The Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson Murder Case Story

Publish date: 2024-05-04

The famous and notorious case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, also popularly known as the “Devil Made Me Do It” case has been talked about since decades. It has also been made into a famous The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do it movie.

The trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson has attracted the eyes of conspiracy theorists, curious minded and journalists alike. 

The prime reason is that the trial is one of the first cases to have proclaimed demonic possession as a reality and Arne’s defense seeking innocence due to it for the defendant. 

Not only did Arne Johnson deny any personal responsibility for the crime but claimed he was being possessed by an external entity.

After the lengthy trial, the jury didn’t buy his story and on 24th November 1981, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was booked and convicted in Brookfield, Connecticut of first-degree manslaughter for the killing of Alan Bono, his landlord in a party.

Summarized View of the Proceedings

All of these events were documented and are present in the Gerald Brittle book, The Devil In Connecticut.

Events started when David Glatzel, an 11-year-old, fell prey to a demon. His family gave testimony that a demon hosted the child after they witnessed an increasing number of activities of paranormal nature surrounding David. 

The family after trying various remedies against the ominous present circumstances decided to enlist outside help.

Exorcism and the eventual killing

They then proceeded to petition the Church to have an exorcism performed by priests. But very soon, the demon fled the child’s body and took residence within the body of Arne Johnson. 

After several months, the fateful event happened when Arne Johnson killed his landlord at a party. 

The whole incident went to trial and the defense, for the first time in the United States history, proclaimed that the accused was possessed by a demon. 

After the denial of defense due to the nature of the claim of the defense party, Arne was eventually convicted to a 10 to 20-year sentence. He would go on to serve only 5 out of those years.

Widespread coverage

“The Devil Made Me Do It” trial attracted widespread media spotlight and the world observed the proceedings with keen interest. The depiction of the events surrounding the whole incident and the trial have made their way to literature and various programs. 

The whole scenario was also pictured in the famous The Conjuring film series. In 2021, the case of Arne Johnson was depicted in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. 

Why Did The Trial Attract So Much Notoriety?

The prevailing question on everyone’s mind when they first study or find out about the murder is always the why. Why did the trial attract notoriety and widespread attention? After all, murder rates were already at a high across the United States at the time, and a normal American would have hardly noticed this one among many others.

The murder occurred in the quiet town of Brookfield (96.5 km north of New York City). Even in this town, the murder would not have attracted global headlines if not for the bold defense claim by the accused. 

Arne’s lawyers propelled the case into global eyes which would then attract various TV shows, movies, debates and various accounts. 

All of the hot debate surrounding the murder was due to one fact: The devil made Arne murder his landlord, not he himself. 

Martin Minnella argued that the 40-year-old Alan Bono was victim to the ramifications of the devil himself, and not the sole and independent intent of Arne Johnson, the accused. 

The Killing of Alan Bono 

No one would disagree that the killing of Alan Bono on 16th February 1981 looked out of the ordinary. The murder was carried out at a Brookfield dog kennel after a report of a heated exchange of two individuals. This exchange was led by alcohol consumption which further resulted in the drawing of a pocket knife and the brutal act of murder, followed. 

The 40-year-old Alan Bono was new in the town of Brookfield and fell victim to a brutal display of hate. 

It was reported in The Washington Times that Arne’s lawyer, Martin Minnella, reported there were four to five big wounds out of which one was pretty fatal and nasty which extended from Alan Bono’s stomach to the base of the heart. 

This brutal murder was the first one in Brookfield’s history. 

Police Chief in 1981 of Brookfield, John Anderson would continue to proclaim this as a usual crime in which a party got angry or offended and as a result of a disagreement, a crime was committed. “Instead, everyone in the whole world converges on Brookfield,” he would go on to say.

The capture of Arne Johnson

About two miles away, Arne Johnson was found and arrested. He was kept in lieu of $125,000 bail at the Bridgeport Correctional Center. After being asked of the details, Arne would deny any knowledge of the incident.

It would be found later on through Arne’s fiancee, Debbie Glatzel, that Alan Bono came to the kennel drunk. 

He would proceed to grab Mary, Debbie’s cousin who was 9 years old and wouldn’t let her go even after her continued hesitance. Arne Johnson would intervene.

This would make the situation intense and Arne would suddenly turn into an “animal” and would take out his knife and stab his boss repeatedly. Total number of stabs would be 4-5. 

At the location were present Alan Bono, Arne Johnson, Debbie Glatzel, Mary and Arne Johnson’s sister, Wanda. 

The Devil and his Involvement

The smoke around the pinning of the devil didn’t materialize out of thin air. Talk to mysterious activity and paranormal presence was already abounding in the area. 

The conjuring of the devil, Ominous happenings and strange behavior were talked about in hushed voices since a year ago of the landlord.

A few months before the murder, Judy Glatzel, Debbie’s mother contacted local paranormal investigators named Ed Warren and Lorraine Warren. Judy claimed that David, her 12-year-old, was hosted by demons. 

According to the Glatzel family, when the boy was possessed his face became ‘contorted’. They used to call the demon “The Beast”. 

Whenever The Beast took David, he would shout obscenities, things would levitate, hands would grab members through the floor. Things would escalate so much that the family members used to sleep during the daytime so that they could tackle the night ahead.

Expelling of the Demons

Ed and Lorraine Warren would try to get the church on board. According to their account, three to four priests first came and diagnosed the boy as being possessed. 

Afterward, a formal exorcism was denied by the bishop of Bridgeport upon the family’s and Warren’s request. 

The Warrens would perform what is called ‘lesser rites of exorcism’ on David so that the demon could be expelled. 

The Warren’s Account

The account of the Warrens held significance all these years. They recount they were ‘troubled’ by what they saw in the quiet locality of Brookfield. 

The demonic hosting also underwent three lower exorcisms by six priests, according to Lorraine Warren and all of them agreed that David was possessed. 

“It wasn’t just Ed and I. The cream of the Catholic Church was involved, and there was tremendous documentation,” she told the News-Times in an article. This article was published in 2007. 

The Warrens claimed the boy, when possessed, would levitate. He would snarl, his whites of the eyes would show, and he would laugh. 

Paranormal activity around the house included plates flying, chairs rocking and materialistic toys such as a toy dinosaur walking. 

The Warrens also claimed there were 43 demons inside the body of David. They knew this because according to them, they demanded names from the demons which then would be returned by David. The total number of names would be 43.

The Murder Trial

“The Devil Made Me Do It” trial began on 28th October, 1981. Martin Minnella believed the stab wounds inflicted to the landlord were so deep that no human would be able to inflict them upon any other human being. He also said the demonic possession defense claim was pinned to him by the Warrens. 

Martin met with the Warrens and decided to take the case after discussing it with them. He remembered, “They told me that when you’re possessed, you have no control over your actions. That stuck in my mind.”

He also traveled to Great Britain to seek counsel with lawyers who had experience with demonic hauntings and relevant cases. Also planned were exorcism specialists to testify and other local priests. The priests would refuse to testify.

He also said at the time top movie studios were already showing interest in the case. 

The After Effect of the Arne Johnson Murder Trial

Martin still believes that what he saw was fact and not fiction. In 2014, he claimed he saw a lot of crazies but he could clearly distinguish between what was real and what was not. Who would have known that a defense like this would reverb so much that after decades people would still talk about it? 

The judge smashed the theory of demonic possession and the trial would finish after the jury deliberated for 17 hours over the course of three days. They would find Arne guilty and would sentence him to 10-20 years. He spent over 4 years in jail. 

The questions still remain unanswered even after the trial has long ago concluded. Did the devil really make Arne do it?

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