Over the years Ron DeFeo has changed his account of the murders. In 1986 he blamed his mother and Dawn with the fiction of having been married at the time of the murders and living elsewhere; subsequently he blamed his sister Dawn alone; next he allegedly blamed Dawn and several friends and various documents were forged to support such contentions as referenced in the book The Night The DeFeos Died.
This documentary presents various lies from DeFeo as if they were reality. Some of the people are presented lying for him including Geraldine Gates (who he married in 1989 and divorced in 1993) and Mr. Nonnewitz. We are presented the bogus tale of DeFeo being with Geraldine on the night of the murders and being called back to the home to break up a fight between Dawn and their father. Never does the documentary bother to point out that DeFeo didn't even know Geraldine at this time and had spent the entire day at home. Similarly the documentary doesn't bother to mention that Nonnewitz's claim of Dawn asking to take him to Florida to visit Davidge is impossible since Davidge didn't move to Florida until after DeFeo was convicted. The tale of Dawn arguing with her father was entirely made up. The tales of how abusive Ronald DeFeo Sr were also largely made up and yet this was never told to the audience.
Instead of bothering to detail which claims are lies and fabrications and thus informing the audience fully of all relevant details the conclusion simply states DeFeo murdered his parents alone. Many of the misconceptions and lies presented are never cleared up thus it is not explained in detail how such was arrived at.
Worse yet, Katzenbach wants to pretend he found something no one else did so took a claim he admits is a lie- that Bobby Kelske used a revolver to shoot Louise DeFeo and he altered this to Defeo using a revolver to shoot her. He claims his theory is supported by the fact a portion of a top break revolver was recovered in the Canal by a search he commissioned. Too bad he cares more about his ego and falsely making a name for himself instead of the truth.
The truth is that 8 shots were fired, 8 shots hit the victims, 8 35 caliber rifle casings were recovered and all 8 casings had been fired by DeFeo's rifle. All bullets were consistent with being 35 caliber and having been fired by a 35 caliber Marlin rifle.
Katzenbach dishonestly suggests that one of the bullets that Louise was shot with was a 38 special. He announces that the weight and number of lands and grooves is consistent with a 38 special. He ignores that the weight he provided for the fragment (169 grains) is more than a complete 38 special bullet thus can't be a 38 special. How could a fragment of a bullet weigh more than the complete bullet? Worse yet, contrary to his claim that a fragment fired by a gun possessing more than 8 lands and grooves is consistent with a 38 special, it rules out such having been fired by a 38 special. At the time of the murders no 38 special in existence had more than 6 lands and grooves. The fact the murder weapon had more than 8 rules out 38 specials without even looking at anything else.
A further sign of Katzenbach's dishonesty is that he suggests the gun he found was the one he was searching for. The gun he was looking for was a blued snub nose 38 special. He specifically references DeFeo as having been alleged to own such a gun by Bobby Kelske and thus Katzenbach surmised it was used and tossed in the water and it was the gun he sought. The gun recovered was not a snub nose 38 special, it was not even a 38 special of any kind. In fact it was not even a complete gun. Someone stripped all useful parts including grips, the cylinder, barrel (parts that could be sold to someone because they could be used on a different frame) and the receiver that was left was chucked in the water. That is not consistent with his claim of Ron taking the gun and just tossing it in the water. But worse the gun recovered was an old top break revolver that there is no evidence at all to suggest the DeFeos ever owned. Instead of finding the model allegedly owned by Defeo that was being sought his divers found the receiver of an Iver Johnson Safety Hammer Automatic, third model (which stopped being made in 1941). This gun was offered in 3 calibers and since the barrel and cylinder were not present we don't know which of the 3 it was. We know it wasn't available in 38 special so can't have been a 38 special. Each time Katzenbach suggests it was he is lying. The gun he found would not even fit in the holster recovered from the Brooklyn sewer though this holster is another cited for a revolver being involved. The gun recover fired weaker, smaller bullets than a 38 special and had 5 lands and grooves (the 22 caliber version had 6 grooves). Thus there is no way it could have fired the 2nd bullet into Louise as Katzenbach claims. We know for sure it can't have fired it because the fragment was larger than a complete bullet fired by this gun plus the gun that fired the fragment had more than 8 lands and grooves while this gun had either 5 or 6.
