Devil Made Me Do It Interview: Jeff Belanger on the Case and the Warrens

Why was Ed Warren so invested in seeing the Devil put on trial instead of Arne Cheyenne Johnson during the 1981 trial following the murder of Alan Bono? It was one of the things that perplexed me as I watched the new discovery+ documentary about the case, Shock Docs: The Devil Made Me Do It.

In my review of the doc, I wrote: “I ended up getting my answer when I spoke with Jeff Belanger about his part in The Devil Made Me Do It Shock Docs. He’s one of the experts who is interviewed. But because he also shed some light on other aspects of this case too, that’ll be a post for another time.”

Guess what time it is?

Here are just a few of the things I learned about Jeff, the Warrens, and why Ed had such a personal stake in the trial.

If you want to listen to the whole interview, links are included below.

1. Jeff lived in Newtown.

One of the facts in the case is that David Glatzel was possessed by something that followed him home from a house his sister, Debbie, and her boyfriend, Arne Johnson, had rented in Newtown, Connecticut.

Jeff mentioned he grew up in Newtown and that it was next to Monroe, where the Warrens lived. However, I was all, “Wait? Wasn’t Newtown where all of this really started?”

Yep.

2. The Warrens were Jeff’s first Halloween feature.

Before he became the writing, producing, legend tripping rock star he is now, Jeff started out as a features reporter. In fact, his first Halloween feature was with Ed and Lorraine Warren.

3. Why this case was so important to Ed Warren.

I had intended to ask, “Did you ever get to talk with the Warrens about this case? Do you have any idea why they felt the need to put the Devil on trial?”

I asked the first question, but not the second. I didn’t need to. It was like Jeff knew it was coming because he answered it anyway.

“I remember interviewing Ed about this case because for Ed Warren this was his chance. He viewed this as his big chance to put his work on trial. To prove what he does is real in front of a court of law. He was so excited by the prospect of it. Sadly, it didn’t quite work out that way because the judge wouldn’t hear this evidence but he (Ed) believed in his heart of hearts that Arne Johnson was not responsible for his actions. That he was under demonic possession. That it started at the Glatzel house with young David…it just kind of spidered out from there. And so this was his chance to bring Catholic clergy on the stand, and bring in bishops, you name it, he was ready to bring in all kinds of expert witnesses and say, ‘The Devil is real. It can possess you. The work that I do is real and we have to be careful.'”

4. Why Ed loved the media.

I didn’t specifically ask about this, but after Jeff explained why putting the Devil on trial had been so important to Ed, I thanked him for providing an answer to a question I was going to ask.

I told him how it became obvious, not only while watching the documentary, but also while doing my own research into the case, that Ed really was the driving force behind the “Devil made me do it” defense. But I couldn’t understand why.

That’s when Jeff explained that “the only thing Ed loved more than the paranormal was the media.”

Even though a lot of people do, Jeff wasn’t knocking him for that. In fact, he had a completely different assessment of the matter. One I for sure had never considered before.

“He viewed the media as another tool of his to show the work that he does, and to show that it’s real. And so any time from a student film(maker) to a national reporter wanted to talk to him, he made the time.”

Jeff then went on to explain that he’d interviewed Ed many times over the years. Ed always made the time to talk to him, saying:

“Look, how else are we going to get this work out there? How else are we gonna let people know that they’re not alone? Unless you call in the media. Unless you say, ‘Look, come with me reporter, come to this haunted house with me. See for yourself what I’m seeing and experiencing so we can tell others. So people can know. And it worked. Look at where we are today with so many paranormal television shows, so many investigative shows. And now ghosts are so out of the closet compared to the 1980s. Due in great part to all the efforts that Ed and Lorraine Warren made back then.”

In fact, Jeff even credited his career being possible thanks to the precedent the Warrens set.

I had never considered them in that light before.

There was more that came out of the conversation. These are just some of the highlights. You can watch or listen via the links below.

Listen to the Devil Made Me Do It Interview with Jeff Belanger

Watch the Devil Made Me Do It Interview with Jeff Belanger

It’s not a video recording, only an audio one, but I added in a few visuals, including the Shock Docs: The Devil Made Me Do It trailer courtesy of discovery+.

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What would you have asked Jeff Belanger about the Shock Docs: The Devil Made Me Do It? (I would’ve asked ahead of time like I normally do, but the interview was set up on short notice.)