A&E DeFeo documentary - First Person Killers

[astonio]

A part of me is able to understand that rationale or lack thereof; however, another part of me thinks if his father was the catalyst to the rest of the family being murdered, then would he have loaded his weapon to capacity? Clearly the rifle was loaded to capacity from his retrieving it from his room to standing at his parents doorway because of the rapid succession of the murders. Say he loaded the weapon with but two bullets, shot his father and then the rest of the family, at the very least his mother, reacts to the gunfire, if his intention was impulsive and directed solely at his father, then the rest of the family, again, at least his mother, wouldn't have been found just waking up or rising from the bed before he decided to take the rest of them out by reloading the rifle and then shooting everyone else. I feel he was aware enough to have given some forethought to his initial action and maybe that sense of question came after ending everyone's life in the house. Keep in mind, at the time the murders took place, Shaggy was already outside of the house. This, too, is indication of intent, a formula, if you will, as to not have Shaggy somehow impede his actions that evening. To what degree, I am not sure. Yet for whatever that variable was, he secured the dog elsewhere, would have to at least return to the second landing and move swiftly...again, evidenced by the apparent lack of more overt reactions of his brothers and sisters.

For the record, I can see his shooting his mother in reaction to him shooting his father. That would support an almost instantaneous response, but the others, he would have had to turn around and walk to three separate bedrooms with each step in their direction an intended one.

[Dan the Damned]

Yes, I think once he shot his mother, the event changed. It was no longer spontaneous. I think he suddenly became aware of the enormity of his act, and hastily decided he needed to kill the rest of the family.

So while killing the father may have been an unplanned irrational act, the killing of his mother was more of a knee-jerk reaction, and then the killing of his siblings was quickly planned.

But even though I say "planned," it was a quick sudden plan -- poorly devised and born from his panicked state. I think the plan to kill his siblings was hatched within a minute or two of killing his parents.

As for the loading of the gun, I think this was not an act of careful planning ahead of time, but I think it was due to the fear Ronnie had of his father. I think when you're planning to kill someone, you don't just load one bullet in the chamber thinking "well this is all I'll need" -- I think you always load your gun fully -- just in case you miss or in case the target moves or whatever.

But that's just my thinking -- I don't own a gun. Hi burglars!

[GoonieNick]

Where did I read about how all of them had high levels of serotonin in their blood? If that is the case, then they were probably still mostly asleep when Butchie shot them.

Does anyone know where these articles are that mention seratonin levels?

[Dan the Damned]

I don't know if that was mentioned in any newspaper article or not.

A former member wrote a post about it a few years ago, but I don't recall her giving her sources. The info may have come from what few documents have been made from the autopsy lab reports, I guess. Not sure.

[GoonieNick]

Unless there is clear evidence stating there Seratonin levels were high then it cannot be so easy in stating that indeed they were asleep and not awake and shot.

I think that in another 10 years maybe or less Defeo will change his story again away from Dawn being the focal point.

Isn't he writing a book?

'Ronnie DeFeo'
The True Story of the Man who Inspired the Amityville Horror Myth by Steven Morris as mentioned on the Injustice Site?

Is this project still ongoing on has it been terminated?

[Dan the Damned]

Yes, DeFeo has changed his story many times in the past and based on that, he will likely change it again in the future.

Ronnie is not writing a book, but one (the one you mention) is being written about him. There's no reason for me to think its been terminated. I've seen no indication of that. Writing a book takes time.

[GoonieNick]

I agree writing is a long process. I have never written a publicized work of literature before. I have done several articles for either a hot sauce review, or my experiences in a hurricane. However, these were never anything really formal.

I will be curious to check out that new book when it comes out. My county library system here doesn't carry the Mentally Ill in Amityville book and I will not purchase it since a new one is likely to come out. However, maybe it will be a cool little summer project to read both books and check for the differences in them.

[Brendan72]

If this has already been posted, apologies in advance:

I came across this documentary originally aired on CI channel and posted on YouTube in March 2009.

Dr Stephen Hoge, forensic psychiatrist and Director of Forensic Psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital, interviews Ronald DeFeo Jr.

If you have seen this then apologies, but it did give me some insight from a psychiatric viewpoint who did the crimes and how it was more complexed than I originally thought.

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR - Ronald DeFeo Jnr - Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Q3g_9qR-s

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR - Ronald DeFeo Jnr - Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UT3_ABXCSg

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR - Ronald DeFeo Jnr - Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9Va9A5TAUE

I will refrain from commenting on details until others have commented and given their own opinions / views on it.

[Link the Labrador]

Watching it now.

In PART 1, he blames Dawn. He says after he shot Dad (All he wanted to do was just scare him), he left the house to drive around. When he got back, everyone was dead, and both he and Dawn gets into a fight. He says Dawn killed Allison because she was jealous of the girl, and that she killed the boys because she felt it was easier than explaining to them why their parents and sister are now dead.

