WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, now in theaters and on HBO Max.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is based on the real-life story about Arne Cheyenne Johnson, which dealt with his trial in 1981 after he killed his landlord, Alan Bono. The defense worked with Ed and Lorraine Warren, citing demonic possession, but that was thrown out, and Arne did five years for first-degree manslaughter as it was deemed self-defense. However, while the film does incorporate many aspects of that tragedy, the sub-plot involving Jessica Louise Strong's murder is fictional.
In The Devil Made Me Do It, the Warrens seek details on the Satanic totem they find at the Glatzel house in Connecticut, and they end up in Massachusetts where Katie Lincoln was stabbed 22 times thanks to Drew's detective work. They proceed to work with law enforcement as another totem was found in that case. It's revealed Katie's best friend since childhood, Jessica, went missing with her a few weeks before, and while Katie's body was found, Jessica remains missing.
This leads to Lorraine investigating the murder spot in the woods, and there, a vision reveals Jessica actually stabbed Katie the same number of times Arne stabbed his landlord in the movie. Lorraine then tracks the possessed Jessica down to the edge of the cliff through visions, where it's revealed Jess fell. It's all part of the curse that then followed the Glatzel family, possessing young David before the demon jumped into Arne.
It turns out the witch behind it all needed them as sacrifices so she could get souls for Satan after studying the occult for years. Apart from pushing the Warrens down this road of clarity that there's one mastermind running the supernatural show, Lorraine's visions bring closure to Jessica's story at last. Sergeant Clay, in charge of that Boston case, admits they would never have found her body at the location where Lorraine points them.
While DC Comics is revealing an origin story in The Conjuring: The Lover as to why Katie and Jessica were targeted, there's nothing from reality that informs these innocent characters who fell prey to the occult. They are liberties the movie takes to add drama, suspense and a MacGuffin for the paranormal experts to discern the truth about the rituals. Thankfully, as entirely made-up plot crutches, this case gives Ed and Lorraine info to work with in what would be a crucial aspect of solving and stopping the demonic mystery at play.
Directed by Michael Chaves, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It stars Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ruairi O'Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook and Julian Hilliard. The film is now in theaters and on HBO Max.