I hate giving any press to someone the likes of Ronald DeFeo Jr., who was “convicted of killing his father, mother, two brothers and two sisters inside their Amityville home in 1974,” but the murders had a major impact on the horror genre.
Ronald DeFeo Jr., whose murders inspired The Amityville Horror book and movie series, “has died, according to a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Services (DOCCS),” reports CNN via affiliate WABC. He was 69.
“He was serving a sentence of 25 years to life when he died on March 12 at Albany Medical Center, the DOCCS spokesperson said.”
“His cause of death was not immediately available, but it ‘will be determined and released by the Albany County Medical Examiner’s Office’ and is at that office’s discretion whether the results will be made publicly available, the spokesperson said.”
In 1975, the Lutz family would move into the DeFeo house where they would live for only 28 days, leaving after claims of it being haunted. The story would be the catalyst to “The Amityville Horror” book, which would be adapted into the 1979 feature film starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder that spawned several sequels and even more knockoffs.
