The Night the DeFeos Died: Reinvestigating the Amityville Murders [Paperback]

Ric Osuna (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2002

Bar patrons worked on their drinks, discussing the routine happenings of their lives. A jukebox played the latest hits. It was your average evening at Henry’s Bar near the intersection of Merrick Road & Ocean Avenue in the sleepy Long Island community of Amityville, New York.

But, the jovial atmosphere shattered when one of Henry’s regulars burst through the door on that November evening proclaiming that his mother and father had been shot in cold blood.

That evening---November 13th, 1974 would become a day of infamy for Amityville. While the murders of the entire Ronald DeFeo family in their stately Dutch-Colonial home would garner short-term media attention, the subsequent release of a blockbuster book, "The Amityville Horror," would put the DeFeo family and the quiet waterfront village in the media spotlight for years to come. Amityville became synonomous with demonic possession as the house on Ocean Avenue became America’s most infamous haunted house.

Now, three decades after the DeFeo murders, author Ric Osuna descends into the dark depths of the Amityville tragedy. His indepth investigation will shock even the most die-hard believer of the supernatural as it pertains to Amityville.

• Osuna strips away the ploy of demonic possession at 112 Ocean Avenue. Left behind is an intimate portrait of the DeFeo family----a family so dysfunctional they would make MTV’s "The Osbournes" look like the Cleavers.

• Descend into the DeFeos ties with organized crime, including their connection to the Colombo crime family and mob boss Carlo Gambino.

• Learn of the far-reaching corruption of the Suffolk County Police and Superior Court system. Ric Osuna’s esposé of the DeFeo trial will make you wonder if this case really took place in America. So blinding is the evidence of brutality and corruption, you will be left with no doubt that Suffolk County authorities wanted only a conviction----not true justice.

• Revealed between these two covers are the facts that resulted in the story behind "The Amityville Horror." Osuna’s hard-hitting exploration of the facts proves that the story behind George and Kathleen Lutzes so-called frightening 28-days of terror in the DeFeo house was nothing more than a failed legal strategy designed to mitigate Butch DeFeo’s prison sentence to manslaughter or a mental ward.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...As compelling as Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD..." -- Jordan Rich, WBZ Radio, Boston, MA. Spring 2002

"Ric Osuna's book is as compelling as Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD..." -- Jordan Rich, WBZ Radio Boston; March 2002; used with permission --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

The new Katco Edition of THE NIGHT THE DEFEOS DIED includes:

•Nearly 100 pictures, graphics, and key case documents that author Ric Osuna spent nearly three years searching for. We've included the key court documents to offer undeniable proof that the story took place as presented by Mr. Osuna.

• Full color laminated cover.

• Large 8.5" x 11" oversized edition.

• Photos of the Amityville house, past and present

• New revelations about the Amityville case: was there a seventh victim in the house? Or, did Amityville and Suffolk County authorities move a DeFeo body to another location in the house?

• 202 Pages

• Foreword by Geraldine DeFeo. After 28 years, Mrs. DeFeo breaks the silence, discussing her marriage to Butch DeFeo at the time of the Amityville murders. While the "Amityville skeptics" say DeFeo is a fraud, this new edition offers hard evidence that Geraldine DeFeo's marriage to Butch WAS REAL! Included are key documents, as well as handwritten letters from Ronald Joseph "Butch" DeFeo, Jr. to Geraldine from prison. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401046452
• ISBN-13: 978-1401046453
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,148,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't judge this book by it's cover., September 6, 2002

By 

Jacob Witherspoon (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Night the DeFeos Died: Reinvestigating the Amityville Murders (Paperback)

If you've looked through the customer reviews to help you decide on buying this book like I did, then you've noticed how there's no middle ground there. People either loved it, or hated it. So, I decided to wait until I knew more about it. I then learned a friend of mine owned a copy, and I asked of her thoughts. She offered to send it to me, which she did.

About 1/3 of the way through it, I had to start flipping back through the pages I'd already read to make sure I didn't misunderstand some things. Further into it, I realized I was getting lost, but not the way one typically loses one's self in a book. The author has a tendency to drift off course, which he does several times in the middle of telling his story, or making a point. Speaking of which, the story itself plays out more like a bizarre dream, rather than a series of non-fictional events. The author describes several events, and even quotes dialog, that would have been impossible for anyone to have known since the persons involved were killed before describing any of it to anyone else. He claims to have documents which verify the detailed events he describes, but neglects to show them anywhere in the book (with the exception of the endnotes list in the back). In addition, there were particular events described which just wouldn't have been possible to document at all, at least not as far as I could imagine.

Furthermore, there was a familiarity about this book, but it wasn't in the story itself. The DeFeo murders was a very well publicized case, and there really wasn't too much left to be discovered since it happened some 28-years ago. Yet this book tells a radically different version that keeps falling apart, as it is being pieced together. There were many unnecessary bits of information that seemed to be included, solely on the basis of making it all appear more credible as a whole. It would have made for a far more interesting read (and certainly more credible) if the supporting evidence was shown instead. The familiarity of it came across in the overall tone of the author himself. It was almost the exact same tone of the book written by Dr. Stephen Kaplan, where he attempts expose the Lutz family as willing participants of a hoax. In both cases, there are hints of resentment which leave an impression as being the fuel of the author's motivation. Unfortunately, it also creates a cloud of suspicion which overshadows an already incredulous depiction of events.

This book was largely based on the word of a woman claiming to have been married to Ronald DeFeo at the time of the murders, but the explanations given as to why she played no part in the initial investigation, or the subsequent murder trial are more humorous, than anything else. The author is insistent that he's verified this, and stresses her authenticity. However, the one simply undeniable submission of proof (a certificate of marriage) is again, nowhere to be found. For the lack of this one piece of evidence, is where this entire story takes a nose dive. The first book written about the DeFeo murders titled "High Hopes" (which this book attempts to discredit) was by far more fascinating and well written than this book could hope to be. It's author, Gerard Sullivan, was the prosecuting attorney at DeFeo's murder trial, who wrote the book from the testimonial transcripts. I bought that book almost twenty years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. If you're interested in reading about the Amityville murders, then that would be the book to read. ...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but dubious read, June 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Night the DeFeos Died: Reinvestigating the Amityville Murders (Paperback)

This is a good book to read if you are at all interested in the real story behind the "Amityville Horror". The author, Ric Osuna, presents a different scenario than what is normally discussed when one thinks of the shenanigans in Amityville. It is somewhat hard to swallow some of the theories presented by Mr. Osuna, especially the so called marriage of Geraldine Defeo to Butch Defeo, why is there absolutely no marriage license or any other legal document to prove their marriage? Also, the book tends to be overly sympathetic to Butch Defeo who even if Mr Osuna is correct, admittedly killed some of the members of his family if not all of them. I do believe, however, that the original "Amityville Horror" book and movies were part of an elaborate hoax and I totally agree with Mr. Osuna in trying to debunk that. It is interesting to read and reinforces the fact that it was a real tragedy that occurred and not the result of some demonic possession.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Uncredicle (not incredible) author, June 20, 2002

By 

Rocco Fernando (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Night the DeFeos Died: Reinvestigating the Amityville Murders (Hardcover)

The author of this book is very uncredible- he flipped back and forth on the issue of whether the house was haunted and even at one time proclaimed on his website that he had proof that it was. [...] Now where I believe the entire story was a hoax, I cannot accept this man's work as fact.