butch pulled out his.35 caliber Marlin rifle and from there he walked directly to his parents bedroom. Ronald DeFeo Sr. Was shot once in the lower back, the bullet traveling upwards through his spine and kidney, exiting near the right nipple. The second bullet entered at the base of his spine and became lodged in his neck. It's possible that Ronald Sr. Was alive for a few minutes after that first shot, but he would eventually succumb to his injuries. After brutally murdering his father, Butch turned his attention to his mom. She likely woke up from the commotion going on inside the room. But before she could react, Louise was shot twice. The bullets entered her right flank and chest. One bullet landing on the mattress and the other exiting the middle of her chest. The second bullet re entered her left breast, then her wrist. The shot shattered her rib cage, destroyed most of her right lung, diaphragm and liver, as well as splintering her bones. Her body had been lying face down, but her chest was slightly raised from the bed and turned to the right, which makes it likely that she had been alive for several minutes after being shot. Perhaps as long as 10 minutes. It's believed that after the shots rang out, Mrs. DeFeo tried to sit up and look in the direction of her murderer. It's unclear if she ever looked at his face, the face of her firstborn child who was on a mission to kill her entire family.
- [30:31]
Colin Brown
The boys, Mark and John, were both shot at close range. It would later be determined that their killer stood between the two beds, less than 2ft away and shot them both once. Both of the boys had sustained similar damage to their livers, diaphragms, lungs and hearts. The bullets passed through both boys bodies and became lodged in the box springs beneath their mattresses. Nine year old John's spinal cord was completely severed by the gunshot. Allison, thought to have inherited all of her mother's beauty, was shot at close range in the face. Evidence shows that she was awake when her murder was carried out. She may have turned around and seen the muzzle of the gun before her life was taken. The bullet entered her left cheek and moved to her right ear, then tore into her brain and damaged her skull. The bullet would then exit, ripping through the mattress behind her. Then there was Don, Likely the last to be murdered. She was shot in the back of the neck from close range. The bullet entered below her left ear before ripping through her left temple, causing her face to collapse. The damage done to his family was horrific, seeming to have been carried out with no remorse. Butch had killed six people in a matter of minutes. His own flesh and blood. But what is most shocking is the fact that no one seemed to have gotten up during the attack. No one attempted to escape. It would later be said that he had possibly drugged his family members, but none of them would show any traces of sedatives in their blood during the coming autopsy reports.
- [31:59]
Courtney Brown
Another interesting fact is that no one in their neighborhood ever reported hearing the shots. One neighbor would say that she heard the family's dog barking, but no gunshots. Now budge had been Looking into purchasing a silencer. But he never got the chance. And weapon experts later verified that a silencer had not been used in the murders. These facts of the case are still huge question marks in this complicated story. Investigators didn't have those answers, but the one thing they knew Was that butch was responsible for killing his family. He also admitted that after the murders, he had taken a shower and attempted to clean up the incriminating evidence at the scene, like throwing the rifle into the canal. He also said he drove to brooklyn and hid the bloody clothing he was wearing in a storm drain. And then from there, he went to work. Now, over the years, Butch would come forward with multiple different versions of how the events of that night unfolded. And he involved various accomplices. In one version, he even implicated his own sister, dawn, in the murders, Saying that she had killed the family before he wrestled the gun from her and took her life to end the bloodshed. Now, we will get into that a little later. But with his confession, Butch defeo was officially charged with six counts of second degree murder.
