A Utah wife accused of fatally shooting her husband while he slept last month allegedly committed the murder when he discovered she was having an extramarital affair, according to authorities.
Jennifer Gledhill is charged with multiple felonies, including first-degree murder, obstruction of justice, possession with intent to distribute, desecration of a human body, and witness tampering, in connection with her husband Matthew Johnson’s disappearance and death, according to a press release issued on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
It is unclear whether she has entered a plea or hired an attorney to speak on her behalf.
Prosecutors say Gledhill fatally shot her husband in his sleep after a fight on September 20. She is suspected of cleaning up the crime scene and burying his body in a shallow grave before reporting him missing to authorities roughly a week later, according to the release. Johnson’s body has still not been discovered.
She was arrested in early October after an informant who claimed to be having an affair with Gledhill told police she reportedly confessed to murdering Johnson after he “yelled at her because he knew she had been sleeping with someone else,” according to the release.
According to authorities, on September 28, Gledhill reported Johnson missing to the Cottonwood Heights Police Department. She allegedly informed investigators that her husband had not been seen or heard from since their fight on September 20, stating that he told her he would be gone for a week and not to contact him. According to authorities, call records indicate that Gledhill did not attempt to contact Johnson after September 21.
Prosecutors claimed Johnson was a member of the Utah National Guard. According to KTUV, Johnson’s children stopped hearing from him on September 21, and his phone went immediately to voicemail.
According to court records, Gledhill filed for divorce in July and for a protection order in August, both of which were dismissed in September when a court decided that she failed to prove that abuse had happened, according to KUTV.
According to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office, Gledhill allegedly went to the informant’s home on September 22 and confessed to the crime.
“The defendant told the informant that she shot Mr. Johnson on September 21, 2024, while he slept in their bed,” prosecutors said in the announcement. “She told the informant that she put Mr. Johnson’s body into a rooftop storage container, slid him down the stairs of their home, and loaded his body into the back of their minivan.”
Prosecutors claimed that Gledhill confessed to the informant to breaking Johnson’s phone and burying his truck in a nearby neighborhood. She also allegedly told the informant that she moved her husband’s body north, dug a hole, and buried him in a shallow grave, according to the release.
“The informant said that he noticed bruises all over the defendant’s body, and when asked about them, the defendant said they were from moving Mr. Johnson’s body and cleaning their house,” according to the statement.
GPS data from Gledhill’s phone purportedly shows that on the day she told the informant she had killed her husband, she drove to the location where her husband’s truck was later discovered, according to prosecutors. According to authorities, Gledhill was seen in CCTV footage cleaning her vehicle and attending a car wash.
According to the statement, after obtaining a warrant to search Gledhill’s residence, authorities discovered a blood-stained area on the carpet under the bed in the main bedroom, as well as a bleach-covered wall behind the bed and a new mattress. According to prosecutors, Gledhill’s mother allegedly informed investigators that she purchased the mattress for Gledhill after being ordered to.
Investigators questioned Gledhill’s mother and father after a neighbor told police she spotted them at the couple’s home on September 24, according to the statement. According to the statement, Gledhill’s mother stated she was only at the house for an hour that day, while Gledhill’s father claimed he didn’t recall much of the day.
“Detectives confronted the defendant’s father about how long he was at the house and if he went into the master bedroom, and he responded, ‘I did not go in where the incident happened,'” according to the release from prosecutors!
According to the statement, authorities executed a search warrant at Gledhill’s parents’ home and claimed to have discovered a plastic tote with a loaded rifle similar to what she had reportedly shown the informant on September 19.
The bloodstain found under the bed in Gledhill’s residence came from a “single male source,” but prosecutors said more testing is needed to determine whether it matches Johnson’s DNA.
“Our hearts go out to the loved ones of Mr. Matthew Johnson, not only a father and son, but also a member of the Utah National Guard,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement. “Our office will continue to work closely with investigators as we seek justice for Mr. Johnson.”
Reference:
Utah Wife Accused of Shooting Guardsman Husband While He Slept, as Prosecutors Reveal Alleged Motive