All language subtitles for Historys.Greatest.Mysteries.S03E05.720p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.chr00t

[tense music]

Tonight, a mystery
that’s haunted the world

for almost 50 years,

one so terrifying,
it spawned

a tidal wave of books,
documentaries, and film.

♪ ♪

- They’ve endured what
some of the family

have defined as a circus act
of paranormal activity.

- They decide,
right then and there,

"We are leaving,"
in the dead of night.

- Now we uncover
the top theories

surrounding
the most notorious house

in America.

- I don’t think
it was the murders

that scared them away.

I think it was something
much more devilish.

- There are a couple
of other things that indicate

that there is another
accomplice on the loose.

- Can new testimony
finally reveal the answer?

- Danny claimed that Georgia’s
interest in the occult

instigated the haunting.

♪ ♪

- Who or what
is responsible for

"The Amityville Horror"?

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

December 18, 1975.

Amityville, New York.

George and Kathy Lutz,

along with their
three children,

Danny, Christopher,
and Melissa,

move into their new home.

- It was a typical day
by anybody’s standards.

The weather was fine.

Uh, everything
was seemingly normal.

Fishburne: But it’s
immediately clear

that the Lutz’s new house
is anything but normal.

- From the very first night
of being in the house,

they start to experience
knocks, chills.

So many things
are happening.

Gusts of wind
in a room that is sealed.

George even believes

that there is
an invisible force

in this house.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: As the days pass,

patriarch George seems
to be affected the most.

- George says he could
never get warm.

He’s building fires
all the time.

He’s not going into work.

♪ ♪

He stops bathing.

He’s very disheveled
and unkempt.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Soon,
other members of the family

are impacted as well.

♪ ♪

- George’s wife, Kathleen,
comes down

with a mysterious illness.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: The crescendo
of horrors continues to build

until one final night,

when it comes
to an alarming peak.

- George reports
a deafening sound

coming from the living room,

like a marching band
at full volume

marching across
the living room.

Windows are going up and down.

Doors are flying
off the hinges.

When they go to check,
there’s nothing there.

♪ ♪

- You know, they’ve been
living in this house

for 28 days,

and they’ve endured
a onslaught,

and what some of the members
of the family

have defined as a "circus act,"
of paranormal activity.

Fishburne: The Lutzes
finally can’t take it anymore,

and at 7:00 a.m.
on January 14, 1976,

they flee.

- They packed just a couple
of changes of clothes,

they grab the dog,

and literally leave
or abscond in the van.

And that’s it.

And they’re
at Kathy’s mother’s house,

and they said
they will never,

never go
back there again.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Why would
this seemingly normal family

abandon their brand-new home

in the dead of winter?

[camera shutter snaps]
What or who

are they running from?

♪ ♪

While dozens of theories

have risen over the years,

the first is based on
an actual horrific event

that happened
one year earlier.

♪ ♪

- Before the Lutzes purchased
112 Ocean Avenue,

the DeFeo family lived there.

The members
of the DeFeo family are

Ronald DeFeo Sr.
and his wife,

Louise Brigante DeFeo.

They are 42 and 43 years old.

They have five children:

Ronald DeFeo Jr.,

who is known
to his friends and family

as "Butch",

his younger,
18-year-old sister, Dawn,

followed by Allison,
who’s 13.

And then the two youngest are

Marc, 12,
and John, 9 at the time.

And they are a typical middle,
upwardly mobile,

suburban family.

♪ ♪

- For the DeFeo children,

coming from a small apartment
in Brooklyn,

moving to this lavish property
had to be a dream come true.

Fishburne: But that dream
comes to an abrupt end

on November 13, 1974.

♪ ♪

At 6:30 p.m.,
the crowd at Henry’s Bar,

just a few blocks
from the DeFeo home,

are enjoying their cocktails

when suddenly,
Butch DeFeo, the eldest son,

bursts in.

- He’s very frantic.
He’s very upset.

And he’s telling everyone

that his mom and dad
had been shot

and that he needs assistance.

Initially, the patrons
don’t believe him.

They think he’s making it up.

They think it’s
kind of a sick joke.

