Wife charged with murder of missing husband; Court documents describe what happened to him

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A Cottonwood Heights woman who was arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband after he disappeared in September has been formally charged with the first-degree felony — along with eight other felonies.

Jennifer Gledhill was charged Tuesday with the murder of Utah National Guardsman Matthew Johnson, as well as obstruction of justice, drug possession with intent to distribute, witness tampering and desecration of a human body.

A complete timeline of events according to public court records and police statements can be found at the end of this article.

She was arrested after an informant contacted police and told them that Gledhill had admitted to shooting Johnson in his sleep and provided details of what happened to his body afterward.

The prosecution identified the informant as a man with whom Gledhill had an extramarital affair.

The eight-page indictment says the Utah National Guard sought to classify Johnson AWOL when he failed to show up for work on Sept. 23, which the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office said was “very unusual.”

“Investigators determine that no one, including family and colleagues, has heard from Matthew since September 21, 2024, which is inconsistent with his normal rhythm of life,” charging documents state.

One of Johnson's colleagues contacted Cottonwood Heights police on Wednesday, September 25, to report him missing.

CHPD investigators contacted Gledhill three days later. The documents say Gledhill said at the time that she, too, wanted to report Johnson missing.

“Gledhill stated that Matthew had not been seen or heard from since September 20, 2024, when they had an argument at their home in Cottonwood Heights, Salt Lake County,” court documents state. “… Gledhill stated that Matthew told her that he would be gone for a week and that she would not call him.”

According to court records, the two were in contentious divorce proceedings and Gledhill had been granted a temporary protective order several weeks earlier. Four days before Johnson's disappearance, a judge rejected that protective order, saying there was a lack of evidence of abuse.

Charging documents show Johnson's body was still missing as of Tuesday afternoon.

On September 28, the informant contacted police and told them that Gledhill admitted to murdering Johnson in his sleep. He said he didn't report it sooner because he wasn't sure whether Gledhill was telling the truth.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office used the informant's testimony as the basis for its felony desecration charge.

According to the DA's office:

Gledhill told the informant that on September 20, 2024, Matthew returned to the house and began yelling at her because he knew she had slept with someone else. Gledhill told the informant that she shot Matthew in the head with Matthew's 9mm Glock on the night of September 21, 2024, as he slept in their shared bed. Gledhill stated that she broke Matthew's cell phone and hid his vehicle in a neighborhood near her home. Gledhill told the informant that she loaded Matthew's body into a storage container on the roof, let him slide down the stairs alone and loaded him into the back of her minivan. Gledhill stated that she took Matthew's body north, dug a hole and buried him in a shallow grave.

The informant provided investigators with recorded telephone conversations and screenshots of texts between Gledhill and him in the week following her confession. The informant said he recorded the texts because Gledhill would quickly delete seemingly incriminating texts after they were sent.

In one of the texts, Gledhill reportedly complains that the informant did not show more support when she admitted to killing Johnson.

“In these messages, Gledhill tells informant that she assumed he would be like her, and if her friend told her a hypothetical story, she would say, 'Let me get my shovel!'” it says Accusation. “Gledhill told the informant that if she was told the story she had told him, she would take it to her grave.”

FEES

Jennifer Gledhill is accused of:

• First degree felony murder
• Five counts of first-degree obstruction of justice
• Second Degree Felony: Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute
• Third degree felony, abuse or desecration of a human body
• Third Degree Felony: Tampering with a Witness

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

This timeline has been updated using information from charging documents as well as the Cottonwood Heights Police Department's divorce case history, protective order case history, arrest affidavit and public statements.

July 2024

• July 3: Jennifer Gledhill files for divorce from Matthew Johnson in 3rd District Court

August 2024

• August 21: Jennifer Gledhill files for an order of protection against Matthew Johnson
• August 21: A temporary protection order is initially issued

September 2024

• Sept. 10: Court commissioner recommends protective order be extended for a week while evidence is reviewed
• Sept. 16: Ruling orders the protection order lifted after the commissioner reports Gledhill failed to prove abuse
• September 16: The protective order was found to have “inadvertently expired” and a new order was issued to allow the court to properly vacate it
• September 16: Lawsuit officially dismissed
• September 17: Divorce Case Management Conference
• September 19: Gledhill allegedly shows an informant a loaded gun
• September 20: Gledhill and Johnson's children go to Gledhill's parents' house to spend the night
• September 20: Johnson and Gledhill reportedly have an argument; Johnson confronts Gledhill about her extramarital affair
• September 21: Johnson is allegedly murdered by Gledhill while sleeping in her bed
• September 21, about 6 a.m.: GPS data shows Gledhill's phone near where Johnson's truck was later found
• September 21, afternoon: GPS data shows Gledhill in Davis County
• September 21, 2:37 p.m.: Gledhill's phone is turned off
• September 21, around 5 p.m.: Gledhill's phone turns back on and shows she is traveling eastbound on the West Davis Corridor
• September 21, 11:07 p.m.: Gledhill's vehicle was caught on camera leaving a car wash at Holiday Oil on Highland Drive
• September 21, 11:47 p.m.: Gledhill arrives at the informant's house
• September 22: Gledhill allegedly admits to the informant that she killed Johnson and buried his body in a shallow grave
• September 23: Johnson doesn't show up for work
• September 24: Gledhill's parents were said to have seen her cleaning their house and not leaving until 11pm
• September 24: Gledhill reportedly has her parents order a new mattress
• September 26: Gledhill's parents deliver a new mattress to her home
• September 28: Gledhill reported Johnson missing to Cottonwood Heights police
• September 28: Gledhill's confidant contacts Cottonwood Heights police
• September 30: Johnson's truck is found a few blocks from his home

OCTOBER 2024

• October 2: Jennifer Gledhill was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail
• October 15: Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill files nine felony charges against Jennifer Gledhill, including first-degree murder

DATA UNKNOWN

• Gledhill allegedly carries Johnson's body out of the house, places it in a storage container on the roof and loads it into her minivan
• Gledhill allegedly buried Johnson in a shallow grave at an unspecified location north of her residence
• Gledhill allegedly attempted to cover up the crime scene, including extensive cleaning and the use of bleach
• Gledhill allegedly smashed Johnson's phone and hid his truck in a nearby neighborhood
• Gledhill ensures that children stay with their parents
• Gledhill extends the children's stay with their parents
• Search warrants obtained and executed for Gledhill's home and electronic devices
• Blood found under the bed in the master bedroom was examined and revealed to have come from a single male source
• Text messages and phone conversations between Gledhill and the informant that were turned over to police
• The informant notices bruises on Gledhill's legs, which she believes occurred while moving, burying Johnson's body

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