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The Demonic-Possession Defense of Arne Johnson. The Devil Made Me Do It.


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The Glatzel backstory: fear in a Brookfield split-level

In the summer of 1980, 11-year-old David Glatzel of Brookfield, Connecticut, began reporting terrifying visitations—first an “old man,” then something darker. His family said David woke with scratches, growled in strange voices, quoted Scripture, and suffered violent nighttime convulsions. Out of answers, the Glatzels called in self-styled demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, who in turn pressed local Catholic clergy to intervene. Lorraine later said six priests participated in a series of “minor” (or “lesser”) exorcisms and agreed David was possessed—claims that have been repeated in media accounts but not independently verified by the Church.

During one rite, witnesses said Arne Cheyenne Johnson—David’s sister Debbie’s 19-year-old fiancé—challenged the entity to leave the boy and “take” him instead. In the family’s telling, that dare marked a turning point: Johnson began slipping into trances and later had no memory of them.


February 16, 1981: a killing in broad daylight

On the afternoon of February 16, 1981, Debbie’s employer and the couple’s landlord, Alan J. Bono, had been drinking. An argument erupted at the dog-grooming business. When Bono seized Debbie’s young cousin, Johnson intervened. Witnesses said he “growled like an animal,” pulled a 5-inch pocketknife, and stabbed Bono multiple times. Bono died hours later; it was the first unlawful killing in Brookfield’s history. Johnson was arrested nearby and soon claimed he could not remember the attack.


The “Devil Made Me Do It” defense—and why the judge shut it down

Johnson’s attorney, Martin Minnella, tried to mount a landmark defense: not guilty by reason of demonic possession. On October 28, 1981, Judge Robert Callahan ruled such evidence “simply not relevant,” barring the defense from introducing possession at trial. The jury instead heard a conventional self-defense theory and, after 15 hours of deliberation, convicted Johnson of first-degree manslaughter on November 24, 1981. He received a 10–20 year sentence and served about five years.


The Warrens, a bestseller, and a lawsuit

In 1983, Gerald Brittle—working with Lorraine Warren—published The Devil in Connecticut, cementing the case’s notoriety. Decades later, when the book was reissued, David’s brother Carl Glatzel Jr. sued, calling the possession narrative a hoax that exploited David’s health struggles and the family’s turmoil. The suit alleged the Warrens coached and commercialized the story; Lorraine Warren countered that clergy involvement and documentation supported the case. (A Church confirmation of “possession” has not surfaced publicly.)

The case has since fueled documentaries and dramatizations, including Netflix’s 2023 The Devil on Trial and The Conjuring 3 (2021), which revived public debate around the claims


Alternative explanations—and the Sominex theory

Skeptical explanations cluster around three buckets:

  1. Psychiatric/behavioral frameworks: Many clinicians point out that symptoms described in David—night terrors, dissociation, aggression, and trance-like states—can align with psychiatric conditions or stress responses in children. That stance appears in contemporary and retrospective reporting about the case, especially given the high-emotion, media-saturated environment that followed the Warrens’ arrival.

  2. Fabrication/embellishment for profit or attention: In the 2007 suit and subsequent interviews, Carl Glatzel Jr. alleged the possession narrative was inflated or manufactured by the Warrens, promising book/film money and a legal lifeline for Arne. (Johnson and Debbie, who later married, have long maintained their story is genuine.)

  3. Sominex (diphenhydramine) as a driver of “demonic” symptoms:


    A striking allegation surfaced publicly with Netflix’s The Devil on Trial: Carl Jr. says that after their mother Judy Glatzel died, he found indications she had dosed family members with Sominex, an over-the-counter sleep aid (active ingredient diphenhydramine). He speculates that repeated or covert dosing could explain David’s “possession” episodes. This remains an allegation by Carl Jr.; no criminal case or civil judgment has established it as fact.


Could diphenhydramine mimic “possession”?

Medically, the idea isn’t far-fetched in principle—especially in children, who can show paradoxical excitation (agitation instead of sedation). Clinical references document that diphenhydramine can, at higher doses or in sensitive individuals, produce delirium, confusion, agitation, hallucinations, tremors, and even seizures due to its anticholinergic effects. Toxicology guidance and peer-reviewed summaries note pediatric vulnerability and the potential for dramatic behavioral changes. None of this proves wrongdoing in the Glatzel home—but it establishes a plausible pharmacologic pathway for behavior that might be misread as “demonic.”

Selected medical facts about diphenhydramine (Sominex):

  • Common effects: marked drowsiness, impaired coordination.

  • Paradoxical reactions in kids: excitation, irritability.

  • Anticholinergic toxicity at higher doses: hallucinations, delirium, agitation, psychosis, seizures, arrhythmias.


Where that leaves the case

Even without the supernatural, the record is stark: a public stabbing, a barred “possession” defense, a manslaughter conviction, and five years served. The Sominex hypothesis—if true—could refract how we interpret the Glatzel episodes without exonerating the killing. If false, it’s one more contested claim in a case where memory, belief, and media economics have been entangled since day one.


* “Devil Made Me Do It” story sits at the crossroads of moral panic, pop-occult celebrity, and a family in crisis. The courts rejected the devil. The family remains divided. And a decades-late allegation about an over-the-counter sleep aid offers a worldly explanation for otherworldly behavior—but it is still an allegation, not a proven fact.


Sources used for this podcast:

 

Films

  • Ace Ventura: Pet Detective [Film]. (1994). Tom Shadyac (Director). Morgan Creek Productions.

  • Booksmart [Film]. (2019). Olivia Wilde (Director). Annapurna Pictures.

  • Ghostbusters II [Film]. (1989). Ivan Reitman (Director). Columbia Pictures.

  • Insidious [Film]. (2010). James Wan (Director). FilmDistrict.

  • Monsters, Inc. [Film]. (2001). Pete Docter (Director). Pixar Animation Studios.

  • Poltergeist [Film]. (1982). Tobe Hooper (Director). MGM.

  • Saw [Film]. (2004). James Wan (Director). Lions Gate Films.

  • The Conjuring [Film]. (2013). James Wan (Director). New Line Cinema.

  • The Conjuring 2 [Film]. (2016). James Wan (Director). New Line Cinema.

  • The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It [Film]. (2021). Michael Chaves (Director). New Line Cinema.

  • The Conjuring 4: Last Rites [Film]. (Expected 2025). New Line Cinema.

  • The Exorcist [Film]. (1973). William Friedkin (Director). Warner Bros.

 

Television Series

  • Lucifer [TV series]. (2016). S1 E6, Fox/Netflix.

  • Modern Family [TV series]. (2009). S9 E10: No Small Feet, ABC.


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All information contained in this audio podcast or video presentation is provided for entertainment purposes only. The authors leave any and all conclusions to individual members of the audience. The author offers no statements of fact beyond those available through diligent private research or through information freely available in the public record. To the extent that pending or settled criminal matters or crime or possible crimes, are discussed in this audio podcast or video presentation, all parties or defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. To the extent that any pending or settled civil matters are discussed in this video presentation, all parties or defendants are presumed not liable unless proven liable in a court of law. Copyright for material incorporated and presented under Fair Use is retained by the original author or copyright holder where applicable. Our cases are researched using open source and archive materials, and the subjects are real crimes and people. We strive to produce each episode with respect to the victims, their families and loved ones. At Hitched 2 Homicide we are committed to always discussing how victims lived, and not just how they died. All podcast information is gleaned from sources given. All opinions in the podcast are solely of Hitched 2 Homicide and are for entertainment purposes only. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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