On November 13, 1974, nine-year-old John Matthew DeFeo was one of six members of the DeFeo family found shot dead in their beds at their Ocean Avenue home in Amityville, New York. John Matthew was discovered lying face down, having been killed by a high-powered rifle. His parents, Ronald Sr. and Louise, and siblings Dawn, 18, Allison, 13, and Mark, 12, were also found slain in the same face-down position.

The eldest son, 23-year-old Ronald Butch DeFeo Jr., burst into a nearby bar to report the shootings; investigators later focused on him after inconsistencies in his account and evidence at the scene. He confessed the next day, saying once he started he couldn’t stop, and told police he used a .35-caliber Marlin rifle to go through the house. At his October 1975 trial the defense argued insanity, citing voices, while the prosecution described substance use and antisocial personality disorder; jurors rejected the insanity plea and convicted him of six counts of second-degree murder.

The motive was never definitively established. If anyone knew the DeFeo family or has information about that night, please share what can help clarify unanswered details.