The Amityville house is today, visited by thousands of people in search of demons and ghosts, yet the rich history and beauty of the house and the area is overshadowed by the story of the Lutz's. These previous residents of 112 Ocean's Drive claim to have fled the house shortly after moving in, driven out by paranormal activity. However the history is not simply about the Lutz family and their experiences in the house, there is a story to tell which occurred at the house a year before they moved in.....

In June 1965 Ronald DeFeo purchased 112 Oceans Drive, and it seemed like the completion of the American dream, yet there is in fact a much darker side to this fairy tale. His oldest son, Ronald DeFeo Jnr was not quite so content, his temper and growing resentfulness towards his father finally snapped in his adolescent years. It was reported that in the early hours of November 13th 1974 Junior left the second floor TV room and grabbed his .35 Marlin rifle, and whilst his parents and four younger brothers and sisters were sleeping he methodically shot and killed each one of them. He entered his parents bedroom first, killing his father with two shots to the lower back. His mother, Louise, was awakened by the gun fire, but before she could react took two shots to the chest. The bodies of his four younger brothers and sisters were found in their beds so one can only presume that they did not hear the previous shots. His two younger brothers, John and Mark, took one shot each, and finally his two sisters, Dawn and Alison, were shot in the head.

Whilst DeFeo received six consecutive life sentences for his crime, many questions exist regarding what actually happened on that night. Why didn't the children run after the first shots? Why were the victims all found lying on their stomachs? Why didn't the neighbours hear the shots? At the time DeFeo blamed the massacre on the malevolent forces of a spirit that was present in the house, stating that it began speaking to him and controlling him whilst he committed the murders.