Arne Johnson

The incident led to the creation of a television film titled The Demon Murder Case on NBC and preparations for a feature film, the production of which was stalled due to internal conflicts. In 1983, Gerald Brittle, with the assistance of Lorraine Warren, published a book about the incident entitled The Devil in Connecticut. Lorraine Warren stated that profits from the book were shared with the family. Sources confirmed that $2,000 was paid to the family by the book publisher. Upon the book's republication in 2006 by iUniverse, David Glatzel and his brother, Carl Glatzel Jr., sued the authors and book publishers for violating their right to privacy, libel, and "intentional affliction of emotional distress." Carl also claimed that the book alleged he committed criminal and abusive acts against his family and others. He said that the possession story was a hoax concocted by Ed and Lorraine Warren to exploit the family and his brother's mental illness, and that the book presented him as the villain because he did not believe in the supernatural claims. He asserted that the Warrens told him the story would make the family millionaires and would help get Johnson out of jail. According to Carl Glatzel, the publicity generated by the incident forced him to drop out of school and lose friends and business opportunities. In 2007 he began writing a book, titled Alone Through the Valley, about his version of the events surrounding his brother. Lorraine Warren defended her work with the family, saying that the six priests who were involved in the incident agreed at the time that the boy was possessed and that the supernatural events she described were real. Brittle, author of The Devil in Connecticut, says he wrote the book because "the family wanted the story told," that he possesses video of over 100 hours of his interviews with the family, and that they signed off on the book as accurate before it went to print. Glatzel's father, Carl Glatzel Sr., denies telling the author that his son was possessed. Johnson and Debbie (now married) wholeheartedly support the Warrens' account of demonic possession and have stated that the Glatzels in question are suing simply for monetary purposes. The event inspired the premise of the 2021 film The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.

The trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, also known as the "Devil Made Me Do It" case, is the first known court case in the United States in which the defense sought to prove innocence based upon the defendant's claim of demonic possession and denial of personal responsibility for the crime. On November 24, 1981, in Brookfield, Connecticut, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the killing of his landlord, Alan Bono.

David's visions worsened, occurring in the daytime as well. Twelve days after the original incident, the family summoned the self-proclaimed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren to assist. Lorraine allegedly witnessed a black mist materialize next to David, an apparent indication of a malevolent presence. Debbie and her mother told the Warrens they had seen David being beaten and choked by invisible hands and that red marks had appeared on his neck afterwards. David had started to growl, hiss, speak in otherworldly voices, and recite passages from the Bible or Paradise Lost. The Glatzels recounted how each night a family member would remain awake with David as he suffered through spasms and convulsions. After receiving a prognosis of multiple possessions from the Warrens, David was subjected to three "lesser exorcisms". Lorraine asserts that David levitated, ceased breathing for a time, and even demonstrated the supernatural ability of precognition, specifically in relation to the murder Johnson would later commit. In October 1980, the Warrens contacted Brookfield police to warn them that the situation was becoming dangerous.