The True Story Of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

Summary The Conjuring 3 mixed fact with fiction to create a scarier story of possession and murder.

The trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson was the first to use demonic possession as a defense in the US.

The Glatzel family's opinions on the Warrens and the exorcism differ, leading to controversy.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is based on the true story of the Glatzel family's alleged experiences with demonic possession and Arne Cheyenne Johnson's murder trial. The third entry in the fictional Conjuring Universe, the movie brought back franchise stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren. The characters are based on the late controversial paranormal investigators who were self-proclaimed experts in hauntings and demonic activity.

The sequel, directed by Michael Chaves and written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, courted some controversy since this installment took on a true story centered around a brutal murder. Like the other films in the franchise based on the Warrens' cases, the movie mixed fact with fiction to make The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It even scarier than reality. The dramatization, addition of Satanic cults, and The Conjuring 3's changes to the timeline of real events partially concealed the truth about what really happened to Johnson and the Glatzels.

Related The Conjuring 3 Ending & Demon Origin Explained The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It introduced a new villain for the Warrens to face. Here's the Conjuring 3 ending and demon explained in full.

David Glatzel's Demonic Possession & Exorcism Explained

David was being terrorized by an entity that threatened harm to his family

In 1980, 11-year-old David Glatzel allegedly began experiencing signs of demonic possession following an encounter while helping clean his sister Debbie's new home with Johnson, her fiancé. David said he was pushed by an entity resembling an old man with charred, burnt skin. The apparition threatened harm against the Glatzel family for renting the property (via Radio Times). David continued having visions of the old man, along with night terrors and unexplained bruises and marks on his skin. Eventually, the family believed he was possessed.

The Warrens' Other Famous Cases Year They Took Place Annabelle The Doll 1970 The Perron Family 1971 The Smurl Haunting 1974 The Amityville House 1975 The Enfield Poltergeist 1977 The Snekeder House 1986 The Southend Werewolf 1989

David's mother, Judy, contacted famed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. Once they were able to receive the Catholic Church's blessing to perform an exorcism, four priests joined the Glatzels, the Warrens, and Johnson to free David from what they believed was the Devil. Judy told The New York Times that during the exorcism, David would "kick, bite, spit, swear - terrible words" and was being strangled by "invisible hands." Johnson began challenging the Devil, telling the entity to possess him and leave David alone. Supposedly, the demon then transferred into Johnson's body.

Why Arne Cheyenne Johnson Killed His Landlord - Was He Really Possessed?

A heated argument ended with Johnson stabbing his landlord to death

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Johnson, then 19 years old, murdered his landlord, Alan Bono, on February 16, 1981. According to Global News, Johnson and Bono got into an argument over a TV or stereo repair job before Johnson stabbed him. Radio Times adds Bono grabbed Debbie's nine-year-old cousin, Mary, further angering Johnson. The killing took place hours after Johnson, Bono, Debbie, and some of her co-workers ate lunch and drank. Later, at Bono's apartment, Debbie witnessed the growing tension and fight between the two men before Johnson attacked Bono, stabbing him with a five-inch pocket knife.

The Gratzel family said that following David's exorcism, Johnson exhibited signs of possession, including hallucinations and random growling.

Debbie claimed that as quickly as the attack started, "it just stopped." Johnson walked away, staring into the distance, without a word. Bono died after suffering four to five fatal stab wounds. The Gratzel family said that following David's exorcism, Johnson exhibited signs of possession, including hallucinations and random growling. Additionally, there was an incident before the murder where Johnson crashed his car into a tree and claimed it wasn't his fault but that of a demonic entity.

Shortly after the stabbing, The New York Times reported that the Warrens had contacted the police when David was allegedly still possessed to warn law enforcement there was potential "for some violent act" in the Gratzel home they referred to as "a demonic lair." After Johnson's arrest, Debbie told the outlet that her brother David had talked with her about a vision he apparently had after Bono's death:

"He said he had seen the beast go into Cheyenne's body, and it was the beast who had committed the crime."

