'The Devil made me do it' trial
On 24 November 1981 Arne Cheyenne Johnson killed his landlord Alan Bono in Brookfield, Connecticut. His lawyer tried to plead demonic possession, the first known such defence in a US court.
1981 CE · 41.48, -73.41 · status: disputed
The account
The Warrens said Johnson had been possessed after confronting a demon during the exorcism of his girlfriend's younger brother. The judge ruled possession could not be proven; Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and served five years.
The sceptical view
The killing is documented; the possession claim was never tested in court.
The researched reading
A real killing turned into a possession story by paranormal investigators and a film. Stress, alcohol and violence explain the crime, and the possession claim has no support.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Perception, memory or mind | 40% | A killing during a drunken argument, after months in a household convinced a child was possessed, is explained by stress, alcohol and violence; the possession frame was supplied afterwards. |
| A cultural story | 30% | The Warrens framed the events as demonic possession, and the story became a book and a horror film with invented details. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 15% | The boy’s brother later said the family invented the possession story for money; the defence was a legal strategy. |
| Something in the surroundings | 5% | Household stress and noises in the rented house may have fed the earlier possession beliefs. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 4% | The boy’s symptoms may reflect illness or a psychological disorder, not a supernatural cause. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 3% | The court found possession could not be proven, and nothing suggests it. |
| Undetermined | 3% | The share the reading had given to fabrication on doubt rather than evidence: the record does not settle it either way. |
Official position: The judge ruled possession could not be proven; Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter.