‘Amityville Horror’ killer Ronald DeFeo whose family murders inspired movie dies in prison aged 69
A killer whose murders of his parents and four siblings inspired the Amityville Horror film has died in jail aged 69. Ronald DeFeo died Friday, with his death announced Monday. His cause of death has not been an announced, with an autopsy set to take place in the coming days.
The New York Post reported that DeFeo was rushed to Albany Medical Center after being found unresponsive in his cell, and was later pronounced dead there.
DeFeo killed his mother Louise, father Ronald Sr, both 43, sisters Dawn, 18 and Allison, 13, as well as brothers Marc, 12, and John, 9, in their home in Amityville, on New York’s Long Island, in November 1974.
His horrific crimes later inspired the horror film series of the same name, with the family’s Ocean Avenue home later becoming a hotspot for ghoulish tourists.
The house – famed for its quadrant-shaped top floor windows said to resemble eyes, has since been remodeled and now looks dramatically different.
The murderer, who was 23 at the time of the killings, used a .35 rifle to shoot his loved ones dead as they slept. DeFeo’s lawyers claimed at his trial that he was insane, and had been hearing voices in his head telling him that his loved ones were plotting against him.
He was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder in 1975, and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
DeFeo had been due to attend a parole hearing in July. He admitted murdering his mother, father and eldest sister Dawn in a 2006 interview.
But the same chat saw DeFeo claim that it was Dawn who had killed their other four siblings, before DeFeo killed her.
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