Arne Johnson's Murder Trial & "Devil Made Me Do It" Defense Explained

Johnson's lawyer attempted to enter a plea of not guilty due to demonic possession

Johnson was charged with murder, and his trial began on October 28, 1981. His lawyer, Martin Minella, presented to the court a plea of "not guilty by virtue of possession," adding that Johnson's body had been manipulated by a demon (via Radio Times). While Johnson's lawyer may have been convinced by his and the Gratzel family's story of demonic possession, Judge Robert Callahan threw out the plea. With the court refusing to recognize possession as a legitimate defense and instructing the jury they could not consider it legally, Minella then submitted a plea of self-defense.

Witnesses included Debbie and the Warrens, who testified that the demon was transferred from the young boy to Johnson.

Johnson's lawyer pivoted to trying to prove that his client was changed after David's exorcism. Despite the initial plea being rejected due to Judge Callahan's perspective that testimony would be "irrelative and unscientific," witnesses could talk about David's alleged possession and exorcism to speak about Johnson's subsequent behavior. Witnesses included Debbie and the Warrens, who testified that the demon was transferred from the young boy to Johnson. On November 24, 1981, the jury found Johnson guilty of first-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10–20 years in prison but was released after five years.

Is The Conjuring 3's Disciples Of Ram Cult Real? Satanic Inspiration Explained

The idea for the Disciples of Ram came from the real-life fear of Satanic cults

They may exist in The Conjuring Universe, but the Disciples of Ram cult is not based on a real-life group. However, the inspiration for the cult stems from the Satanic panic era of the 1970s and 1980s, where misinformed people became terrified by Satanism. Violent criminal cases such as the Manson Family murders, organized by cult leader Charles Manson, and the serial killer Son of Sam spurred on the public's fear. While thousands of unsubstantiated claims of Satanic rituals occurred over those two decades, the Disciples of Ram were written as a fictional demon-worshipping cult.

Disciples of Ram make their first appearance in Annabelle when a cult member, Janice "Annabelle" Higgins, attacks Mia and John Form towards the film's beginning. Higgins was possessed by a demon when she was a child — as seen in Annabelle: Creation — and later joined the cult. After killing her adoptive parents in Annabelle, she takes her own life, and the demon is able to latch back onto the doll that was in Mia's possession. In The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Father Kastner's daughter is revealed also to be a member of the Disciples of Ram.

How Arne Cheyenne Johnson's Murder Trial Changed History

David's exorcism and Johnson's possession defense turned the trial into a spectacle

Johnson's trial was the first time a plea of not guilty because of demonic possession had ever been used in a U.S. murder trial (Bono's death was also the town of Brookfield's first homicide in 193 years). The judge may not have allowed the defense, but that didn't stop the murder trial from becoming a media circus. The case drew national attention as Minella called on the Glatzels and Warrens, who attempted to convince the jury of the Devil, possessions, and an exorcism gone wrong.

The murder trial became a spectacle in the media and eventually led to the stories of Johnson and David's alleged possessions being turned into books, movies, TV shows, and documentaries. The Conjuring 3 and Netflix's 2023 documentary film, The Devil on Trial, are only two examples of projects that emerged from the real-life case over the past few decades. From the accusations of the Warrens being grifters to details The Devil on Trial left out, most of the media inspired by the Glatzels' experiences and Johnson's conviction has been controversial.

What The Glatzel Family Has Said About Demonic Possession & The Warrens

The Glatzel family disagrees about whether the possession and exorcism were real

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David's brother, Carl Glatzel, made his opinions about the supposed possession clear in The Devil on Trial. Speaking to the documentary filmmakers, Carl accused the Warrens of being con artists and claimed David's visions were actually hallucinations caused by their mother drugging the family with sleeping pills to control them. Carl and David filed a lawsuit in 2007 against the Warrens and author Gerald Brittle after Lorraine Warren's book The Devil in Connecticut was republished. They accused the authors and publishers of libel, violation of privacy, and "intentional infliction of emotional distress" (via Radio Times).

Debbie and Johnson backed the possession claims, while David's father denies it happened. David agrees with Carl that the Warrens were con artists, which is not depicted in The Conjuring 3. When The Devil in Connecticut was initially released in 1983, the Warrens received approximately $81,000, while the Glatzels collected $4,500. In The Devil on Trial, David claims that Lorraine lied when she told him he was "going to be a rich little boy" from the book deal: “The Warrens made a lot of money off of us. If they can profit off you, they will.”

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is available to stream on Netflix.

Source: Radio Times, The New York Times, Global News