Jennifer Gledhill: Woman pleads not guilty to estranged husband's murder as search expands for his body

Feb 13, 2025

Police are expanding a search for a Utah man who has been missing since September 2024 while his wife pleaded not guilty in court to his murder, according to a report by the Associated Press (AP).

Police arrested Jennifer Gledhill, a 42-year-old woman from Salt Lake City, Utah, on Oct. 2, 2024 after an informant told investigators that she had admitted to shooting her husband as he slept, according court documents cited by KUTV.

Matthew Johnson, 51, failed to report to work at the base of the Utah National Guard on Sept. 25, 2024 and was reported missing. On Sept. 28, Gledhill went to the Cottonwood Heights Police Department (CHPD) to “report an incident that occurred on or about September 20, 2024 to September 21, 2024 between her, and her estranged husband Matthew Johnson.”

At a hearing on Feb. 6, 2025, Gledhill pleaded not guilty to first degree murder, five counts of obstruction of justice and drug possession with intent to distribute and abuse or desecration of a dead body and witness tampering, KSL says.

Her defense attorney, Jeremy Deus, told the judge that his client waived her right to a preliminary hearing. While he said they are ready for that hearing, he told Gledhill that most inferences would be in favor of the prosecution.

A missing Utah National Guard, a wife’s alleged confession, and the lover who told on her

When Johnson failed to report to work on Sept. 25, the Utah National Guard contacted police to report him missing. The AP notes that Gledhill did the same four days later, telling police she had not seen or heard from him since Sept. 20. She claimed they’d had an argument that day.

An informant came forward to police to tell them Gledhill had allegedly confessed to shooting Johnson in his sleep on Sept. 22, then burying him in a shallow grave. The informant, it turned out, had been a man with whom she had an affair.

The location of Johnson’s body remains unknown. The AP reports that investigators are expanding the search into northern Utah, and that police and National Guard soldiers searched the area around Snowville in the last couple weeks. They also seek a silver 2018 Chrysler Pacifica minivan, which they believe Gledhill may have used to transport Johnson’s body after the alleged murder.

Two days after the informant contacted the CHPD, police found Johnson’s truck, a maroon Dodge 1500 pickup truck, a few blocks from his home.

The probable cause affidavit, cited by KUTV, note that Gledhill ordered a new mattress the day after Johnson failed to show up for work. The mattress was delivered to her home on Sept. 26.

According to the arrest documents:

“Investigators obtained a search warrant for the residence in Cottonwood Heights, and during this search we discovered a large blood-stained spot in the master bedroom carpet underneath the bed. Blood was also found on the bed frame slats, which supports the information police were told.”

Police also found what they believed to be evidence of a “significant clean up” which included “bleaching walls, and using carpet cleaning supplies.”

In another twist, a neighbor told police that they saw her parents at the house, cleaning, late into the night on Sept. 24, 2024, according to Fox. Gledhill’s mother told police they had only been there for an hour and purchased a mattress on Amazon at her daughter’s request.

Police executed a search warrant for the home of Gledhill’s parents, Fox says. In the house, they found a plastic tote which contained a Glock 19x gun box wrapped in a child’s onesie, Fox says. The DA’s office confirmed that it matched the gun model Gledhill showed the informant.

GPS data also showed that Gledhill had gone to the location where her husband’s truck was later found, Fox says. Cameras at a service station also allegedly caught her cleaning her car in Salt Lake County.

A tumultuous divorce: Johnson’s lawyer discloses details

Brady Gibbs, Johnson’s divorce lawyer, says that he saw Gledhill’s hostile side as they tried to navigate the fallout of the marriage.

“In the communications that I saw between them, there were a number of things that she called him, just horrible things trying to illicit a response, and his response in a lot of that was, ‘please just leave me alone, please think about your doing’,” he told KSL TV.

The premarital home became the center of fixation for the post-marriage conflict, Gibbs added.

“There was a contention about the equity in that home. In any event, Ms. Gledhill had moved out of the home in March of 2024, so she wasn’t even living in the home.”

However, Gledhill filed a temporary protective order against Johnson in August 2024, KSL TV notes. In listing the house as her address on the order, she regained access to the family home.

Commissioner Russell Minas dismissed the matter in court four days before Johnson’s death, stating that the order “was not warranted and the petitioner had not met her burden” after reviewing videos and texts messages between both parties. He called the protective order a “litigation tactic,” declaring that the evidence instead proved that Gledhill berated, belittled, and degraded Johnson with the intent “to goad him into a violent response.”

Jennifer Gledhill, Matthew Johnson (Facebook)

Gibbs told KSL TV that Gledhill used the order to access the home with dark intentions.

“There would have been no ability for her to get in the home if not for the improper request for a protective order,” he said. “Mr. Johnson was an Army Ranger. He was very capable of defending himself. This was the only way that Ms. Gledhill could get the access she needed to kill him.”

“He was a guy who really loved his kids and wanted to be around his kids and all he wanted was peace, and he just couldn’t get that,” Gibbs added.

Taryn Evans, Gledhill’s divorce attorney, denies this claim, KSL TV notes, and stated that there was no evidence found to determine that the home was a premarital asset.

A judge issued a protective order in the last week of October 2024, barring Jennifer from contacting her children during pretrial hearings, ABC4 reports. The children, aged 11, 7, and 5, are staying with family.

Jeremy Deus, Gledhill’s criminal attorney, called it a heavy-handed punishment for a woman who “already lost her liberty at this point in time.”

“The state, and the city, and the police agency that investigated this are trying to set everything that my client loves on fire, essentially,” Deus said. “Everything surrounding her, they’re trying to take away. I think that this pretrial protective order is part of that.”

Emily Paulos, state prosecutor, argued that the children could be potential witnesses, and the state was concerned about Jennifer potentially influencing their tesitmony, ABC4 continues.

“We’re addressing the fact that these children are very young and impressionable. You can’t unring a bell,” Paulos said. She added that the state would be willing to re-assess the protective order as the case progresses.

Judge Mow revoked the protective order but instead implemented a no-contact order between Jennifer and her children, ABC4 notes. He said that the two are almost the same, but the no-contact order lacks a criminal penalty if breached.