If you want to see a great thriller, The Amityville Horror is a great one. If you read the case of the VHS, or DVD cover, it says "Based On A True Story". It is, in fact, not. Well, not all of it. Ronnie Defeo did really murdered his family, but that's where the truth ends.

A few weeks before the killings, the relationship between Ronnie Defeo Sr. and his son, Ronnie "Butch" Defeo Jr., were stretched to it's limits.

Butch was asked by another employee of his grandfather's Buick dealership, to go and make a deposit into the bank. It was a deposit of $1,800.00. Butch hatched a plan with a friend to make it look like he was "robbed" on the way to the bank. He split the money with his accomplice.

When he returned two hours after he left for the bank and claimed he was robbed, the police were called and Butch was questioned. He became tense and irritable with police as they tried to get some information about who had robbed him.

When the police started to get suspicious of Butch, he became violent, banging his fist on the hood of one of the cars at the dealership.

The Friday before the murders, Butch was asked to look at mug shots to help police I.D. the robber. At first, Butch agreed, but at the last minute, said no. When his father found out his oldest son did not help police, he confronted Butch, yelling, "You've got the devil on your back!". Butch responded with, "You fat prick, I'll kill you!".

On Thursday, November 14, 1974, Ronnie Defeo sat in his room in the early hours of the morning, and decided what to do about his interferring family.

With the whole family in bed at 112 Ocean Ave., Ronnie "Butch" Defeo grabbed a .35- caliber rifle that he had hidden in his closet and walked into his parent's room. He then fired two shots into his father, then two shots into his mother.

His next victims were his two younger brothers, John and Mark. Each child was shot once in the back.

When Butch walked into his sisters' room, the youngest, Allison, looked up sleepily and Butch killed her instantly, by shooting her in the face. He then turn the gun to his sister, Dawn, who was closer to Butch's age and shot her in the left side of the head, literally blowing off the left side of her face.

In 15 minutes, Ronnie Defeo, Jr. had killed all six of his family members. It was just after 3 a.m.

Afterwards, Butch cleaned up, showered, and put the rifle, and bloodied clothing in a pillowcase that he dumped into a storm drain in Brooklyn.

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