But the more Butch
goes on about that,

the more they believe
that he, in fact,

is telling the truth.

A couple of his friends,
Bobby, John, Joey,

and three other men
decide to leave the bar,

go to Butch’s house,

and see what’s going on.

When the group gets
to Butch’s house,

there’s some discussion
about who’s gonna go in.

There’s some concern--"Hey,
is there a suspect inside?"

What should they do?

Bobby takes the lead.
He’s going in.

He becomes the alpha dog
in this group,

and he’s gonna go in
and find out what’s going on.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: As the rest
of the men come inside,

the house is eerily quiet.

The only sound is
the barking

of the DeFeo family dog,
Shaggy.

- As they move up the stairs
onto the second floor,

they start to smell
something.

It’s a smell that they
associate with death.

♪ ♪

Nothing else in life
smells like death.

♪ ♪

Once you smell it,

you will always recognize it.

Fishburne:
Bobby heads straight

to the master bedroom.

- Bobby goes inside,
turns on the light.

And this is when he discovers
the first two murders.

♪ ♪

- The father,
Big Ronnie--

he’s laying facedown.

He’s been shot
a couple of times.

And in the bed is
Louise, the mother.

She’s curled up
in a fetal position,

and she’s been shot
a couple of times.

This is more
than Bobby can handle,

to the point
that two of the guys believe

that he needs to be taken
away from this scene

and taken downstairs.

One of the men in the group,
John Altieri--

he decides to stay
on the second floor

and investigate further.

Fishburne: Further
down the hall,

John Altieri stumbles upon

another horrific scene.

- When he goes
in that bedroom,

he discovers
Butch’s two brothers.

♪ ♪

John, who’s 9 years old--

he is found
dead in bed,

soaked with blood.

In the same bedroom
is his brother Marc,

who’s 12 years old.

He, too, has been murdered
in his bed.

♪ ♪

Altieri sees this--

this is too overwhelming
for him as well--

leaves the bedroom.

He goes back downstairs.

Fishburne: The men have found
four victims.

But the body count
doesn’t stop there.

In another room,

the two DeFeo daughters,
Dawn and Allison,

are dead as well.

♪ ♪

- The police arrive
at the scene,

and they start
to interview the group.

♪ ♪

What these men find
are six people,

all family related,

all murdered
in their own home,

in their own bed.

Fishburne: As police begin
to process the scene,

a prime suspect emerges.

- On the outside
of the residence,

they find a Marlin rifle,
.35 caliber.

This rifle is kind of unique.

One of the rifles
that Annie Oakley used to use

in her competition.

They learn
that Butch is a gun guy,

that he’s a gun fanatic.

[rifle cocks]

In Butch’s room,
they find a box

of .35-caliber
rifle ammunition.

Fishburne: Based
on these discoveries,

Butch is brought in
for interrogation.

- He eventually breaks down
and admits

that he is responsible,

saying that once he started,
he couldn’t stop,

that he killed everyone
in cold blood.

♪ ♪

[cell door clangs]

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Butch’s trial
begins

on October 14, 1975.

- And on its face,

it’s a pretty
straightforward case.

You have a confession,
you have the murder weapon,

you have lots of pieces
of physical evidence.

Butch goes through
multiple lawyers

before he finally decides
on William Weber.

William Weber and Butch decide
on an insanity defense.

Butch states
that he was hearing voices,

that he did these murders

based on the voices
that he heard,

that these voices
drove him insane,

and that’s
why he killed his family.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Butch also claims
he was possessed.

- During the trial,

the prosecution brought out

that Butch is a heavy user
of LSD and heroin.

LSD and heroin can both cause
psychotic symptoms

in the using individual

during the time
that they’re in the body.

♪ ♪

While someone is
under intoxication of LSD,

they can have
psychotic symptoms

including, but not limited to,

feeling that they’re possessed.

♪ ♪

If someone is possessed,

they may not know
what they’re doing,

much like a hypnotist

can get someone out of a crowd
and hypnotize them,

and make them quack
and walk like a duck,

and then, when they
snap out of the hypnosis,

they don’t remember
what they did.

