She’s Being Accused Of Shooting Her Husband While He Slept For Uncovering Her Affair
Jennifer Gledhill, a 42-year-old mother of three from Utah, allegedly shot and killed her husband, 51-year-old Matthew Johnson, in his sleep after he found out she’d been having an affair. She’s since pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, as well as eight other felony charges.
According to a press release issued by the Salt Lake County District Attorney, Jennifer first contacted Cottonwood Heights Police Department on September 28, 2024, to report Matthew missing.
She stated that she hadn’t heard from her husband since September 20, when they got into an argument, and he claimed he’d be “gone for a week.”
Later, a man came forward and suggested that Matthew hadn’t disappeared. Rather, he indicated Jennifer as her husband’s killer.
The man, who’s been referred to as “the informant,” was allegedly having an affair with Jennifer. She supposedly went to the man’s home on September 22, 2024, and detailed the fight she’d had with Matthew.
Jennifer allegedly explained how Matthew had returned home on September 20, 2024, and “yelled” at her since he’d learned she was sleeping with someone else. The next day, Jennifer allegedly shot Matthew while he was asleep in their bed on September 21, 2024.
She told her affair partner, the informant, about the murder while at his house on September 22, 2024. Jennifer also allegedly discussed what she’d done with her husband’s body.
“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,” the press release says.
“The defendant said she smashed Mr. Johnson’s phone and hid his truck in a nearby neighborhood.”
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Afterward, Jennifer allegedly brought Matthew’s remains “north” before digging a hole and burying him in a “shallow grave.”
While speaking to her, the informant reportedly noticed that she had bruises all over her body. He asked where they were from, and Jennifer supposedly attributed the marks to moving her husband’s body and cleaning up her home.
Once the informant approached the police with this information, a search warrant for Jennifer’s home was obtained.
Inside, they realized a brand-new mattress had been purchased for her master bedroom, and the wall, bed frame, and blinds had “several reddish-brown spots.”
Additionally, bleach covered the wall behind the bed, and a section of carpet below the bed tested positive for human blood.
Neighbors subsequently told investigators that, on September 24, 2024, Jennifer’s parents, 70-year-old Thomas Gledhill and 67-year-old Rosalie Gledhill, were at her house cleaning until 11:00 p.m.
Rosalie insisted that she was only at Jennifer’s residence for around an hour and had bought a mattress for her daughter from Amazon. Thomas, on the other hand, claimed he didn’t remember anything about 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,'” the press release revealed.
Authorities accessed GPS data from Jennifer’s phone on September 22, 2024, the day she allegedly told the informant that she’d killed her husband. The data showed that she went to her husband’s truck, which was found later, at 6:00 a.m.
Then, in the afternoon, she was in Davis County. Her phone was turned off at approximately 2:37 p.m., and by about 5:00 p.m., the device was powered on as she headed east on the West Davis Corridor.
“Later that same day, the defendant’s vehicle was captured at a Holiday Oil on Highland Drive in Salt Lake County. The defendant thoroughly cleaned the car and opened all the doors,” the press release states.
“The defendant left the car wash at 11:07 p.m. and then went to the informant’s house at 11:47 p.m., consistent with the timing the informant told detectives.”
A search warrant was executed at Thomas and Rosalie’s home, which uncovered a Glock 19x gun box wrapped in a child’s onesie. The gun container was in a plastic tote near the bedroom where Jennifer stayed in when sleeping at her parent’s house.
Furthermore, the container is “consistent with the gun model and color which she had shown to the informant, loaded, on September 19, 2024.”
In October 2024, Jennifer was charged with one count of first-degree felony murder, five counts of second-degree felony obstruction of justice, one count of second-degree felony possession with intent to distribute, one count of third-degree felony desecration of a human body, and one count of third-degree felony witness tampering.
Her parents, Thomas and Rosalie, were also arrested that same month. They’re accused of helping Jennifer cover up the murder, but they reportedly haven’t been formally charged yet.
On February 6, Jennifer appeared at the Matheson Courthouse and pled not guilty to the charges against her. She also waived her right to a preliminary hearing but has reportedly been ordered to stand trial.
On February 1 and February 2, a total of 70 police officers and Utah National Guard soldiers searched for Matthew’s body near the Utah-Idaho border. His remains have yet to be recovered.
“It’s a needle in a haystack, and we don’t have specific information, but we’re hoping to get lucky, and we’re hoping to get lucky in the right area,” explained Sgt. Gary Young, a police spokesman for Cottonwood Heights Police Department.
Jennifer and Matthew shared three kids together. Brandon Merrill, the executive director of the Utah Homicide Survivors, is a victim representative for Matthew’s family and shared a statement on their behalf.
“The family of Matt is focusing on making sure his three children are well taken care of and surrounded by those who love them. We are hopeful that we will find Matt soon or that Jennifer or someone will come forward with the location of his body so we can properly lay him to rest,” he said.
Jennifer is set to appear in court for her next hearing on February 28.
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