The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It is based on the real-life Arne Johnson murder trial, but what are the explanations behind the Michael Taylor story and the other demon legal case Ed mentions? The latest Conjuring installment follows the aforementioned case from 1981, when 19-year-old Johnson (played by Ruairi O’Connor) brutally stabbed his landlord to death in Brookfield, CT. The gruesome act of violence was made even more shocking when Johnson insisted that was he was innocent of his crimes. He cited demonic possession as the cause of his behavior, and the “Devil Made Me Do It” case ignited an understandable media frenzy.

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The Conjuring 3 fleshes out the necessary timeline for the case, starting with one of David Glatzel’s (the younger brother of Johnson’s girlfriend, played by Julian Hilliard) exorcisms and swiftly diving into Johnson’s alleged possession and killing. It also shows Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren’s involvement with both Glatzel and Johnson. After they first meet with Johnson in jail, they attempt to explain the demon-murder defense idea to his lawyer. When the woman voices her initial unwillingness to run with it, Ed assures her that it’s already been done twice in England.

He mentions one of them by name: the Michael Taylor case. This real-life story was just as disturbing (if not more so) than the Conjuring 3‘s Arne Johnson trial. Taylor was a 30-year-old family man from the town of Ossett, England. His behavior seemed to drastically shift out of nowhere after he became heavily involved with a local church. Taylor blamed his increasingly hostile and erratic behavior on demonic possession, which prompted a failed, all-night exorcism. Only some of the demons were believed to have been exorcised, but Taylor was sent home before continuing. Unfortunately, he killed and mutilated both his wife and the family dog that very morning. Like Arne Johnson in The Conjuring 3, he was said to have been found by police while wandering around in a haze, also claiming that the blood he was covered in was the “blood of Satan.” After using a legal defense of demonic possession, Taylor was acquitted by reason of insanity. He spent four years in a psychiatric hospital and secure ward before being released.

Although Ed Warren mentions two prior demon legal cases from England in The Conjuring 3, it seems as though the other “case” he’s referring to was a story that made a public splash, but didn’t actually enter into the court system. In 1788, in the village of Yatton, England, 44-year-old local tailor and goods carrier George Lukins was the subject of a widely publicized, alleged possession. He was said to have been prone to demonic-seeming fits, including strange screaming and sounds, for almost two decades. Even doctors were unable to diagnose or treat his mysterious condition. His exorcism was eventually performed, mainly by an Anglican priest, and was seen as successful. And the story was publicized by a local newspaper later on.

The Arne Johnson case certainly wasn’t the first time that the idea of demonic possession firmly gripped the public’s interest. And The Conjuring 3 is another film, among many, that capitalizes on fascination of that kind. But it’s intriguing to think that the seemingly unique idea of using possession as an actual legal defense happened prior to the “Devil Made Me Do It” case.

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Lindsey DeRoche is a TV and movie features writer for Screen Rant. She received a BA in English, with a concentration in writing, from Plymouth State University in 2018. She’s had a passion for reading, writing, TV, and movies since her early years.

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