[crickets chirping]

- I find the insanity defense
a little weak.

And I’m not the only one

that thought
it was a little weak.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: The jury rejects
the insanity argument.

And on December 4, 1975,

Butch DeFeo is sentenced

to 25 years to life.

♪ ♪

- Most people in Amityville
and Long Island in general

thought that once Butch
was put away,

that that was the end
of the story...

[cell door clangs]

That the house would be wiped
of its dark past...

♪ ♪

And that life would move on.

That was only the beginning.

Fishburne: 13 months
after the murders,

and just two weeks
after Butch’s sentencing,

George and Kathleen Lutz
buy the property.

- George and Kathy Lutz got it

for the bargain basement price
of $80,000.

They also purchased
a great deal of the furniture,

including the beds,

the living room furniture,
you name it,

because the DeFeo family
wanted no part of it.

Fishburne: But unfortunately,

new owners don’t mark
a fresh start

for the Amityville house.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: One month
after they move

into their new
Amityville home,

the Lutz family
flees in terror.

♪ ♪

The question is why?

Some believe the property’s
dark past is to blame.

♪ ♪

But not everyone’s convinced.

- I don’t think
it was the murders

that scared them away.

I think it was something
much more devilish.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: According
to the Lutz family’s account,

from the moment they arrive
at the Amityville house,

they face a host
of terrifying events.

♪ ♪

As practicing Catholics,
the Lutzes bring in a priest,

Father Ralph Pecoraro,

to bless the home
before they move in.

♪ ♪

- The ritual in blessing

is going through
every room of the house,

sprinkling holy water...

♪ ♪

And reciting prayers of peace
throughout the house.

♪ ♪

When Father Pecoraro
goes inside of the house,

everything is calm
and peaceful.

♪ ♪

But when he enters
the room

of John and Marc DeFeo,

he hears this voice
say to him, "Get out."

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Pecoraro leaves
the house as commanded,

but he doesn’t say anything

about the ghostly voice
he’s just heard.

He doesn’t tell the Lutzes
what he heard

because he does not want them
to think that he’s crazy.

But he does tell them
to not sleep in that room.

Fishburne: Soon after,
the Lutzes begin

having their own
strange encounters.

♪ ♪

- George starts this habit

of waking up at 3:15 a.m....

[clock ticking]

Every morning,
’cause he’s not able to sleep.

3:15 is important,
because this is the time

Butch DeFeo did these murders
in the house.

[clock ticking]

The Lutzes didn’t
even know this.

They had to talk
to the authorities

to piece together a time frame
of what took place.

Fishburne: But it may be
the Lutzes’ daughter,

Melissa, who experiences

the most bizarre terror.

- Melissa, or Missy,
as she was called

at that time--

she spends a lot of time
in her room,

which is typical
for any child of that age.

But when asked
what she’s doing,

she’s talking
to an imaginary friend.

This isn’t
your typical imaginary friend.

It’s a red-eyed pig.

♪ ♪

It can supposedly
change shape.

♪ ♪

Sometimes even as large
as the house.

♪ ♪

And it apparently has a name,
Jodie.

[camera shutter snaps]

Fishburne: And their troubles
don’t end there.

- They claim

that there is green slime

coming down from the ceilings
and on the walls,

an infestation of flies

which doesn’t seem
to make any sense.

They see objects moving
and breaking.

♪ ♪

- The Lutzes try
to contact Father Pecoraro

to do a second blessing
to cleanse the house.

♪ ♪

But every time
they try to call him,

the phones shut off.

It’s as if the house

won’t let them
contact Father Pecoraro.

♪ ♪

- I don’t know
how they survived

four hours in that house,
let alone four weeks.

Regardless, they never spend
another night

in their dream home,

which is now
nothing but a nightmare.

[crickets chirping]

Fishburne: To the Lutzes,
one thing is clear.

Evil lurks in their new house.

- Over the 140 years
of parapsychology

and cyclical research,

we have looked at
a lot of possible explanations

for what are
called "hauntings."

These are
repetitive experiences

that people have.

♪ ♪

The DeFeo murders
are definitely,

to my mind,
an environmental imprint.

