Lots of Claims of Demons and Witchcraft in the Amityville area
The idea that the Amityville Horror was completely made up by Lutzes is false.
Stories they told are common in the area around Amityville, and Suffolk County
that Amityville is located in. This area is know as the "Devil's Quadrangle." There are a large segment of the population that
believe such things. In addition, to say nothing happened at the house since the Lutzes is also false. A group of murdering Satanists led by Ricky Kasso spent time there.
There are people in Amityville that claim that the only strange thing that went
on there was Ronald DeFeo going crazy, but that is not true.
What the Lutzes originally said, and what was in the book and movies are two different things. The author of the Amityville Horror book, Jay Anson, made up a bunch of things, then the movie makers made quite a few exaggerations. The problem is that people waste their time by disproving parts of the movie and the book that the Lutzes never originally claimed to have happened. The original story they told is quite mild, which is why the media companies exaggerated. For example, the door that was blown off was just a screen door, but the movie showed it as a thick wooden door. Other incidents included missing money (Probably lost), black stuff coming out of a toilet (Same thing happened in my house), George Lutz beginning to act crazy (This might be the real source of the story), the daughter has a pig friend (Children often have imaginary friends), Kathy Lutz has a nightmare about the killing (Why could she not have a nightmare?), etc. It sounds like hysteria.
There were really Indian burial grounds in the area, and John Ketchum was a
real person. However, much of their facts were mixed up since John Ketchum was
not burned, and the burial ground was not under the house.
There is a few themes in several Long Island area murders. In the Amityville murders, Son of Sam, and the Reza murder there was suggested involvement of demons, animals, and killing by rage. All three involved killing on Long Island, with a strong link to the south shore of Suffolk County.
In these murders, there were claims of demon possession. In the Son of Sam, the killer said a talking dog told him to do it. In Amityville there was Jody the pig. Furthermore, there was a witchcraft link. At the very least there is a similarity of culture. In all three cases, there was an increasing rage that led the killer to snap.
Similarities:
1. Increasing rage, then a snap.
2. Claims of demon possession.
3. An animal involved, such as Jody the pig and Sam the dog.
4. Link to south shore, Suffolk County, New York. The Son of Sam last stand was meant to be in Southampton, but then he got caught.
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Picture of the lion that supposedly moved. |
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The earliest case involving claims of demon possession and murder in Suffolk County was in 1657 where Goody Garlick was accused of being a witch. In addition there was a mysterious animal sighted, much like people sight Jody the pig. In the murder and witchcraft trial of Goody Garlick people sighted a strange black cat. This occurred like the others on the south shore of Suffolk County New York, like the others. Goody Garlick was found innocent. She was accused by members of the Edwards family, who were the founders of Sayville, which is located on the south side of Suffolk County. Sayville is the gateway to the world center of homosexuality, Fire Island.
According to the Amityville story, John Ketchum was a witch that came to Suffolk County from Salem, Massachusetts. John Ketchum was a real person, but he was not put on trial for witchcraft. However, Suffolk County was originally settled by people from the area around Salem, which included Puritans. One particular mystery is where Amityville sister city Sayville got its name from. No one knows. This in itself is strange. A popular theory is that since the family that started Sayville came from Salem Village, Massachusetts, it is a contraction of Salem and Village. Originally Salem was called "Salem Village" later dropping the second part of the name. Thus Salem=Say, Village=Ville, and the two combined being equal to "Sayville."
Another Suffolk County murder that was related to the Amityville horror house was in 1984, led by Ricky Kasso in the nearby village of Northport. According to the "Wacky World of Murder," "In 1984, Ricky Kasso led his merry men on a pilgrimage to the notorious house at Amityville where Ronald 'Butch' DeFeo had massacred his family ten years earlier. It was 30 April, the witches' feast of Walpurgisnacht, so Ricky knocked together an altar and they all shouted a few praises to Satan."
Furthermore:
"In June 1984 in Northport, New York, Ricky Kasso and James Troiano were accused of killing 17-year-old Gary Lauwers by gouging his eyes out and stabbing him 17 times during a three-hour torture session. At the end of the ordeal, Kasso and Troiano forced Lauwers to say, "I love you Satan" Although Police claimed Kasso and Troiano killed Lauwers in a dispute over stolen drugs, Kasso had previously become obsessed with black magic and Satanism (after reading LaVey's Satanic Bible) and after the murder was openly boasting of his human sacrifice. Kasso confessed to the murder and later hanged himself. Troiano was acquitted of second-degree murder" (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/4077/kasso.html, http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap0902/sacrifice.htm).
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The actual ad that the Lutzes saw in Newsday for the horror house. |
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Dead body being carried out of the house of Amityville house of horrors. |
From George Washington's 1790 Diary: His visit to
Sayville and the Ketchum's
"From hence turning off to the right we fell into the South Rd. [Montauk Hwy]
at the distance of about five miles where we came in view of the Sea & continued
to be so the remaining part of the days ride, and as near it as the road could
run for the small bays, marshes and guts, into which the tide flows at all times
rendering it impassible from the height of it by the Easterly Winds."
"We dined at one Ketchums..." - Day before Sayville
"Thursday 22nd. About 8 O'clock we left Mr. Thompson's -- halted a while at one
Greenes distant 11 Miles and dined
Harts Tavern..."
"To this place we traveled on what is called the South road described yesterday
but the Country through which it passed grew more and more Sandy and barren as
we traveled Eastward, so as to become exceedingly poor indeed but a few miles
further Eastward the lands took a different complexion we were informed. From
Harts we struck across the
Island for the No. side, "
NOTES: The Ketchams mentions are of the family of John Ketcham of Amityville Horror fame. According to the Amityville story, he was a witch that came to Long Island from Salem, MA. The Greenes are the people who settled West Sayville. There is an old Amityville legend says John Ketcham came to Long Island from Salem Mass. but because he was a witch escaping the trials, when in Amityville he was burned as a witch.
Here are the facts. There were several John Ketchams in Suffolk County. The first was from the Salem, Massachusetts who was involved in anti-witch activities. Another John Ketcham was actually involved in the occult. In a letter to John Ketcham, Lucretia Mott wrote, "[Her husband James Mott] attended a circle for 10 weeks last winter, and was much interested. I have never witnessed anything of the kind. Is there not reason to fear the effects of such frequent reveries, on Isaac Post�s mind? A Mrs. Taft of Mass. has lately become quite insane, from that cause. (Mott, 1852) ."
John Ketcham was practicing Spiritism. Spiritism was founded by the Fox sisters and according to "Spirits of the Age" by Katie Haegele many people at the time "called the girls harlots and witches." (http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=7310) The bible says in Galatians 5:19-20: that people must stay away from, "...impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, spiritism (that is, encouraging the activity of demons),..." and Kathryn Capoccia, said, "The basic elements of Spiritism and witchcraft have remained the same throughout it's history." ("Halloween: A Trick or a Treat? 04/29/2003 http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=613) The Fox sister would hold ceremonies in a circle and claim to talk to the dead. John Ketcham knew Isaac Post. Post was one of the leaders of the Spiritist movement and wrote the book "Voices From the Spirit World," in 1852, the year John Ketcham received the letter from Lucretia Mott.
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"Salem Village" No one is
really sure exactly why Amityville's nearby sister city
Sayville is called Sayville. The theory is "Sayville" is a
contraction of "Salem Village," the original name of Salem, Massachusetts.
Many of the original families came from there.
Salem = Say ; Village = Ville ; = Sayville Old pictures of houses in Sayville. Looks like Salem, MA. |