Investigators in Utah believe a high-profile murder suspect may have unknowingly left behind a digital trail that could point them to her missing husband’s body.
Jennifer Gledhill, 43, has been accused of fatally shooting her husband, 51-year-old Matthew Johnson, on September 21, 2024, while he slept inside the couple’s $1 million home in Cottonwood Heights, a suburb near Salt Lake City.
Prosecutors allege the killing came after a volatile argument in which Johnson confronted Gledhill about an affair, a dispute that authorities say ended with the pair drinking whiskey, having sex, and Johnson later being killed.
Johnson, the father of Gledhill’s three children, has still not been found. Gledhill has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty in the case.
According to a search warrant unsealed this month, police suspect Gledhill may have been wearing an Oura Ring around the time of the alleged killing, a detail investigators believe could prove crucial, ABC4 reported.
Court filings show the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office requested data in February from Oura Ring accounts associated with both Gledhill and Johnson, covering the period from September 20, 2024, through October 1, 2024.
“If Jennifer was wearing the Oura Ring during the time the [that] Matthew’s body was disposed of, that ring will contain location information that the geolocations didn’t, because she had turned off that device,” the warrant said.
Oura Rings are wearable health trackers that monitor metrics including activity, heart rate and body temperature, and can also capture GPS location data tied to specific dates and times.
Jennifer Gledhill, 43, is accused of the September 21, 2024, shooting of Matthew Johnson, 51, after they had a night of whiskey-fueled sex
She is said to have killed Johnson, who is the father of her three children, after he accused her of an affair
Photos from earlier in the day of the alleged murder show Gledhill was wearing her fitness ring, and the Utah National Guard Unit Johnson was assigned to confirmed he also had a ring, according to the local news station.
Investigators previously used GPS data from Gledhill’s car to show that she had visited remote sites in northern Utah before and after Johnson’s death, according to prosecutors.
Gledhill was arrested after she allegedly confessed to the killing to her unnamed lover, who then told the police, according to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office.
Her parents Thomas and Rosalie Gledhill have also been arrested for allegedly helping their daughter cover up the murder by deep-cleaning her home afterwards.
Despite alleged efforts to remove any signs of the bloody murder from the scene of the crime, gruesome evidence was unearthed in court.
Prosecutors showed images they say prove that Gledhill brutally killed Johnson as he slept, before dragging his lifeless body and the blood-soaked evidence out of their home.
The court saw images of blood stains on a carpet that was underneath the bed in the couple’s bedroom, where detectives believe Johnson was killed. DNA analysis confirmed it was Johnson’s blood, per prosecutors.
Prosecutors also exhibited a GPS tracking map showing that Gledhill traveled north the day after the alleged murder to a location where Johnson’s red truck was found.
Police claim the mom-of-three opened fire on Johnson as he slept at their $1 million home (pictured) in Cottonwood Heights, a suburb of Salt Lake City
Investigators are now hoping her fitness ring records could lead them to Johnson’s body, after her car GPS data led them to an area where the couple’s mattress and pillows were found
Gledhill’s parents Thomas and Rosalie Gledhill have also been arrested for allegedly helping their daughter cover up the murder by deep-cleaning the home afterwards
At the same location, police say they found a vehicle storage container floating in a creek. Investigators say the inside of the container tested positive for Johnson’s blood, as reported by Fox 13.
An eerie snap of the couple’s bedroom where the whiskey-fueled sex and subsequent murder took place was also shown in court.
GPS data also revealed that Gledhill traveled to another location in the same county where police found the couple’s mattress and pillows wrapped up in a rug from their home.
Prosecutors also showed the court a 2023 image they say shows Johnson by the same rug Gledhill dumped alongside the mattress.
Gledhill was allegedly having an affair with a man who told police she confessed to shooting Johnson.
She allegedly said she put his body in a storage container and then loaded it into her minivan.
Gledhill is expected back in court for a preliminary hearing, and her trial is scheduled to start in December.