- [33:27]
Colin Brown
The first lawyer that butch hired for his defense Was jacob siegfried, Hired by his grandfather michael. But they quickly ran into a problem. Butch's defense team wasn't allowed to look at the evidence that the prosecution had, which included all of the reports, records, and photos they had collected for their case. Siegfried insisted that the evidence would show his client was innocent Beyond a reasonable doubt. After all, every member of the family had been found in bed, and no one had heard any gunshots. So siegfried believed the evidence would show there was more than one killer. But after he filed a motion to examine all the evidence, the judge denied his request, Saying they were not necessary for his defense. And without that evidence, Siegfried felt like butch had no other choice but to try for an insanity plea. But when siegfried mentioned this to butch, he was angry. He even threatened to strangle siegfried. And as a result, the attorney abandoned the case. When butch's grandfather, michael, learned about this, he was very upset. Michael had spent over $40,000 to get his grandson a good attorney, Only for butch to lose his temper and jeopardize everything. So from that point on, Butch was on his own. His grandpa wasn't willing to spend another penny to help him, which meant a court appointed attorney Was the best he was going to get.
- [34:45]
The conspiracy files is the most explosive show on the Internet. I'm your host, Colin brown, from the paranormal files on YouTube, and I'm inviting you to take this twisted journey down the rabbit hole with me. Together, we will dive deep into Some of the world's most dangerous, dangerous and disturbing conspiracy theories. From suspicious suicides to hidden pedophile rings and high profile cover ups. On my show, no story is off limits and no detail will be spared. And trust me, after listening to just one episode, you will never look at.
- [35:14]
The world the same.
- [35:16]
So if you like conspiracies, mysteries, true crime and chaos, then this is the show for you. Listen to the conspiracy files now on all streaming platforms or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [35:33]
Courtney Brown
His trial began on October 14, 1975. An insanity defense was the most sensible direction. No one in their right mind would kill their entire family, right? While at the trial though, Butch came out with what he claimed was the actual reason he committed the horrible act. In front of the judge and jury, he said that he had been hearing voices. According to Butch, there were spirits within his house. He would hear their voices telling him that his family was plotting against him. That his own flesh and blood was planning to take his life. He claimed that a female spirit with black hands had even given him the murder weapon and that on the night of the murders, Satan had possessed him. Now this claim would go on to spark the supernatural lore of the Amityville home. And there were some people who believed that Butch was telling the truth. Many others thought he was just attempting to get away with murder. Now several court appointed psychiatrists examined Butch, but they were divided over whether or not the young man was actually insane. At one point, Butcher, he was shown a photograph of his mother and he claimed he didn't know who she was. But was that all an act or was he telling the truth?
- [36:55]
Colin Brown
Butch Defeo also gave several conflicting accounts of his family's demise. He claimed that he had murdered his family in self defense, then that his own mother had carried out the murders. He would retract his statements only to change them moments later. DeFeo's many conflicting accounts would actually aid the defense's case. Led by well known attorney William Weber, the more erratic that Butch DeFeo seemed, the more likely it was that he would be declared legally insane. Yet the prosecution, led by District attorney Gerard Sullivan, built a comprehensive and damning case against him. One of these crucial moments came during Butch's own cross examination by the prosecution. Sullivan was able to wheedle out specific details creatively poking holes in Butch's supposed insanity. The truth of the matter, Sullivan believed, was that Ronald Butch DeFeo Jr. Was not insane, just manipulative. And he had a lengthy past to back that up. The prosecution told the jury all about how Butch had been Lying and stealing for years. He was a constant problem within his family, Taking advantage of people whenever he could. And with his freedom hanging in the balance, he would certainly lie about being insane. Now the defense brought in their own psychiatrist to speak on behalf of Butch's supposed insanity. But the prosecution had an expert of their own. Dr. Harold Zolin argued that Butch was a user of multiple illegal drugs. He wasn't insane, but had antisocial personality disorder and was quite lucid at the time he committed the crime.
- [38:25]
Courtney Brown
There was a lot on the line here. If found that he was mentally sound, Butch defeo had little chance of getting a light sentence. Not only had he murdered six members of his family, but but four of them were children and teenagers with their entire lives ahead of them. The judge, Thomas Stark, called the crime the most heinous murders committed in Suffolk county since its founding. End quote. And the jury would show little mercy. On November 21, 1975, Ronald Butch DeFeo Jr. Was found guilty on six counts of second degree murder. Less than a month later, judge Stark handed down six consecutive sentences of 25 years to life. When the verdict was read, all eyes shifted to the defendant. But there were no tears in his eyes, no looks of remorse. Instead, everyone in the courtroom watched as an eerie smile stretched across Butch's face. Soon after, he was taken away, where he entered the doors of the Sullivan correctional facility, his fate was sealed.
