Utah woman killed estranged husband, confessed to new boyfriend, charges say

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah (KSL.com) — A Cottonwood Heights woman was charged Tuesday with murder and accused of shooting her estranged husband in the head as he slept and then disposing his body in a shallow grave.

Jennifer Gledhill, 41, is suspected of killing Matthew Johnson, 51, a member of a Special Operations Unit in the U.S. military, whom she had filed for divorce from in July. Johnson’s body has not yet been found.

Gledhill’s alleged crimes were revealed after she confessed to a man she was having an affair with, according to charging documents. That man then contacted police.

She is charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony; five counts of obstruction of justice and drug possession with intent to distribute, second-degree felonies; plus abuse or desecration of a dead body and witness tampering, third-degree felonies.

The Utah National Guard first contacted police on Sept. 25 to report that Johnson had not returned to work. A few days later on Sept. 28, Gledhill reported her estranged husband as missing while stating that she had not seen or heard from him since Sept. 20 when they had an argument, charging documents state.

“Gledhill stated that Matthew told her that he was going to be gone for a week and not to call him,” the charges allege.

But according to a man who police say was having an affair with Gledhill, she went to his house early on the morning of Sept. 22 “and was visibly distraught,” and told him that “she was likely going away for a long time,” court documents say.

Gledhill told the man that Johnson had arrived home and yelled at her because he knew she was having an affair. Then on the night of the Sept. 21, she used Johnson’s handgun to shoot him in the head as he slept in bed, according to the charges.

“Gledhill stated that she smashed Matthew’s cellphone and hid his vehicle in a neighborhood near their house. Gledhill told (the man) that she loaded Matthew’s body into a rooftop storage container, slid him down the stairs by herself, and loaded him into the back of her minivan. Gledhill stated that she had taken Matthew’s body north, dug a hole, and buried him in a shallow grave,” the charging documents allege.

Gledhill allegedly told the man to stay quiet “and that it was not a crime to not say anything.”

The man showed police text messages between Gledhill and him that included Gledhill stating, “I washed everything & vacuumed & it’s not an issue anymore,” the charges say. He also provided detectives with recorded phone calls with her “alluding to her actions.”

A neighbor told police she could hear Gledhill and Johnson arguing from the night of Sept. 21 into the early morning of Sept. 22. Then on Sept. 24, the neighbor observed Gledhill’s parents in the home “cleaning,” according to investigators.

When detectives later went into the residence with a search warrant, they found “the entire wall behind the master bed appeared to have fresh wipe marks from cleaning. Several reddish-brown spots were located on the walls, bed frame, and blinds of the master bedroom. Detectives noted that the wall behind the master bed was covered in bleach. The master bed was pulled away from the wall and the carpet below the bed was forensically tested and flashed positive for human blood in an area with a large circular pattern,” charging documents state. “Detectives noted a strong smell of chlorine in the basement and observed the black carpet on the stairs appeared to have bleach discoloration on several stairs.”

Gledhill’s parents were questioned and they said they were only helping their daughter buy a new mattress, according to police. But when asked if he had gone into the master bedroom, Gledhill’s father said, “I did not go in where the incident happened,” the charges state.

Investigators tracking Gledhill’s cellphone data say on Sept. 22 she traveled north on the I-215 west belt toward the Legacy Parkway and was later recorded on surveillance video at a gas station in Centerville. About five hours later, police say she is recorded on surveillance video “thoroughly cleaning” her vehicle at a gas station on Highland Drive.

“Records searches reveal that (Gledhill) had previously made unsuccessful attempts to secure a protective order against Matthew during the course of their marriage and was found by the court to be an instigator and one to goad Matthew into a response in order to get him in trouble. The state believes that (she) was very calculating in her crimes in that she arranged for the children to stay with her parents during the evening Matthew was killed,” court documents say.

“Investigation further revealed that she asked her parents to keep the children for another day, presumably while she was cleaning up the crime scene and disposing of Matthew’s body.”