Does the name Amityville mean anything to you? Are you interested in knowing what really happened in the "Amityville horror?" If you answered yes to the previous questions, please keep reading.

Every year hundreds of thousands of tourists are attracted to the minsicule town of Amityville, Long Island. The attraction is strong due to the possibilty of demons, ghosts and evil spirits. This small town is rich in history and beauty; unforunately, these factors are overshadowed by the story of George and Kathy Lutz. George and Kathy were previous residents of 112 Ocean Avenue. They did not reside in this home long as shortly after moving into the house, the couple claims that they were haunted by paranormal activity which drove them out in fear.

The bestselling novel and popular movie have marked the town as the site of the most famous haunted house in history. However, many people are unaware that the true history of the house is much darker than the movie depicts. Six members of the DeFeo family were murdered at 112 Ocean Avenue one year prior to the Lutz family moving in. It is indeed very possible that this location is haunted due to the horrible chain events that occured there.

To this day, the residents of Amityville are still reminded of the family bloodbath that occured and many are still haunted from it.

Let me start from the beginning…

In summer of 1965, June to be exact, a man by the name of Ronald DeFeo Sr. purchased a 2-1/2 story Dutch Colonial home that was located at 112 Ocean Avenue. The house came equipped with a boathouse on the Amityville River and included plenty of rooms for his wife and four children. Ronald DeFeo finally felt like he had caught up to his "American dream." He had just purchased a beautiful house, he had a happy and content family and as an added bonus, had extra money leftover. He even placed a sign that read "High Hopes" in his front yard as a symbol of the recent good luck he had come across.

Even though this seemed like the perfect life, there was indeed a much darker side to this family’s reality. Ronald’s oldest son Ronald DeFeo Jr. wasn’t happy or content with his new home. He had a quick temper that flared uncontrollably and it matched his father's. Arguments between Ronald Jr., and his father often ended up in fist fights or physical violence. Ronald Jr., was nicknamed Butch by his friends and by the age of 17, he was using serious drugs such as cocaine, speed and heroine. He also started getting involved with petty thievery to help support his expensive drug habits.

Butch was well taken care of by his family; he was given a job at his grandfather’s car dealership that provided him with a weekly allowance, whether he showed up to work or not. Despite this, he was growing more and more angry and resentful towards his father’s supposedly stingy ways.

He planned a fake robbery with a friend while he was on the way to the bank to deposit $20,000 from his grandfather’s dealership, splitting the “stolen” cash with his friend. When Ronald Sr. found out about the robbery, he got down to the truth and exposed his son’s sham. This drove Butch into a rage and as a result he plotted his revenge on his father. Little did anyone know, this revenge was death!

It has been reported that in the early morning hours of November 13, 1974, 23 year old Butch DeFeo left the second floor TV room and grabbed his .35 Marlin rifle. While his parents and four younger brothers and sisters slept, he methodically shot and killed each one of them. They did not stand a chance!

He entered his parent’s bedroom first, instantly killing his father Ronald with two shots to the lower back. The crack of the gunfire awoke his mother Louise but before she had a chance to react, Butch proceeded to fire two bullets into her chest. He had executed his own flesh and blood, his parents.

It is safe to assume that the children did not awaken from the gunfire as the bodies of his four younger brothers and sisters were all found in their beds. Butch then continued on his horrifying murder spree by moving into the bedroom that both of his brothers, John and Mark shared. Standing between their beds, he fired one shot at close range into each of their bodies. Both of the boys were killed instantaneously, hopefully without much pain.

Finally, he entered the room of his sisters Dawn and Allison. Dawn was the closest in age to Butch, and Allison was in grade school with John and Mark. Butch did not hesitate when he fired two shots into their heads, killing them instantly. The police reported that all six victims were found on their stomachs with their heads resting on their arms.

To no avail, Butch tried to point the blame in the direction of a Mafia hit man who he claimed had a vendetta against him, but the detectives grew suspicious when they found an empty gun box in his bedroom that matched the murder weapon. After hours of intense interrogation, his story fell apart and he confessed to the brutal slayings of his family members.

He reportedly told the detectives that “It all happened so fast. Once I started shooting, I just couldn’t stop. It went so fast.” During his trial, he was bluntly asked why he had done such a thing. Butch replied, “As far as I am concerned, if I didn’t kill my family, they would have killed me. What I did was self-defense and there was nothing wrong with it. When I got a gun in my hand, there is no doubt in my mind who I am. I am God”

Even though Butch was found guilty and convicted of six counts of second-degree murder, many questions still remain about what really transpired on that tragic evening in November of 1974. Why didn’t the children wake up and run and hide after hearing the first shots? Why were the victims all found lying on their stomachs? Why didn’t the neighbors hear the shots of the rifle? At one point, it was speculated that perhaps the DeFeo family was drugged at dinner, yet autopsies discredited this theory.

The police of Amityville believed that the sounds of the rifle were muffled by the house. But, many people who been inside of the house have reported that street noise could be heard from inside. According to gun experts, the shot from a .35 Marlin rifle can be heard up to mile away, yet neighbors state that the only sound they heard that night was the barking of the DeFeo family dog.

It seems like we may never know exactly what transpired on that night. To this day Butch continues to change his story. Being a habitual liar, it is still unclear what role he played in the murders and whether he acted alone.

Butch DeFeo, now 47 years of age, is currently serving six consecutive life sentences at Greenhaven Penitentiary in Stormville, New York. In 1999, the parole board rejected his first request for parole, nearly 25 years after the murders, stating that he “shows a total disregard for human life,” and “release at this time is incompatible with the safety and welfare of the community.”

In 2001, DeFeo went before the parole board for a second time and was once again denied his freedom. The last scheduled parole meeting for Butch was in July, 2009. At this current time, he is still in prison for the grisly murders of his family over 30 years ago.

What do you think was going through Rondald DeFeo's head that night when he went on a murder rampage? What was he thinking about when he pulled the trigger? Was this a result of all the drug use that he had done? Or perhaps, he was mentally unstable. As stated previously, it is almost impossible to get an actual account of what happened that night at 112 Ocean Avenue from the killer as he is constantly changing his stories.

The real horror is the death of six innocent individuals for no apparent reason what-so-ever.