Why Hollywood’s version of DeFeo murders isn't Amityville’s

"Thus ensued a night of horror that Amityville will never forget during which Ronald DeFeo Jr. was taken into protective cusotody by the Suffolk County Police while the bodies of his slain family were given the last rites of the Catholic Church by Father McNamara."

Amityville Record — 11/21/74

by Carolyn James and Christina Laquidara

"If you don’t live in Amityville, you just don’t get it."

That’s what Rene Nowakowski thinks.

Rene was talking about the latest attempt by a production company to come into Amityville Village and shoot a film about the DeFeo murders and the Amityville Horror.

"It was a horror," she said. "But not in the way most people think of it. It was a horror because this family were our neighbors; their children went to school with our children and we knew them all. Then, in one instant, tragedy struck and they were gone."

This recent attempt to bring additional publicity to the incident in which Ronald DeFeo, 23, shot and killed his father Ronald, 43, his mother Louise, 42, sisters, Dawn,18, and Allison, 13 and brothers, Mark, 12, and John, 9, in the early morning hours of November 13, 1974, came from the History Channel. It will be televising a show about the murders and the subsequent alleged paranormal occurrences in the home.

A co-producer, Ric Osuna of Las Vegas, asked that the Village issue his crew a production permit for Ocean Avenue so they could film there, a request the Village Board denied at a Trustee’s meeting held on March 27.

"They don’t realize the manpower this takes and the resources it takes away from the other things the department has to do," said Police Chief Woodrow Cromarty who also received a letter from Osuna asking that he provide him with some information. Among Osuna’s questions were why after 25 years do you think the public is still fascinated with the case and how has the story effected the Village of Amityville?

The letter also asked if he had any knowledge of any tragedies taking place in the house since the Lutzes left. The Lutz family purchased the DeFeo house on Ocean Avenue and claimed it was haunted.

Since the request was made and denied, Osuna, who has a website entitled The Amityville Murders, and has researched the case and ensuing incidents, has withdrawn from the History Channel project. He said he believes the History Channel was more interested in ratings than at getting at the truth.

"For me this project has always been about setting the record straight and not about titles or money," said Osuna, "and I believe that the possession stories were nothing more than a defense strategy for Ronald DeFeo Jr. and a ploy to line the pockets of certain individuals."

Osuna said the truth is a side the writers of books and producers of documentaries do not want the public to know because it does not meet "sensational criteria, but I am confident that after reviewing first hand the evidence that no demons, ghouls or ghosts were co-conspirators in this crime."

But it is the "sensational" publicity that continues today to haunt the people of Amityville. One resident, who asked not to be named, wants the curiousity to be put to rest, and was outraged at the thought of yet another attempt by producers to dramafy the tragic event. She said that she finds Ocean Avenue passers-by extremely intrusive and added that on occaision, when she has gone biking down the street, people have stopped her to ask directions to the Horror House. She explained that even if the house was close to where they stopped her, she’d point toward the end of the block, heading them straight for the water.

"I love Amityville. Our little town holds a lot of precious things for its residents, and we are only recognized for this. It’s very unfortunate," she said.

She also said that this recent attempt by the History Channel reminded her of a letter she’d written to another Long Island newspaper many years ago protesting further media attention. Speaking of the murders, one line reads, "It made such an impression on our consciousness that even today, no matter how far we travel, total strangers are still insatiably curious about the "Amityville Horror."

This statement was confirmed by another Amityville resident, Richard Gambassi, who said that while recently vacationing in California, on two separate occasions on golf courses, he received wary looks and was questioned about the Horror House after revealing his hometown. He said one man told him he didn’t think such a town really existed, that it was just a ficticious name given in the movie, referring to "The Amityville Horror," filmed in 1979.

Cromarty, who went to school with Ronald DeFeo, said that every time something new is written or filmed about the case, or when the old movie is in reruns, the area becomes a tourist attraction for the curious and weird. "The last time they showed a new film, we had a break in to a house next door. The guy was dressed in a white gown and hood. He thought he was in the DeFeo house. We don’t need more of that."

For that reason, Cromarty chose not to respond to Osuna’s request and the Village Board declined to cooperate.

A similar incident took place in 1976 when a WNBC producer sought to gain Ocean Avenue residents’ approval on a documentary being made on the subject, but was met with opposition and disdain. "They just don’t get it," reiterated Nowakowski. "This was a family and this kind of publicity triviliazes their memories."