Netflix’s new documentary The Devil on Trial revisits the infamous “The Devil Made Me Do It” case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson. The upcoming documentary will air on the streaming service on Tuesday, October 17, 2023.
Arne Johnson’s murder trial was the first and only instance when his counsel used demonic possession as a defense in 1981. The then-teenager brutally murdered Alan Bono. He later claimed that he committed the crime while under the influence of demonic spirits. Reportedly, the case also has links with Ed and Lorraine Warren, famous paranormal investigators who were portrayed as Ed and Lorraine Warren in the Conjuring film franchise.
Recently, Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It, depicted the decades-old happenings. The case has since made headlines and is now a crucial part of modern popular culture and adaptations.
Devil on Trial’s Arne Cheyenne Johnson case, explained
AP News reported that on February 16, 1981, Arne Cheyenne Johnson fatally stabbed his landlord Alan Bono in Brookfield, Connecticut. Police arrested him the next day. The following events went down in history as one of the most controversial court cases in the country’s legal system.
The then-19-year-old claimed that he committed the crime under the possession of demonic forces. At the pre-trial hearings, he claimed that the spirits possessed him after he performed exorcism on a 12-year-old boy and challenged the devil.
According to an Oxygen report, Johnson’s defense attempted to put the Devil on trial and brought religion into the court at his later October trial. The defendant’s attorney, Martin Minnella, even claimed that the Warrens served as the inspiration for this unprecedented demonic possession defense.
However, Judge Robert Callahan, who presided over the trial, rejected the never-before-used argument by calling it “irrelevant and unscientific.” Following this, Minnella took the self-defense approach. Thus, the jury never heard Johnson’s infamous demonic possession narrative.
Where is Arne Cheyenne Johnson now?
The Radio Times reported that Arne Cheyenne Johnson’s trial started on October 28, 1981, at Connecticut’s Superior Court in Danbury. Nearly a month later, after 15 hours of deliberation across three days, a jury found him guilty of a reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter. The judge then sentenced him to 10 to 20 years in prison.
While in prison, Johnson was a model inmate and received his high school degree along with several other educational certificates. In 1984, he married Debbie Glatzel while still in prison and was released from prison two years later for good behavior. In total, the convicted killer only served five years in prison.
The outlet mentioned that the duo – Johnson and Glatzel – went on to have two children. Moreover, Lorraine Warren, who died in 2019, revealed that the ex-convict worked for a landscaper following his release and that the couple were involved in the making of Conjuring 3.
As of today, not much is known about Johnson, but sources have confirmed that his wife died of cancer a couple of years ago.
