Parents of Cottonwood Heights murder suspect arrested on suspicion of obstruction

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS – Police said Thursday they arrested the parents of a woman accused of killing her husband as he slept in their home.

Jennifer Gledhill, 41, was arrested Oct. 2 when police allege Gledhill shot 51-year-old Utah National Guardsman Matthew Johnson in the head as he slept and then placed his remains in a shallow grave.

On Thursday afternoon, Cottonwood Heights police announced they also arrested 71-year-old Thomas Ray Gledhill and 67-year-old Rosalie Christianson Gledhill, the parents of Jennifer Gledhill, on suspicion of obstruction of justice.

Sergeant. Panasai Soakai said the couple was arrested for their roles in “cleaning Jennifer Gledhill's house, making false statements to police officers during questioning and helping to purchase a mattress.”

According to arrest documents, cell phone records show Jennifer Gledhill sent a message to her father on Sept. 26 requesting that a new mattress be delivered to his home and stating that she would pick it up from him.

The documents also state that on Oct. 2, the father was asked if he had cleaned his daughter's house the night of Sept. 24. Police wrote that Thomas Gledhill told investigators he had not been cleaning and had been there for less than an hour.

The documents said witnesses observed the father cleaning the house during a visit that lasted more than five hours that night.

Arrest documents say cell phone records also showed that on Sept. 22, while Jennifer Gledhill was traveling north, the woman called her father, turned off her phone, turned the phone on and called her father again several hours later. The document said Gledhill admitted to a confidential informant that she traveled north to dispose of Johnson in a shallow grave.

New information about the killing of Utah National Guardsman Matthew Johnson reveals a contradiction in the story of Johnson's estranged wife, who is charged in his killing. (KSL TV)

The documents also state that after Rosalie Gledhill's cellphone was confiscated on October 2 to extract digital information, it was remotely reset and the information was lost. Police wrote, “This is a tactic used by suspects to stop and/or hinder law enforcement investigations.”

“Based on the cell phone records, we believe they know what happened,” Soakai said.

As of Thursday evening, the couple was being held without bail in the Salt Lake County Jail. Gledhill and Johnson's children were taken into DCFS custody by the elder Gledhills earlier this week, Soakai confirmed.

Neighbors of Thomas and Rosalie Gledhill said they were stunned by the developments and believed the Gledhills were a good and friendly couple.

Soakai said police still have not found Johnson's remains, although officers have gotten closer in their search.

“We’re definitely in an area where we think we can find him,” Soakai said.

He urged the public to stay away from active search areas so officers could find Johnson and “keep his body intact.”