Mont. woman who shoved newlywed husband off cliff sentenced to 30 years

Jordan Linn Graham, 22, admitted she got cold feet before committing murder eight days after her marriage last summer. Her husband, Cody Johnson, 25, fell to his death off a cliff July 7 in Glacier National Park.

By Sasha Goldstein - New York Daily News

Thursday, March 27, 2014

A nefarious 22-year-old newlywed who shoved her husband of eight days off a majestic Montana cliff was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday for her grisly crime.

Jordan Linn Graham faced up to life in prison for second-degree murder after she admitted to pushing Cody Johnson, 25, off the side of a popular hiking trail July 7 in Glacier National Park.

He fell 200 feet to his death. Johnson’s body was found July 11 after Graham - who claimed she didn’t know where he’d gone - said the area was on her husband’s bucket list.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy insisted the Kalispell woman - who repeatedly lied and changed her story about what had happened - never apologized for the murder and showed zero remorse, the Missoulian reported.

“She was a normal person, at least on the surface,” the federal judge said in handing down the sentence, which includes no possibility of parole. “But how does a normal person kill her husband of eight days?”

Days into her criminal trial in December, Graham and prosecutors reached a deal where the young woman would plead guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a three decade sentence.

But on Tuesday, Graham got cold feet and requested a new trial, claiming the agreement was “illusory” and a “hollow formality” after she read a memo that prosecutors called the killing premeditated and asked for a sentence of 50 years to life in prison.

Molloy denied her request for a new trial and stuck to the terms of the plea, giving her the agreed-upon 30 years behind bars.

An emotional Graham told the court she has “no answers” for “why I didn’t make different decisions.”

“It was a moment of complete shock and panic,” the tearful 22-year-old said, according to the Missoulian. “I have no other explanation.”

Graham originally told investigators her new husband left unexpectedly with friends from out of state, and she even sent an email from a mythical “Tony” saying Johnson was never coming back.

But investigators quickly saw through her tale and learned she’d actually had cold feet shortly after tying the knot.

Graham eventually relented, telling the authorities she and Johnson had had a fight while walking The Loop trail and that she’d shoved him, harder than she had planned, to his death.

Newlywed, 22, who pushed husband, 25, off cliff eight days after their wedding 'was scared of having sex with him'

• Jordan Graham pleaded guilty last week to second-degree murder in the death of Cody Johnson in July - just days after they wed

• A source has now claimed that Graham felt 'physically ill' at the prospect of sex with her husband and was afraid of what he expected her to do

• She is being sentenced in March and faces life in prison

By Lydia Warren - DailyMail.com

December 18, 2013

A newlywed who admitted to pushing her husband off a cliff eight days after their wedding was scared of having sex with him, a source has claimed.

Jordan Graham, 22, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Cody Johnson, 25, last week after his body was found at the bottom of a ravine in Glacier National Park, Montana in July.

Prosecutors claimed that Graham had shoved him over the edge of the cliff as she was having doubts just days after their wedding, but she claimed it was an accident during an argument.

Now, sources have told the National Enquirer that she was fearful of having sex with him.

'The thought of having sex with her husband made he physically ill, and she would fly into a panic,' the source said. 'It made him frustrated. Jordan believed Cody was going to want her to do all sorts of kinky things in the bedroom. She was afraid.'

In court, Jodran's matron of honor, Kimberly Martinez, had testified that Graham had texted her saying Johnson would ask her to 'do stuff I'm not wanting to'.

When Martinez told her to tell her husband how she felt, Graham responded: 'I feel like it's my job to make him happy, even if I'm miserable.'

Graham, 22, said she decided to talk to Johnson, 25, about her unhappiness eight days after their wedding. So on the evening of July 7, just about sunset, the couple went to a popular spot in Glacier Park called The Loop.

They went over a retaining wall along the Going-to-the-Sun Road and climbed down a rocky, steep slope to the edge of a cliff and a steep drop of a couple hundred feet to a ravine.

There, facing the void, she told Johnson that she wasn't really happy and that she was not feeling like she believed she ought to after being married, she said.

They argued. It escalated, culminating with Johnson grabbing her, Graham said. She thought he was going to pull her toward him - and that's when she became angry.

'I wasn't thinking about where we were,' she said. 'I just pushed.'

She said she brushed away his hand and then pushed her new husband with one hand on his back and one hand on his shoulder, and he went over.

