October 29, 2024
Fifty-one-year-old Guardsman, Matthew Johnson, was reported missing on 23 September 2024, after he failed to show up at the Utah National Guard base where he worked.
The last sighting of Johnson was on 20 September 2024, around 3000 East Fort Union Boulevard in Cottonwood Heights.
Johnson had lived in a residence shared with his wife, Jennifer Gledhill, and their children, in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. His vehicle, a maroon colored Dodge 1500 pickup, was discovered a few blocks away from their home.
Gledhill filed for divorce from Johnson on July 3, 2024, and the pair had been estranged since.
When Gledhill reported her estranged husband missing, she claimed she hadn't seen, nor heard from him, since their fight on 20 September 2024. She claimed Johnson said she wouldn't be able to reach him for a week because he was going somewhere, and not to contact him.
Investigators suspected foul play, as there was no evidence that suggested Matthew Johnson had left of his own accord. He had not packed or taken any personal possessions, his vehicle had been abandoned, he left his job suddenly and stopped all contact with his children, friends, and family.
Several days after Johnson had been missing, a man with whom she was having an affair came forward to talk to police, telling them that he had been having an affair with Gledhill, and that she had allegedly confessed that she shot her husband, Mr. Johnson, dead on 21 September 2024, while he slept.
The informant added that Gledhill said she concealed the victim’s body in a rooftop storage container and used it to slide him down the staircase to the ground floor, before loading the body into their minivan. This fight apparently came about after Johnson “yelled at her (Gledhill) for sleeping with someone else.”
The informant said Gledhill drove the victim's truck a few blocks away and abandoned it, then destroyed his cell phone, before driving North and burying his body in a shallow grave.
According to arrest documents, on September 24, 2024, Gledhill showed up to the Cottonwood Heights Police Department to report an incident of domestic violence that she said happened on 20 September 2024.
According to media outlets, she said that while the kids were staying with their grandparents, she and Johnson drank alcohol together at their residence and engaged in sexual intercourse. Gledhill said that as the night went on, Johnson at some point got upset, climbed on top of her, and began hitting her with his fists.
Police filing the report at the scene said Gledhill had bruises on her body and face. When officers were taking notes, Gledhill requested the bruises be documented as photographic evidence.
The Informant told police that he had been told a different timeline of events, and Gledhill allegedly told the informant that the bruises came from lugging around Johnson's body and scrubbing the crime scene.
Jennifer Gledhill and Mathew Johnson, although married, were estranged at the time of Johnson's disappearance, and Gledhill had applied for, and received, a temporary protective order while they navigated divorce proceedings. The temporary permit was issued while the court investigated the accusations of abuse that Gledhill had provided evidence for. This evidence was, reportedly, in the form of videos, which, when reviewed by the court, were not deemed as fitting Utah's definition of abuse, and the case was ultimately dismissed. The court did not believe the videos showed that Gledhill was "in fear of imminent physical harm," and noted that Gledhill seemed "unafraid," and "equally confrontational."
The Commissioner described their relationship as a "highly dysfunctional marriage bringing out the worst in the parties," and commented that their behavior towards one another indicated that they should have divorced far sooner.
Jennifer Gledhill, 41, faces a first-degree felony murder charge in the shooting death of her husband, Matthew Johnson, whose body has still not yet been recovered despite searches continuing at Farmington Bay, Legacy Parkway, and the West Davis Corridor, where the suspects phone last pinged.
She also faces 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.
Gledhill was indicted on October 15, 2024, and a judge has ordered that she does not have contact with her children.
Jennifer Gledhill's parents, Thomas Ray Gledhill, 71, and Rosalie Christianson Gledhill, 67, have alleged that they helped their daughter clean up following Johnson's murder, and also lied to authorities.
A neighbor said they witnessed the suspects parents helping her clean her home for several hours on September 24, 2024, adding that they did not leave until around 11pm that night.
When initially questioned, Thomas and Rosalie Gledhill claimed they had been at their daughters home for a brief time that day, Rosalie claimed she was there for around an hour, while Thomas claimed he couldn’t remember the details of the day.
During a search of the residence on 28 September 2024, Police discovered remnants of blood beneath the bed, and believed the mattress, which was spotless, had been replaced. Police suspect Rosalie Gledhill purchased the new mattress for her daughter, and believe Johnson was murdered in bed.
Reports pertaining to the house search describe " a large blood-stained spot in the master bedroom carpet underneath the bed," as well as blood on and around the bed frame. Evidence of a "significant cleanup," including carpet cleaning and bleaching appeared to have been used.
Police also discovered the parents had factory reset their phones.
November 19, 2024