Many smaller claims and issues presented in the documentary are also inaccurate and/or not clearly presented. This documentary largely propagates myth instead of dispatching them as it claimed would occur. Reading the book High Hopes is the best way to accurately learn about the Amityville case.
This documentary presents various lies from DeFeo as if they were reality. Some of the people are presented lying for him including Geraldine Gates (who he married in 1989 and divorced in 1993) and Mr. Nonnewitz. We are presented the bogus tale of DeFeo being with Geraldine on the night of the murders and being called back to the home to break up a fight between Dawn and their father. Never does the documentary bother to point out that DeFeo didn't even know Geraldine at this time and had spent the entire day at home. Similarly the documentary doesn't bother to mention that Nonnewitz's claim of Dawn asking to take him to Florida to visit Davidge is impossible since Davidge didn't move to Florida until after DeFeo was convicted. The tale of Dawn arguing with her father was entirely made up. The tales of how abusive Ronald DeFeo Sr were also largely made up and yet this was never told to the audience.
Instead of bothering to detail which claims are lies and fabrications and thus informing the audience fully of all relevant details the conclusion simply states DeFeo murdered his parents alone. Many of the misconceptions and lies presented are never cleared up thus it is not explained in detail how such was arrived at.
Worse yet, Katzenbach wants to pretend he found something no one else did so took a claim he admits is a lie- that Bobby Kelske used a revolver to shoot Louise DeFeo and he altered this to Defeo using a revolver to shoot her. He claims his theory is supported by the fact a portion of a top break revolver was recovered in the Canal by a search he commissioned. Too bad he cares more about his ego and falsely making a name for himself instead of the truth.
The truth is that 8 shots were fired, 8 shots hit the victims, 8 35 caliber rifle casings were recovered and all 8 casings had been fired by DeFeo's rifle. All bullets were consistent with being 35 caliber and having been fired by a 35 caliber Marlin rifle.
Katzenbach dishonestly suggests that one of the bullets that Louise was shot with was a 38 special. He announces that the weight and number of lands and grooves is consistent with a 38 special. He ignores that the weight he provided for the fragment (169 grains) is more than a complete 38 special bullet thus can't be a 38 special. How could a fragment of a bullet weigh more than the complete bullet? Worse yet, contrary to his claim that a fragment fired by a gun possessing more than 8 lands and grooves is consistent with a 38 special, it rules out such having been fired by a 38 special. At the time of the murders no 38 special in existence had more than 6 lands and grooves. The fact the murder weapon had more than 8 rules out 38 specials without even looking at anything else.
A further sign of Katzenbach's dishonesty is that he suggests the gun he found was the one he was searching for. The gun he was looking for was a blued snub nose 38 special. He specifically references DeFeo as having been alleged to own such a gun by Bobby Kelske and thus Katzenbach surmised it was used and tossed in the water and it was the gun he sought. The gun recovered was not a snub nose 38 special, it was not even a 38 special of any kind. In fact it was not even a complete gun. Someone stripped all useful parts including grips, the cylinder, barrel (parts that could be sold to someone because they could be used on a different frame) and the receiver that was left was chucked in the water. That is not consistent with his claim of Ron taking the gun and just tossing it in the water. But worse the gun recovered was an old top break revolver that there is no evidence at all to suggest the DeFeos ever owned. Instead of finding the model allegedly owned by Defeo that was being sought his divers found the receiver of an Iver Johnson Safety Hammer Automatic, third model (which stopped being made in 1941). This gun was offered in 3 calibers and since the barrel and cylinder were not present we don't know which of the 3 it was. We know it wasn't available in 38 special so can't have been a 38 special. Each time Katzenbach suggests it was he is lying. The gun he found would not even fit in the holster recovered from the Brooklyn sewer though this holster is another cited for a revolver being involved. The gun recover fired weaker, smaller bullets than a 38 special and had 5 lands and grooves (the 22 caliber version had 6 grooves). Thus there is no way it could have fired the 2nd bullet into Louise as Katzenbach claims. We know for sure it can't have fired it because the fragment was larger than a complete bullet fired by this gun plus the gun that fired the fragment had more than 8 lands and grooves while this gun had either 5 or 6.
Many smaller claims and issues presented in the documentary are also inaccurate and/or not clearly presented. This documentary largely propagates myth instead of dispatching them as it claimed would occur. Reading the book High Hopes is the best way to accurately learn about the Amityville case.