DeFeo Family Massacre: The Original Amityville Horror

Send us Fan Mail Before The Amityville Horror became one of America's most famous haunted house stories, six members of the DeFeo family were murdered in their beds at 112 Ocean Avenue. But the killer wasn't a ghost or an unknown intruder; It was someone who already lived inside the house. On November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed his parents, Ronald DeFeo Sr. and Louise DeFeo, and his four younger siblings, Dawn, Allison, Mark, and John Matthew, in their Amityville, New York, home. The brutal family murders shocked Long Island and would eventually become the foundation for one of the most recognizable horror franchises in American history. But how did a real family tragedy become a story about a haunted house? In this episode of Pretty Evil, we investigate the DeFeo Family Massacre, the disturbing history behind The Amityville Horror, and the psychology of how true crime becomes mythology. We'll examine the DeFeo family's life before the murders, Ronald DeFeo Jr.'s troubled relationship with his parents, the escalating conflicts inside the household, and the events leading up to the killings. We'll also explore the police investigation, DeFeo's confession, his insanity defense, and the changing explanations he offered for murdering his family, including his later attempts to implicate his deceased sister. Then we'll turn to the story that made 112 Ocean Avenue famous. Just over a year after the murders, George and Kathy Lutz moved into the DeFeo home. They claimed to experience terrifying paranormal activity, including unexplained voices, strange odors, cold rooms, and supernatural disturbances. After just 28 days, the Lutz family fled the property. Their account became Jay Anson's bestselling book The Amityville Horror, followed by the iconic 1979 horror film and decades of sequels, remakes, documentaries, and paranormal investigations. We'll examine the disputed evidence behind the Amityville haunting, the allegations that the story was a hoax, and how the Lutz family's experiences became more famous than the murders that preceded them. But the deeper question is psychological: Why is it easier to imagine an evil presence haunting a house than to confront the possibility that someone dangerous could already belong to the family? Through the lenses of family dynamics, familiarity, fear, and the psychology of storytelling, we'll explore how people interpret threatening behavior from someone they love, why supernatural explanations can feel more satisfying than unresolved human violence, and how the DeFeo family's lives became overshadowed by the legend of their former home. The Amityville Horror may be remembered as a ghost story, but the documented tragedy at 112 Ocean Avenue began with six real people whose lives deserve to be remembered. Topics covered: DeFeo Family Massacre, DeFeo family murders, Ronald DeFeo Jr., Ronald Butch DeFeo, The Amityville Horror, Amityville murders, Amityville haunted house, 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville haunting, Lutz family, George and Kathy Lutz, Amityville Horror true story, 1974 Amityville murders, Jay Anson, Amityville Horror hoax, family annihilation, family murder, insanity defense, criminal psychology, paranormal history, true crime, psychological true crime. Support the show Some details don't make it into the episode. For source material, research files, episode extras, and more to the story, visit prettyevilpodcast.com.