It wasn't planned, but she said it was 'definitely reckless with an extreme disregard' for life. Afterward, she ran back to where the car was parked. She had the keys in her pocket.

She drove back home to Kalispell, about an hour away, without seeking help. She sent text messages to friends on the drive back - but told nobody what had just happened.

'At that moment, I was so scared, I didn't know what to do,' she said.

On Thursday, Graham, 22, changed her initial not guilty plea and admitted that she did push her husband to his death, accepting a lesser second degree sentence.

The prosecution was planning on showing the taped interviews with the court room but since she accepted the plea, the jurors did not have to consider the evidence.

Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on March 27.

Newly released tapes show Montana newlywed change story about husband’s death

The footage includes interviews with Jordan Graham, 22, who initially told investigators she had nothing to do with her husband Cody Johnson's disappearance. She later said that she shoved her husband of eight days from a cliff during an argument at Glacier National Park. Last week, she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

By Joe Kemp - New York Daily News

Monday, December 16, 2013

Video evidence against the Montana woman who pleaded guilty to deliberately pushing her husband to his death began with clips of the couple’s wedding, just eight days before he died.

The footage was supposed to show jurors a beaming Jordan Graham, 22, on the day she exchanged vows with Cody Johnson and a blushing bride incapable of murder.

Graham’s maid of honor, Kimberly Martinez, tells the crowd at the reception how proud she is of her good friend.

“I’ve really gotten to know her and I’m just amazed at the person she is,” Martinez said in the clip.

But Martinez was one of the first witnesses to paint a different picture of the newlywed bride when she was asked to testify soon after the trial began last week.

Martinez said she got a series of text messages from Graham at the time of the wedding, most of them claiming her doubts about getting married.

“I should be happy, and I’m just not,” she wrote a day after the wedding.

The recently released evidence also includes Graham’s interviews with investigators in the days after Johnson was reported missing.

Graham initially told authorities that she last heard from her husband after he went on an alleged trip with his pals.

“He was going to go for a ride with some of his out-of-town buddies that were visiting,” Graham, wearing a yellow dress, told cops, according to a clip aired on ABC News.

he next day, she showed police what she claimed to be an email from a friend, claiming Johnson fell during a hiking trip.

“I got an email this morning from some guy,” she told police in the footage. “All it said was, ‘Tony.’”

Investigators later determined Graham had sent it to herself from a bogus account.

After Graham led a park ranger to Johnson’s body, which was laying facedown in a pool of water at Glacier National Park, she admitted to shoving her husband off the cliff during an argument.

“He went to grab my arm and my jacket, and I said, ‘No,’” she told an FBI investigator. “I said I’m not going to let this happen this time. I’m going to defend myself. So I let go and I pushed and he went over. And then I took off and went home.”

Graham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder four days after her trial began. She faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Newlywed, 22, pleads guilty to shoving husband, 25, off a cliff EIGHT days after their wedding

• Jordan Graham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for waiving a first-degree murder charge and a charge of lying to investigators

• She had been accused of pushing her husband, Cody Johnson, over a cliff in Glacier National Park in July after having doubts about their marriage

• She had claimed she pushed him following an argument

• Surprise plea deal came after closing arguments in her trial but before the jury considered its verdict

• Graham could now face a maximum sentence of life in prison

By Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press

December 12, 2013

A newlywed has pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge after being accused of pushing her husband off a cliff just eight days after their wedding.

Jordan Linn Graham, 22, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for waiving a first-degree murder charge and a lying to investigators charge, the prosecutor in the case revealed in court on Thursday.

The development came before a jury was set to begin considering the case against Graham. She could face a maximum sentence of life in prison when she is sentenced on March 27.

She was accused of killing Cody Johnson, 25, by pushing him over a cliff in Glacier National Park in July, with prosecutors claiming she was having serious second thoughts about the marriage.

First-degree murder means the crime is premeditated.

But her defense team had argued that his fall came after an argument and that Graham had initially lied to police because she was afraid she wouldn't be allowed to explain what had unfolded.

Her husband disappeared July 7. Four days later, Graham led friends and relatives to the park, where they found Johnson's body, initially claiming she had found him after a search.

Graham concocted a story that her husband had gone off with friends and had not returned.

Earlier on Thursday, defense attorneys wrapped up their case without testimony from Graham.

Instead, they showed the jurors pictures and videos of Graham smiling as she had her hair done and tried on her wedding dress, then videos of the June 29 wedding and the couple's first dance.

