Who helped Butch Defeo murder his family?

Answer 1

Ronald "Butch" DeFeo was a heavy drug user who had financial problems due to his habit. He also had ongoing issues with his parents, especially his father, due to his drug abuse and prior violent behaviors.

There apparently was a great amount of tension and arguments in the DeFeo household; Ronald DeFeo, Sr. was considered to be hot tempered and authoritarian towards his family, Butch DeFeo bearing the brunt of his father's behavior growing up; he then started to act out violently himself. The DeFeos were concerned enough about Butch's increasingly violent and erratic behavior to send him to a therapist, with little result. The DeFeos alternated between arguing with their son and placating him with expensive gifts.

A few weeks before the murders, Butch claimed he was robbed of money that he was supposed to deposit in the bank for his father's car dealership; both the police and DeFeo, Sr. felt that Butch himself had stolen the money and further fights broke out between father and son.

DeFeo, Jr. tried to claim to police it was a mob "hit" on his entire family (even though there is no evidence that his father had any ties to organized crime). The following day, DeFeo confessed to the murders. The most legitimate motive appears to be rage towards his parents over prior issues and an attempt to collect on their life insurance policies. Exactly why DeFeo murdered his siblings is still unclear; possibly to eliminate them as witnesses.

Over the years, DeFeo has given various inconsistent statements regarding the murders.

There is still controversy over whether any accomplices were involved in the killings. At various times in the past, DeFeo has alleged his sister Dawn was the instigator of the killings and that he then murdered her after she killed their siblings. There is controversy over whether Dawn DeFeo had any part in the murders or if she was an innocent victim.

DeFeo has frequently changed his story and his motive over the years (at one point, taking wholesale from the "Amityville Horror" hoax and claiming he was possessed by demons or heard voices who told him to kill his family) that any statements from him must be regarded with great skepticism.

Answer 2

• Butch DeFeo of Amityville who murdered his parents and siblings told police he heard a voice commanding him to do so, but DeFeo had no help murdering his family. Whether it was a plea for insanity or unexplainable circumstances is still debated to this day amongst individuals who follow murder cases. Some say that is possible to be commanded by something evil, while others feel Butch DeFeo detested his father so much he cracked under stress. He is still serving time in a New York Prison.