Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 5 Wild Twists in Utah Mom's Murder Case

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

Jennifer Gledhill is charged with murdering her estranged husband, Matthew Johnson, at their home in Cottonwood Heights, Utah last September. Johnson's body has still not been found. Newly-unsealed search warrant affidavits reveal that Gledhill asked her father for $13,000 in the days before Johnson was killed. The documents also detail what Gledhill told police. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes over the new revelations in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Get 50% off of confidential background reports at https://www.truthfinder.com/lccrimefix and access information about almost anyone!Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest: Rich Schoenstein https://x.com/LawfulRichesProducer:Jordan ChaconCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. The defendant told the informant that she would kill herself before spending her life in prison or that she would flee the state with her children. Jennifer Gledhill is accused of murdering her husband and hiding his body. Now we're learning more about what Gledhill told police about what happened before he vanished. I have the details from search warrants that were recently unsealed. I'm Anjanette Levy, and this is Crime Fix. So before I get to the very latest on Jennifer Gledhill's case, I want to talk a little bit

about true crime news and law and crime merch. The Law and Crime Docket is your one-stop shop for trending stories, thrilling body cams, and an exclusive look at brand new shows and podcasts from the faces you love. Sign up for our Docket newsletter by scanning the QR code on your screen or click on the link in our description and pinned in the comments under this video. At the beginning of June, we'll pick 10 new Docket subscribers and we'll send a law and crime hat to the winners. They will be announced in the newsletter. Now back to those new documents that were unsealed in Jennifer Gledhill's case and what police lay out in them about her interactions with her husband, Matt Johnson. Gledhill is the mother from Utah, Cottonwood Heights, Utah, that

is, who's charged with murdering Matt Johnson last September. Police say she shot him in their bedroom, moved his body, cleaned up the crime scene, and then confessed to a man she was seeing at the time. Gledhill has pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, obstruction of justice, and tampering with a witness. She was in court at the end of February for a detention hearing where the prosecution laid out a lot of its case and new details. So first, Your Honor, Matthew has not been seen or heard from since September 20th of 2024.

He's not been to work. His family and his friends have not seen him. There's no phone records or bank records, no activity. His military ID and his passport were found in the master bedroom. And the last person to see him alive was the defendant. In fact, some of the new evidence the state has are videos taken that night of the defendant and Matthew arguing in the master bedroom. Now, Matt Johnson was a member of Utah's National Guard, and his colleagues became really concerned when he didn't show up for work after returning from a planned vacation. At that hearing in February, prosecutors said they still had not found Matt Johnson's body, but they discussed what the man Gledhill had been seeing claimed that she told him. The defendant confessed to the informant that she shot Matthew in the master bedroom with a gun as he slept in the master bed. She confessed that she smashed Matthew's cell phone and hid his truck in a neighborhood near the house. She

also confessed that she loaded Matthew's body into a rooftop storage container, slid him down the stairs, and loaded him into the back of her minivan. She confessed that she took Matthew's body north, dug a hole, and buried him in a shallow grave. And she confessed that she cleaned everything up. Much of the information that was provided to law enforcement by the informant has been verified by actual tangible evidence, evidence which the state will now present in our detention hearing exhibits. Now I'll get to more of what police and prosecutors say that they've discovered since Gledhill's arrest later in the show. But first, let's go through the search warrant

affidavits that were recently unsealed, which include what Jennifer Gledhill told police when she filed a domestic violence report after Matt Johnson was last seen on September 20th. The affidavit states, Jennifer stated after the children had left, her and Matthew went into the residence and began drinking whiskey and talking. Jennifer informed me the evening's events then turned into consensual sexual intercourse. Jennifer informed due to the intoxication from the whiskey, she had a hard time recalling the events that took place after her and Matthew had sex. So Jennifer Gladhill told police her children were not home that evening and that she and Matt Johnson had sex and had

been drinking. The affidavit continues. Jennifer stated Matthew became upset, but couldn't remember why. Jennifer informed me she remembered Matthew was on top of her with a closed fist striking her several times. Jennifer showed me her arms and I observed several bruises on both of her with a closed fist striking her several times. Jennifer showed me her arms and I observed several bruises on both of her arms and hands. I observed Jennifer also had a bruise under her left eye. Jennifer stated she had more bruises on her upper thigh and on her sides near her bra. This case really goes to show you how important it is to know everything you can about the people you let into your life. That's why Truthfinder.com is such a great resource.

It's one of the largest public record search services out there. It's great because it will show you a person's past and current addresses, phone numbers, social media accounts, and, of course, criminal and traffic records. If you want to try Truthfinder, you can get a really great deal, 50% off of those confidential background reports. Just log on to www.truthfinder.com slash lccrimefix. Log on and start accessing information about almost anyone. Now, police wrote that they actually had a female officer take photos of those bruises. The officer's account continued. Jennifer was not real clear if she had lost consciousness or if she had just gone to bed after she had been beaten. Jennifer informed me she did not report the incident on Saturday morning because she had made a deal with Matthew.

