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A new Netflix documentary, The Devil on Trial, beckons us into the heart of a chilling saga. In a realm where the supernatural meets the law, the tale of Arne Cheyenne Johnson and the infamous Devil Made Me Do It trial looms large. It unravels the bizarre chronicle of the first-ever US legal case to invoke ‘demonic possession’ as a defense, and within its enigmatic depths lies the story of Arne Johnson.
The Netflix documentary The Devil on Trial, released on October 17, takes us on an eerie journey. It weaves its narrative with firsthand accounts and spine-chilling actual recordings of the alleged demonic possession that Johnson claimed in his defense. Despite the harrowing incidents, Arne found a job post-incarceration, living a relatively uneventful life, and is featured in the documentary.
The Devil on Trial: First-degree manslaughter Arne Johnson was only imprisoned for five years
Following 15 hours of deliberation, Johnson faced a grim fate—conviction for first-degree manslaughter and a sentence ranging from 10 to 20 years behind bars. Yet, the narrative takes an even more enigmatic twist from this point onward.
Johnson's time spent incarcerated was far briefer than anyone might have predicted. After serving a mere five years, they released him from prison on grounds of good behavior.
Chief of Parole Hans Fjelman cited Johnson as "an exemplary inmate" with a mind untouched by negativity. Johnson and Debbie Glatzel, his fiancée from those turbulent days in the courtroom, tied the knot and went on to welcome two children.
The enigma deepens when pondering Arne Johnson's whereabouts and life post-release. Paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren, before her passing in 2019, divulged a curious detail—Johnson had found work as a landscaper.
The Devil on Trial: The Legal Case
The year was 1981, and the world bore witness to a gruesome murder that would forever brand itself as the Devil Made Me Do It trial. Arne Johnson, just 19 years old at the time, was arrested for the brutal slaying of his landlord, Alan Bono, in Brookfield, Connecticut. But Johnson's stance in the courtroom defied reason, he pleaded not guilty, asserting that the devil had taken control of him.
In this trial that blurred the lines between the mundane and the supernatural, Johnson found himself represented by paranormal investigators. His lawyer argued that a malevolent force had gripped Johnson when he mercilessly stabbed Alan Bono more than 20 times with a pocket knife. But the strangeness didn't stop there, it ventured further into the realm of the uncanny.
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, inspiration for the famous Conjuring film franchise based on real-life events, also defended Arne. Critical testimony came from the family of Johnson's fiancée, Debbie Glatzel. A strange twist unfolded as Debbie's 11-year-old brother, David, was believed to be demonically possessed in the months leading up to Johnson's shocking act.
This bizarre Devil Made Me Do It trial had seized the nation’s imagination even before the documentary. Back in 1983, an NBC documentary, The Demon Murder Case, probed the eerie events. More recently, in 2021, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It offered a Hollywood perspective on this macabre tale.
Netflix's latest documentary, The Devil on Trial, unmasks a narrative that has haunted the darkest corners of American jurisprudence. This extraordinary tale dives deep into the unthinkable—how demonic possession materialized as an official legal defense in a US murder trial.
The Devil on Trial premiered on October 17, 2023.