- [39:40]
Colin Brown
Over the years, Butch would try to appeal his sentence on multiple occasions, but they were all denied. And as word of his crime spread across the country, People were fascinated by the story. People all over started talking about the house on Ocean Avenue and whether or not it was truly haunted. Over time, Butch would do a number of prison interviews where he would change his story time and time again. At one point, he claimed that there weren't actually spirits in the home telling him to kill. He had made that up. He also claimed that he had two other accomplices that night. Now, that might seem pretty far fetched, but there are some people out there who actually believe that to this very day, Including Butch's attorneys and his grandfather Michael. They always believed that Butch had accomplices to them. It didn't make sense that he was able to walk through the house murdering everyone without any of the family members getting out of bed. So they suspected that there were multiple killers who shot everyone at around the same time. Butch's grandfather was so convinced of this theory, he even hired a man named Herman Race, A former New York City supervising police officer, to investigate the murders. Allegedly, he uncovered evidence of multiple gunmen and at least two different guns that were used during the murders. Herman Reis findings were also supposedly corroborated by the prosecutor of DeFeo's case as well as the medical examiner. After reviewing the evidence, they were reportedly shocked that only one man stood accused of committing the crime. Herman Reis testified about these findings at Butch's trial. This is documented in the proceedings, but it seemed as if the jury just wasn't convinced by the evidence that he presented. But if that was the case, if there were multiple shooters in the house that night, then who would these accomplices be? Well, at some point, Butch implicated his own sister, 18 year old dawn, in the murders, specifically in one interview with Newsday in 1986.
- [41:36]
Courtney Brown
Now this version of Butch's story does seem to match some of Herman Reiss's findings. According to Butch, in this version of events, it was November 12, 1974, just hours before the murders. That evening, Ronald Sr. Was in a horrible mood, taking out his anger on his children, especially his daughter Dawn. Butch claimed that after his parents went to bed, he, dawn and two of their friends had gone to the basement to get high. While down there, dawn started venting about how angry she was with their father. Allegedly, dawn wanted to go to Florida with her boyfriend, but her dad wouldn't let her. So she and Butch started talking all about the years of abuse they suffered at their father's hands. After hours of ruminating, dawn eventually came up with an idea. Butch claimed that she looked him in his eyes and asked if he would help her kill their parents. At first, Butch said he refused. But as the night continued with more drugs and alcohol in their systems, he finally gave in around 1am joined by his two friends, he and Don went back upstairs from the basement and headed towards their parents bedroom on the second floor. While one friend acted as a lookout, the other picked up his Colt Python. Butch decided to grab his Marlin rifle. According to him, he attacked his parents as they lay in bed. A shot being leveled at Ronald Sr. S back. But it didn't kill him right away. In fact, Mr. DeFeo tried to get up to confront his attackers, but the second bullet proved fatal. Next to Ronald Sr. Their mother Louise was struck once. She continued to lay in bed moaning in pain and a second bullet was used to silence her. Now, Butch said that the original plan was to take the children from the house and drive them to their grandparents. But dawn said that they couldn't leave them as witnesses. So right then and there, she decided to kill them too. Butch claims he Was not in the house when the children were killed. He said that while Don was killing them with a different gun, one of his friends ran from the house and he had to chase him down. And this part of the story is the only consistent part of Butch's confessions. Even as he feigned insanity during his trial, he never admitted to shooting his younger siblings. In this version of events, Butch said that Don went to their brothers bedrooms after their parents were killed. Nine year old John and 12 year old Mark were apparently awake and Don quickly forced them back into their beds. And there does seem to be some evidence that at least one of the boys was awake at the time. As we mentioned, Mark Defeo had suffered an injury during a football game, and because of that, he was forced to sleep on his back every night. However, he was later found dead lying on his stomach. Butch claimed that Don forced the children to lie down and that's when she killed them.