In hauntings
like the Lutz family situation,

they are picking up
on an imprint

that is tied
to that environment,

an event that happened
that is completely negative,

which is killings
of this family.

♪ ♪

Fishburne:
When the Amityville hauntings

make national headlines,

it catches the attention

of two world-famous
paranormal investigators.

- The Warrens are
paranormal investigators

who’d done
over 10,000 investigations.

Fishburne:
But they aren’t ready

for what lies ahead.

- When we went
into the house that day,

we didn’t realize

that it was
diabolically infested.

And on a scale of one to ten,

I would have to say
that Amityville was a ten.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: In January of 1976,

the Lutz family claims
their house is haunted.

♪ ♪

But can they prove it?

- The Lutzes were not nutjobs.

They were very ordinary,
suburban, middle-class people.

Back in the mid-’70s,

you couldn’t just go online
and look things up.

You actually had to have
feet on the street,

dig for information,
look for people face to face,

talk with the Lutzes,
talk with the neighbors,

and then go into the house
and see what was happening.

Fishburne: To help them
gather evidence,

the Lutzes call on
world-renowned

paranormal investigators
Ed and Lorraine Warren.

♪ ♪

- The Warrens are
paranormal investigators

who’d done
over 10,000 investigations

for hauntings,
poltergeists, exorcism--

this is what they do.

Fishburne:
The real-life inspiration

for "The Conjuring"
film franchise,

this husband and wife team
make a name for themselves

in the late 1960s
when they investigate a doll

supposedly possessed

by the spirit
of a little girl.

♪ ♪

- Lorraine was psychic.

♪ ♪

She was a light trance medium.

She would go into a trance

to try and connect
with the other side.

Ed was a self-styled
demonologist.

He would guide Lorraine
through her trances,

ask her questions,

generally run
the investigation.

Fishburne: In February 1976,

Lorraine meets George Lutz
at a local pizza parlor.

♪ ♪

George gives permission

for the Warrens
to enter the house,

but he refuses to come along.

- George Lutz wouldn’t
even go to that home.

He said, "There’s no way
I’m going into the house."

And when I asked him,

at this restaurant
where we met him--

I said, "Mr. Lutz,

what happened to you
in that house?"

♪ ♪

He didn’t say anything.
He just looked at me.

He said, "You know."

♪ ♪

Fishburne: According
to the Warrens,

although the property
is empty,

they can tell
they are not alone

from the moment they arrive.

♪ ♪

- Ed Warren is
drawn to the cellar.

And down here is
where he believes

that everything started.

♪ ♪

- This home is haunted.

I mean,
they left behind everything:

everything to eat,
everything to drink.

Within seconds, I could feel

what I can only describe

as being under
a waterfall.

♪ ♪

Pressure pushing me
down to the floor.

Then I could feel
hundreds of pinpoints

of electricity
hitting my body.

Fishburne: Ed leaves
the basement

to check on Lorraine upstairs.

She also describes feeling

a powerful, unseen force.

- Going up the stairs,

I was going against
a tremendous pressure.

It was the worst feeling.

Fishburne:
In over their heads,

the two quickly flee.

- I knew right at that point
what we were dealing with,

and I said to myself,

"I don’t think I’ll ever
come back in this house again."

Fishburne: But despite
their misgivings,

the Warrens don’t give up.

♪ ♪

A few days later,
they return to the house,

but this time,
they bring backup

and cameras.

- There were five people
from Channel 5:

myself, Marvin Scott,
and the crew.

Two other reporters,
the Warrens and their team,

which was about seven people.

Then there was
another team of psychics

and investigators.

♪ ♪

So all in all,

I counted 21 people
in the house that night.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: The Warrens
and their team

spend hours
investigating the house.

And it’s not long
before disturbing things

start happening.

- It moves.

And as it moves,
it kind of--

it--it--it says,
"I feel personally threatened."

- [panting]

It’s a thing--

it’s--it’s whatever’s here.

[gasps]

Whatever is here is--

- You’re trying to harm them?

- It--yes.

- We had a cameraman,
Steve Petropolis.

Steve was in his 40s,
about 5’10",

a marathon runner.

