Ric
Osuna operated a website in 1999 centered around the Amityville
Horror. Ric was a believer in the case, and his website displayed
a good deal of information and photos on the haunting.
Ric
was involved in the History Channel documentaries, and through that
he met George & Kathy Lutz (as well as other people involved
in the case). Through this meeting, Ric became involved in a possible
book project with George. It was around this time that Ric reportedly
claimed he had proof the haunting actually happened.
A
short time later, Ric had a falling out with George Lutz, and resigned
from the book project - deciding, instead, to write his own book
on the DeFeo murders. Ric was now reportedly claiming that he had
proof the Lutzes’ story was a hoax, and that he’d show
this proof in his upcoming book.
According
to Ric’s book - The Night the DeFeos Died - he started
to doubt George’s credibility when things seemingly didn’t
match up. Ric cites comments reportedly made by George at the 1976
Press Conference that things in their house didn’t fly around
the room and that they heard no wailing noises as you’d see
in a typical haunted house movie. This contradicted statements George
made in an interview given to Ric. [George has claimed that there
have been many instances where he has been misquoted in the press
- a fact that Ric already knew, as he stated as much in a post he
made on an Amityville internet forum, dated July 24, 2000.]
Another
reason Ric sites for not believing George is based on some photos
George showed Ric of the house, some two months after the family
fled. Ric stated these photos showed no slime on the walls or blood
on the stairs as shown in the book and movie.
Some
find this the most troubling reason Ric gives for not believing
the Lutzes, as Ric ran an Amityville website (which apparently so
well done that the producers of the History Channel documentary
brought him on board to help out) and should have known that the
slime on the walls was an invention of Anson’s book, and that
the blood on the stairs was an invention of the filmmakers. Some
feel that this shows a clearly transparent attack by Ric.
Another
reason Ric gives for ending his relationship with George was that
George was apparently more interested in making money off of fictional
Amityville sequels rather than in “setting the record straight”
[regarding their original story as told in Anson’s book].
Ric’s
book was published some time later, but contained no proof of a
hoax. It was mainly centered around a person who called herself
“Geraldine DeFeo,” who claimed to be married to Ronnie
DeFeo, and to have inside information on William Weber, and George
& Kathy Lutz showing the haunting was a hoax. |