- [44:51]
Colin Brown
The next victim would have been 13 year old Allison DeFeo, allegedly after killing her younger brother. Dawn stood in the doorway of Allison's bedroom. Based on the way her body was found, it's possible that she raised her head before being shot. Butch would later say that upon re entering the home, he found his siblings dead and he flew into a rage. He said he confronted dawn in her third floor bedroom, Immediately wrestling her for the gun. And as soon as he had it in his possession, he slammed dawn against her bed, causing her to lose consciousness. After that, he states he put the gun to Don's head and pulled the trigger. Now, as we mentioned, there were investigators who believed that there had to have been multiple killers that night. And there was even unburned gunpowder found on Don's clothing, initially lending some credence to this tale. However, some experts have pointed out that unburned powder could have potentially come from the barrel of the gun itself, Meaning that the barrel would have been pointing in her direction when it landed on her clothing.
- [45:51]
Courtney Brown
It should also be said that Butch is not a reliable person. He had a long history of lying to everyone around him. He also changed his story countless times. And even though he implicated his sister, he never named the two other men who he said were there that night. And with Dawn's murder, she was never able to tell her side of the story. But even so, there are some people out there who believe Don was his accomplice. There are many others who don't. But in the eyes of the law, the official account of the DeFeo family murders is that Ronald Butch DeFeo Jr. Awoke in the early morning hours of November 13, 1974. And from there, he single handedly murdered every member of his family in cold blood. But the most unsettling fact is that a motive was never determined. As we know, Butch got into a heated argument with his father in the weeks before the murders after stealing that $20,000 from the car dealership that he was supposed to bring to the bank. So tensions were high. We also know that Butch was eagerly waiting to collect his father's life insurance after his death. So maybe that was his motivation. But a common question is, if he was motivated by money, why kill your whole family? Perhaps he figured that if he left the other family members alive, he would have to split the money with them, and by killing everyone, he would get to keep all of it for himself. But with the amount of times that Butch changed his story, I guess we'll never really know. Following the murders, the Defeos were buried together at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. Their son, the lone survivor and confessed murderer, remained caged behind prison walls until his death on March 12, 2021. He was 69 years old, and the question of whether he acted alone died with him.
- [47:50]
Colin Brown
After the murders, the house on Ocean Avenue sat vacant for months. The family's portraits eerily hung along the staircase. Their things sat untouched within the home. Before 1974, it was an ordinary house, the kind of place where dinner was served at 6, where the smell of pine drifted through the open windows from the canal. The house had been like the others on Ocean Avenue, stately, quiet, normal. But after that night, it became something else entirely, A monument to death, grief and bloodshed. People from all over came to look at the home, claiming that even from the street view, the house gave off an evil energy. Its windows, shaped like watchful eyes, seemed to stare back at them. People whispered that the home was filled with voices, ghosts and spirits who had commanded Butch to kill. And those very stories came to define the town of Amityville, a village that is forever bound to the horror within those walls. And as you probably know, the story of the family who eventually moved into that house on Ocean Avenue became known as the Amityville Horror. You see, In December of 1975, just weeks after Butch was convicted of the murders, a couple consisting of George and Kathy Lutz, recently married on July 4, 1975, purchased the foreclosed property for a meager $80,000, a bargain compared to its $120,000 market value. The house was cheap, essentially due to the stigma that surrounded it stemming from those very recent murders that had occurred within it. The Lutzes, along with Kathy's three children from a previous marriage, Daniel, Christopher and Amy, and their dog Harry, moved into the home on December 18, 1975, hoping for a fresh start despite knowing the home's dark past. George Lutz, a land surveyor and self professed occult enthusiast, and Cathy, who came from a Catholic background, at first invited a priest, Father Ralph J. Pecoraro, to bless their house on the day that they moved in. A blessing during which the priest reportedly