SALT LAKE CITY (Scripps News Salt Lake City) — A Utah woman accused of killing her husband as he slept in their home in 2024 appeared in court Thursday for a brief hearing to set future dates in her case.
Immediately after she walked into the courtroom, Jennifer Gledhill looked toward the gallery and said hello to someone. She then stood next to her lawyer for the short, 3-minute hearing before being escorted out.
Prosecutors and Gledhill’s defense team agreed to return to court on January 29 for a pre-trial conference.
Jennifer Gledhill appears in court for a hearing on Dec. 4, 2025. (Court TV)
Gledhill was charged last year with murder and obstruction of justice in the 2024 death of her husband, Matthew Johnson, weeks after he failed to show up for work as a member of the Utah National Guard.
Johnson’s body has yet to be found despite an ongoing search across large parts of the state. The 51-year-old was last seen on September 20, 2024, with Gledhill reporting him missing days later.
Thursday, the Cottonwood Heights Police Department stated to Scripps News Salt Lake City that the search for Johnson’s body has not been abandoned, saying, “We are still looking. Focusing on northern areas. Our investigation led us to that area during the initial phases of our investigation, so we will continue our efforts in that green space.”
Johnson’s pickup truck was found near the couple’s Cottonwood Heights home.
The couple, who have three children, were reportedly considering a divorce and had been fighting in the days leading up to Johnson’s disappearance.
A man who was having an extramarital affair with Gledhill told police that days after Johnson was last seen, Gledhill openly admitted to killing her husband by shooting him in the head as he slept on a mattress inside their bedroom.
According to the man, Gledhill also revealed that she had removed Johnson’s body and relocated his remains to a shallow grave at an undisclosed location, and that she had removed items from the home and destroyed them to cover up the crime.
During a search of the home, investigators found a large blood-stained spot in the master bedroom carpet underneath the bed. Blood was also found on the bed frame slats, which supports what Gledhill’s former lover told police. Police said evidence found at the scene supports that a significant clean-up had taken place following the murder, including bleaching of the walls and using carpet cleaning supplies.
Gledhill’s parents, Rosalie and Thomas Gledhill, were also arrested and face multiple first-degree felony charges of obstruction of justice for allegedly helping their daughter cover up the murder.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Salt Lake City, an E.W. Scripps Company.
