Ever watched the movie titled ‘Conjuring 3: The Devil Made me Do it’? Well, that horror movie was inspired by the real-life court case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson.
On 16th February, 1981, 19-year-old Arne Cheyenne Johnson stabbed 40-year-old Alan Bono four to five times. The only witnesses to the crime were Arne’s two sisters, and his girlfriend, Deborah Glatzel. The two had earlier argued before the incident that took the life of Bono.
Johnson was arrested for first-degree murder but pleaded “not guilty” in court. His defense attorney, Martin Minnella, argued that the 19-year-old was not guilty by virtue of demonic possession. Johnson never blamed it on the devil but claimed not to remember stabbing the man.
It is believed that months before the stabbing, David Glatel, 11-year-old brother of Johnson’s girlfriend was possessed by a malevolent spirit. He spoke in strange tongues, convulsed and did other strange things. Judy Glatzel, his mother invited Ed and Lorraine Warren to exorcise his son.
During a ritual to exorcise the boy, Johnson who was present told the ‘devil’ to leave David and take him instead. After the exorcism, he also started to behave strangely.
The demon defense for the case never even made it to the jury. A superior court judge dismissed Johnson’s “demonic possession” legal defense on the grounds that it could not be proven. Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter because the jury believed he intended to harm but not kill Bono. He was given a 10-to-20-year sentence, of which he served nearly five years due to good behavior. While in prison, Johnson got married to Deborah Glatzel, and received a high-school degree.
David Glatzel’s older brother, Carl Glatzel, later sued Lorraine Warren in 2006 saying that the demonic possession of his brother was a hoax. He claimed that his younger brother suffered from mental illness as a child and the Warrens concocted a phony story about demons in an attempt to get rich and famous at his family’s expense.
Also, others described Johnson as quick to anger and extremely possessive of the girlfriend which could explain why he stabbed the man many times.
Ed Passed away in 2006 whilst Lorraine passed away in 2019.
Did the devil really make him do it?
