Former Owner of 'Amityville Horror' House Dies
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}George Lee Lutz, whose brief stay in an Amityville, N.Y., home spawned one of the most famous haunted house stories ever, has died of natural causes. He was 59.
Lutz, a Las Vegas resident, died Monday, his lawyer Larry Zerner of Los Angeles said Wednesday. The Clark County coroner listed the cause as heart disease.
Lutz, a former land surveyor, became famous after moving his new bride and three children into a three-story Dutch colonial on Long Island in 1975. About a year earlier, six members of the DeFeo family had been shot and killed in the home. Ronald DeFeo Jr., the eldest son, was convicted of the murders.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Lutzes lived in the home for 28 days before being driven out -- by the spirits of the DeFeos, according to Lutz's account.
The family's eerie tales became the source for Jay Anson's 1977 book, "The Amityville Horror," along with a 1979 film of the same title and a 2005 movie remake.
The book and movies chronicled horrors including visions of walls oozing slime, moving furniture, a visit from a demonic pig named Jodie and spontaneous levitation.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The franchise made a cult figure of Lutz, who some claimed bore a creepy resemblance to Ronald DeFeo. Recently, he defended himself against some who accused him of intentionally moving into the home to profit from the DeFeo murders.
"People are disrespecting a true story," he told People Magazine last year. "It's my family's story, and it's hurtful."