Jennifer Gledhill Utah mom first court appearance where Cottonwood Heights woman claimed having sex with her national guardsman husband, Matthew Johnson only to then allegedly beat her. Woman is alleged to have revealed having an affair with the man killed the next day as court orders her to have no contact with her children as search for missing serviceman’s body continues.
A wealthy Utah mom who allegedly confessed to killing her estranged husband, was revealed to have had ‘whiskey-fuelled’ sex with the man before killing him the next day after discovering she was having an affair.
Jennifer Gledhill, 41, appeared in court via video from the the Salt Lake County jail Monday over claims she shot her National Guardsman husband Matthew Johnson in the head last month as he slept at their $1 million home in Cottonwood.
Jennifer Gledhill parents arrested helping daughter clean up husband murder scene
Utah mom appears in court laden with inconsistencies
The woman’s court appearance comes as the suspect was charged with murder even though no body to date has been found. Along with murder, Gledhill is also charged with obstruction of justice, drug possession with intent to distribute, abuse or desecration of a dead body, and witness tampering.
In a pre-trial hearing, an unsealed search warrant showed police were told Gledhill and Johnson had spent the night of September 20 ‘drinking whiskey’ before having sex.
During Monday’s court hearing, a judge banned Gledhill from contacting the couple’s three children over fears she’d interfere with their witness testimony, ABC4 reported.
The mom was also accused of inconsistencies in her story after claiming Johnson had left her bruised following an alleged domestic violence attack.
Johnson was reported missing on September 23, with Gledhill arrested after her unnamed lover told police that she’d told him about killing her husband.
In a police interview after her October 3 arrest, Gledhill claimed to have separated from Johnson – only to spend the evening of September 20 talking and drinking liquor with him.
She said they then had intercourse that night, and ‘informed (the officer) due to the intoxication from the whiskey she had a hard time recalling the events that took place after her and Matthew had sex’, the search warrant stated.
Mystery cheating affair and cops continue to seek out missing husband’s body
Gledhill said Johnson ‘became upset’ during their evening together, but could not recall why, reports Fox13Now.
But she went on to offer conflicting excuses for bruises found on her body, it is claimed.
Gledhill told cops Johnson ‘struck her several times’ with a closed fist, leaving her bruised on her arms, hands, face and legs.
Her secret lover – whose name has not been released – says Gledhill told him she got the bruises ‘from moving Matthew’s body and cleaning the mess in the house.’
He contacted police after Gledhill made the alleged confession, which led to her arrest.
Asked by one cop why she did not report her husband’s alleged domestic abuse, she claimed to have ‘made a deal’ with him.
Gledhill is said to have had a ‘long history of calling the police on Matthew for non criminal altercations.’
She told cops that they’d agreed he’d return to work at Camp Williams State Military Reservation the night after they had sex.
The alleged murderess says the first time she knew of Johnson’s disappearance was a message from his co-workers saying he hadn’t made it into work.
But her lover offered an alternative version of events.
He claims Gledhill told him that she’d shot Johnson in the head as he slept.
Gledhill is then said to have put his body in an attic store container, before sliding it down the stairs and into the back of her minivan.
Gledhill allegedly smashed Johnson’s phone and drove his truck to another area of their estate before driving his body north and burning him in a shallow grave.
The informant told cops Gledhill believed she could trust him with her confession and hinted she’d do the same for him should he ever find himself in a similar predicament.
A witness reportedly told detectives they saw Gledhill’s relatives cleaning her house until 11pm on September 24 – three days after the alleged murder.
One of Gledhill’s relatives told police they bought her a new mattress after she asked for one.
Police say they found a brand new mattress when they searched Gledhill’s home, as well as ‘reddish-brown spots’ on the wall and bed frame and bleach stains on the stairs.
Meanwhile, police are continuing their search for Johnson’s body north of Salt Lake City, in Davis County, following her phone last pinging in the area as cops search for a clue that could lead them to a specific location.
Cottonwood Heights Police have executed more than 25 search warrants to gather phone data, messages, and geo-location information.
‘We’re going to find that needle in the haystack,’ said Sergeant Gary Young.
Gledhil has a scheduling hearing set for Friday.