Those images attempted to chip away at the prosecution's image of Graham as a cold, dispassionate woman who didn't want to marry Johnson, and their contention that eight days later she led him to a dangerous precipice in the Montana park and deliberately pushed him to his death.

In earlier testimony, the coroner revealed that Johnson was not wearing his wedding ring when he was found at the bottom of a ravine and had an 8-inch gash on his forehead.

The plea deal on Thursday followed dramatic evidence in the courtroom in Missoula, including an FBI interview in which Graham admitted that she had shoved.

‘I pushed him and I took off,’ she said to an FBI agent in the recording.

On the tape, Graham calmly told FBI agent Stacey Smiedala that she and Johnson were having a fight and decided to drive to Glacier to discuss their issues.

While venturing off trail near the Loop, Graham said Johnson grabbed her arm. Graham then took Johnson's hand off her and pushed him over the cliff.

'It was a quick thing, I just wanted to get him off me,' she said in the recorded interview. 'I don't feel like I killed him; I mean I pushed him, but it was an accident.'

Johnson died on July 7 but his body was found days later when Graham led a search to the specific spot where she knew he was after initially denying that she had any idea where he had ‘disappeared’.

Flathead County deputy coroner Richard Sine took the witness stand on Wednesday and said Johnson also had lacerations on his legs in addition to the laceration on his forehead.

Sine also testified that Johnson's shoes were found some distance from his body.

One explosive revelation came when the coroner mentioned a black cloth near Johnsons’ body.

Defense attorneys were to argue against the use of the cloth as any form of evidence, saying that it was handled inappropriately during the investigation.

The prosecution had claimed that Graham may have blindfolded her husband before pushing him in the back with two hands as he plunged face-first off the cliff.

Johnson’s mother also testified and said that her son was excited to marry Graham. She added that she tried to console Graham during a prayer service after her son's death.

'I put my arm around her and said everything will be OK,' Sherry Johnson said tearfully. 'Cody's with Jesus now.'

Rather than saying any words of comfort to her grieving mother-in-law, Mrs Johnson said that Graham stayed quiet and did not respond.

Newlywed accused of pushing husband off cliff discussed killing parents, prosecutors say

FoxNews.com

November 28, 2013

A Montana woman accused of pushing her husband off a cliff just days after their June wedding also spoke of killing her mother and stepfather, prosecutors allege in new court documents.

22-year-old Jordan Graham is accused of deliberately pushing her new husband, 25-year-old Cody Johnson, to his death after they got into an argument while hiking. The couple had been married for eight days.

Reuters reports that prosecutors say in court filings in the U.S. District Court in Missoula they plan to produce evidence Graham had also talked about killing her mother and stepfather about five weeks before her wedding.

They claim these remarks would be used to "negate innocent intent and demonstrate the likelihood that the defendant did an act with the requisite intent in the charged case," according to legal documents filed late on Monday.

In legal filings Tuesday, prosecutors also claim to have evidence to back up their theory that a cloth found near Johnson’s body may have been used to blindfold him. They say an FBI forensic scientist who tested the cloth found human hair embedded in it.

Charging documents suggest Graham was having second thoughts about getting married around the time her husband's body was discovered.

Graham’s attorneys claim Johnson’s death was an accident. She told an FBI agent that she and her husband had been arguing on July 7 as they walked in the Loop Trail area of the park.

At one point, she turned to walk away, but Johnson grabbed her arm, she said. She turned around, removed his hand from her arm and "due to her anger, she pushed Johnson with both hands in the back, and as a result, he fell face first off the cliff," an affidavit states.

Johnson was reported missing on July 8 when he failed to show up for work. Graham later reported that she had spotted his body.

Graham initially told investigators that Johnson left their house late on July 7 with unidentified friends in a dark-colored car with Washington state license plates.

That night she texted a friend and said she was about to talk to Johnson about her reservations about having gotten married the previous weekend.

The friend, identified only by the initials K.M., told the FBI about receiving the text from Graham just before 9 p.m. in which Graham said, "Oh well, I'm going to talk to him."

The friend responded, "I'll pray for you guys."

Graham replied, "But dead serious if u [sic] don't hear from me at all again tonight, something happened."

Another friend said Graham reported receiving an email on July 10 saying Johnson had left with three friends, went hiking, had fallen and was dead.

