178: An Old Timey Meghan Markle & A Possession

Let's Go To Court!

Ready for some old timey Meghan Markle vibes? Unfortunately, America has its own homegrown case. Back in the day, the Rhinelander name was synonymous with success. The Rhinelanders were as wealthy as they were well connected. They were American royalty. But the Rhinelander family was rocked by scandal when Leonard “Kip” Rhinelander had the audacity to fall in love with a working class woman of color named Alice Jones.

Then Brandi tells us a story that, on the surface, seems pretty straightforward. On February 16, 1981, Arne Cheyenne Johnson killed Alan Bono. That can’t be debated. But what can be debated is why Arne killed Alan. According to Arne’s defense attorney, the murder wasn’t Arne’s fault. The devil made him do it.

And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:

“Rhinelander v Rhinelander: The 1920s Race & Sex Scandal You’ve Never Heard Of,” by Melina Pendulum on YouTube

The Ted Talk, “Challenge your biases, America. Make fairer laws: Angela Onwuachi-Willig at TedxDesMoines”

“When one of New York’s glitterati married a ‘quadroon,’” by Theodore R. Johnson III for NPR

“Love and race caught in the public eye,” by Heidi Ardizzone and Earl Lewis for Notre Dame News

“The Rhinelander Affair,” by Carlyn Beccia for HistoryofYesterday.com

“Leonard “Kip” Rhinelander Trial,” by Barbara Behan for BlackPast.org

“What interracial and gay couples know about passing,” by Angela Onwuachi-Willig for The Atlantic

“Rhinelander v. Rhinelander,” entry on Wikipedia

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:

“By Demons Possessed” by Lynn Darling, Washington Post

“The Twisted Murder Trial Of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, The Man Who Claimed To Be Possessed By Demons” by Marco Margaritoff, allthatsinteresting.com

“'The Conjuring 3': The True Story Behind 'The Devil Made Me Do It’” by Samuel Spencer, Newsweek

“What Really Happened With Arne Cheyenne Johnson's 1981 'The Devil Made Me Do It' Trial?” by Kevin Dolak, oxygen.com

“Brookfield man sues over 'demon' book” The News-Times

“Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson” wikipedia.org

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