You have to give the producers credit, they did unearth rare Defeo family photographs and got interviews with 3 close family friends who have not spoken about the family since 1974. The fundamental problem is the basis of this documentary is the unreliable testimony of Geraldine Defeo who may or may not have married to Butch Defeo and has been called a fraud by many authorities on the Defeo Murders. I do agree with the producers it is impossible Butch Defeo committed the crimes alone but that sister Dawn took part has been debunked by forensic science. Brigante mob ties too were long ago dismissed. Mike Brigante did have some friends who were outfit guys and may have had some dealings with them on some minor level but the half of the Buick dealership was his own earned through hard work in the automobile business since the end of WWII. The Defeo Murders were the story of a family that could have been your neighbors or mine who were all killed by their mentally disturbed son who found access to a shot gun.
8 Reviews
What one of the STARS son has to say....
peteyp-4683630 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
First a disclosure, my name is Peter Pisani, I am the son of Geraldine Gates. My mother has been involved in fraud nearly her entire life and in this documentary she is perpetrating a fraud on the viewers. My mother never met the victims and didn't meet DeFeo until the mid 80s. All the stories she tells are just that- made up fairy tales. My mother's life is much less glamorous than she wishes it had been. She thus invented tales of being from a family involved with the Mafia, being a singer who went on the road and sang in popular clubs, and of course meeting DeFeo, marrying him and interacting with the victims.
The reality is that she was taking care of my stepsisters not singing in clubs and in the early 1970s she was married to my father. They lived in the Binghamton area of New York where my sister was born to them in 1974 and I was born in 1975. We were not living in or born in NJ which is why those who tried to verify my sister Stephanies birth in NJ failed to find any records.But her birth certificate from NY is readily available to look at on line. Those who tried to verify the marriage certificate provided to Newsday in 1986 found out that it related to her 1964 marriage. The year was doctored and the groom doctored to reflect she had married DeFeo but NJ records related to certificate number reveal the marriage was to Fred Corey in 1964.
The producers of the video are aware of me and in fact sued me in an attempt to silence me. They are fully aware that my mother is a fraud but chose to publish her fraudulent account anyway to sensationalize things and add a lot of bogus conspiracy claims. She even made up the claim that the DeFeo marriage was on the rocks so Ronnie wrote a song to win his wife's love back. She found out that someone named Ronnie DeFeo wrote the melody of a song and invented the tale it was victim Ronnie DeFeo Sr and misrepresented he wrote the lyrics, not the melody, to win his wife's love back. The most minute details are all just made up.
The reality is that she was taking care of my stepsisters not singing in clubs and in the early 1970s she was married to my father. They lived in the Binghamton area of New York where my sister was born to them in 1974 and I was born in 1975. We were not living in or born in NJ which is why those who tried to verify my sister Stephanies birth in NJ failed to find any records.But her birth certificate from NY is readily available to look at on line. Those who tried to verify the marriage certificate provided to Newsday in 1986 found out that it related to her 1964 marriage. The year was doctored and the groom doctored to reflect she had married DeFeo but NJ records related to certificate number reveal the marriage was to Fred Corey in 1964.
The producers of the video are aware of me and in fact sued me in an attempt to silence me. They are fully aware that my mother is a fraud but chose to publish her fraudulent account anyway to sensationalize things and add a lot of bogus conspiracy claims. She even made up the claim that the DeFeo marriage was on the rocks so Ronnie wrote a song to win his wife's love back. She found out that someone named Ronnie DeFeo wrote the melody of a song and invented the tale it was victim Ronnie DeFeo Sr and misrepresented he wrote the lyrics, not the melody, to win his wife's love back. The most minute details are all just made up.
Ironic that this fantasy account is being billed as the truth
jdp000214 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This revisionist account is a mix of video interviews and reenactments. A majority of the narrating is done by Geraldine Gates a woman who falsely asserts that she was married to Ronald DeFeo at the time of the murders and spends her time on camera making up things she can't possibly have witnessed because in reality she never met Ronald DeFeo unil 1985 and didn't marry him until 1989. The remaining narration is largely done by the producers Ric Osuna and Ryan Katzenbach.
In 1985 Ronald DeFeo met Geraldine Gates when she visited him in prison. Together they agreed to make up a series of lies aimed at defrauding the estates of his parents and to try to secure his freedom. Geraldine Gates' marriage certificate to Fred Corey from 1964 was forged to indicate she married Ronald DeFeo in 1974. They used this forgery to support their false claim that they were married prior to the murders and also falsely claimed that Geraldine's daughter, Stephani Pisani, was Defeo's daughter in a failed attempt to enable her to inherit the estates. They also invented a wild tale about a nonexistent brother in law being with DeFeo on the night of the murders and even managed to get some friends to lie and claim they were forced to lie under oath in order to try to win a new trial. Ultimately, the courts exposed the lies for what they were, his conviction was not vacated and DeFeo's friends recanted and all admitted this was all a charade including all of them denying Geraldine was ever in the picture until the late 1980s. Even Geraldine admitted to the authorities that it was all a lie.
Since Geraldine admitted under oath it was a lie as did everyone else, one has to wonder why the producers of this movie have chosen to intentionally present the lie that Geraldine was married to DeFeo. To present such lies as the truth is especially absurd.
The goal of the volume is to falsely assert that Ronald DeFeo lived in a very abusive environment and the evidence offered to establish such comes in the form of Geraldine Gates making up witnessing various abusive acts even though she never even knew the DeFeo's. All of DeFeo's acquaintances deny Geraldine being around until the late 1980s. Moreover, the marriage certificate she produced was proved a forgery in court and a court of law found the claims that she was married to DeFeo to be completely false. Attorneys Weber and Sullivan both denied under oath that she met them during the trials as she claims or that they even heard of her at the time.
The reenactments are all based on stories made up by Geraldine Gates including some of the most significant ones for the revisionist account. A major premise of the film is that Dawn DeFeo was madly in love with Billy Davidge, that his father was transferred to Florida in 1973, the Davidges moved there and she fought constantly with her parents because she wanted to move to be with him. William Davidge died in Amityville in 1972, Geraldine made up the claim that a dead man was transferred to Florida in 1973. Billy Davidge graduated from Amityville Memorial High School in June 1975 he was not living in Florida as claimed. The goal is to suggest that Dawn was involved in the murders so she could run away to Florida. The central premise of the movie was all a lie. Did the producers not do an ounce of research or did they know it was all lies but not care? Either way the result is the same the true story is in fact complete fabrication.
If you want to waste your time watching made up nonsense presented in a boring way then watch this movie otherwise pass it by.
In 1985 Ronald DeFeo met Geraldine Gates when she visited him in prison. Together they agreed to make up a series of lies aimed at defrauding the estates of his parents and to try to secure his freedom. Geraldine Gates' marriage certificate to Fred Corey from 1964 was forged to indicate she married Ronald DeFeo in 1974. They used this forgery to support their false claim that they were married prior to the murders and also falsely claimed that Geraldine's daughter, Stephani Pisani, was Defeo's daughter in a failed attempt to enable her to inherit the estates. They also invented a wild tale about a nonexistent brother in law being with DeFeo on the night of the murders and even managed to get some friends to lie and claim they were forced to lie under oath in order to try to win a new trial. Ultimately, the courts exposed the lies for what they were, his conviction was not vacated and DeFeo's friends recanted and all admitted this was all a charade including all of them denying Geraldine was ever in the picture until the late 1980s. Even Geraldine admitted to the authorities that it was all a lie.
Since Geraldine admitted under oath it was a lie as did everyone else, one has to wonder why the producers of this movie have chosen to intentionally present the lie that Geraldine was married to DeFeo. To present such lies as the truth is especially absurd.
The goal of the volume is to falsely assert that Ronald DeFeo lived in a very abusive environment and the evidence offered to establish such comes in the form of Geraldine Gates making up witnessing various abusive acts even though she never even knew the DeFeo's. All of DeFeo's acquaintances deny Geraldine being around until the late 1980s. Moreover, the marriage certificate she produced was proved a forgery in court and a court of law found the claims that she was married to DeFeo to be completely false. Attorneys Weber and Sullivan both denied under oath that she met them during the trials as she claims or that they even heard of her at the time.
The reenactments are all based on stories made up by Geraldine Gates including some of the most significant ones for the revisionist account. A major premise of the film is that Dawn DeFeo was madly in love with Billy Davidge, that his father was transferred to Florida in 1973, the Davidges moved there and she fought constantly with her parents because she wanted to move to be with him. William Davidge died in Amityville in 1972, Geraldine made up the claim that a dead man was transferred to Florida in 1973. Billy Davidge graduated from Amityville Memorial High School in June 1975 he was not living in Florida as claimed. The goal is to suggest that Dawn was involved in the murders so she could run away to Florida. The central premise of the movie was all a lie. Did the producers not do an ounce of research or did they know it was all lies but not care? Either way the result is the same the true story is in fact complete fabrication.