Jennifer stated 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. Jennifer informed me her and Matthew had decided he would go back to work at Camp Williams with the National Guard and she would stay at home and they would not be together and she would not call the police. Now on September 24th, Matt Johnson's co-workers came looking for him after he didn't show up for work. The documents also showed that police suspected Jennifer Gledhill's parents, Tom and Rosalie Gledhill, helped her cover up the crime. The affidavit states, on September 19th, Jennifer sends a message to Thomas to don't forget to give me your card information. On September 18th, Jennifer messages Thomas and states, I need 13K by Friday.

The affidavit also states on September 18th, I observed a transfer from Thomas to Jennifer's Venmo account of $1,000. Thomas transfers his Venmo deposits. Now, Tom and Rosalie Gledhill were arrested late last year on suspicion of obstruction, but they were never formally charged and they were later released. All right. So to talk about this new information we are learning, I want to bring in Rich Schoenstein. He is a trial attorney. Rich, what do you make of this new information we're learning? You know, these are unsealed search warrant affidavits where Jennifer Gledhill is going to the cops, you know, a few days after her husband is last seen alive and saying, oh, look, I've got all these bruises. I can't, you know, we were drinking whiskey. We had sex. And then he's like on top of me, hitting me. I can't remember what happened.

And then nobody ever sees him again. Yeah. Well, it's a very intriguing story. I think I, I think I told you these husband getting murder cases scare me a little bit yes very much so yes and i can understand why you never know so this one is interesting of course because there's there's the problem with her story, which didn't really make a lot of sense and also hasn't been consistently her story and now seems to be counter to the evidence. But the other thing that really stands out in up the area, bought a new mattress. Those are pretty telltale signs of trying to clean up a crime scene. Right. Her dad, I guess, told the police, well, I didn't go in there. But the neighbors said they saw the parents over there and there was cleaning going on for several hours. So they said they found evidence of a cleanup. I mean, somebody's over there doing cleaning and you have a neighbor who apparently can see this going on.

Yeah, there's activity there's definitely activity and you can see the results of the activity right because i i think it's it's clear that there was a new mattress purchased so very clear why did that happen you know what's the possible explanation that's just coincidence uh that they they had this whiskey soaked brief reconciliation and then he disappeared but she replaced the mattress that that's a hard story to uh to try to put forward right yeah it seems very complicated and i'll be interested to see how her attorney deals with this once the trial begins later this year. Because I mean, it just seems like when you read the documents and you listen to the prosecution in court, that there's a lot there. I'm trying to figure out what the

money aspect of this means. You know, her dad, she's saying, I need 13 K by Friday, $13,000. We don't, we don't know why she needed that money. I mean, that's a significant sum of money. Um, Matt Johnson apparently gave a thousand dollars to give to her, but she's, she's needing credit card information from dad. She needs, um, $13,000 from dad. I mean, this is what they wanted. They wanted to get the banking records because of this. But I don't know, it just paints a picture of somebody who needed a lot of money very quickly. I was thinking about that because there was another case we were talking about recently where somebody allegedly tried to hire a hitman for $13,000, which doesn't sound like what was going on here. But you follow the money, right? That's how we get to the heart of the matter in

a lot of these cases. Did she need $13,000 for something specific related to what happened? Or was she in financial trouble? Is the prosecution exploring whether her financial circumstances may have created a motive for the crime that they've alleged, separate and apart for the motive that they're already talking about? So I think when you see a chunk of money like that, that she suddenly needs in the midst of these events transpiring, as an investigator, as a prosecutor, you want to understand that. You want to know why did she need that money? Where did that money go? Were there other financial circumstances that are relevant to this? You're always going to look at, you know, did anybody take out an insurance policy,

that kind of thing, What was happening in accounts? I understand they want to get to the bottom of it. Yeah, and I know they want to find Matt Johnson's body, which still has not been found, you know, obviously for the homicide case. But you want to bring some closure to his family. Just a really horrible case. Rich Schoenstein, thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate it. My pleasure. Good to see you. Jennifer Gledhill had hoped to be released on bond as she awaits trial, but that didn't happen. At that hearing last February, prosecutors laid out the evidence that police had found

last October. A new mattress on the master bed, a smell of bleach in the house, fresh white marks from the cleaning on the wall behind the master bed, and blood found in the carpet underneath the master bed and on the slats of the master bed. On St. Elizabeth 3 is a cutout from that rug. Now, the location of that bloodstain is consistent where Matthew would sleep, put his head on the mattress. And that's consistent from the videos that the state has, that the evidence in this case of them arguing in their bedroom that night. Then-Deputy District Attorney Emily Palos said that police had found other evidence from the Gled Hills home since Jennifer's arrest. A location that upon further investigation, it turns out the defendant

