This book is about movies inspired by true life events, and it has a chapter on Amityville. A few things seem odd. Maybe it's information that we've covered before and that I've just forgotten?
For instance, it mentions how Ronnie ran away from home on 3 separate occasions. "The third time he pleaded with his father to let him go. He just knew he was going to kill his family one day, but nobody would listen."
The story of Ronnie running away from home kinda rings a bell. Although it begs the question "if he ran away from home before, why feel the need to kill his family instead of running away again?" And can you actually "run away from home" at the age of 23?
And that line about "he knew he was going to kill his family, but nobody would listen" sounds a bit over the top. When did Ronnie warn people that he was going to kill his family?
It then goes on to mention the DeFeos hearing "unexplained noises" in the house on a regular basis. I think that's BS, perhaps stemming from Ronnie's interview with Hans Holzer (which he later disavowed, saying he only told Holzer what he wanted to hear because he was getting paid for the interview -- Holzer being employed by Weber at the time to write a book on the murders with a supernatural angle).
The book states that due to the paranormal events in the house, Ronald DeFeo Sr placed the religious statues in the garden (causing all the plants to die). I had never heard this before. Again, sounds like BS to me...
EDIT: The story of Ronnie warning his family that he would kill them -- it seems the source is merely Ronnie's own words, as he told this to Dr Zolan, the psychiatrist, during a pre-trial examination. He apparently told Zolan that he told this to his family and numerous friends. I wonder if any of those friends could attest to this (not that it makes a difference, but I kinda don't believe Ronnie on this one). Anyways, a friend emailed me and told me this was mentioned in "High Hopes".
From Holzer's book "Murder in Amityville," comes the story of Ronnie running away 3 times. This must have again come from Ronnie during that interview he did. Also in that book is where the story of the plants dying in the garden came from.
