{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fspookycoop.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Fsc-ep-57-the-devil-made-me-do-it-WGHYkYf9","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"SC-EP-57-True Crime: The Devil Made Me Do It","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/38c0da71-9690-46f2-ae39-09397dd06d97/a2bd9d53-d759-442f-a07b-833e2840a36f/cropped_1789136198742.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"","height":200,"description":"Hosts Paul and Michelle explore the \"devil made me do it\" defense across three true crime cases, then share a listener-submitted paranormal story.\n\nThey open with the 1981 Arne Cheyenne Johnson case in Connecticut — the first U.S. case where a \"demonic possession\" defense was formally argued in court. Johnson allegedly invited a demon to leave 11-year-old David Glatzel and enter him during an exorcism; weeks later he fatally stabbed his landlord, Alan Bono, during a bar fight. The judge rejected the possession defense as unprovable, and Johnson was convicted (though released early on good behavior).\n\nNext is Jason Dalton, a Michigan Uber driver and insurance adjuster who in February 2016 killed six people and injured two others in a random shooting spree. Dalton claimed a \"devil head\" appeared on his Uber app and took control of his mind and body — bizarrely continuing to give normal Uber rides between shootings. He maintained the possession story for three years before pleading guilty and receiving life without parole.\n\nThe third case covers Nikolai Dzhumagaliev (\"Metal Fang\"), a Soviet-era serial killer and cannibal who murdered at least ten women, believing Satan possessed him and drove his hatred of women after he contracted STDs during military service. He famously served human flesh to unsuspecting friends at a cookout, escaped custody once, and eventually turned himself in when he ran out of food.\n\nThe episode closes with a listener story from \"Elena,\" whose teenage son befriended a boy named \"Julian.\" Every time Julian visited, swarms of large black flies would appear and vanish the moment he left. The infestations stopped entirely once the friendship ended. The hosts frame it as a lesson in trusting instincts about people's energy, rather than a possession story per se."}