In the pre-dawn hours of November 13, 1974, a quiet, upscale home on Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York, became the scene of a horrific crime. Inside, 43-year-old Louise Marie Brigante DeFeo, a female, was shot and killed as she lay in her bed. Her death was not an isolated act of violence but part of a larger, tragic event that claimed the lives of her entire family.
That same night, her husband, Ronald DeFeo Sr., also 43, and four of their children, Dawn, 18, Allison, 13, Marc, 12, and John, 9, were all methodically shot and killed with a. 35-caliber Marlin rifle. The victims were all found in their beds, lying face down. Evidence suggested that Louise and her daughter Allison may have been awake at the time they were killed.
The sole survivor and perpetrator of this gruesome event was the eldest son, 23-year-old Ronald 'Butch' DeFeo Jr. Later that evening, he burst into a local bar, crying out that his parents had been shot. When patrons from the bar accompanied him back to the family home, they discovered the shocking scene, and the Suffolk County police were called. Initially, Ronald Jr. attempted to deflect blame, suggesting the murders were a mob hit. However, his story quickly unraveled during police questioning.
The day after the murders, Ronald DeFeo Jr. confessed to killing his entire family. He told investigators, 'Once I started, I just couldn't stop.' His motives remained a subject of speculation, with some suggesting it was to collect on his parents' life insurance policies. During his trial, which began on October 14, 1975, his defense attorney argued for an insanity defense, claiming DeFeo heard voices that compelled him to commit the murders. This defense was contested by the prosecution's psychiatrist, who argued that while DeFeo was a user of drugs, he had an antisocial personality disorder and was aware of his actions.
The jury was not persuaded by the insanity plea, and on November 21, 1975, Ronald DeFeo Jr. was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder. He was subsequently sentenced to six consecutive sentences of 25 years to life in prison. Over the years, DeFeo would offer varying and contradictory accounts of the murders, at times implicating his deceased sister Dawn in the killings, but his conviction was never overturned. He died in prison in March 2021 while serving his sentence.
