Cottonwood Heights Police Arrest Woman Investigating Her Husband's Death

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS – Police arrested a Cottonwood Heights woman Wednesday in an investigation into the killing of her husband, who had been missing for more than a week.

Jennifer Gledhill, 41, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of murder and obstruction of justice.

Matthew Johnson, 51, a member of the U.S. military special forces, was reported missing by his wife on Sept. 20, Cottonwood Heights police said. Witnesses reported an argument between the couple before he went missing, police said.

On Monday, the missing person case was deemed “suspicious” after Johnson's truck was discovered just a few blocks from his home. In a news release Wednesday, police said they now believe Johnson died of a gunshot wound, but declined to provide further details.

“Investigators have collected significant physical and digital evidence as well as witness statements supporting probable cause for the arrest,” the release said.

Previous relationship problems

Court documents show Gledhill filed for divorce from Johnson in July. On August 21, she filed a motion for a temporary protective order, which was signed the next day. After a protective order hearing, 3rd District Commissioner Russell Minas concluded that issuing a civil protective order was not warranted and that there was no “abuse,” according to court documents.

“There was no intentional causation or attempt to cause physical harm. “While (Johnson's) conduct in some cases approaches the limit at which (Gledhill) has a reasonable fear of imminent physical harm, based on the evidence presented, he does not exceed that limit,” the commissioner's Sept. 16 decision said.

Gledhill submitted videos that she claimed showed evidence that a protective order was needed, but Minas' decision says the videos portray her as “unafraid” of Johnson and “equally confrontational with him.”

Text messages between them show that Gledhill “repeatedly insulted, belittled and humiliated” Johnson, “if not attempting to incite him to respond violently,” the ruling said.

“The conduct of the parties over the past few months is representative of an extremely dysfunctional marriage that has brought out the worst in the parties – a clear indication that a divorce action should have been filed long before the current state of affairs was reached.” says the judgment.

Police confirmed they had previously visited the couple's home on civil matters.

Gledhill and Johnson have three children, ages 11, 7 and 5, police said.

“We would like to express our deepest condolences to the families, especially the Johnson children. These unfortunate tragedies are tearing the fabric of our families apart,” Cottonwood Heights police said in a statement.