A newlywed, Jordan Linn Graham 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.
The prosecutor in the case revealed in court on Thursday, Jordan Linn Graham, 22, of Kalispell agreed to plead guilty in exchange for waiving a first-degree murder charge and a lying to investigators charge. She was arraigned in U.S. Magistrate's Court in Missoula a day after a federal grand jury indicted her on charges of first- and second-degree murder and making false statements in the July 7 death of Cody Lee Johnson, 25, whom she'd married just the week before.
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.
Jordan Linn Graham invented 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 Jordan Linn Graham.
In earlier testament, 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 Jordan Linn Graham admitted that she had shoved her husband.
'I pushed him and I took off,' she said to an FBI agent in the recording.
While venturing off trail near the Loop, Jordan Linn Graham said Johnson grabbed her arm. Jordan Linn 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'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.
For the family and friends of Cody Johnson it was a great loss, losing him to this tragedy. But there is light now for justice in the confession of his wife Jordan Linn Graham and for pleading guilty for the said accident.
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