Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 6 Chilling New Details in Utah Mom's Murder Case

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Jennifer Gledhill appeared in court and asked to be released on bail as she awaits trial for the murder of her estranged husband, Utah National Guardsman Matt Johnson. In response, the district attorney revealed new evidence police have collected that they claim ties Gledhill to the murder. Gledhill has pleaded not guilty. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes over the evidence in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Get Relief Today! Visit https://dermazen.co/crimefix for an extra 10% off and free shipping.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME 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/lawandcrimenetworkSee 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. I always preach that I was like the queen of hearts in my past lives, because I'm like off with their heads. Prosecutors use Utah mom Jennifer Gledhill's own words against her as they work to keep her in jail on charges she murdered her husband and tried to cover it up. But her lawyer argues she should be released. 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. I lay out the trove of new evidence police and prosecutors say they've gathered as the search for Matt Johnson's body continues. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Jennifer Gladhill was hoping she'd be out on bail right now as she awaits trial on charges that she murdered her estranged husband, Matt Johnson. But the judge in Salt Lake County, he shut her down big time after seeing new evidence prosecutors say they've collected. And what they say they've found is actually pretty shocking. Bledhill has been in jail since last October. Police say she shot Johnson in their bedroom in Cottonwood Heights,

south of Salt Lake City, and then moved his body, possibly burying him somewhere north of the city. To this day, Matt Johnson's body has not been found, and you'll hear what Jennifer Gledhill's attorney has to say about that very shortly. I think it's giving us a really good clue about where her defense may be going. Gledhill pleaded not guilty last month to a long list of charges, including murder, tampering with evidence, abuse or desecration of a human body and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors claim Gledhill confessed to killing Matt Johnson in a recorded phone call to a man she was dating. A few days ago, Gledhill was back in court.

She was asking to be released on bail as she awaits trial. The DA's office arguing against that request very vigorously. Your Honor, the state requests that you continue to hold the defendant, Jennifer Glidhill, without bail. In this case, there is substantial evidence. There is substantial evidence that supports that Matthew Johnson is not missing. Matthew Johnson was murdered by the defendant. I want to briefly go over the evidence in this case. As I've previously told the court, this is an active investigation and there

is significant substantial evidence discovered after the charging document was filed. 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. So basically, Deputy District Attorney Emily Palos says there has been no sign at all of Matt Johnson since

September 20th. And since Jennifer Gledhill's arrest, I've been telling you about an informant police said that they had. Well, we're learning more about what the DA says Gledhill's arrest, I've been telling you about an informant police said that they had. Well, we're learning more about what the DA says Gledhill told this informant. 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 hit 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. Hey, I want to take just a moment to talk about something that affects a lot of people, it's dandruff. Most people assume it's caused by a dry scalp, but it's actually caused by an overgrowth of fungus called Malassezia. And that fungus, it feeds on the oils inside most shampoos,

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dermatologist recommended shampoo, and a scalp scrubber to clear buildup and boost circulation. Experience flake-free confidence every day. Go to dermazen.co slash crime fix for an extra 10% off and free shipping or tap the link below to get yours today. So Paulus says they have evidence that backs up what Jennifer Gledhill told the informant who was that man she was seeing, including data from Gledhill's phone. And what you were seeing is that the phone at the very top red dot is the residence of the defendant and the victim. And on the early morning of September 21st, her phone data tracks her on that blue line all the way down to the bottom red dot and where on September 30th Matthew's truck was recovered.

In fact, it tracks her in the early mornings on the 21st, which is verified by the fact that a doorbell camera from a neighbor recorded that the truck was present there at 6 a.m. on the 21st. It also tracked her there at that location where the truck was located on September 25th. And then State Statement 2 is Matthew's truck that is registered to him that was, again, located by law enforcement at that location. And there's more, including Glad Hill buying a new mattress and videos police have collected 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 State Exhibit 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.

Now, Gledhill is accused of turning off her phone as she drove north of Salt Lake City to bury Matt Johnson's body. Hollis detailed evidence police recovered to corroborate what Gledhill told the informant. This is the mapping of the defendant's phone on September 22nd. It shows her traveling up north. It also, during that time, she also turned her phone off for two and a half hours. There's also videos that confirm that she's, videos at different locations that confirm she's up north during this time. However, there is new evidence in this case. If we look at States Incident 7, law enforcement did in fact locate that rooftop storage container

with the assistance of the military in Davis County. It was located after a storm, and we believe it floated from where it was concealed by the defendant. If you go to States Exhibit 8, States Exhibit 8 is that same storage container. You can see that it was duct taped, but I want to note the specific design and the logo from that container. If we could go to 9, this is a screenshot recovered from the defendant's phone. And if we go to States Exhibit 10, this is zoomed up close. You can see it's the same design. It's the same logo. We go to 11. This is blue star imaging from blood found, human blood found in that storage container. DNA analysis has

determined that it's Matthews blood. But that's not all of the evidence prosecutors say police found 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 residents. 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 Incident 15, that is the rug that was wrapped around the phone mattress and the pillows, unobscured. and we go to 16. 16 is a screenshot from the defendant's phone taken from 2023, that is the same rug. And that is Matthew Johnson next to the same rug.

Finally, Paulos talked about the recorded phone call between Jennifer Gledhill and that man she was seeing who became the police informant. 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 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 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 preached 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

like, got scared of me, that part, it 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. The prosecution also says Gledhill has continued to obstruct justice and is a potential flight risk. They think if she were released, she'd take off. 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 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 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. murder. We did find the b The defendant hid the box parents home. Your honor, that she will tamper wit

also told the informant n evidence in this case is released, the defendant w efforts to cover her crin Jennifer Glad hearings, Jennifer Gladhill's attorney had asked that she be allowed to have contact with her children, but there are concerns about that. And the deputy DA says some people fear what could happen if Gladhill is released. 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. Now, I wanted to remind the court that there was a letter filed a long time ago from Matthew Johnson's family. I just want to briefly reference that letter where the family is urging you not to release defendant on bail.

