Lover was exposed as an informant who told about woman who allegedly killed her husband

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah – The informant who told police that a Cottonwood Heights woman shot her husband in his sleep was someone who was having an affair with the woman, according to new information from the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office.

Jennifer Gledhill was formally charged Tuesday with nine felonies, including first-degree murder, in connection with the death of Matthew Johnson.

Gledhill was arrested Oct. 2 after an informant told police that Gledhill admitted killing her husband, who was with the Utah National Guard. Johnson was reported missing on September 23rd after he failed to show up for work at his base.

In the new charging documents, it was revealed that the informant was a man with whom Gledhill was having an extramarital affair. The man told authorities that Gledhill told him on Sept. 22 that Johnson had previously “yelled at her because he knew she had slept with someone else.”

Gledhill then told the man that she shot Johnson in the head as he slept in the bed they shared. She then claimed to have placed Johnson's body in a rooftop storage container before pushing him down the home's stairs and loading his body into a minivan.

While Gledhill said she dug a hole somewhere “north” of her home and buried Johnson's body in a shallow grave, the body has yet to be found.

When the man Gledhill was romantically involved with asked about all the bruises on her body, she said they were from moving Johnson's body and cleaning her house.

Investigators later found reddish-brown stains on the wall, bed frame and blinds of the master bedroom where Johnson was allegedly shot, as well as bleach covering the wall behind the bed.

Prosecutors said a “circular pattern on the carpet under the bed on the right side near the headboard tested positive for human blood.”

A neighbor later told police that she saw Gledhill's parents cleaning the house late into the night on September 24, although her mother said they had only been there an hour. Gledhill's mother said she only purchased a mattress from Amazon at her daughter's request.

When investigators served a search warrant at Gledhill's parents' home, they found a plastic bag containing a Glock 19x gun case wrapped in a child's onesie. The prosecutor's office said the gun container matched
the gun model that Gledhill had shown to the man who informed the police.

On the day Gledhill allegedly killed Johnson, GPS data showed she traveled to where her husband's truck was later found. She was also caught on camera cleaning her car at a gas station in Salt Lake County.

Domestic Violence Victims/Prevention Resources (Free, 24/7, Confidential):

• Utah Coalition Against Domestic Violence
  • Hotline: 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
  • Online help: udvc.org
• National Domestic Violence Hotline
• If you or someone else is in immediate danger or there is an emergency, call 9-1-1 immediately.