CASE STUDY: The Devil Made Me Do It Nikisha Patel
On November 24th, 1981, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for killing his landlord Alan Bono in Connecticut. In court, his lawyers claimed he did not commit the murder, but was possessed by a demonic spirit which forced him to kill Bono. Although the judge ruled his defence could never be proven and was therefore infeasible in a court of law, this story shocked media around the world. The case started with the possession of Johnson’s fiancé’s brother, David Glatzel. David Glatzel and Demonic Possession Johnson’s fiancé, Debbie Glatzel, called in Roman Catholic priests to help her brother David. She told them he would ‘kick, bite, spit and swear’. He experienced strangling attempts by invisible hands and powerful forces would cause him to flop around from head-to-toe like a ragdoll. He would wake up screaming about a man with big black eyes and a thin face with animal features and horns who told him to ‘beware’. David did not watch horror movies and wasn’t known to lie. Debbie asked her fiancé, Arne Johnson, to
stay with the family and help out. Whilst David slept, bruises and scratches appeared on his body and strange noises were heard in the attic. David then began to see the ‘Beast Man’ while he was awake in the form of an old man. In desperation, the family turned to the Catholic Church for help, but all this did was annoy the Beast Man. The noises became louder and David started to act strangely; hissing, speaking in different voices and quoting from the Bible. After many attempts to save the boy, the family called in the demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren to expel the spirit. Lorraine said ‘While Ed interviewed the boy, I saw a black misty form next to him. Soon the child was complaining invisible hands were choking him and there were red marks on him’. David’s parents sought psychiatric help and were told he was ‘normal’ but had a ‘minor learning disability’ – the Warren’s were convinced he was possessed. The Warren’s and a group of priests claimed they saw David levitate and temporarily stop breathing. The Warren’s later informed the family that there were 43 demons in the boy. Arne Johnson’s Possession Johnson was present at the exorcism of his fiancé’s brother, David Glatzel and made his ‘fatal mistake’ when he taunted the demons that David was possessed by. ‘Take me on, leave my little buddy alone’ he cried. After this, David’s condition worsened, and Johnson and Debbie Glatzel moved out of her family home. She was hired by Alan Bono who also rented one of his places out to the couple. Soon, Johnson started to behave strangely; he would fall into trances, growl and hallucinate. He would have no memory of it after, just like David. The Day of The Murder On February 16th 1981, Johnson called in sick to work. He joined Debbie at work and then later went to lunch with Bono, Debbie, his sister Wanda and nine-year-old cousin Mary.
5
