The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It centers around the 1981 Arne Johnson murder case, but it's clear what other real-life case would be best for the Warrens to solve next in The Conjuring 4. The newest installment in the explosively popular horror series brings back the famous film portrayals of self-proclaimed "demonologists" Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) as they try to understand and exorcise more sinister spirits that are wreaking havoc on peoples' lives.
Just as the Warrens were real people, the Arne Johnson (played by Ruairi O'Connor) murder trial that kicks off the film was a real-life media spectacle in the small, quiet town of Brookfield, CT, in 1981. After brutally stabbing his landlord to death, Arne Johnson claimed that he wasn't guilty of his crimes. He said a demon had possessed him after transferring from 11-year-old David Glatzel's body to his because he goaded the spirit in an attempt to save the boy at one of his exorcisms. The Warrens had been already been enlisted to help Glatzel, so when Johnson (who was the boyfriend of Glatzel's older sister) had his issues, they took on helping prove his innocence, as well.
The Conjuring series debuted in 2013 and has since spawned an entire franchise universe. There surely will be more content to come, and the best case for the Warrens to tackle in the Conjuring franchise's next installment would be the "Smurl haunting" of West Pitton, PA. Though reports differ regarding the year, in the 1970s or 1980s, the Smurl family (Jack, Janet, their four daughters, and a set of in-laws) purchased a sizeable duplex home to accommodate their large family. As with many reported cases, paranormal activity is said to have slowly begun before snowballing into complete terror. The family claims they heard banging noises in the walls and ceilings. Unexplained stains on the carpet and scratch marks also said to have started appearing around the house, which are both occurrences that briefly appear in The Conjuring 3.
Among a litany of other horrifying experiences, the family said they also witnessed multiple instances of their dog being picked up into the air and brutally thrown against a wall. Both Janet and Jack say they were even sexually assaulted by spirits at different times. And one of the Smurl daughters was almost severely injured or killed when a large light fixture mysteriously fell right near her head, though it was thought to have been securely connected to the ceiling. The family contacted Ed and Lorraine Warren for help in 1986, and they performed multiple exorcisms on the home. Lorraine believed that four spirits lurked in the house - two females (one older and one younger), one man (believed to have previously died in the home), and a demon that commanded the sinister pack.
Luckily, though they lived through over a decade of distress, the family is said to have finally found peace after exorcisms on the home by both the Warrens and the Catholic Church failed, and they gave up and fled the residence for good. But the Smurls' accounts are brutal and eerie, and many pieces of them even parallel some of what takes place in The Conjuring 3. Seeing as how the story of the Smurl haunting features a pack of demons, aid from the Warrens, and came to a close in 1987 (they left their home six years after the Arne Johnson case), the alleged events would certainly be a perfect choice to draw from for The Conjuring 4.