The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’s character Arne Cheyenne Johnson is based on a real-life person whose story continues long after the end of the movie. The 2021 movie, which was the third installment in the flagshipConjuringfranchise and the seventh in the overall universe, is the closest the franchise has come to a true crime adaptation, as it concerned a real-life murder where the perpetrator claimed innocence due to a case of demonic possession.
In general,theConjuringUniverse moviesare either based on or inspired by the case files of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The married couple, a demonologist and an alleged clairvoyant respectively, are among the best known figures in paranormal history and were involved in other prominent cases including that of the haunted doll Annabelle and The Amityville Horror. Whilethe majority of their claims have been widely discredited over the years, the lurid stories at the center of their cases formed the spine of what is now the highest-grossing horror movie franchise of all time.
The Conjuring 3’s Real Arne Cheyenne Johnson Killed His Landlord In 1981
Details Of The Murder Were Changed For The Movie
TheConjuring 3castcentered Ruairi O’Connor as Arne Cheyenne Johnson, one of several real-life figures who were included in the story’s retelling of his murder trial. Although the movie fictionalized many elements of the case, it is true thatthe real Johnson killed his landlord in 1981. The killing took place after the victim, Alan Bono, drunkenly grabbed the nine-year-old cousin of Debbie Glatzel, Johnson’s fiancée. Johnson proceeded to stab Bono multiple times with a pocket knife, and when he was taken in by the police he claimed not to remember what had happened.
The landlord, renamed Bruno, was played by Ronnie Gene Blevins inThe Conjuring 3, while Debbie Glatzel was portrayed by Sarah Catherine Hook.
Ed and Lorraine Warren entered Johnson’s orbit before the murder was committed when it was suspected that Debbie’s 12-year-old brother David Glatzel was possessed by a demon. The story, which is contained in the 1983 Gerald Brittle bookThe Devil in Connecticut, goes that during an exorcism the entity transferred itself into the body of Arne. The Warrens attested to this fact and at Johnson’s trial for the murder,the plea was Not Guilty by Virtue of Possession, an unusual circumstance that led to a major media circus at the time.
Arne Cheyenne Johnson’s Murder Conviction Explained (Despite The Demonic Possession Defense)
Johnson Was Convicted Of First-Degree Manslaughter
The trial depicted in the2021 horror moviebegan on July 06, 2025 at the Superior Court in Danbury, Connecticut. The judge, Robert Callahan, quicklyrejected the Not Guilty by Virtue of Possession. However, in the light of the evidence that Bono was intoxicated and upset before he was killed, the plea was altered to that of self-defense.
This new plea resulted in Arne Cheyenne Johnson beingconvicted of first-degree manslaughter on November 24. The jury, which deliberated for a period of three days and fifteen hours, was instructed not to consider the demonic possession plea as part of their decision. Johnson’s sentencing took place just under a month later, on December 18, resulting in a relatively swift turnaround for a murder trial, considering the fact that nobody was contesting the assertion that Johnson had stabbed Bono in the first place.
First-degree manslaughter, which is a class A felony, is legally described in the United States as a case where the perpetrator either “recklessly causes the death of another person” or causes the death of an unborn child by inflicting injury on the person carrying that child.
How Long Arne Cheyenne Johnson Spent In Prison
Johnson Was Sentenced To Between 10 And 20 Years In Prison
TheConjuring 3true storyended in roughly the same way that it did onscreen, though the supernatural nature of the killing as it was presented in the horror movie has been widely contested by a variety of sources including Debbie’s father Carl Glatzel and her brother Carl Glatzel Jr. After being convicted of first-degree manslaughter, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was sentenced to between 10 and 20 years in prison. However, he only served a portion of his sentence, as he wasreleased after four years and eleven months for good behavior.
Glatzel staunchly defended Ed and Lorraine Warren’s claims about her husband’s possession…
While he was in prison,Arne Cheyenne Johnson and Debbie Glatzel were married. In the ensuing decades, Glatzel staunchly defended Ed and Lorraine Warren’s claims about her husband’s possession, though various books and documentaries about the case seemingly continued to cause friction between the couple and various members of the Glatzel family.
What Happened To Arne Cheyenne Johnson & Debbie Glatzel After Arne Got Out Of Prison
TheConjuring 3endingconcluded the story roughly around Arne’s jail time, without covering much of what happened after the character’s conviction. However, the story of the real-life characters extends far beyond the limitations of the movie. While this may be the case,Johnson retreated to a private lifeafter the media firestorm surrounding his case and his incarceration, so not many details have been revealed about how he spent his time once he was released from prison.
It is known thatJohnson and Debbie Glatzel remained married and bore two children. He also had a stepson, Jason Lee Glatzel, who died at age 34 in Arkansas in 2007.Radio Timesalso reports that Johnson at one point worked as a landscaper, a detail that was revealed by Lorraine Warren. Beyond those details, very little is known about his later life.
Lorraine Warren, who was predeceased by her husband, died in 2019 at the age of 92.
Where Is Arne Cheyenne Johnson Now?
Johnson Is Still Alive In 2024
Several oftheConjuring 3real-life charactersare still alive, including Johnson himself. Although Debbie Glatzel reportedly died of cancer in 2021, Johnson is still alive as of October 2023.Both real-life figures were involved in the making of theConjuringmovie, and Johnson was later involved in a 2023 documentary on the same subject titledThe Devil on Trial.
In addition toThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Johnson’s story was portrayed narratively the TV movieThe Demon Murder Casestarring Kevin Bacon. It was also explored in the nonfiction format in variousdocumentaries includingThe Devil On Trialand 2006’sWhere Demons Dwell. However, despite many attempts to comb through the details in the ensuing decades, the exact truth of what occurred during the murder that spurred the landmark case may never fully be known.
Source:Radio Times
The Conjuring 3
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is based on another one of Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren’s (Vera Farmiga) case files. This time, Ed and Lorraine investigate a murder suspect, Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who is claiming demonic possession made him kill. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do is the third film in the mainline series and the seventh overall movie in The Conjuring universe.
