Ronald DeFeo Jr.

Ronald DeFeo Jr.

Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. is an American mass murderer who was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters. The case inspired the book and film versions of The Amityville Horror. On November 21, 1975, De Feo was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life.

About Ronald DeFeo Jr. in brief

Summary Ronald DeFeo Jr.Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. is an American mass murderer who was tried and convicted for the 1974 killings of his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters. The case inspired the book and film versions of The Amityville Horror. On November 21, 1975, De Feo was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. As of November 2020, Defeo is held at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in the town of Fallsburg, New York, and all of his appeals and requests to the parole board to date have been denied. All of the victims had been shot with a. 35 caliber lever action Marlin 336C rifle around three o’clock in the morning of that day. The DeFeos were found face down in their beds with no signs of a struggle. The following day, he confessed to carrying out the killings himself; and the alleged hitman, Louis Falini, had an alibi proving he was out of state at the time of the killings. He claimed that he killed his family in self-defense because he heard their voices plotting against him. He asked police what he had to do in order to collect on his father’s life insurance, which prompted the prosecution to suggest at his trial that his motive was to collect the life insurance policies of his parents.

In a 1986 interview for Newsday, De feo claimed his sister Dawn killed their father and then killed his mother, apparently with a 38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, because he was afraid to say anything about anything negative about his parents to his mother. He was the eldest son of the family and its lone surviving member. He is currently serving a 25-year sentence at a New York state prison for the murders. The victims were Ronald Jr.’s parents: and Louise DeFeO, née Brigante ; and his four siblings: Dawn, Allison, Marc, and John Matthew. The six victims were later buried in nearby Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale. The police investigation concluded that the rifle had not been fitted with a sound suppressor and found evidence of sedatives having been administered. Physical evidence suggests that Louise deFeo and her daughter Allison were both awake at the. time of their deaths.