Amityville, Scamityville!
The Amityville Horror Spawned Books, Movies, Lawsuits & Controversy
May 30, 2008
On November 13, 1974, Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr. stumbled into Henry’s Bar, pleading for help because he thought his parents had been shot. Five men went to 112 Ocean Avenue with DeFeo. They found sheer horror. Butch’s parent and siblings had been murdered.
DeFeo confessed to committing the crimes. Although William Weber, DeFeo’s attorney, used an insanity defense, he was found guilty of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison.
Roots of the Amityville Hoax
In 1974, Kathy and George Lutz, both deceased, bought the DeFeo house, knowing it was the scene of mass murders.
Alleged phenomena included:
- Mysterious voices
- Unseen brass band
- Windows and doors opening and closing
- Plagues of flies
- Phantoms of hooded forms
- Green slime seeping from ceiling and walls
- Offensive stenches
- Cold and hot spots
- Objects moving by themselves
- Mysterious cloven hoof prints in the snow
- George possessed by an evil spirit
- Telephone service affected
- Priest who tried to help being attacked
- Kathy beaten and scratched
- Personality changes
- An incubus
- Encounters with Jody, a demonic ghostly pig
They fled from the house. Jay Anson, who had never been in the house, wrote the book Prentice-Hall touted as non-fiction. This led to more Amityville books being published and a movie that spawned at least eight others.
Amityville Investigations and Debunking
After the Lutzes moved out, Dr. Karlis Osis and Alex Tanous of the American Society for Psychical Research and Jerry Solfvin and Keith Harary from the Psychical Research Foundation investigated and found the alleged phenomena was fraudulent. The Lutzes showed the parapsychologists a sample of DeFeo’s handwriting. The couple didn’t think they would notice it was on a contract for profits from a book and a film.
When Solfvin went to the house, also present were The National Enquirer, CBS and Lorraine and the late Ed Warren who would, later, base their claim to fame on their “investigation” of Amityville. Parapsychologists and others debunked it.
Dr. Stephen Kaplan was one of the most vociferous and controversial of the debunkers. He and his wife, Roxanne, wrote The Amityville Horror Conspiracy. Kaplan had a severe heart ailment. After Kaplan died, Ed Warren claimed it was related to Amityville “hauntings.”
George Weber admitted in a radio interview and to the press that Amityville was a hoax concocted to make money.
Amityville Lawsuits
- Jim and Barbara Cromarty, subsequent owners of the house, experienced nothing out of the ordinary. Curiosity seekers irritated them and invaded their privacy because of the book’s notoriety. The couple sued Prentice-Hall and Jay Anson and received an out of court settlement.
- Father Ralph Pecararo, “Mancuso,” in the book, sued Prentice-Hall and the Lutzes for distorting his involvement in the “haunting” and invasion of privacy. He settled out of court.
- Parapsychologist Anita Gregory sued for libel and won.
- Weber sued for his share of the profits from the book and original movie. The presiding judge said evidence showed that the Lutzes were acting in a way consistent with having a book published. This was another out of court settlement.
- The Lutzes sued Weber on the basis that this was not a hoax, but was reality. They lost.
Amityville Controversy
Ed and Lorraine Warren purport The Amityville Horror was real. Others, not parapsychologists or scientists, agree. The preponderance of facts support the reality that Amityville was a hoax.
But, the debate continues….
Related article:
Sources:
The Amityville Horror, Jay Anson, (Bantam Books, 1979)
The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, (Facts on File, Inc., 1992)
ESP, Hauntings and Poltergeists, Loyd Auerbach, (Warner Books, 1986)