The next day, Graham reported to park officials that she had spotted Johnson's body. A ranger thought that was unusual, but Graham explained, "It was a place he wanted to see before he died," authorities said.

Graham was interviewed on July 16 and acknowledged lying about her husband's death, authorities said.

"She kept continuing to lie, she kept changing her story," Johnson family friend Tracy Maness told the Missoulian newspaper. "She showed no grief and she would not speak to Cody’s mother."

Maness added that Johnson was excited about his wedding and in love with Graham.

"He was very in love with Jordan," she said. "And he was really excited about starting the next chapter of his life."

Johnson's family and friends had long suspected that his death was the result of foul play. As Maness told the paper, "Nobody is shocked at all ... She’d been telling people she knew she never wanted to be married, she just wanted to have a wedding, and that’s apparently what they were arguing about."

Graham was indicted in October on first and second-degree murder charges. A judge in September ordered Graham released from jail, fitted with an electronic monitoring device and placed in the custody of her parents as she awaits the trial.

Newlywed Cliff Death Case: Jordan Linn Graham Charged With Murder

By Kevin Dolak and Leezel Tanglao - ABCnews.go.com

October 3, 2013

A Montana newlywed who authorities say admitted to pushing her husband off a cliff shortly after their wedding was charged on Thursday with murder.

Jordan Linn Graham, 22, was charged with first-degree and second-degree murder and with making a false statement, ABC News affiliate KTMF reported.

Arraignment is set for Friday at U.S. District Court in Missoula.

Last month, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch ordered the release of Graham.

She was placed under home detention and ordered to "undergo mental health evaluation and complete any recommended treatment," according to court papers. Lynch said that the government failed to show that Graham was a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Prosecutors filed a motion fighting Lynch's release "based upon the risk that she presents to the community, the seriousness of the charged offense, her repeated false statements, and her mental health."

Graham told FBI agents that she and her husband of eight days, 25-year-old Cody Lee Johnson, were arguing on July 7 while walking in Glacier National Park near their home in Kalispell, Mont., when he grabbed her arm, according to an affidavit filed at the federal district court of Montana.

"She could have just walked away, but due to her anger, she pushed Johnson with both hands in the back and as a result, he fell face first off the cliff," the affidavit claims she admitted to investigators.

Charging documents in the case revealed that Graham told a friend that she was having second thoughts about the marriage, and that she said that she wanted to talk about her issues with Johnson the night he died.

Graham also sent a message to her friend saying, "But dead serious. If you don't hear from me at all again tonight, something happened," according to the affidavit.

Johnson was reported missing on Monday, July 8, after he failed to show up at work.

When interviewed by authorities the following day on July 9, Graham said that she saw "a dark colored car pulling out of the driveway" after receiving a text from her husband saying he was heading out with a friend from out of town, according to the affidavit.

Graham reported the discovery of Johnson's body to a park ranger on July 11, according to the affidavit. When the park ranger commented that it was unusual that she was the one to make the discovery, Graham allegedly said, "It was a place he wanted to see before he died."

"He would come up here with friends to drive fast when his friends were visiting from out of state," she said, according to the affidavit.

Police had to use a helicopter to retrieve Johnson's body from the steep cliffs below the park's Loop Trail. His body was recovered on July 12.

When interviewed by authorities on July 18, Graham admitted that she had lied about the death of her husband and provided false statements.

Newlywed Cliff Death: Victim's Friend Was Suspicious of Jordan Linn Graham

By Ryan Owens - ABCnews.go.com

September 11, 2013

A friend of Cody Johnson, the 25-year-old Montana man whose wife admitted to pushing him to his death from a cliff just days after their wedding, says that he immediately suspected his friend's new wife after he was found dead in July.

Jordan Linn Graham, the 22-year-old Montana woman who admitted to pushing Johnson from a cliff in Montana's Glacier National Park on July 7, will be back in a federal courtroom today, facing second-degree murder charges. Last month Graham admitted to pushing her husband from atop a cliff and covering up the death when being interviewed by authorities.

Cameron Frederickson, a friend of Johnson, told ABC News that he was wary of the couple's relationship for some time.

"I almost instantly thought Jordan knew something, did something, or was a part of what happened to Cody," Frederickson said. "When Cody told me that he was going to propose to Jordan, I wasn't real supportive of it … I did have a conversation with him saying I think he should reconsider."

