Episode 5: The People v. Ronald DeFeo Jr.

Very Scary People

ID

History, Tv & Film, True Crime

4.6 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2022

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nearly a year after the grisly Amityville murders, Ron “Butch” DeFeo Jr.’s fate would rest in the hands of a New York jury. But even in front of a judge, Ron Jr. was a chameleon; his story continued to evolve. One conflicted juror recounts the disturbing trial while host Donnie Wahlberg considers the question: Will the inconsistencies in Ron Jr.’s story spare him from life behind bars?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Just a heads up before we begin, the episode contains graphic references to acts of violence
0:05.9	and language that might not be suitable for young people.
0:09.6	Listen with care.
0:12.0	Previously on very scary people, the police arrest and interrogate the only living member
0:17.7	of the Defeo family, Ron Defeo Jr.
0:21.7	And not long after, the man who lost his entire family in a single evening became suspect
0:27.8	number one.
0:29.9	After hours of questioning, Ron Jr. confessed to killing them all.
0:34.7	But then his story shifted a few times.
0:37.4	So it would be up to a New York jury to decide the fate of Ron Jr.
0:42.6	The trial would be the longest and suffoc county history, and by now, the Defeo family murders
0:49.4	and the subsequent criminal trial was National News.
0:53.5	Defeo admits that he killed his sister, Don.
0:56.4	But he insists only after she killed their parents, two brothers and another sister.
1:03.1	It's October 14, 1975, nearly a year after the murders of six members of the Defeo family
1:10.4	in Amityville, New York.
1:12.7	Ron Defeo Jr. sat in county jail in Riverhead, New York, awaiting his trial.
1:18.6	After an arrangement, in a grand jury proceeding, his time in criminal court had come.
1:24.0	Today, Ron Jr. would finally come face to face with the judge and jury in the people of
1:28.8	New York State versus Ronald Defeo Jr.
1:33.5	Inside the courtroom, it was tense.
1:36.2	Peggy Jambra never imagined she'd be here.
	...

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