COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah — A search warrant connected to the investigation into a missing Cottonwood Heights man whose wife was later arrested for his murder sheds new light into what may have occurred in the days before his death.
Jennifer Gledhill was arrested on Oct. 2 for allegedly shooting Matthew Johnson in the head and burying his body in a shallow grave. In her first court appearance on Monday, Gledhill was ordered not to have contact with any of her three young children.
On Friday, the affidavit for a search warrant previously requested by Cottonwood Heights police was released, with details showing that Gledhill had reached out to police to report a domestic violence incident on Sept. 24, one day after Johnson was reported missing.
Gledhill told an officer that "bruises were all over her body" and she wanted them photographed. She told the officer that on the night of Sept. 20, she and Johnson, who were separated at the time, began talking and "drinking whiskey." The two agreed to have consensual sexual intercourse that night.
"Jennifer informed [the officer] due to the intoxication from the whiskey she had a hard time recalling the events that took place after her and Matthew had sex," the warrant states.
Courtroom video below shows Jennifer Gledhill's first appearance Monday:
Gledhill claimed Johnson "became upset" but she could not remember why.
"Jennifer informed me she remembered Matthew was on top of her with a closed fist striking her several times," she told the officer.
Several bruises on both of Gledhill's arms and hands were seen by the officer, including a bruise under her left eye, as well as others on her knees and lower legs.
However, the man with whom Gledhill was having an extramarital affair told police that she admitted to shooting Johnson in the head on Sept. 21 and that when he noticed bruises on her arms and legs, she said they had come from "moving Matthew’s body and cleaning the mess in the house."
Johnson's body has yet to be located as of Monday.
According to the officer, Gledhill wasn't sure if she had lost consciousness or if she had simply gone to bed after she had allegedly been beaten.
When asked why she didn't report the incident the next morning, Gledhill claimed it was because she had "made a deal" with Johnson and that she had a "long history of calling the police on Matthew for non criminal altercations and that Matthew had told her the police would not believe her if she called."
Crime
Lover revealed as informant who told on woman who allegedly killed husband
Gledhill said the two agreed that Johnson would report to work at Camp Williams and she would stay at home, and that neither would report what happened. She added that on the morning she spoke with police, she found a note from Johnson's co-workers that he had never reported to work.
While talking with police after deciding to report the alleged domestic violence incident, Gledhill declined to provide a written statement because she "did not believe she could accurately write down the events from that night."
Gledhill was advised to stay with her parents that night or have one of her parents stay with her at the Cottonwood Heights home.
Meanwhile, police are continuing their search for Johnson’s body north of Salt Lake City, looking for a clue that could lead them to a specific location.
"We’re playing odds," said Sgt. Gary Young with the Cottonwood Heights Police Department. "She probably didn’t stop on the side of the road of the freeway. Someone would probably see her. So we’re focusing on the less traveled, less populated area which is in that corridor along the bay and Farmington Bay and Ogden Bay."
