Ronald DeFeo murdered his father. mother and four siblings on the evening of November 13 1974 at his home at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, Long Island, New York. The house, which was the scene of such a horrific crime, proved hard to sell. It eventually went to the Lutz family for $80,000.
The Lutz family were fully aware of the history of their new home and, for financial reasons, set about inventing a story that the house was haunted. Such things as ghostly hooded spooks and vile smells were thrown in to add atmosphere to their hoax. Then they contacted a writer by the name of Jay Anson and he wrote the book 'The Amityville Horror' based very loosely on the concocted tales of the Lutz's.
Then George and Kathleen Lutz went along with Jay Anson's claim that his book was a true story. So many people believed it that 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville actually did become haunted, by tourists.
However, the truth finally came out in court when George and Kathleen Lutz were sued for damages by the priest they claimed had assisted them during their period at the supposedly haunted house. They actually admitted that they had invented the entire fabricated story. It was too late, 'The Amityville Horror' book sold over a million copies and was made into a film which netted a fortune for the author, Jay Anson.