The real story of David Glatzel's alleged possession and how it compares to The Conjuring
David Glatzel was an 11-year-old boy from Brookfield, Connecticut, when the events of 1980 turned his family's life upside down and eventually inspired one of Hollywood's biggest horror franchises. The David Glatzel real story — of alleged demonic possession, exorcism, and a landmark murder trial — is stranger, more contested, and more tragic than anything depicted on screen. Decades on, the family remains divided over what truly happened.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- David Glatzel claims he was possessed by a demonic entity in July 1980, a belief he still holds today.
- Arne Johnson's subsequent murder trial became the first US case to use demonic possession as a legal defence.
- Brother Carl Glatzel alleged the possession was a hoax and that David suffered from a mental illness, not a supernatural affliction.
- In 2007, David and Carl jointly sued the Warrens and author Gerald Brittle for invasion of privacy and libel, though the case was dismissed.
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It invents a Satanic occultist subplot that has no basis in the real events.
Profile summary
Field | Details |
Full name | David Glatzel |
Born | c. 1968–1970, Brookfield, Connecticut, USA |
Age | Approximately 56–58 (as of October 2026) |
Nationality | American |
Family | Carl Glatzel Sr. (father), Judy Glatzel (mother), Carl Jr., Alan, Deborah "Debbie" Glatzel (siblings) |
Known for | Alleged 1980 demonic possession; inspiration for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It |
Status | Alive |
David Glatzel real story: what actually happened in 1980
The David Glatzel possession case began on a July afternoon in 1980. David Glatzel, aged 11, had been helping his older sister Debbie Glatzel and her boyfriend, Arne Cheyenne Johnson, clean up a Connecticut rental property they were preparing to move into.
While at the property, David claimed to have encountered a "burnt and black-looking" old man who pushed him into a waterbed and said he would bring harm to them if they moved in. Whatever David experienced that day did not stay behind at the rental house.
The behaviour that alarmed his family
Back home in Brookfield, the Glatzel family soon observed David acting strangely. The 11-year-old began to have seizures, experience bizarre injuries, growl and hiss, and recite passages from the Bible and John Milton's Paradise Lost.
Each night, a family member had to stay awake to keep watch over David, who would often randomly break out into 30-minute frenzies of sit-ups. Family members described being physically frightened by what they witnessed.
The Warrens arrive
The Glatzel family contacted demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren after local priests couldn't help. The Warrens claimed to observe David levitating and being beaten by "unseen hands," and Ed Warren stated that not only was the boy demonically possessed, but that a total of 43 demonic spirits were attached to him.
Source: Getty Images
Several priests were involved in the boy's exorcism, with the most prominent being Reverend Francis E. Virgulak.
Arne Johnson and the alleged transfer
During the exorcisms, Arne Johnson made a decision that would change everything. During one of the exorcisms, Arne Johnson was present and reportedly shouted: "Take me on, leave my little buddy alone!"
Debbie Glatzel said, as reported in All That's Interesting:
You never take that step. You never challenge the Devil. Arne started showing the same signs my brother did when he was under possession.
In the months following the exorcisms on David, Arne Johnson began exhibiting strange behaviour: he went into trance-like states, growled and showed aggression, experienced personality changes, suffered memory blackouts, and spoke in a voice not his own.
What happened to the real Arne Johnson?
Johnson, then 19 years old, murdered his landlord, Alan Bono, on 16 February 1981. Johnson "blacked out" and claimed he stabbed his landlord four times in the chest while he was possessed by the devil, his lawyer said.
The gruesome incident in Brookfield marked the first time anyone had been murdered in the town's 193-year history, and Johnson's shocking defence — that a demon had commandeered him to kill — had never been wielded in an American courtroom before.
The trial and verdict
The judge was completely unmoved by supernatural arguments. The claims of demonic possession were swiftly thrown out of court, with the judge Callahan stating that:
The profession, the business or hobby ... of locating demons has not risen to that level of viability where it would be of assistance to the jury in deciding the case.
Because the supernatural defence was deemed legally inadmissible, Arne's legal team pivoted to a standard defence of self-defence. The jury deliberated for 15 hours over three days, ultimately rejecting the demonic claim. On 24 November 1981, Arne was found guilty of first-degree unlawful killing. He was sentenced to 10–20 years but served only approximately five before being released.
Does David Glatzel believe he was possessed?
Yes. Even now, David Glatzel is convinced that he was possessed by a demon as a child. David maintains that he was indeed possessed by a demonic entity and that he has almost no recollection of what he did whilst under what he describes as supernatural control.
Despite his notoriety, David prefers a private life, and the Netflix documentary is one of the rare occasions he has spoken publicly about his past experience.
The documentary in question is The Devil on Trial, released on Netflix in October 2023. Now in his mid-fifties, Glatzel was very difficult to track down, having chosen to live a quiet life out of the public eye. The film director Christopher Holt described him as "a really lovely man."