So in other words,
he was in good shape.

He starts up the stairs
with his light meter

to take light readings,

and I’m standing
at the bottom of the stairs

with the other members
of the crew.

♪ ♪

He gets to the middle
of the staircase,

and he turns around,
and he says to me,

"Hey, there’s a room

"at the left,

and it’s--one wall
is filled with mirrors.

♪ ♪

So he continues
up the stairs.

He gets to the top
of the landing,

and he turns around,
and he looks at me strangely.

He says...
"I don’t know how I knew that."

And all of the sudden,

I can see the blood
drain from his face,

he goes ashen,

and he doubles over,
and he’s clutching his chest.

And he’s gagging.

He’s trying to get words out
but he can’t,

so our sound man
and our lighting man

run up the stairs
to assist him down the stairs.

- One of the scientists

that had come up
from Duke University--

he became so terrified
in this home,

and the chair
that he was sitting on

actually went right backwards
with him in it.

They had a real hard time

just stabilizing
him emotionally

in that home.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: The Warrens record
their entire experience.

♪ ♪

- That night,
the Warrens were accompanied

by Gene Campbell,
their photographer,

who had what, for the time,
was advanced

infrared equipment.

He’s hoping
to pick up something,

white noise,
what have you.

So he sets up the camera.

He points it
at that second-floor landing,

sets it, forgets it.

He takes many photos
that night.

You know, well over a hundred.

Fishburne: Once the infrared
photos are processed,

the team uncovers
an unusual find.

♪ ♪

- This image
on the one picture,

peeking out of a doorway,

looks like it’s a young boy.

The eyes are sort of bright
and glowing.

Fishburne: There are
no children present

during the investigation.

[camera shutter snaps]
So who or what

is the mysterious figure
in the photograph?

♪ ♪

- It’s what has come
to be known

as the ghost boy photo.

And this has been the object
of much curiosity

and much controversy.

People have said,
and speculated,

"Oh, it’s
the youngest boy,

9-year-old John DeFeo.
It’s his ghost."

♪ ♪

Fishburne:
Ed Warren, however,

thinks it’s
something different.

- Well, it is not the spirit
of the young boy.

No, it is not the spirit
of the young boy.

But it is a spirit
of a diabolical nature

in that room,

that appears in that home
to confuse the investigators.

Fishburne: The mysterious
figure in the photo

remains unidentified.

But the Warrens agree
that something

is terrorizing the property,

and they’re now armed
with proof.

- I always consider myself

an objective person

and not given to flights
of imagination or fancy.

But at the same time...

there were many things
that happened that night.

There were subtle signs

of what many
paranormal investigators

classify as infestation,

and some not so subtle things.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: "Amityville Horror."

♪ ♪

The very name conjures fear.

While some believe
the home’s darkness

was brought on
by the DeFeo family murders,

others chalk it up
to paranormal activity.

But one member
of the Lutz family,

who experienced
the terrors firsthand,

thinks the source
is much closer to him.

♪ ♪

Their move
to Amityville in 1975

was supposed to mark
a fresh start

for the blended Lutz family.

[camera shutter snaps]
- Kathy had three children

from a previous marriage.

There was Daniel,
Christopher, and Melissa.

At the time
they lived in this house,

Daniel was nine,
Christopher, seven,

and Melissa was
five years old.

George was actually
their stepfather.

These were very young,
impressionable children,

certainly, uh, subject
to the feelings

that were going on
from the family.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Eldest son Daniel,
stays silent for decades.

[camera shutter snaps]

Then, in 2009,

he finally speaks publicly

in a series of interviews.

♪ ♪

- Daniel Lutz reached out
to me,

wanting to tell his story.

At the beginning,
I was very skeptical.

But as soon I saw photographs,

right away,
the likeness to Kathy Lutz

was so striking,
I knew it was him.

♪ ♪

At that time,

I began conversations
with Daniel Lutz

that really...

changed the paradigm
of how I view

this entire case.

♪ ♪

- This is not something
I enjoy discussing.

♪ ♪

I don’t look forward
to this [bleep].

♪ ♪

It’s--it’s not easy
to tell somebody

how you got thrown
up a staircase.

