Estranged wife shot, killed missing Cottonwood Heights man in his sleep, police say

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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — A Cottonwood Heights woman accused of killing her estranged husband shot him in the head as he slept, according to police.

Jennifer Gledhill, 41, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of murder and obstruction of justice. Her arrest comes a week after she reported Matthew Johnson, 51, a member of the U.S. military Special Operations Unit, was missing.

A confidential informant contacted Cottonwood Heights police on Saturday claiming "they had spoken with Jennifer on the evening of Sept. 22, at which time Jennifer Gledhill openly admitted to killing Johnson by shooting him in the head while he slept. Johnson was shot while on the mattress inside the master bedroom of their home in Cottonwood Heights," according to a police booking affidavit. "Jennifer also told the (informant) she had removed the body of Johnson and had relocated his remains to a shallow grave at an undisclosed location."

Police had not found Johnson's body as of Thursday.

Police say the shooting happened sometime between the night of Sept. 20 and the morning Sept. 21. Gledhill also told the informant that she had been removing items from the home and destroying them in an effort to cover up the crime, the affidavit alleges.

Detectives say "several search warrants have been obtained and served on electronic devices which have led investigators to believe the remains of Johnson are at the same undisclosed location" that was described by the informant.

Investigators also served a search warrant at the residence where "a large blood-stained spot in the master bedroom carpet underneath the bed" was discovered and "evidence also supports that significant cleanup had taken place after this crime had occurred, including bleaching walls, and using carpet cleaning supplies," according to the affidavit.

Police also noted in the arrest report that "there is still significant evidence that needs to be collected."

Despite living together, police call Johnson "her estranged husband" in the affidavit. Gledhill filed for divorce from Johnson in July, filed a petition for a temporary protective order in August, according to court records. That protective order was dismissed by a judge on Sept. 16, less than a week before Johnson was shot to death.

Domestic violence resources

Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:

• Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
• YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
• Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

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Pat Reavy

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Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.