The reasons, and just quoting from that letter, the reason Jennifer should not be released is due to the evidence tampering, witness tampering, concern for the kids, their concern that she may harm herself or others, their concern that she killed her husband, the father of her children, and that the Johnson family would be in a state of shock, terror, and fear. They also say that if she can brutally murder her husband with no remorse, she's clearly capable of harming her children.

She's uncooperative in helping law enforcement locating the children's father's body. They're concerned that she could flee the state or country. They're concerned that she could harm or contact the informant. In fact, the informant has expressed fear if she were to be released and she could plant or stage false evidence. Now, after all of this, Bledhill's attorney, Jeremy Diaz, argued that she wouldn't flee if she were released on bail. I want to start with the risk to flee. Between the time that there was about a week, five, six days, I can't remember specifically what it was,

between Ms. Gledhill's first interview with police where they interviewed her, they executed search warrants, she knew exactly what they were looking for, and her actual arrest for this. If she were going to flee the jurisdiction, if she were going to commit suicide, she would have done it there. Instead, she came, she went and hired an attorney and chose to continue to, or chose to begin her battle to fight for her innocence. So I don't think that there's a risk to flee here. And I don't think that the court can find by clear and convincing evidence with that. And Diaz said the evidence may not be what it seems at first glance. 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. Did you hear that? I think we're getting an idea of where the defense might be heading in this case.

Jennifer Gledhill's attorney is suggesting that Matt Johnson's special forces training could offer an explanation for his disappearance. One thing that kind of came to mind for me, will they suggest that he staged his own disappearance like Gone Girl? But of course, this would be like Gone Guy. The state claims to have found a travel container Ms. Gledhill allegedly used to dispose of the body. And that container contained, and going back to, the court had an opportunity to see what that container looked like.

The possibility of Ms. Gledhill being able to fit a full-grown man inside that container, to me, seems difficult and limited. And I do think it cuts against their argument of substantial evidence. Additionally, the state noted that there was DNA found within that. What the state does not note as it relates to that DNA found in that container is that initially when they found that DNA, there was so little DNA that it required a notice to consume, saying that they could only test it once and that if we chose to, there wouldn't be enough DNA left for us to test to confirm it. Now, they were able to do some things, and they were able to save enough for us to test,

but that's how little DNA that we're talking about is found in that storage container. Diaz also questioned the items police found that they believe are related to the crime. The state also found a rug, foam mattress topper, and a pillow. What hasn't been provided to me and what I didn't hear the state talk about today is on this mattress topper and on these pillows where this alleged murder is said to have happened, I have yet to see any sort of confirming DNA or blood evidence as it relates to those. And it's the same thing with the rug. So even though those things are confirming of potentially someone,

potentially Ms. Glethill disposing of those things, it's not really on its face evidence of the murder, of the alleged murder. As it relates to the shallow grave, both Cottonwood Heights Police Department and the Army Reserve have searched all over the areas extensively with not only manpower, but also the use of drones. Still, no body, no weapon. And that's true. Matt Johnson's body has not been found, and neither has the murder weapon, but plenty of murder convictions have been won without a body or a murder weapon. Diaz continued. The state brought up video of an argument that was had, but that's all it is, is video of an argument.

And if we're bringing up the argument, I have had the opportunity to look at those. And there are moments where Matthew is incredibly aggressive with my client. As it relates to the conversation with her post-divorce filing partner, the statements as read provide not a lot of real context. These are kind of taken from different places. And again, it's not giving the court a full picture of what's going on

in that conversation. Palos responded to a couple of points made by Diaz, including whether any DNA was left to be tested from that storage container. Only half of the swab was needed to confirm that it was Matthew Johnson's blood on that container. The defendant is free to test. There's actually, we did not have to consume, and the defendant is free to test the other half. And as I indicated in my previous argument,

serology also confirmed that it was human blood on the carpet and in the container. And we know Matthew Johnson's blood is on the carpet as well. And in regards to the container argument of whether or not Matthew Johnson's body can fit in there, we don't know what happened with his body. The only person knows is the defendant. However, that is a perfect mechanism, the container, to slide down the defendant. However, that is a perfect mechanism, the container to slide down the stairs. And it's the state's theory that she didn't put it on the top. She was able to lift it up into the back of her van. And in the video that the state has obtained of the two of them arguing at no time was Matthew Johnson at all physically violent and there were no bruises on the defendant's body.

Judge Mao then made his decision about whether Jennifer Gledhill would be released on bail. 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 a 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 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 condition consider any conditions of release that it could potentially impose and those conditions of release then could mitigate that 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 Gledhill looked incredibly disappointed, to say the least, but you have to think that her attorney prepared her for this outcome.

So Gledhill continues to be held without bail and the search for Matt Johnson's remains continues. Now, just to recap, since Jennifer Gledhill's arrest, the DA says they've recovered evidence related to the crime, including that storage container they believe Gledhill used to move Johnson's body, a mattress cover from their bed. Deputy DA Paulos says police also found a rug from the couple's bedroom. This is on top of the call recorded between Bledhill and the informant. Let's listen to Emily Palos recount that call just one more time. 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 they, 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, it 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 had it been reported missing.

Remember last year when Jennifer Gledhill's parents, Tom and Rosalie Gledhill, were taken into custody on suspicion of obstruction? Court documents had stated they helped Jennifer clean up the crime scene and ordered a new mattress. They've not been formally charged, and whether they will be is still being reviewed by the DA's office.

Jennifer Gledhill will be back in court on March 14th. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Janette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.