We have all heard the infamous story of the Amityville horror, the alleged “haunted” house along the south shore of Long Island, New York. The reason for its boom in publicity started with the Lutz family incident and their claims that the house was haunted, although that isn’t where the story actually began. On November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his entire family with a .35- caliber Marlin rifle as they slept. This started an investigation since DeFeo had gone to work after the crime and acted as if he had no idea what had happened. He claimed that he went home from work and found his family members dead, after which he ran to the nearest bar screaming for help. Although he acted as if he had nothing to do with the murder, the town already had suspicions about him because of his background. As a kid, DeFeo was abused by his father and bullied in school, which resulted in a troubled childhood. He had quite the history with alcohol and drug abuse, several arrests due to violent fights he had gotten himself into, and as a child, had once pulled a gun on his father, but it jammed.1
It didn’t take long for him to become the prime suspect, and he was quickly arrested and taken into custody. DeFeo’s trial began October 14, 1975, close to a year after the murder, and William Weber had been put on the case as his defense attorney. DeFeo claimed he had heard voices in his head telling him to kill his family. With that information, Weber decided to use a strategy that he believed would give DeFeo a lot less time in jail. Weber insisted on an insanity plea, promising DeFeo that he would be out in five years. He believed this was the best approach, considering DeFeo’s wide range of different versions of the story, which proved that he must have been insane. Unfortunately, this plan did not work, for the jury believed that even though he wasn’t mentally stable, he was completely aware of the situation and motivated by a self-centered attitude. The jurors found DeFeo guilty on November 21, 1975, and sentenced him to six consecutive life sentences.2
Courtesy of Wikipedia
Not long after his imprisonment, films, novels, and documentaries came out about the murder incident. The Lutz family had moved into the house a little over a year after the murder, but they only stayed for twenty-eight days, leaving in the middle of the night with just a few days worth of clothes. They completely abandoned the Amityville house, never wanting to step foot in it again, and didn’t even want to reclaim any of the belongings they left behind. In September of 1977, The Amityville Horror: A True Story started the supernatural phenomenon when it took into account the Lutz family and their experiences.3
With this book, the story rapidly gained publicity, and started a controversy over whether the haunting was a hoax. William Weber wanted to use this popularity to his advantage. He began by using the popularity to try and open DeFeo’s case again. However, for an unknown reason it was never filed and DeFeo continues to be incarcerated at a correctional facility in Fallsburg, New York. Weber then reached out to the Lutz family, attempting to convince them to partner up on a book deal on the DeFeo case for a large advance. He often spoke with them although he was reluctant to work with them, but once they had heard he was planning to split the royalties with DeFeo, they cut Weber out of any future deals and were no longer on speaking terms. As he carried on by himself, the Lutz family sued the writer Weber enlisted to write the book for an invasion of privacy, settling the suit in 1979—causing the plan to fall through.4
This upset Weber, who was prepared to call out the family, claiming “it was was all a lie” while at the same time wanting to take credit for some of the creativity in it. Going to the press, he explained that the entire story was created over a bottle of wine between Mr. and Mrs. Lutz, even though they still claimed to have some sort of supernatural experience. It was only with his help that they started to exaggerate the details with the murder evidence that Weber had provided them. He eventually sued the Lutz family for $60 million, stating they were “stealing ideas.” The suit settled for $2,500. Even though William Weber’s plans to make a large profit didn’t go the way he wanted them to, he still managed to get a total profit of $15,000 for his connections with the book and movie.5
- Mike Mayo, “DeFeo, Ronald, Jr.” American Murder, (2008): 23- 52. ↵
- Ric Osuna, The Night the DeFeos Died: Reinvestigating the Amityville Murders (Xlibris Corp, 2002), 84-92. ↵
- Jay Anson, The Amityville Horror (New York : Pocket Star Books, 2005), 67. ↵
- New York Times. 2006. s.v. “George Lutz, 59; Found Horror in Amityville.” ↵
- Patricia D. Netzley,. “Amityville Haunting” The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Paranormal Phenomena, 2006. ↵
47 comments
Mauro Bustamante
This article opened my eyes to the fact that not all stories or situations are what they seem. Most situations as well as people have deeper meaning and intensions that just by a movie or news report will not cover. I really enjoyed it because I didn’t know that the attorney had other plans besides helping DeFeo. DeFeo had a clear motivation to kill his family and would be sentenced for it made me glad that the whole situation was treated correctly when it came to our judiciary system. This article gave insight on the things people could do it was well-written and conveyed ideas insightfully.
