A wealthy Utah mother had whiskey-fueled sex with her husband and killed him the next day after discovering her affair, a court heard.
Jennifer Gledhill, 41, appeared in court Monday to face claims that she shot her National Guard husband, Matthew Johnson, in the head while he slept in their $1 million home in Cottonwood last month.
Gledhill, who wore blue prison scrubs and looked emotional during her performance, has been charged with murder, even though no body has been found.
In a drama-packed hearing, the court was told how Gledhill and Johnson had ‘drank whisky’ before having sex on the night of September 20.
During the same hearing, Gledhill was seen sobbing after a judge banned her from contacting the couple’s three children for fear she would interfere with their testimony, ABC4 reported.
Jennifer Gledhill, 41, seen at her first pre-trial hearing this week accused of her husband’s murder, allegedly called police to report domestic violence the day after he went missing
Jennifer Gledhill has yet to confess to killing her husband Matthew Johnson, who was reported missing late last month, police told DailyMail.com. The couple is pictured with their three young children
She was also accused of inconsistencies in her story after she claimed Johnson left her bruised after a domestic violence attack.
Johnson was reported missing on September 23, with Gledhill arrested after her unnamed lover told police she had told him about her husband’s murder.
In a police interview after her arrest on October 3, Gledhill claimed she separated from Johnson to talk to him and drink liquor on the evening of September 20.
She said they had intercourse that evening and “informed the officer that due to the intoxication from the whiskey, she had difficulty remembering the events that occurred after she and Matthew had sex,” according to the search warrant.
Gledhill allegedly shot her husband Matthew Johnson in the head in their $1 million Utah home last month, and was charged with murder despite his body never being found
Matthew Johnson was reportedly shot in the head while he slept. His wife admitted to a friend that she had dumped his body in a shallow grave
Gledhill said Johnson “became upset” during their evening together but could not remember why, the report said Fox13Now.
But she gave conflicting excuses for the bruises on her body, it is claimed.
Gledhill told police Johnson struck her “several times” with a closed fist, leaving bruises on her arms, hands, face and legs.
Her secret lover – whose name has not been released – says Gledhill told him she got the bruises “from moving Matthew’s body and cleaning up the mess in the house.”
He contacted police after Gledhill made the alleged confession, leading to her arrest.
A man who claimed to have an affair with Gledhill (seen during her arrest) claimed she confessed the murder to him
Jennifer’s parents, Rose and Ted Gledhill, said they are now struggling to break the tragic news to the couple’s three children that their mother allegedly killed their father.
When asked by an officer why she had not reported her husband’s alleged domestic excuse, she claimed to have made “a deal” with him.
Gledhill is said to have had a “long history of calling the police on Matthew for non-criminal altercations.”
She told police they had arranged for him to return to work at Camp Williams State Military Reservation the night after they had sex.
The alleged murderer says the first she knew of Johnson’s disappearance was a message from his co-workers saying he had missed work.
But her lover offered an alternative version of events.
He claims Gledhill told him she shot Johnson in the head while he slept.
Gledhill then allegedly stuffed his body into an attic storage container before sliding it down the stairs into the back of her minivan.
Gledhill allegedly broke Johnson’s phone and drove his truck to another part of their property before driving his body north and burning him in a shallow grave.
The photo shows Gledhill’s parents’ enormous home in Utah. Her children currently live with her grandparents
The informant told police that Gledhill believed she could trust him with her bloody confession and hinted that she would do the same for him if he ever found himself in a similar situation.
A witness reportedly told detectives that they saw Gledhill’s relatives cleaning her house until 11pm on September 24 – three days after the alleged murder.
One of Gledhill’s relatives told police they bought her a new mattress after she requested one.
Police say when they searched Gledhill’s home, they found a brand new mattress, as well as “reddish-brown stains” on the wall and bed frame and bleach stains on the stairs.
Gledhill’s parents previously told DailyMail.com that they struggled to break the tragic news to the couple’s three children that their mother had killed their father.
“The three children are living with us for the time being,” her father Ted Gledhill told DailyMail.com exclusively.
‘They are doing well, but my wife and I haven’t told them everything yet.
“We told them their father is missing and the police are questioning their mother because they think she might know something about it.”