♪ ♪

It’s not easy
to tell somebody

that your bed was bouncing
off the ceiling.

Once I start talking
about it,

I become stuck with it.

- I felt strongly
sitting with him...

♪ ♪

The passion,
the anger

for living in the shadow
of this story.

His story had been told
by everyone else but him.

He felt that his voice
had been silenced,

and so it was almost
a cathartic process

to purge these demons
of his past,

for him to have a say.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Daniel offers

a dramatically different
potential reason

for the Amityville hauntings.

[camera shutter snaps]

- When you walked
into George’s house,

it wasn’t inviting
and welcoming.

If you read his, uh...

♪ ♪

Bookcase, you know,
it--it would range

from satanic history,
mind control type of books,

and hypnosis books.

This guy was
into some pretty dark stuff.

And I walk over to my mother,
and I said,

"You married this guy.
You moved me to his house.

What the hell is he into?"

♪ ♪

Danny claimed that George’s
interest in the occult

instigated the haunting,
that it was like

a magic trick
that you couldn’t shut off.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Was an evil spirit
invited to Amityville

by George Lutz
in a spell gone wrong?

♪ ♪

Daniel believes it was.

Danny claimed that he felt
he was possessed,

and that the only way
to get away from it

was to leave the family.

And so that’s what he did.

And in a lot of ways,

I think Daniel
was haunted by George,

and still is to this day.

♪ ♪

And at the end of the day,

something happened
to his family

and to him in that house
that forever shaped them.

Fishburne:
Daniel’s story isn’t

the only firsthand account
from the Lutz family.

Thirty years earlier,

his parents offer

a very different
and very public version

of what happened
in Amityville.

♪ ♪

- After the Lutzes move out,

they’re telling people
about the situation.

And they’re not actively
just trying

to tell people
to get help,

they are actually
telling people

to try to sell
the story somehow,

to make some money,
to make the money back

that they paid
for their house.

♪ ♪

- The Lutzes paid out $80,000
with a large down payment

for this particular house.

George needed
to recoup that loss.

You know, if it were me
paying all that money,

I’d be really concerned

about how to provide
for my family.

And one way to do that

would have been to try
to sell the story somehow.

At the time,
the media was very interested

in these kinds of stories.

They had covered
"The Exorcist"

and looked for other types
of cases like that.

And so George may have seen
an opportunity.

So the Lutzes hire
an attorney

who turns out to be
William Weber,

who was the defense attorney
for Butch DeFeo.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Weber agrees
to help sell

the family’s story

if they split
the profits 50/50.

♪ ♪

George declines Weber’s deal,

but Weber goes out
and sells the story anyway.

- So William Weber sells
two articles to publications

about the situation
that George had described

and that they had worked up
in their conversation.

George is enraged about this

because it was done
without his permission.

So at that point,
George is so upset

that he walks away from Weber.

As a consequence,

Weber files a lawsuit
against the Lutzes.

They eventually settle
out of court,

but the damage
between the two of them

is irreparable.

Fishburne: The Lutzes
ultimately move forward

on a book deal
with author Jay Anson,

who agrees to
a more reasonable partnership.

♪ ♪

In response, Weber makes
a bold accusation.

♪ ♪

The Amityville hauntings
are a hoax.

[camera shutter snaps]

- Once the story
got very popular,

and the book sales were high,

William Weber started
going out to the media

and actually disputing
the facts of the case

as reported in the book.

Weber was totally willing
to say

that everything
was 100% true

until it turned out
that he couldn’t cash in.

♪ ♪

Fishburne:
To counter his claims,

the Lutzes agree
to a polygraph test.

♪ ♪

They pass.

♪ ♪

George, unless he was
the Oracle of Delphi himself,

had no way of predicting that--
even if he was hatching

this grandmaster scheme--
that it would come to fruition.

♪ ♪

Are you really going to bet

your entire life savings
on a ghost story?

"Well, some people might."

I never bought into that.

♪ ♪

Fishburne:
Whether it’s a haunting,

a summoning,
an elaborate hoax,

or the chilling aftermath
of a family homicide,

for the next several years,

the Amityville case continues
to puzzle the public.

