The person she was allegedly dishonest with was so involved by what she purportedly confessed to him the day after the capturing demise of her husband that police say he recorded a follow-up cellphone name, the place he informed her he was afraid of her.
Stunning new particulars have come to mild within the case towards Jennifer Gledhill, a mom of three accused of capturing her Nationwide Guardsman husband amid a contentious divorce and custody battle after he purportedly found that she’d been dishonest on him. And people particulars are coming from the opposite man.
Arrested in October 2024, Jennifer Gledhill, 41, is dealing with 9 felonies, in line with an October 24, 2024 press launch from the Salt Lake County District Lawyer’s Workplace, together with first-degree homicide, 5 counts of second-degree obstruction of justice, one depend of second-degree possession with the intent to distribute, one depend of third-degree desecration of a human physique, and one depend of third-degree witness tampering. She has pleaded not responsible.
On September 28, Gledhill reported her husband, Matthew Johnson, 51, lacking to the Cottonwood Heights Police Division. By means of the course of their investigation, although, detectives got here to suspect that Gledhill might have killed her husband days earlier than reaching out to them to report him lacking.
The motive? Police consider it occurred on account of Johnson discovering that the mom of his youngsters was having an affair. They’d beforehand revealed on the time of her arrest {that a} confidential informant helped to place the items of their working principle collectively, resulting in Gledhill’s arrest.
                      
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The Informant’s Recorded Name
That informant was none apart from the person she was having the affair with, as detailed by Regulation&Crime and Individuals, who informed authorities he turned afraid after she allegedly confessed all to him in individual the day after the alleged homicide.
After getting spooked by what she allegedly mentioned in-person, the girl’s lover informed police he determined to document his subsequent cellphone name with Gledhill, throughout which he reportedly informed her immediately that he was afraid of her.
“Wow, in the event you assume I might even damage a fly,” Gledhill mentioned on the recorded line, in line with legislation enforcement. “Like he just– he’s, he is not an individual. He wasn’t an individual anymore. He wasn’t Matt.”
The paramour proceeded to proceed amassing proof of Gledhill’s alleged crime, together with screenshots and the audio of the aforementioned cellphone name, per prosecutors. He turned it throughout to the police, which they are saying helped to facilitate Gledhill’s eventual arrest on October 2 on suspicion of homicide.
                      
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Gledhill’s Alleged In-Individual Confession
In accordance with the informant, Gledhill had come to his home simply earlier than midnight on September 22 and informed him that her husband had confronted her on September 20 and “yelled at her as a result of he knew she had been sleeping with another person,” per prosecutors. He mentioned that she then informed him she shot and killed her husband after midnight that evening, on September 21, whereas he was sleeping of their mattress. She allegedly shot her husband with a 9mm pistol within the head.
Gledhill then informed her lover, per his assertion, “that she put Mr. Johnson’s physique right into a rooftop storage container, slid him down the steps of their house, and loaded his physique into the again of their minivan,” in line with a press launch from prosecutors on the time of her arrest.
                      
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She then allegedly “smashed” his cellphone, hiding his truck in a close-by neighborhood, in line with the discharge. From there, she drove his physique a long way north and buried him in a shallow grave.
The informant informed police that he observed bruises on her physique throughout their in-person dialog on the twenty second, and he or she informed them she’d gotten them whereas burying her husband and cleansing the home of proof.
Gledhill had beforehand informed police concerning the September 20 battle, however had mentioned that she’d not seen or spoken to Johnson since then. On the time, per police, she mentioned he informed her he’d be gone for per week and to not name him.
Gledhill’s Dad and mom Additionally Arrested
Then, on October 24, Gledhill’s dad and mom — Thomas Gledhill, 71, and Rosalie Gledhill, 67 — have been arrested on suspicion of obstructing justice. Per arrest affidavits, through KSL, the 2 are accused of serving to their daughter clear up after Matthew’s homicide and disposing of proof, dealing with 4 counts of first-degree obstruction of justice.
Salt Lake County District Lawyer Sim Gill beforehand spoke about Gledhill’s dad and mom whereas saying the costs towards her in a press launch on October 15, 2024, saying {that a} neighbor informed police he noticed the pair at their daughter’s house cleansing, saying they did not depart the house till 11pm; greater than 5 hours.
“When police confronted the defendants’ dad and mom about them being on the defendant’s house on September 24, 2024, her mom mentioned she was solely there for an hour. She additionally informed police she had bought a mattress from Amazon on the request of the defendant,” mentioned the press launch.
                      