If you want to waste your time watching made up nonsense presented in a boring way then watch this movie otherwise pass it by.
From Horror to Homicide to Lies and More Lies!
ryunker7319 June 2012
This DVD totally stinks of BS, and how could it not? The entire DVD is based off of the fictional book The Night the Defeos Died. The quality of the film is barely amateur, as is the acting. The soundtrack is just awful, and kind of sounds like the xylophones we played in kindergarten. Most of the "actual" footage, if any, is readily available on the internet along with documents proving that this film is a total farce and full of lies. So if you enjoy watching a toothless hag chain smoke and lie about innocent dead peoples lives, buy the DVD. If not, save your money! If you do choose to make the purchase, make sure you leave the DVD package outdoors for a few days to rid it of the awful smell that comes with it. BS maybe?
Don't waste your time like I did.
mmnbshgy27 June 2022
This contains a lot of "facts" from Geraldine who claims to have met and married Butch BEFORE the murders. A quick Google search of "DeFeo v. DeFeo Supreme Court, Ulster County Sep 24, 1993" will bring up legal documents stating they met in 1985, wed in the prison visiting room in 1989 and were filing for a divorce in 1993.
"Plaintiff states that he first met the defendant, Geraldine A. DeFeo, in January of 1985 while he was incarcerated at the Auburn Correctional Facility. Their entire courtship leading to the decision to marry occurred exclusively while he was incarcerated."
So all the stories she tells in this "documentary" are false. The filmmaker failed to do his homework.
"Plaintiff states that he first met the defendant, Geraldine A. DeFeo, in January of 1985 while he was incarcerated at the Auburn Correctional Facility. Their entire courtship leading to the decision to marry occurred exclusively while he was incarcerated."
So all the stories she tells in this "documentary" are false. The filmmaker failed to do his homework.
Very good
FilmTVpro32118 January 2017
I loved this documentary, a few key points:
A) Loved the mixed action/interviews
B) THOROUGH detail
C) How many other docs on this subject include interviews from the real Butch? Makes everyone saying the facts are false look pretty bad, since it's based around the actual's killer's accounts. Come on people
D) 3 total movies on this? KUDOS!
E) It goes against what you're told is true, and for any film-maker or documentary maker, this is HUGE
F) Kept my attention the entire time :)
A) Loved the mixed action/interviews
B) THOROUGH detail
C) How many other docs on this subject include interviews from the real Butch? Makes everyone saying the facts are false look pretty bad, since it's based around the actual's killer's accounts. Come on people
D) 3 total movies on this? KUDOS!
E) It goes against what you're told is true, and for any film-maker or documentary maker, this is HUGE
F) Kept my attention the entire time :)
On the Fence
rohralan17 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
OK I watched this part and am awaiting 2 to come in the mail. By the way I ordered it and paid extra to get it within 1-5 days and it's going on the 8th day. I wrote Ryan and asked him what the hell is going on with my order and got back to me right away with an explanation that was legit. Anyways I've done 10 years worth of my own research on the murder and haunting and I've found truth in both cases. Ryan and Ric did put a great deal of research into these films but I think got duked by Geraldine Gates. When she came into the picture I did research on her and it's true she never was officially married to Butch until 1985. I think she's full of S*%t and says she doesn't want fame or anything like that then why get involved at all? BS Here's a great example of her BS, she claims that Michael Brigante grew up with well know mob boss Calos Gambino. Well that's impossible because Calos was 19 years old when he moved to the united states and didn't get involved with kings dealership until 1940 which puts him involved with dealing with Michael Brigante until Michael was in his 40s.
Outstanding!
liccardance8 January 2012
I have to say that this documentary was riveting. The details and precision of delivery of the story was excellent. No stone was left unturned. They were diligent with this film in their investigations.
The only con was that it seemed like it was made on a low budget; however, because the content and acting was delivered with such depth it didn't matter.
The movie boasts that the real life story is scarier than fiction which is true. I had to watch a few comedy sitcoms before going to sleep that night and sleep with the TV timer on.
There is something scary about delving that deep into something that really went down and all the scandal and horror behind it.
I would say this is s must see film for sure.
The only con was that it seemed like it was made on a low budget; however, because the content and acting was delivered with such depth it didn't matter.
The movie boasts that the real life story is scarier than fiction which is true. I had to watch a few comedy sitcoms before going to sleep that night and sleep with the TV timer on.
There is something scary about delving that deep into something that really went down and all the scandal and horror behind it.
I would say this is s must see film for sure.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
