Ronald DeFeo, Killer Who Inspired 'The Amityville Horror,' Dead at 69 DeFeo confessed to murdering six family members at their Long Island home in 1974 Jon Blistein, provided by FacebookTwitterEmail DeFeo died in a hospital in Albany, New York, the New York State Department of Correction and Community Supervision confirmed. He had been serving a sentence of 25-years-to-life at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York, and had been taken to the hospital on February 2nd. A cause of death has not yet been announced, but will be determined by the Albany County coroner. More from Rolling Stone In 1974, DeFeo used a rifle to kill his father, Ronald DeFeo, Sr., his mother, Louise, his two sisters, Dawn and Allison, and his two brothers, Mark and John Matthew. All six victims were found in their beds at the family’s home in Amityville, a town on the South Shore of Long Island, on November 13th, 1974. A year later, DeFeo was convicted on six counts of second-degree murder after confessing to the killings.