KALISPELL, Mont., Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Police said they arrested a 22-year-old Montana woman after she allegedly confessed to pushing her husband of eight days off a cliff during a heated argument.
Jordan Linn Graham of Kalispell was arrested Monday morning and made her first appearance in U.S. District Court in Missoula that afternoon to face charges of second-degree murder, The (Missoula) Missoulian reported.
Graham is accused of killing her husband, 25-year-old Cody Lee Johnson, on July 7, the newspaper said.
Tracey Maness, a friend of the Johnson family, said the victim's family suspected Graham from the day he disappeared because she continually changed her story and refused to speak with his mother.
"Nobody is shocked at all," Maness said of Graham's alleged involvement. "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 initially told law enforcement officials that Johnson disappeared after telling her he was going for a drive with a friend from out of state in a car with Washington license plates, the newspaper said.
She allegedly confessed in mid-July to FBI agent Steven Liss she pushed Johnson over the edge of a cliff in Glacier National Park during an argument.
Graham hadn't waived her right to a grand jury hearing, said Victoria L. Francis, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Montana. If she doesn't waive her right, the case will proceed to a grand jury, which will decide whether to indict her on the charges.
