Yes, the Lutzes bought most of the DeFeo's furniture. They did so because it was very good – they liked it better than their old furniture – and it was offered at a price the Lutzes felt they couldn't refuse.

Looking back on it, this may sound strange; but remember the Lutzes were skeptical of the paranormal at the time. George considered himself a "realist"; they didn't think the house was haunted; and no strange events had taken place yet.

It wasn't like the furniture was soaked in blood or anything. Obviously the mattresses were ruined and were taken out of the house prior to it being on the market. George & Kathy kept their own old bed, as did the children. Apparently they bought the old bedframe that once belonged to Dawn, and moved it to Missy's room.

The house was blessed by Father Ray on the very first day, as the family was moving into the house.

Later, on the advice of a friend (after the strange events had started), George & Kathy re-blessed the house a 2nd time on their own, and again shortly thereafter.

Upon hearing the Lutzes bought the DeFeo residence, a friend of George strongly recommended that they have the house blessed, as a personal favor to him. George didn't know much about that custom, but he talked it over with Kathy and she agreed – they should have the house blessed.

George asked the only priest he knew to perform the blessing – Father Ray.

The Lutzes were not very religious when they first moved into their Amityville home. George was a non-practicing Methodist and Kathy was a non-practicing Catholic. After the haunting, George became a Catholic and was very religious, even becoming a Eucharistic Minister in San Diego. Kathy, likewise, became very religious, and had a ministry that fed thousands of homeless people in Phoenix, AZ.

Father Ray has stated that the "sewing room" felt unnaturally cold, even for winter. As he blessed this room, he heard a very deep voice behind him saying "Get out." Even though there was no one else in the room with him, Father Ray also felt someone slap him across the face.

After the blessing, Father Ray asked the Lutzes not to use that one particular room as a bedroom, and that they should not spend too much time in there. That was no problem to the Lutzes, as they planned to use the room in question as a "sewing room." Father Ray had asked this in a manner which did not seem alarmist, and which did not seem like any big deal to the Lutzes.

This is unclear.

In 1979 Father Ray was tracked down and interviewed by the crew of the TV show In Search Of. His interview was shot in back-light, protecting his identity – obviously showing that he disliked the media frenzy surrounding the case, but also just as clearly showing that he had a strong desire to inform people of his true experiences while in that house.

Some say Father Ray has passed away. George doesn't know for certain. All he knows is that the publicity surrounding the case turned Father Ray's life upside down, and that because of it, he moved to another state and got a degree in forensic psychiatry.

In a letter to Ric Osuna, a Church official from the Diocese of Rockville Centre (where Father Ray once worked) said they lost contact with Father Ray and that they heard of his death in 1987. So it really seems unclear if Father Ray's death is fact or rumor.

Within the first few hours after moving in, Harry, the Lutzes' black lab, was chained up in a "dog run" area near the boathouse. He jumped over a nearby fence and was hung, because of the short length of the leash. Fortunately Harry survived.

This is possibly the first "odd" happening for the Lutzes in Amityville, but it apparently didn't seem odd until after the haunting and after the family fled to Kathy's Mother's house, where they regrouped and discussed what happened.

This is hard to pinpoint, but it seems to be after Christmas when the family stared to notice things were a bit odd. That's when Kathy first mentioned how the noises in the house changed, becoming ugly and disturbing. She talked of scrapings, bangings, footsteps on the floors above (when the children were fast asleep) – very similar to what Ronnie DeFeo once talked about (something Ronnie most likely denies today).

For George, it came later. It seemed to be when Kathy first told him about being embraced from behind when she was alone in the house. George knew it wasn't like her to be subject to hallucinations and the like. George remembers her being very serious about explaining this experience to him, and how she found it very difficult to do so.

It has been referred to as a "marching band," but that's not totally accurate. George described it as "a whole bunch of musicians going – each one in their own direction, playing their own song" – like an "unorganized musical sound." The sounds were coming from downstairs.

At first George thought it might be a clock radio that went off downstairs – perhaps tuned slightly off-station. But he could distinctly hear the sound of many feet stomping around. The floor downstairs had carpets, but the sound of the marching feet George heard sounded like they were on a hard floor, not carpet. Some people mistake this for the carpet being rolled-up.

When George got downstairs to check it out, there was nothing out of order. The sound had stopped. The carpet was in place, and Harry, their dog, was sound asleep at the foot of the front door.

George heard the front door slam during the middle of the night. It had a very distinct sound, and was very heavy, so you could hear it throughout the house. When he went down to investigate, he found their dog sound asleep at the base of the door, making it impossible for the door to have been recently opened.

George says he heard just about every door in the house slam shut at various times with no explanation.

Kathy has spoken of scrapings, bangings, and footsteps on the floors above when the children were fast asleep.