♪ ♪

Fishburne:
While many questions surround

New York’s infamous
Amityville house of horrors...

[camera shutter snaps]
At least one

has long been assumed
to be solved.

[camera shutter snaps]
Who committed

the brutal murders
that started it all?

♪ ♪

After a confession,

a conviction,

and a sentence
of 25 years to life...

♪ ♪

It seems certain
that Butch DeFeo

single-handedly
killed his family in 1974.

♪ ♪

But in 2000, Butch DeFeo makes
an astonishing claim.

♪ ♪

He didn’t act alone.

Butch writes a letter
from prison

on May 1, 2000,

with a shocking revelation.

♪ ♪

- Butch mentions
that he didn’t kill

his family by himself.

♪ ♪

He had help,

and it wasn’t
even his idea.

So this is interesting.

If there was
another killer out there,

is that who was tormenting
the Lutzes?

♪ ♪

Maybe it wasn’t
a haunting after all.

♪ ♪

At the time of the murders,

Butch is 23.
Dawn is 18.

They’re in the family basement
with a few friends,

drinking and smoking.

This is an escape
from their family,

especially their father.

Fishburne: Their father,
"Big Ronnie,"

apparently lived up
to his intimidating name.

♪ ♪

- This family was
not a happy one.

For many years,
Ronald Sr. in particular,

had inflicted
domestic violence

against Ronald Jr.,
Louise, the other children.

There’s been stories about how
he had walked over

and punched Louise
in the face,

that she fell down...

♪ ♪

And that he had
just gone back to dinner

and said,
"We can eat in peace now."

This type of... occurrence
encapsulates

what life must have been like
in that house

for these children.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: But despite
Butch’s struggles

with his father,

he claims it’s
his sister Dawn

that harbors
the deepest resentment.

- She is 18 years old.

She has a boyfriend
that lives in Florida

who happens to be
33 years old,

a great age difference.

"Big Ronnie" is
very disapproving

of this relationship.

He belittles her.
He berates her.

Per Butch,
Dawn comes up with a plan,

and the plan is
to murder their parents.

Dawn states
that the other siblings

can be taken
to the grandmother’s house

in Brooklyn,
and they can live there.

Mom and Dad will be
out of the way,

kids will be taken care of,

and everybody will live
happily ever after

if Mom and Dad are murdered.

♪ ♪

- Apparently it wasn’t hard
for Dawn to convince Butch,

because the plans were put
in motion pretty quickly.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Butch says

he recruits
two friends to help.

♪ ♪

- About 1:00 in the morning,

they sneak out of the basement

and go into the interior
of the house.

♪ ♪

They then go upstairs

to the parents’ bedroom.

Butch is arming himself
with a--

with the .35-caliber
Marlin rifle.

He makes no bones about that,
that he has the rifle.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Lit only
by a night light

in the second-floor bathroom,

the siblings open
their parents’ bedroom door,

and the massacre begins.

♪ ♪

- Butch goes
into the bedroom...

[gunshots]

Fires the rifle twice
into his father,

and then fires the rifle twice
into his mother,

killing them both.

Fishburne: Butch then says
he and his two friends

flee the Amityville house,
leaving Dawn

and their three other siblings
inside, alone.

- Butch relates
that the plan was

merely to kill the parents.

It wasn’t to kill the--
the brothers and sisters.

Fishburne: He says Dawn,
however, goes rogue.

♪ ♪

- Butch returns
inside the house.

♪ ♪

Dawn has done
something horrible.

Butch says
that she took it upon herself

to murder
the other brothers and sisters.

♪ ♪

Dawn believes
that these children

were a liability,
certainly not an asset.

This infuriates Butch.
He explodes.

This is more
than he bargained for.

He didn’t want
his siblings killed.

He only wanted
the parents killed.

They get
into a violent argument.

And that argument
turns into a struggle.

♪ ♪

- They struggle.
He knocks her out

and then shoots her
in the back of the head.

♪ ♪

- Now, whether Dawn
was involved

in these murders or not

really has no influence

about what the Lutz family
went through.