The couple wed on June 29, and investigators say a mere eight days later the newlyweds went for a walk through Glacier National Park. Graham told her friends she was already having second thoughts about the marriage, and planned to tell him.

"I'm about to talk to him," she texted a friend that day, according to court documents, adding, "But dead serious if u don't hear from me at all again tonight, something happened."

As the couple neared the top of a cliff, an argument they'd been having got heated. According to an affidavit filed in Montana federal court, Graham told the FBI that her husband then grabbed her arm.

"Graham stated she could have just walked away, but due to her anger, she pushed Johnson with both hands in the back and as a result, he fell face first off the cliff," the affidavit states.

Graham's friend Lytaunie Blasdel told ABC News that she cannot believe her friend is capable of murder.

"I never ever expected her to be capable of hurting someone," Blasdel said. "Especially someone who would worship her. He would have given her anything at the drop of a hat."

FBI agents say Graham not only committed the crime, but is responsible for the subsequent cover-up. Graham first told authorities that she last saw her husband in the back seat of a car leaving their driveway, according to the affidavit.

Days later, Graham called authorities to report she'd found her husband dead at the bottom of that cliff.

According to court documents, when the park ranger commented it was odd place to locate a body, Graham said, "It was a place he wanted to see before he died."

On Monday, Graham's attorney, public defender Michael Donahoe, declined comment to ABCNews.com.

Newlywed wife 'pushed her husband off a CLIFF during an argument ONE WEEK after they got married because she was having second thoughts'

• Jordan Linn Graham, 22, of Montana, told the FBI that she and her husband, 25-year-old Cody Lee Johnson, had been arguing on July 7 as they walked in Glacier National Park.

• Graham said Johnson grabbed her arm, then she turned around and 'pushed Johnson with both hands in the back, and as a result, he fell face first off the cliff'.

• She initially told investigators that Johnson left their house late July 7 with unidentified friends in a dark-colored car with Washington state license plates.

• That night she texted a friend and said she was about to talk to Johnson about her reservations about their marriage.

• Graham is facing second-degree murder charges

By Associated Press Reporter and Daily Mail Reporter

September 10, 2013

A newlywed wife was charged on Monday with killing her husband by pushing him off a cliff in Glacier National Park in Montana during an argument just a week after they got married.

Charging documents suggest Jordan Linn Graham, 22, was having second thoughts about getting married around the time the body of her husband, Cody Lee Johnson, 25, of Kalispell was discovered.

Graham has told an FBI agent that she and her husband had been arguing on July 7 as they walked in the Loop Trail area of the park.

At one point, she turned to walk away, but Johnson grabbed her arm, she said. She turned around, removed his hand from her arm and 'due to her anger, she pushed Johnson with both hands in the back, and as a result, he fell face first off the cliff,' an affidavit states.

Johnson was reported missing on July 8 when he failed to show up for work. Graham later reported that she had spotted his body.

Graham made an initial court appearance on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch on a charge of second-degree murder. She is currently in custody. It was not immediately clear if she had a lawyer.

Graham initially told investigators that Johnson left their house late on July 7 with unidentified friends in a dark-colored car with Washington state license plates.

That night she texted a friend and said she was about to talk to Johnson about her reservations about having gotten married the previous weekend.

The friend, identified only by initials, told the FBI about receiving the text from Graham just before 9 p.m. in which Graham said, 'Oh well, I'm going to talk to him.'

The friend responded, 'I'll pray for you guys.'

Graham replied, 'But dead serious if u don't hear from me at all again tonight, something happened.'

Another friend said Graham reported receiving an email on July 10 saying Johnson had left with three friends, went hiking, had fallen and was dead.

The next day, Graham reported to park officials that she had spotted Johnson's body. A ranger thought that was unusual, but Graham explained, 'It was a place he wanted to see before he died,' authorities said.

Shortly after he died, Graham posted a photo on Instagram from their wedding day.

As a caption she wrote, 'Miss you so much Cody! Not a day will go by where I don't think about you!! You will live on in my heart forever!! I know you're in a better place now looking down on me!! You're my angel!! Love you with all my heart and soul!! See you again one day!!!'

Graham was interviewed on July 16 and acknowledged lying about her husband's death, authorities said.

Family friend Tracey Maness told the Missoulian Johnson was excited about his wedding and in love with Graham.

According to Graham's social media accounts, the couple got engaged in December 2012. She tweeted a photo of the ring and wrote, 'He proposed!! Best early Christmas present ever!!'