In PART 2, He talks about his dad. The dad's basically an abuser and according to the DeFeo Juror Lady, he once whacked Baby Ronnie (age 2) into a folding chair because he was crying a lot. Ronnie's friend Bobby Springer said that the family would yell at each other constantly.

In PART 3, he says that Louise DeFeo would smoke and drink to get away from Dad DeFeo, He reveals that he origionally wanted to make his dad look like he had died in some car accident, but it went out of control. He was good with the siblings, taught Dawn how to drive and would always mess around with the little children.

I agree with the pshycologist. Ronnie's basically saying the same "I'm innocent! Please let me go!" crap he's been flinging around for years.

Ronnie admitted that his head knew that what he did was wrong, but his heart told him otherwise.

What interests me is how Ronnie claims that fear was the reason he killed his family and for that, I'll have to agree. If he was abused, then maybe his natural instincts would be to defend himself and that night, he was holding the gun and it just happened.

But it begs the question: He was 23 back then. If he knew his dad was abusive, then why didn't he

A) Try some other way to get his dad out of the family's life (like pressing charges against him)? Or maybe he and Dawn could leave and attempt to gain custody of the children and mom (Not sure if that works)

B) Leave the household himself?

[Grave]

He says Dawn killed Allison because she was jealous of the girl, and that she killed the boys because she felt it was easier than explaining to them why their parents and sister are now dead.

But in part 3 at around 3:45 the psychologist asked "But how do i ever explain to myself that i killed 3 defenseless children?" in which Ronnie doesn't deny...
EDIT: Also, i don't understand when Ronnie said he only wanted to scare his father not actually shoot him...He said that when he pointed the gun at his father and yelled "Hey fat boy get up" that he got scared that his dad would have taken the gun away from him so he shot him...What did he think would have happened, Ron Sr. wakes up and looks at Ronnie and says "Quit playing and go back to bed Ronnie"?
Zohie, if you're reading this, a little insight would be nice...

[Howard64]

i have this recorded on VHS. I have watched it a couple of times and was quite interested.

I found this whole interview quite revealing. I feel down deep inside that it is further proof that ronnie was indeed the one that slew his family.

Something else came of this too, someone from another board tried to tell me and others that this Steven Hoge was "snuck" into the facility and that the interview was not authorized.

All i have to say is..."Birds of a Feather"

Something to ponder...

In this interview, watch ronnies eyes when asked certain questions. Im sure you will see his eyes darting around alot.

Whenever George Lutz was interviewed, his eyes never once darted around, he looked directly at the interviewer. There is a reason for this. When someone is lying, they have to mentally think of an excuse OR try and recall a past excuse. This is involuntary. For those who dont believe me, or for the "Little Lurkeys" who wish to sit behind their wall and call names, i challenge you to look it up. Or if any of you know a psychologist, ask them, they will tell you the same thing.

Butchie is lying.

He wont be getting out, he knows it so does his wife.

[Tourettes Guy]

that lil pecker has serious issues

[Howard64]

to whom are you referring?

[Tourettes Guy]

to the one who has a lil pecker

[Howard64]

I see..

[Howard64]

to get back on topic...

If you can get a chance to watch this video... please do:)

I think you will find it as informative as i have found it. Any educated individual will agree.

[Link the Labrador]

I may need to watch the videos again, because I don't remember Butchie's eyes moving around. Yeah, he kept figidting, but his eyes were always locked onto the interviewer's eyes.

@ Grave, you make a good point and what intrigues me is how he describes Dawn's behavior. He says that Dawn was goading him to scare Mr. DeFeo, he shoots and just leaves.

Does this make no sense to anyone else?

First off, why on earth would Dawn want/let Butch do this?

Second off, why would Butch just up and leave the house after shooting his dad? Why did Dawn not react? (I know the events Butch is describing didn't happen, but bear with me) I wouldn't just stand there and let a sibling who just shot dad walk away.


Thirdly and this is where Grave is correct, how the hell did Butch think his dad was going to react if he saw Butch holding a gun in his room? "Oh, Butchie's just playin'. Go back to sleep, sonny-boy."

It is very clear to me that Butch is a disturbed individual. >>'

[Howard64]

ill watch it again too...there are times when his eyes wander...on certain questions...other times they dont.

[# 13]

ill watch it again too...there are times when his eyes wander...on certain questions...other times they dont.

Ya, I found it very apparent in some parts of the interview that he feels uncomfortable when asked about his younger siblings.

[Dan the Damned]

There's an episode of "Killing Mum and Dad" about a case in 1985 (where a guy in the UK killed his parents, sister and two young nephews). In describing the killer's psyche, a lady notes that part of dealing with the great guilt of your crimes is to adamantly declare how you are innocent -- and over time you start to believe it yourself.

I think that's the boat Ronnie finds himself in.

[TigresMeow]

I think that's the boat Ronnie finds himself in.

And I think we all know what creek that boat is up in too.