Hollywood, CA/Feb. 20, 2008 - It's scratched. It's spotted. Yet, if a picture is truly worth 1,000 words, this one is worth 10,000 even despite its imperfections.

In 2000, author Ric Osuna, in writing an exposé on the infamous 1974 Amityville murders, met a woman who would become a central character in his new revelations about the crime. Geraldine DeFeo-Gates emerged with a fantastic story about being married to the DeFeo family. She claimed her existence was erased from the record by the New York crime families that the DeFeos were connected to in protection of herself and Ronald DeFeo's daughter. While the story seemed incredible---if not unbelievable--at first, author Ric Osuna went to work substantiating the claims. His published work, The Night The DeFeos Died came out in early 2002.

The Amityville pro-haunting community has ridiculed Osuna and proclaimed Gates as a publicity hound, making up the story of her marriage to DeFeo in an effort to attain 'fifteen minutes of fame.' In addition, after Gates and Osuna visited Green Haven Correctional Facility where Ronald DeFeo is housed today, wherein DeFeo substantiated the story in a 6-hour interview, DeFeo recanted after both Ric Osuna and KatcoMedia refused to grant a percentage of profits from the book to DeFeo. DeFeo sued Gates, KatcoMedia and Ryan Katzenbach, and Ric Osuna in both state and federal district courts alleging fraud and other causes of action. He claimed that he and Gates contrived the story in the late 1990's and they hadn't met before the spring of 1985, and not before the murders in 1974 as DeFeo himself previously claimed. The defendants prevailed in the suits, arguing with evidence they had collected while researching the story, including some of DeFeo's very own visitors records which substantiated visits as early as 1984, and other documents dating as early as 1982.

Above • Geraldine DeFeo-Gates on-camera with KatcoMedia. Gates' interview spanned more than 5 hours when she recalled specific details of the DeFeo family.

DeFeo was ultimately ruled "libel-proof" in 2005 by the Southern District of New York. In her dismissal order, Judge Loretta Preska ruled that nothing Katco or Osuna could say about DeFeo was worse than the 6-convictions against him for murdering his family.

Today, Katco Media, in producing a documentary on the DeFeo story has uncovered another link to the past that may help substantiate Gates' claim in a visual manner.

In the early 1990's, Geraldine Gates, since remarried after Ronald DeFeo's incarceration, received a phone call from DeFeo stating that he had remarried. Gates, taken aback by the announcement, decided to rid herself of all personal effects, including nearly 20 years of letters, some of DeFeo's clothing, and all photos of the couple together. She carried all of the items to a giant burn-pit in the backyard of her upstate New York rural home, doused them in gasoline, and set them on fire.

"I honestly believe Gerri, and I believe that she did that to rid herself of a troubled past," says Ryan Katzenbach, Executive Producer and Director of Shattered Hopes, this firm's forthcoming documentary on the Amityville case. "I don't think she ever stopped to consider....had any forethought to the significance of her story, the significance of that evidence upon verifying who she was because, I don't think, honestly, that she ever thought about coming forward with the story."

Katzenbach adds that Gates' destruction was thought to be "total and complete," despite the fact that, in recent years, she's discovered a few more letters and miscellaneous stuff which she has turned over to Katco.

While those items include letters from DeFeo, they also include more than a few letters addressed to "Geraldine DeFeo" from Linnea Nonnewitz, the DeFeo family's former housekeeper in 1974. All of these materials will be included in Shattered.

"Gerri has told me several times that she was sure there were photos still in existence, but I kind of gave up on her finding any of them."

Gates, and her husband, have been engaged in an extensive remodel of their 120-year old upstate farmhouse for the past few years.

"Out of the blue, Gerri calls me, says 'I have a huge surprise from you.' She explained that she and her husband were removing all the older kitchen cabinets from the kitchen, and when they pulled out a section of cabinets, lodged behind the cabinet was a picture of her and Butch DeFeo together. You could have knocked me over with a feather."

Above • Geraldine DeFeo-Gates and Ronald DeFeo Jr. pictured together. Taken from the Polaroid recently discovered in Geraldine DeFeo's kitchen behind cabinets that were being replaced in a remodel.

Ryan Katzenbach flew to New York to get the photo, which Geraldine Gates turned over to Katco for the documentary.

"The photo is a Polaroid, and on the back of it is a series of numbers. We're waiting for verification of a precise date, but the initial response is that it is likely very, very early 80's which clearly predates Ronald DeFeo's claims that he met Geraldine in 1985. And if he's lying about that, then it clearly suggests that the couple had a relationship before the murders."

The photo is a full-body group shot of Geraldine Gates, Ronald DeFeo, Geraldine's daughter, and two other individuals. The shot, recalls Gates, was taken at one of the correctional facilities. The photo is scratched, has several small spots, but in viewing it, it's clear that it's Ronald DeFeo and Geraldine Gates.

"We knew the photo, instantly, even before contacting an authority who could date the photo paper, was early 1980's because Gerri's daughter who is pictured in shot is well into her 40's now, and she looks barely 16 or 17 in the shot," says Katzenbach.

The full photo will be included within the Shattered Hopes documentary later this year, along with verification of an approximate date that the picture was taken. "We may not be able to get it down to an exact date, obviously, but we've been informed that the numbers on the photo paper on the back of the picture indicate, like with a lot of different products, lot numbers and such that can be traced to a manufacture date. We definitely want to include this within the film."

Shattered will debut with its very first screening in Los Angeles on November 13, 2008; the 34th anniversary of the DeFeo murders.

--LB, Editor

For more info, info@katcomedias.com