Status: Explained — widely regarded as a hoax or exaggeration; the defence lawyer later said the story was invented. The murders themselves are real.
About the pin: Pinned at the village centre, not at the house, because it is a private home.
On November 13, 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot six members of his family at their home on Ocean Avenue in Amityville, on the south shore of Long Island. He was convicted of second-degree murder in 1975. That part is a documented crime.
In December 1975 George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house with their children. After 28 days they left, saying they had been terrorised by strange events. Their story was reported in the local paper in February 1976 and became Jay Anson's 1977 book The Amityville Horror and a series of films.
The Lutzes sued the people involved in 1977 and the court dismissed their claims in 1979. William Weber, DeFeo's defence attorney, wrote that the book was a hoax and that the story was created over many bottles of wine. Others who looked into it say the details do not hold up. The house is a private home that has changed hands, so please do not trespass or disturb the residents.
Sources: Wikipedia: The Amityville Horror
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