♪ ♪

The bottom line,
six people got murdered there.

Whether Butch was
the primary shooter

or Dawn was the shooter
really makes no difference.

Fishburne: But what
about the two other friends

he claims were there
that night?

♪ ♪

Were they involved
in the massacre?

♪ ♪

[cell door clangs]

Fishburne: Butch DeFeo’s
jailhouse confession

of an accomplice
to his family’s murder

throws a twist
into the case

of the "Amityville Horror."

♪ ♪

- For 25 years,
people believed

Butch was the lone gunman

in these multiple murders.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: In 2000,
Butch reveals

his sister Dawn was
the mastermind

behind the murders.

- We know
that Butch kills Dawn,

so we know
that it’s not her

that’s coming back
and tormenting the Lutzes.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: However,
according to Butch’s

written affidavit,

there may be yet
another unknown killer.

♪ ♪

- Butch mentions two friends

that he brought along
as lookouts,

but as soon as there’s gunfire,

they panic,
they leave,

and he never mentioned them
committing any violence.

Butch mentions
something curious

in a letter.

"It was cold-blooded murder,
period.

"No ghosts, no demons,
just three people,

of which I was one."

♪ ♪

So he says
there’s three people.

We know there’s two,
Butch and Dawn,

but who is
this mysterious third person?

♪ ♪

Butch never names
this third person.

Nobody follows up.
They chalk it up

to the ramblings
of someone

who’s been in prison
20 years,

maybe looking
for a reduced sentence,

or somebody just
looking for attention.

♪ ♪

Ronnie was running

through every
possible scenario

he could in his mind

to deflect
away from the fact

that he had committed
these murders.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Butch dies
in March of 2021,

taking any further details
of a possible third killer

to his grave.

♪ ♪

But some are convinced
that this is the key

to the Amityville hauntings.

♪ ♪

- Besides Butch’s letter,

there are a couple
of other things

that indicate
that there is

another accomplice
on the loose.

The first thing happens
at the time of the trial.

Louise DeFeo’s father

hires a private investigator

to look into the idea
of there being

more than one killer.

♪ ♪

- The house is very big.

It’s three stories.

The people that were murdered

were spread out
throughout the house.

And so for someone
to move around deliberately,

firing a rifle,
which is very loud,

could seem
very puzzling to people.

Why didn’t somebody get up?

Why didn’t they get
out of bed?

Why didn’t they flee?
Why didn’t they hide?

I can understand
how some people

have difficulty believing

that this was
a single suspect

killing all these folks.

♪ ♪

Fishburne:
The private investigator

also presents evidence

that two guns may have been
used in the murders.

- During the investigation,

there is physical evidence
called powder burns.

And on Dawn’s body,
there were powder burns

that some experts believe

did not match what
the murder weapon would be.

And that there were
some theories

that there could
very well be

a second murder weapon

based on
the powder burn evidence

on Dawn’s person.

Fishburne:
But at the scene,

detectives only find
Butch’s .35-caliber Marlin...

♪ ♪

That is, until 2011,

when a Long Island dive team
goes searching

in a canal
near the Amityville house.

♪ ♪

- Divers are following up
on a documentary

and
the multiple killers theory.

They fish out an old revolver
in the canal behind the house

that could easily
have been dumped

by somebody
fleeing the murder scene.

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Police try
to collect evidence

from the handgun,

but time and the elements

have erased it.

The answer to who
or what

lies behind
the Amityville horrors

remains just out of reach.

- I think it’s possible

that Butch and Dawn
had help,

especially since
no one else

was arrested in the case.

[gunshots]

And if that’s true,

is that other person
still out there?

Is that who was tormenting
the Lutzes?

Will they be back
for another haunting?

♪ ♪

Fishburne: Supernatural or not,
one thing is certain:

the Amityville house
has experienced

incredible tragedy.

And while this story
has captivated

more than three generations,

none of the four families

who’ve owned the house
after the Lutzes

have reported
any paranormal activity...

♪ ♪

Yet.

♪ ♪

I’m Lawrence Fishburne.

Thank you for watching

"History’s Greatest
Mysteries."

♪ ♪