Carl Glatzel's counter-claim
Not everyone in the family agrees. In 2007, David Glatzel and Carl Glatzel Jr. sued the Warrens for continuing to profit from the story. Carl claims his brother David was mentally ill at the time the Warrens said he was demonically possessed, and accused the Warrens of inventing the possession story for money and fame — claiming the Warrens told his parents they could be "millionaires."
Carl Jr. explained to Newswire in 2007, as reported by Grunge:
My brother was never possessed. He, along with my family, was manipulated and exploited, something the Warrens were very good at, and along with their author, Gerald Brittle, they concocted a phoney story about demons in an attempt to get rich and famous at our expense.
Why did David Glatzel sue the Warrens?
In 2007, the brothers filed a lawsuit against the Warrens and Gerald Brittle — the American author of The Devil in Connecticut — for "violating their privacy, libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress."
The case centred on the ongoing exploitation of the family and the broken promises surrounding the book deal, with critics and family noting that the financial windfalls originally dangled before the parents never materialised as claimed. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed. Christopher Holt, director of The Devil on Trial, speaking to Newsweek (2023) said:
I believe that David and Alan both genuinely believe he was possessed. That there was something going on in that house that they had no control over.
How does the David Glatzel real story compare to The Conjuring?
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is slightly different to the first two Conjuring films in that the key events in the case happen at the start of the movie, with the main bulk of the film concerning a background investigation that is not based on the real case.
Several specific inventions set the film apart from the documented record:
- The witch's totem and Satanic curse: The biggest change to the true story is the Warrens insisting the Glatzel family is cursed after discovering a witch's totem in their home. In real life, there was no such totem or supposed "curse."
- The Occultist villain: While the Johnson case is based on real events, the reasons behind the possession as posed within The Devil Made Me Do It are completely fictional.
- David's age: The film depicts David as an eight-year-old boy, whereas he was actually 11 at the time of the alleged possession.
- The waterbed scene: David claimed to have encountered a "burnt and black-looking" old man who pushed him into a waterbed. The movie's version finds David being grabbed by a hand that bursts through from inside the waterbed — a fictionalised version of the actual account.
- The murder victim's name: The film refers to the victim as "Bruno Sauls." The real-life victim was landlord Alan Bono.
Latest news on David Glatzel
The most significant recent development in the David Glatzel story was the release of the Netflix documentary The Devil on Trial in October 2023. Although Glatzel's story has been adapted several times for the screen, including the 2021 movie The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It, the documentary was the first to speak to all three of the Glatzel brothers — David, Alan, and Carl — and get their side of the story.
Debbie Glatzel, David's older sister, passed away in 2021. Her death means that one of the most prominent witnesses to the alleged possession is no longer alive to give her account.
According to Carl Glatzel, David has "moved on" and recovered from mental health issues. David himself appeared in the Netflix documentary and has otherwise maintained his private life in Connecticut.
FAQs
- Is David Glatzel still alive? Yes. David Glatzel is alive and lives quietly in Connecticut. He appeared in Netflix's The Devil on Trial documentary in 2023.
- How old is David Glatzel today? Sources place his birth year between 1968 and 1970, making him approximately 56–58 years old as of October 2026.
- Does David Glatzel believe he was possessed? Yes. David has publicly stated he believes he was genuinely possessed by a demon as a child and that he barely remembers what he did during those episodes.
- Why did David Glatzel sue the Warrens? In 2007, David and his brother Carl sued the American actress and writer Lorraine Warren and author Gerald Brittle for invasion of privacy, libel, and infliction of emotional distress related to the book The Devil in Connecticut. The suit was dismissed.
- What happened to the real Arne Johnson? Arne Johnson was convicted of first-degree unlawful killing in November 1981 and sentenced to 10–20 years in prison. He served approximately five years before his release. He married Debbie Glatzel whilst in prison.
- Who is Debbie Glatzel? Debbie Glatzel was David's older sister and Arne Johnson's girlfriend at the time of the alleged possession. She passed away in 2021. She remained a supporter of the possession narrative throughout her life.
- How accurate is The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It? The film accurately depicts the exorcism of David Glatzel and Arne Johnson's subsequent murder of Alan Bono. However, it invents a Satanic occultist subplot, a witch's totem, and changes David's age, the victim's name, and several key details.
- What alternative explanation exists for David Glatzel's behaviour? Carl Glatzel has long maintained that David suffered from a mental illness rather than demonic possession. Some analysts have also pointed to the Sominex sleeping-pill theory raised in the Netflix documentary, suggesting their mother may have been drugging the family.
We also highlighted facts about David Goggins' father, Trunnis Goggins Sr., and the difficult childhood that helped shape the Navy SEAL's life.
Goggins worked long nights at his father's roller-skating rink as a child and lived in a home marked by strict discipline. His mother eventually left with him to seek a safer life, while his brother stayed behind.
Source: Legit.ng
