Wife of missing man told informant she killed him and buried him in shallow grave

COTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah (KUTV) — A Cottonwood Heights woman was arrested on suspicion of murder after police say she admitted to a third party that she killed her husband, hid his body and thoroughly cleaned the crime scene.

Jennifer Gledhill, 41, was taken into custody by the Cottonwood Heights Police Department and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Wednesday. She is accused of shooting her husband, Utah National Guardsman Matthew Johnson, about four days after a judge ordered to dismiss a temporary protective order filed by Gledhill against her husband the previous month.

A few days later, Johnson was reported missing.

A timeline of important dates reported in court documents and by police is included at the end of this article.

CHPD announced Gledhill’s arrest on Tuesday, October 2, saying she had been charged with first-degree murder and second-degree obstruction of justice. She was officially booked into the Salt Lake County Jail shortly before 7 p.m. that day.

Arrest documents state Gledhill went to the Cottonwood Heights Police Department on September 24 to “report an incident that occurred between September 20, 2024 and September 21, 2024 between her and her ex-husband Matthew Johnson.”

However, the report does not specify what Gledhill reported. The affidavit states only that “the case has been documented” and provides a CHPD case number.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Gledhill told an unidentified person that she shot her husband in the head while he slept. This individual reported to the police about a week later.

“On or about September 28, 2024, the Cottonwood Heights Police Department was in contact with a confidential informant (CI) who reported speaking with Jennifer on the evening of September 22, 2024, the date Jennifer Gledhill openly admitted to killed Johnson by shooting him in the head while he was sleeping,” according to the arresting officer’s report. “…Jennifer also told (the confidential informant) that she had removed Johnson’s body and transferred his remains to a shallow grave at an undisclosed location.”

Authorities reported that Gledhill also told the informant that she removed items from the home and destroyed them in order to cover up the crime, although some details were apparently missed in that effort.

“Investigators obtained a search warrant for the Cottonwood Heights residence and during that search we discovered a large blood stain on the master bedroom carpet under the bed,” according to arrest documents of Gledhill. “Blood was also found on the slats of the bed frame, supporting the information provided to police.”

The evaluator adds:

“The evidence also supports that extensive cleaning took place after this crime, including whitewashing the walls and using carpet cleaning products.”

“Matthew had no contact with anyone, including his children,” the officer reported. “Matthew’s phone was going to voicemail. Matthew never returned to work and never left behind any evidence for investigators to believe Matthew was still alive. Based on this behavior and the evidence collected During this investigation, Matthew Johnson is believed to have died.”

PREVIOUS REPORTS: Cottonwood Heights guard missing, presumed murdered

Police said in a public statement that Johnson’s body had not been found and that Gledhill had not confessed anything directly to investigators.

In the months before Gledhill’s arrest, she and Johnson were going through apparently tumultuous divorce proceedings. Case history indicates that Gledhill requested a protective order during these proceedings, which was ultimately granted and transferred to a separate case.

The order was only temporary, however, as the court reviewed evidence of alleged abuse, which included videos Gledhill had recorded herself.

About four days before police believed Johnson had been killed, a court commissioner ruled that evidence presented by Gledhill did not meet Utah’s definition of abuse, and the protective order case was rejected.

According to the commissioner’s decision:

Although (Johnson’s) conduct in some instances approaches the line to place (Gledhill) in reasonable fear of imminent physical harm, based on the evidence presented, he does not cross that line. (Gledhill) submitted several videos, taken by herself, of incidents that she believes form the basis for a protection order. But these videos show (Gledhill) as unafraid of (Johnson) and just as confrontational towards him.”

The ruling describes some of the videos, in which Gledhill allegedly fearlessly filmed fights between the two of them, as well as damaged property that the commissioner said lacked context.

One such video apparently showed Johnson “rather calmly” cleaning glass from a broken family photo.

“(Gledhill) presents himself as willing to record the incident, demonstrating no fear of (Johnson),” the commissioner reported.

The order focused on what the commissioner saw as a contentious and fraught end to a long-spoiled relationship:

The conduct of the parties over the past several months is representative of a very dysfunctional marriage bringing out the worst in the parties, clearly suggesting that a divorce action should have been initiated long before it got to this point. things.

Johnson and Gledhill were due in court for divorce cases in late October.

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

This timeline was compiled using divorce case history and protective order, arrest affidavit, and public statements from the Cottonwood Heights Police Department.

July 2024

• July 3, 2024: Jennifer Gledhill files for divorce from Matthew Johnson in 3rd District Court

August 2024

• August 21: Jennifer Gledhill files for a protection order against Matthew Johnson.
• August 21: Temporary protection order initially granted

September 2024

• September 10: Court commissioner recommends extending protection order for another week while evidence is reviewed.
• September 16: Judgment orders dismissal of protection order after commissioner says Gledhill failed to prove abuse
• September 16: Protection order found to have “accidentally expired”, new order issued to allow court to properly dismiss it
• September 16: file officially closed
• September 17: Case management conference held for divorce case
• September 20: Johnson last seen in the area of ​​3000 East and Fort Union Boulevard in Cottonwood Heights
• September 21: Communication between Johnson and the children stops
• September 22: Gledhill allegedly admitted to a confidant that she killed Johnson and buried his body in a shallow grave
• September 23: Johnson fails to show up for work
• September 24: Gledhill reportedly ordered a new mattress
• September 24: Gledhill reports incident to police
• September 26: Mattresses delivered to Gledhill home
• September 28: Gledhill confidant contacts Cottonwood Heights police
• September 30: Johnson’s truck found a few blocks from his home

October 2024

• October 2, 2024: Jennifer Gledhill is arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail
• Police erroneously report that Gledhill was charged; charges not filed as of time of updating this report

Unclear or conflicting dates

• Either September 20 or 21: a witness reported seeing an argument between Johnson and Gledhill
• Either September 20 or September 21: Matthew Johnson would have been assassinated
• Either September 20, September 23 or possibly September 24:
• Unknown: Gledhill allegedly removed Johnson’s body from the house
• Unknown: Gledhill is believed to have buried Johnson in a shallow grave at an undetermined location
• Unknown: Gledhill allegedly tried to cover up the crime scene
• Unknown: Search warrants obtained and executed for Gledhill home and electronics

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If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic or dating violence, resources are available to help you.

• If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
• Call 211 to find domestic shelter, counseling, substance abuse treatment, anger management, or health and human resources.
• Or find domestic shelter, counseling, substance abuse treatment, anger management, or health and human resources on the Utah Health and Human Services website.
• Contact the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition hotline at 1-800-897-5465.
• Contact Utah-based Rape Recovery Center: 801-467-7273
• Contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233
• Chat with a live person on the National Domestic Violence Hotline by texting BEGIN to 88788.