Leopoldo Martinez-Milland
While I am aware of the Amityville Horror films, I never knew of the real life murders committed by psychopath Ronald DeFeo Jr. and the aftermath with him and his scheming lawyer William Weber. While the killings by DeFeo should and will never by excused, Makenzie Santana’s emphasis of Weber’s actions shows the measures people are willing to go to for personal gain. While are current currency is very efficient, money can give people the motive to do unethical things. In Weber’s case, trying to publicize the Lutz Family more after all the horrific history the family has endured just seem like insult to injury to me, especially since I am under the assumption that he had communicated with the family prior and during the hearing. I am also glad to see how the jury treated DeFeo’s schizophrenia. While it seemed like an easy out for DeFeo during the read, the way Santana twisted it and confirmed that the jury noticed DeFeo had a clear motivation to kill his family and would be sentenced for it made me glad that the whole situation was treated correctly when it came to our judiciary system. Overall, it was a smooth read and the way Santana told the story kept me engaged from beginning to end.
Shea Slusser
This is a first of hearing about any of this, but it was very intriguing. Although I personally don’t believe in the super natural, I was wishing towards the end of the article there would be a little more information about the haunted part of the story just because its interesting to read about, but over all an interesting and well written article. I definitely agree he deserves to be in jail.
Azucena Cuevas
I have heard about Amityville Horror story before, but I had completely forgotten until I read this article. I really enjoyed it because I didn’t know that the attorney had other plans besides helping DeFeo. It is insane what some people do for money, especially on a case like his. It also makes the reader speculate the whole event as a whole. However, whether or not the haunting is real the story itself is interesting. I knew DeFeo had murdered his family, but hadn’t researched the whole history behind that case and the deals with his lawyer. I just wonder why he agreed with Weber to working with the Lutz family.
Saira Locke
I love reading any type of crime related articles, and this particular one really caught my eye. As I began reading the first sentence “We have all heard the infamous story of the Amityville horror” I thought to myself “wow I am surprised that I have never heard of this particular story before”. I kept on reading and I realized that I infect had heard of this case before. I read “murdered his entire family with a .35- caliber Marlin rifle as they slept” and “heard voices in his head telling him to kill his family” and I knew that I had heard of this case. Just last week I watched the movie “The Amityville Horror” with a group of friends. The face that I had never heard of this case before last week and that this was the first article have read on the STMU History Media page is such a coincidence to me. Mackenzie Santana did an amazing job of describing the background of the story and really setting the scene making it easy for people to relate to her writing. I really love how Santana put her own twist of the story dealing with the lawyer of Ronald DeFeo Jr. and his unlawful intentions. We live in a world today where this sort of thing is not uncommon. There are many people in the world like DeFeo that take advantage of and manipulate people and their families in unfortunate situations making them venerable. This article opened my eyes to the fact that not all stories or situations are what they seem. Most situations as well as people have deeper meaning and intensions that just by a movie or news report will not cover.
Carlos Alvear
I am not surprised that after further research into something that the true motivations behind it had to do with humans and greed. Often times when bad things in the world occur their is typically money involved. It makes sense that DeFeo a man that lost it all would want to cling on the only thing he had left which was his new found fame after his murders. Of course DeFeo was not the only one who wanted to profit, His defense attorney just had to get in on the money.
Sebastian Portilla
I’ve always been so intrigued with the events that took place in Amityville. Growing up only an hour away from the town, I began to grow interest. Reading articles, watching movies, and reading books became an everyday routine. Ronald Defeo Jr. was, what some people would call a “lunatic”. There have been many instances where we can identify him as “someone who needs professional help”. I had no idea about the attorney scheme but reading about it, made everything make more sense. It was all about fame and money. The article was very well-written and conveyed ideas smoothly.
Sebastian Portilla
I’ve always been so intrigued with the events that took place in Amityville. Growing up only an hour away from the town, I began to grow interest. Reading articles, watching movies, and reading books became an everyday routine. Ronald Defeo Jr. was, what some people would call a “lunatic”. There have been many instances where we can identify him as “someone who needs professional help”. I had no idea about the attorney scheme but reading about it, made everything make more sense. It was all about fame and money. The article was very well-written and conveyed ideas smoothly
Andrea Degollado
As someone who has heard little to none about this tragedy , it really helped paint a good picture about the event that went on in this case. The article provides you with details about the murder’s childhood, such as how DeFeohad a troubled childhood and an abusing father which helps the people understand why he became the polices prime suspect. However it also focuses on how his attorney, rather than trying to help his client tried to make a profit out of this tragic event and how he did it. This is a very interesting story and I am very impressed with what I read.
Jose Chaman
Unfortunately, in this world, there are always people who take advantage of situations, whatever they may be, such as Amityville. I already knew the story from before, but I never knew that DeFeo’s attorney made the tragedy a business. This case is outrageous. Although this may be a very good horror story, successive events should promote us to always vote for ethics and respect.