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Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson

"Devil made me do it" case
CourtConnecticut Superior Court
DecidedNovember 25, 1981
VerdictFound guilty of first degree manslaughter charge and sentenced to 10 to 20 years prison, serving 5 for good behavior.[1]
DefendantArne Cheyenne Johnson
Citation(s)https://archives.law.virginia.edu/dengrove/writeup/arne-cheyenne-johnson

The trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, also known as the "devil made me do it" case, is the first known court case in the United States in which the defense sought to prove innocence based upon the claim of demonic possession and denial of personal responsibility for the crime.[2][3] On November 24, 1981, in Brookfield, Connecticut, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the killing of his landlord, Alan Bono.[4]

According to testimony by the Glatzel family, 12-year-old David Glatzel allegedly had played host to a demon. After witnessing a number of increasingly ominous occurrences involving David, his family, exhausted and terrified, decided to enlist the aid of Ed and Lorraine Warren in a last-ditch effort to "cure" the child. The Glatzel family, along with the Warrens, then proceeded to have multiple priests petition the Catholic Church to have a formal exorcism performed on David.[5] The process continued for several days, concluding when, according to those present, a demon fled the child's body and took up residence within Johnson. These events were documented in the book The Devil in Connecticut by Gerald Brittle.[6]

Several months later, Johnson killed his landlord during a party. His defense lawyer argued in court that he was possessed, but the judge ruled that such a defense could never be proven and was therefore infeasible in a court of law. Johnson was subsequently convicted, though he served only five years of a ten to twenty-year sentence.

The trial attracted media attention from around the world and has obtained a level of notoriety due to numerous depictions of the events in literature and television. A live-action TV prequel titled Where Demons Dwell was released on August 31, 2006. The story was later made into a film adaptation titled The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), and was the subject of a documentary, The Devil on Trial, in 2023.

  1. ^ https://archives.law.virginia.edu/dengrove/writeup/arne-cheyenne-johnson
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference people was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Piro, John (2007-10-10). "Brookfield man sues over 'demon' book". The News-Times. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
  4. ^ "THE REGION; Man Is Convicted In Friend's Death". New York Times. 1981-11-25. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
  5. ^ Cleninden, Dudley (23 March 1981). "Defendant in a Murder Puts the Devil on Trial". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Devil in Connecticut was invoked but never defined (see the help page).