His lawyer, William Weber, who sued for a share of proceeds from the book and 1979 film, alleging he had shared details about the house with the Lutzes, denied that his involvement with the various projects influenced the defense of his client in any way. (He settled his $60 million lawsuit for $2,500, according to the New York Times.)
Weber said Ronald told him so many versions of what happened that he felt pleading insanity was the only way he could hope for an acquittal. Ronald reiterated his story that he only killed Dawn at his first parole hearing in 1999.
The panel determined that releasing him would be “incompatible with the safety and welfare of the community.”
On the 2006 A&E special First Person Killers: Ronald DeFeo, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Steven Hoge said that, after interviewing Ronald for several hours, “he didn’t find anything credible about the Dawn story.” Rather, he added, “I wouldn’t be able to say this was absolutely true, but it made me believe that, in fact, he had killed them.”
Ronald spent most of the rest of his life at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, N.Y., until he died at an Albany hospital in 2021 at the age of 69. And the why went with him.
Amityville: An Origin Story premieres Sunday, April 23, at 10/9c on MGM+
