Story of Amityville horror. On November 13, 1974, 23-year-old Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot and killed six members of his family at their home. They lived at 112 Ocean Avenue, a large Dutch Colonial house situated in a suburban neighborhood in Amityville, on the south shore of Long Island, New York. After a trial lasting seven weeks, DeFeo was convicted of second-degree murder in November 1975 and sentenced to six terms of 25 years to life in prison. DeFeo died in prison in March 2021.