New documents reveal efforts to find murdered Utah guardsman’s body
Oct 21, 2024, 10:26 PM | Updated: Oct 22, 2024, 5:50 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — New information in the murder of Utah National guardsman Matthew Johnson reveals a contradiction in the story of Johnson’s estranged wife, Jennifer Gledhill, who is charged with his killing.
Court documents for a search warrant of the phone belonging to a man Gledhill was having an affair with, also identified as an informant, show the man contacted police on Sept. 28, just six days after Gledhill allegedly went to his house and confessed to murdering Johnson.
According to the warrant, Cottonwood Heights police took a report of a domestic violence incident involving Gledhill and Johnson on Sept. 24. Gledhill is said to have told police the incident happened on Sept. 20 at the couple’s home after their children left to stay with Gledhill’s parents.
She reported they went into the residence and “began drinking whiskey and talking,” and the evening’s events turned into “consensual sexual intercourse.” Later that evening, Gledhill told police Johnson became upset and “was on top of her with a closed fist striking her several times.”
During the interview, police “observed several bruises” were still present on Gledhill’s body, including a bruise under her left eye. Gledhill requested they be “photographed as evidence.”
However, charging documents indicate Gledhill told the informant a vastly different story on Sept. 22, the day after she allegedly shot Johnson. According to the informant, Gledhill got the bruises from “moving Matthew (Johnson’s) body and cleaning the mess in the house.” The informant observed that Gledhill had bruises on her arms and legs.
Monday, a multiagency search of detectives and K-9 units continued for Johnson’s body.
“We have been searching every day,” Cottonwood Heights police Sergeant Gary Young said. “At times wading through water, the area is vast, between Farmington and Centerville, along the West Davis Corridor and Legacy Parkway where Gledhill’s cell phone traveled the day she allegedly buried Johnson’s body.”