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Ronald DeFeo Jr.

Also known as: Amityville murders

Active
1974–1974
Region
Amityville, New York, USA
State
NY
Kind
Mass
Status
Convicted
Victims
6

In the early hours of November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr., 23, shot and killed his parents and four younger siblings as they slept in the family's home in Amityville, on Long Island's south shore. That evening he went to a local bar asking for help and claiming his parents had been shot. He confessed the next day, and in November 1975 a Suffolk County jury rejected his insanity defense and convicted him of six counts of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to six terms of 25 years to life and died in custody in 2021. The case later inspired the book and film "The Amityville Horror".

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Timeline of locations

  1. November 1974
    St. Charles Cemetery, Farmingdale (Other)

    The six members of the DeFeo family were buried at St. Charles Cemetery near Amityville.

  2. November 13, 1974
    DeFeo family home, Amityville (Crime scene, approximate area)

    All six family members were shot with a rifle in their beds at around 3 a.m. Ronald Jr. also lived in the house.

  3. November 13, 1974
    Henry's Bar, Amityville (Other, approximate area)

    Around 6:30 p.m. DeFeo came into the bar saying his parents had been shot. A group went back to the house with him and a friend called Amityville police, who found all six victims.

  4. 2021
    Sullivan Correctional Facility, Fallsburg (Prison)

    DeFeo was serving his sentence at this maximum-security prison at the time of his death in 2021.

  5. March 12, 2021
    Albany Medical Center (Other)

    DeFeo, 69, was pronounced dead here while still in state custody.

Watch, listen, read

Read

  • The Night the DeFeos Died (2002, Ric Osuna)
  • Horrific Homicides: A Judge Looks Back at the Amityville Horror Murders and Other Infamous Long Island Crimes (2021, Thomas M. Stark)

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.