discarded even more evidence. Law enforcement located the master bed, foam mattress and pillows, which were wrapped up in a rug from the residence. If you go to 13. Now, 13 is that same rug, and that is the mattress pad and pillows, we believe, from the defendant's residence. If you could go to 14. Now, 14 is, in fact, a screenshot from a body camera a month prior to the murder, and that is of the master bedroom, and you can see it looks just like the same phone mattress. And then states exhibit 15. That is the same rug and that is Matthew Johnson next to the same rug. Now, Palos pointed to other actions that could

point to premeditation. She arranged for the children to stay at her parents during the evening that Matthew was killed. And she asked her parents to keep the children home for another, at their house for another day, presumably why she was cleaning up the crime and disposing of Matthew's body. The evidence is significant that the defendant obstructed the investigation by removing the mattress and replacing it days later with a new mattress. The cargo box that had been observed by witnesses at the home on prior occasion was disposed of and then later located. The mattress pillows and the mattress pad were also disposed of and then later recovered. However, the mattress is still missing.

The gun is still missing. The very gun that we have video of her handling and the same gun she showed the informant just days before the murder. We did find the box of the handgun. The defendant hid the box in a onesie at her parents' home. Your Honor, she's already shown that she will tamper with witnesses, but she also told the informant not to say anything. The evidence in this case is substantial, and if released, the defendant will continue her efforts to cover her crime. While Paula said that Gledhill confessed to killing Matt Johnson to the man she was seeing,

only one of those calls was recorded. In the phone call, the defendant apologizes for telling the informant about what happened. She tells him to not think of her as a monster and to remember her who she was before she opened her mouth. And the informant tells the defendant that he was frightened by what she had told him. And then the defendant, and then the informant, and I quote, says to her, hypothetically, if the roles were reversed, and I did something to someone, and I told you that I carried it out, like, you would be shocked and scared, wouldn't you? And the defendant responds, quoting, well, not if I deserved it.

I always preach that I was like the queen of hearts in my past lives because I'm like off with their heads. I'm like if we could just round up the scum of this earth and put them on an island or just kill them all, I could ship shape this country back into a good place. Now then, even in that phone call, she starts claiming that this is just a hypothetical situation. However, she tells, and I quote the informant,

I think that the fact that you got scared of me, that part broke my heart because I was like, wow, if you think I could even hurt a fly, like he just, he is, he's not a person. He wasn't a person anymore. He wasn't Matt anymore. And what's key from that recording is at this point, Matt hadn't been reported missing. Meanwhile, Gledhill's attorney nearly suggested that Matt Johnson could have staged his own disappearance. I think when you're looking at

evidence, oftentimes when we're doing this job, you realize pretty quickly that there are oftentimes two sides to every story and explanations that, if offered, could make sense in different contexts. I think there's a lot of that here in this case. Now, getting to what the state has to show in order to maintain the no bail hold. As the court knows, they have to satisfy the substantial evidence problem. The two biggest factors that cut against the state's requirement of substantial evidence are the lack of a body and lack of a murder weapon. Mr. Johnson is a highly trained special forces officer with several tours of combat under his belt and is equipped with abilities your standard citizen simply does not have. These abilities and experiences give multiple explanations and

possibilities that have nothing to do with Ms. Gledhill as it relates to his disappearance. In the end, the judge sided with the prosecution and kept Gledhill behind bars. Ms. Gledhill, your attorney I'm sure has explained this, it's been discussed here today. Under Utah law, anyone who's been arrested or charged with criminal offense is entitled to bail as a matter of right, except with certain conditions. The court has to make certain findings to say that bail isn't appropriate. The state here has argued that there is substantial evidence to support the felony charges that have been filed here,

and I agree that there is substantial evidence. We can debate whether that evidence is enough for a conviction, but that's not the level that I'm looking at. It's not the same level as if this matter were to go to trial to determine guilt or innocence. Substantial evidence is less than that. And I do believe that the state has presented enough evidence to meet that prong of the statute. The second prong is can the court find by clear and convincing evidence one of several things and one of the things that the state has talked about is a substantial danger to an individual or to the community and that's after I consider any conditions of release that I could potentially impose.

And those conditions of release then could mitigate that danger. I do find, by clear and convincing evidence, that there is a substantial danger to an individual, that being the informant that the state has referenced, as well as to the community. I have considered whether any conditions of release would be appropriate and mitigate against those concerns, and I appreciate the suggestions that Mr. Diaz has given. But given what we are dealing with here, given the evidence that I've been presented with today, including the proffers, I don't believe any conditions can sufficiently

mitigate against that substantial danger. So I do find that the state has met the burden under the statute to have the no bail hold remain. Jennifer Gladhill is in the Salt Lake County Jail. Her attorney is preparing her case for trial. At this point, it is scheduled for December. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.