Horrific Homicides

Book excerpt: A scorned woman, an incensed deli owner, a drunken cop, and an antisocial son. These were the most memorable murder defendants to appear before Long Island judge Thomas M. Stark during his thirty-seven years on the bench. None was more notorious than Ronald DeFeo Jr., who in 1975 was convicted of shooting six members of his family, a crime that sparked tales of hauntings later recounted in the best-selling book The Amityville Horror: A True Story. Drawing from his personal files, Stark gives readers an inside look at the brutal murders, the frenzy over the alleged psychic events that followed, and DeFeo’s decades of shifting stories about what really happened that fateful night. The book’s other tales of true crime include long-forgotten cases that mesmerized Long Islanders from the 1960s to the 1980s: the murder-for-hire of an unfaithful paramour, a fire that took the lives of a mother and three children, a Southampton society melee, and more. A noted expert on criminal law, Stark delves into the legal issues raised by each murder and shares the thinking behind his rulings. These real-life cases are sure to fascinate fans of both true crime and courtroom drama as Stark brings to life tragic stories of love and betrayal, a feud turned deadly, partying gone awry, and a family killed in cold blood.