The new Conjuring movie, The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It, was originally slated to be among the horror movies in theaters for June 2020. Thanks to the pandemic, we all know that didn’t happen. It will now release on Jun 4 of this year, both in theaters and on HBO Max.
However, a week later another The Devil Made Me Do It show will also be released. On June 11, the latest Shock Docs installment will start streaming on discovery+.
Is it about the same case the new Conjuring movie drew inspiration from? Yes! Let’s take a look at what it’ll be about.
“The ‘Shock Docs’ franchise has quickly become a powerhouse for the paranormal genre and fans can’t get enough of this long-form storytelling format,” said Matthew Butler, general manager, Travel Channel. “Knowing the true events behind iconic tales of terror, and then hearing directly from the survivors and eyewitnesses makes them all the more believable, and no longer a ghost story. The incredible saga of the Glatzel family, their work with the Warrens, and the subsequent anguish and pain make this factual documentary scarier than fiction.”
The Devil as a Defense
Charged with a brutal murder, a Connecticut man claims his innocence, insisting “the devil made me do it.” For the first time in U.S. history, the existence of demonic forces is used as a defense at trial. Shock Docs: The Devil Made Me Do It examines the harrowing events leading up to the murder and the astonishing court case that followed.
Getting to the very heart of evil and to where the actual terror lies, the family, aided by renowned demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, must do battle with overpowering demons. This terrifying documentary dives into the true story, with never-before-seen interviews with the family, the Warrens, the defendant’s lawyer and local police.
The Ghost Man and David Glatzel
In the summer of 1980, 11-year-old David Glatzel helped his older sister, Debbie, and her boyfriend, Arne Johnson, fix up the house they had just rented. But shortly after they moved in, David began seeing a mysterious “ghost man,” who scared him to death.
Eventually, the ghost man transformed into something more sinister –at night he became a demonic beast that threatened to steal David’s soul.
Things took a drastic turn when inexplicable scratches and bruises appeared all over the boy’s body. He began to growl and to speak with a demonic voice. Then, after his family witnessed him being attacked by invisible hands, they decided to seek help from a priest and famed demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren, who concluded he needed an exorcism.
Arne Johnson’s Invitation to the Devil
Over the next several weeks, a battle between good and evil ensued. Both the family and the Warrens witnessed David levitate, cease breathing, and ultimately predict a murder.
It was during the final exorcism that Debbie Glatzel’s boyfriend, Arne Johnson, put himself between the devil and the young boy. He challenged the demon to leave David’s body and enter his own.
While Johnson’s intentions were pure, the results were disastrous. Five months later, in the midst of a heated confrontation with his landlord, Johnson pulled a knife and stabbed him to death. He later claimed no recollection of the incident.
Had Arne Johnson acted upon his own violent impulses? Or had he been, as the defense later argued, possessed by the devil?
The case captured the public’s imagination and became an international topic of discussion. As a believer, attorney Martin Minnella became the first lawyer to try to prove the devil’s existence. And for the first time in U.S. history, the devil was put on trial and the world held its breath in nervous anticipation.
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What do you think: is the “Devil made me do it” a reasonable defense for murder or an absurd one?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, as well as obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of healing, to learn how she channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I do believe “the devil made me do it” is a REASON for someone committing a crime, but I don’t think it’s a valid legal defense. Take Johnson, for example, he challenged the demon to enter him. I think a defendant would need to prove he or she did nothing to entice the demon (like Johnson did) and/or, once possessed, did everything possible to get rid of the demon.
Oooo! Super good point! Were you also a lawyer at some point in your life? Because this sounds like an argument they’d make! LOVE IT!
Nah, not a lawyer. I’ve been accused of being the devil’s advocate, though, and supposedly I do that because I am a Libra and always taking the opposite side or at least looking at both sides.
LOL! Well, I sure admire that trait in you…and dig it even more if it’s because of your sign!