heard a voice commanding him to get out and afterwards later develop blisters on his hands. Over the next 28 days, according to their story, the Lutzes claimed to have experienced escalating supernatural disturbances that plagued their lives. Ghost encounters that began subtly but eventually grew into terrifying manifestations. According to the book that they later published, George experienced extreme temperature drops, especially in a windowless room in the basement that they dubbed the Red Room, where walls allegedly oozed green slime. And one of the Lutz's children, Amy, even saw a demonic pig like entity with red eyes that would appear outside of the house's windows, an entity that she nicknamed Jody. The family reported seeing swarms of flies manifest in the dead of winter, levitating beds, doors slamming shut, furniture moving on its own right in front of them and experiencing foul odors. Kathy Ludd said she saw half bodied apparitions. While the children encountered marching bands of ghosts and bloody handprints manifesting on the walls. Throughout those 28 days, George became increasingly irritable, obsessively chopping wood and losing track of time, while the family suffered nightmares of the Defeo family murders and even physical assaults at the hands of the spirits. Like one time when George Lutz claimed he was levitated into the air, slammed to the ground and pinned to the floor by an unseen force. Eventually, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren visited the home in 1976 after the Lutzes had fled, and according to them, corroborated the claims and eventually attributed the activity to demonic forces tied to the Defeo murders and the possibility that there may have been an indigenous burial ground beneath the property. Though this claim has to this day remained unsubstantiated. You see, on January 14, 1976, after just living in the home for 28 days, the Lutz family abandoned the house in the middle of the night, leaving behind almost all of their possessions, including all of their clothing and furniture, which they never returned to gather. That's right. Once they left the home after 28 days, they literally never returned all of these possessions were later auctioned off. The Lutzes then sought refuge with their relatives and later shared their experiences of living through that haunting. Through 45 hours of tape recorded interviews with journalist Jay Anson, who transformed their accounts into the 1977 best selling book the Amityville Horror, which sold over 10 million copies and inspired a franchise of films and books. The Lutzes, George and Kathy, maintained that their accounts were true up until their Deaths, George in 2006 and Kathy in 2004, and both insisted that the events that the family experienced were genuine, were real, and were driven by pure terror, with their son Daniel later echoing the story and claiming once again that it was true in the 2013 documentary My Amityville Horror. The narrative of the story seemed to blend Catholic exorcism themes with occult elements, drawing inspiration from H.P. lovecraft's the Dunwich Horror for its title, and the book portrayed the house as some sort of a portal for malevolent spirits that exploited the Lutz family's vulnerabilities. Despite skepticism from neighbors and local police who reported no disturbances during the Lutz's stay, the tale captivated the public, turning a suburban tragedy into a cultural phenomenon of supernatural dread. However, I do have to say here that the Amityville Horror has been widely debunked as being a hoax, which many have claimed was fabricated by the Lutzes in Collaboration with Butch DeFeo's attorney William Weber, primarily to generate profit from book and film deals amid their financial struggles. Butch DeFeo's attorney, William Weber, admitted in 1979 that the story was quote, created over many bottles of wine, with real minor incidents that the family did experience, like doors slamming on their own or cold spots being exaggerated and transposed into a sensational fictional account, including elements that were plagiarized by the Lutzes from known works that were already in the public sphere, like the Exorcist, such as the levitating beds and green slime. Interestingly, subsequent owners of the home, including the Cromartie family who lived in the house for 10 years after the Lutzes, starting in 1977, reported no paranormal activity and even sued the Lutzes for fraud after fans of their book vandalized the property during related trials. The Lutzes eventually in legal proceedings, conceded that virtually everything in Jay Anson's book was fabricated. Claims like the cloven hoof prints in the snow were disproven by weather records, which showed that there was no snowfall on the date that these footprints were allegedly seen, and Father Pecoraro's affidavit confirmed that he never actually visited the home. He only had a brief phone call with the family, and he never experienced that dramatic in person blessing and warning or stigmata that appeared on his body. One of the Lutz children, Christopher Quarantino, also publicly debunked key events in the year 2005 and stated that some of the phenomena, like doors ripping off of their hinges or hordes of flies appearing on the house, simply never occurred. And attributed his and his family's personal unease to George Lutz's personal fixation and obsession with the occult rather than ghosts themselves. Despite Ed and Lorraine Warren's endorsement, no independent evidence, such as police reports or polygraphs have really supported these claims. And the house since the Lutzes has hosted peaceful residents since cementing the saga as a highly controversial story that some claim is false and others claim is fully real. Now we could do an entire episode about the Amityville horror story. It's actually very interesting to see some people claiming that it's true. People other than the Lutzes who experience things in the home. There's that very infamous photograph of the young boy who some claim is allegedly a ghost, taken inside of the home during a paranormal investigation. There were investigators who experienced things. There were other investigators who experienced nothing. The story of the Amityville horror and the alleged haunting is very, very intriguing because it's back and forth and it teeters on the edge of possibly could be real and possibly could be one of the greatest hoaxes of all time. But we'll save all that for another day because in today's episode, we're focusing on the Defeo murders. An impact that the town continues to feel to this very day.
- [56:44]
Courtney Brown
The DeFeo family murders, which inspired the tale of the Amityville horror. The did more than stain a family home. The murders rewrote the village's identity. From that night on, Amityville was no longer a quiet harbor town. It became a story told in whispers. A symbol of something hidden yet deeply felt. A rumor of unseen eyes and disembodied voices. The kind of darkness that refuses to stay buried beneath fresh paint and polite conversation. Today, the house looks far different. The iconic quarter round windows that once stared out like watchful eyes have been removed. The new owners even changed the address to deter curious tourists. But paint and carpentry cannot silence the home's history. The foundation still rests on the same blood soaked ground. The rooms still hold the same dimensions. A prison for the terror that occurred there. But even though this story is full of lore and alleged hauntings. It's widely believed that Butch didn't kill his family because of ghosts. Instead, he killed them because of his addiction, rage and mental decay. What likely happened was simpler, far more sad and far too real. A complete break. The final collapse of a mind left untreated.
- [58:13]
Colin Brown
Hey everybody, thank you for listening to today's episode of Murder in America. And it is Friday right now. So I want to say to everybody, happy Halloween. I hope that everybody has a very safe Halloween this evening. No matter what you're doing to celebrate. Maybe you're taking your kids trick or treating, maybe you're going out partying, you're going to a club. No matter what you do, be sure to embrace the spirit of the season and the holiday. It is definitely my favorite day of the year. I look forward to Halloween every single day of the year. I have a countdown. I'm like 60 days to Halloween, 50 days, 30 days. I just love it. So I wish you all the best. Courtney and I both do and we hope that you all are enjoying safely and you have a great night. If you want to support the work that we do here on Murder in America, please consider joining us on Patreon. On Patreon, you can get access to all of our episodes that are posted here on the main feed early and ad free. So if you don't like the ads, please consider joining us there. We also post bonus episodes of Murder in America. Full length bonus episodes of the show, episodes that are sometimes longer than the main feed episodes for the week. So if you want to support what we do and you want to get access to all that extra content, please consider joining us on there. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram at Murder in America to see photos from every single case that we cover here on the show. And do not forget, please, if you haven't yet, please leave us a five star review on either Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening to this show. Those five star reviews help us so much and we love hearing from you guys. So anyways, I will let you guys get going. Have a great safe evening tonight. If you're listening on Friday, we'll see you next week. And yeah, one more time. Happy Halloween. I'll catch you guys on the next one.