COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah — On the day Jennifer Gledhill pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering her husband while he slept in their Cottonwood Heights home, FOX 13 News is continuing to follow developments in the case in which the body of Matthew Johnson remains missing.
While in court Thursday, Gledhill also waived her right to a preliminary hearing, all while law enforcement agencies keep the search for Johnson’s body.
"This last week, on Friday, we were up in Box Elder County and we had over 70 searchers," shared Sgt. Gary Young with the Cottonwood Heights Police Department, adding that they're now searching up by the Utah-Idaho border.
Gledhill was charged with murder in October after a man she was allegedly having an affair with told police that she admitted to killing Johnson. Gledhill told her lover that Johnson had previously "yelled at her because he knew she had been sleeping with someone else." She told the man that she shot Johnson in the head before loading his body in a minivan.
Johnson's close friend, Kevin Thompson, served with him in the special forces unit of the National Guard and roomed with Johnson at the home where he was allegedly murdered before the couple married.
"So I know the layout of the house," Thomson said, "I know how everything looks at the house. That in itself made it especially eerie."
Watch Jennifer Gledhill's full court appearance in the video below:
Thompson remained close with Johnson even after he retired from the National Guard.
"If you ever needed an answer to something, [Johnson] was the first guy to turn to," said Thompson. "He was always the smartest guy in the room. He was funny, the amount of time that guy made me laugh, belly laugh, is unreal."
Thompson said he and other friends organized their own search parties for Johnson's body, and the fact that the search is now in its fifth month keeps them up at night.
During October court appearance below, Gledhill ordered not to contact children:
"We’re all losing sleep," he shared. "We need closure, we need to know where his body’s at.
"We’re not the type of people who leave a friend behind."
Cottonwood Heights police say that despite the months that have passed since the murder, they’ll continue the search for Johnson for as long as it takes.
"Would it be nice to have concluded this back in September, October? Yes," answered Young. "But we’re not giving up."
