Killer who inspired Amityville Horror dies in jail

Ronald DeFeo Jr killed six family members in their sleep in 1974

(AP)

Ronald DeFeo Jr, who shocked the country in 1974 when he killed six members of his family, has died in prison.

He passed away on Friday at the age of 69, according to the New York State Department of Correction.

Mr DeFeo became the inspiration for the film “The Amityville Horror” after he killed his father, mother, two brothers, and two sisters in their sleep in their house in Amityville on Long Island outside New York City.

He was convicted on six counts of second-degree murder and became the inspiration for a book and a movie franchise after his case made national headlines, PIX11 reported.

When he passed away he was serving six sentences of 25 years to life at the Sullivan Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in the southern part of the state.

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He was pronounced dead at the Albany Medical Center, where a medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

The 23-year-old Mr DeFeo used a rifle to kill his entire family, including his dad Ronald DeFeo Sr., who was 43 years old at the time, his mom Louise DeFeo, also 43, and his siblings Dawn, 18, Allison, 13, Marc, 12, and John, 9.

The adults were shot twice and the kids once, and they were all found facedown in their beds, The New York Post writes.

His lawyer argued during his trial that Mr DeFeo was insane and that he heard voices in his head saying that his family was plotting against him. He was scheduled for a parole hearing in July, according to Department of Correction online records.

In a 2006 interview, he claimed that he only killed his father, mother, and his oldest sister Dawn, arguing that Dawn had killed the other siblings before he murdered her.

The book based on the tragedy, “The Amityville Horror,” was published in 1977, with a film of the same name hitting theatres in 1979.

The original address for the house, 112 Ocean Ave. was changed to 108 Ocean Ave. to avoid having tourists flock to the scene, according to The New York Post.

The house was bought by George and Kathy Lutz a year after the murders but they left after only 28 days saying that the house was beset by paranormal activity like “strange sounds, voices and green slime oozing from the walls,” according to 6sqft.

The site also reported that the house most recently swapped owners in 2016 when it hit the market for $850,000 and went into contract some months later.