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“The defendant’s father mentioned he did not bear in mind particulars of the day besides that he had been on the defendant’s home for a brief time frame,” the discharge continued. “Detectives confronted the defendant’s father about how lengthy he was on the home and if he went into the master suite, and he responded, ‘I didn’t go in the place the incident occurred.'”
Per the affidavit, Rosalie’s cellphone had been reset with all the information erased, whereas information allegedly confirmed Jennifer referred to as her father earlier than and after her cellphone was turned off whereas, as police put it, “she was up north disposing of the sufferer’s physique in a shallow grave.”
As for why the mattress element is vital, per the DA, detectives observed the mattress in the primary bed room of Gledhill’s house was new, whereas a stain on the carpet under the mattress examined constructive for human blood. “There have been a number of reddish-brown spots on the wall, mattress body, and blinds of the master suite,” added the DA, who mentioned the wall behind the mattress was additionally “lined in bleach.”
Whereas executing a search warrant on the dad and mom’ house, police say additionally they discovered a plastic tote close to the bed room the place Jennifer allegedly slept whereas staying there. In it, they discovered a Glock 19x gun field wrapped in a baby’s onesie. The container, per the DA, is “in line with the gun mannequin and coloration which she had proven to the informant, loaded, on September 19, 2024.”
                      
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GPS Proof of Gledhill’s Actions
In the identical launch, the DA mentioned GPS knowledge from her cellphone confirmed that on the day she allegedly mentioned she killed her husband, she “traveled to the place her husband’s truck was later discovered at round 6 am.”
“That afternoon, GPS knowledge put her in Davis County till her cellphone was turned off at round 2:37 p.m.; the cellphone was turned on round 5 p.m. as she was touring eastbound on the West Davis Hall,” the discharge continued, including that her car was caught on digital camera at a Vacation Oil in Salt Lake County, the place she allegedly cleaned the automobile.
She then allegedly went to the informant’s house.
Home Violence Allegations
Previous to her arrest for allegedly murdering her husband, Gledhill had filed for divorce from Johnson in July, as reported by KSL. On August 21, she filed for a brief protecting order, which was rejected.
After a listening to on the matter, third District Commissioner Russell Minas concluded there was no “abuse,” per courtroom paperwork seen by the outlet. “There was no intentional inflicting or trying to trigger bodily hurt,” he dominated.
“Whereas (Johnson’s) conduct in some cases approaches the road of putting (Gledhill) in affordable concern of imminent bodily hurt, from the proof offered he doesn’t cross that line,” continued the September 16 doc.
                      
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He decided that Gledhil appeared “unafraid” in submitted movies as proof, in addition to stating she seemed to be “equally confrontational towards him.” The ruling additionally states that textual content messages from Gledhill to Johnson have been “repeatedly berating, belittling and demeaning … if not outright trying to goad him right into a violent response.”
“The conduct of the events over the previous a number of months is consultant of a extremely dysfunctional marriage bringing out the worst within the events,” Minas acknowledged in his ruling, “clearly suggestive that an motion for divorce ought to have been filed lengthy earlier than reaching the present state of affairs.”
Individuals notes that in a single occasion the place Gledhill tried to get a protecting order, the courtroom decided she was the first “instigator,” per a possible trigger affidavit. The outlet additionally says that out of concern for her “erratic habits,” Johnson spent the previous couple of weeks of his life usually sleeping on the Nationwide Guard facility out of “issues about his security.”
                      
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Gledhill and Johnson are the dad and mom of three youngsters, ages 11, 7, and 5 on the time of her arrest, per police. Since her arrest for homicide, she has been briefly barred from talking together with her children.
Johnson’s physique nonetheless hasn’t been positioned. On February 28 at a courtroom listening to, Paulos mentioned, “Matthew Johnson is just not lacking. Matthew Johnson was murdered by the defendant.”
Greater than 100 of Johnson’s fellow troopers have been looking out the world GPS knowledge reportedly positioned Gledhill after his alleged homicide, in hopes of discovering his physique. Retired Utah Nationwide Guardsman Kevin Thompson, a longtime pal of Johnson’s, informed Individuals.
“We’re all fight veterans. We have seen so much. However we don’t need to depart a pal behind,” he added, “so it’s in your thoughts on a regular basis.”
Gledhill is being held on the Salt Lake County Jail with out bail. Her homicide trial is about to start in December 2025.
In case you are experiencing home violence, name the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. The hotline is accessible 24/7 in additional than 170 languages; Calls are confidential and toll-free.