CRIME

Parents of Utah woman charged with murdering husband in his sleep also arrested

Oct 24, 2024, 10:43 PM | Updated: Oct 28, 2024, 3:57 pm

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Police on Thursday said they arrested the parents of a woman accused of killing her husband as he slept in their home.

Jennifer Gledhill, 41, was arrested on Oct. 2 as police alleged that Gledhill shot 51-year-old Utah national guardsman Matthew Johnson in the head while he slept and then moved his remains to a shallow grave.

On Thursday afternoon, Cottonwood Heights police announced they had also arrested 71-year-old Thomas Ray Gledhill and 67-year-old Rosalie Christianson Gledhill, Jennifer Gledhill’s parents, on suspicion of felony obstruction of justice.

Sgt. Panasai Soakai said the couple was arrested for their role in “the cleaning of Jennifer Gledhill’s house, false statements that they had given to police officers when they were questioned, and also assisting with the purchase of a mattress.” Cottonwood Heights police said later the arrests were made after an officer pulled them over in a traffic stop in Salt Lake County.

Cottonwood Heights police officers escort Jennifer Gledhill into a police car on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. Police say she shot and killed her husband as he slept. (Ed Collins, KSL TV)

According to arresting documents, cell phone data showed Jennifer Gledhill messaging her father on Sept. 26, requesting that a new mattress be delivered to his home and stating that she would pick it up from him.

The documents also said the father was asked on Oct. 2 if he was at his daughter’s home cleaning the night of Sept. 24. Police wrote that Thomas Gledhill told investigators he did not do any cleaning and was there for less than an hour.

The documents stated that witnesses said they observed the father cleaning the house that night during a visit that lasted over five hours.

Arresting documents stated that cell phone data also showed that on Sept. 22, when Jennifer Gledhill traveled north, the woman called her father, shut off her phone, turned on her phone, and called her father again a few hours later. The document said that Gledhill had admitted to a confidential informant that she had traveled north to dispose of Johnson in a shallow grave.

The arresting documents for Thomas Ray Gledhill and Rosalie Christianson Gledhill. (KSL TV)

The documents also stated that after Rosalie Gledhill’s cell phone was seized on Oct. 2 to extract digital information, it was remotely reset, and the information was lost. Police wrote, “This is a tactic used by suspects to stop and/or hinder law enforcement investigations.”

“Off of cell phone records, we believe they have knowledge of what occurred,” Soakai said.

As of Thursday night, the couple was being held without bail at the Salt Lake County Jail. Gledhill and Johnson’s children were taken into DCFS custody from the senior Gledhills earlier in the week, Soakai confirmed.

Neighbors of Thomas and Rosalie Gledhill said they were stunned by the developments and believed the Gledhills were a good and kind couple.

Soakai said police had still not located Johnson’s remains, though officers were getting closer in their search.

“We’re definitely in an area where we believe we may find him,” Soakai said.

He urged the public to stay away from active search areas so that officers could find Johnson and “keep his body intact.”

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Parents of Utah woman charged with murdering husband in his sleep also arrested