MISSOULA, Mont., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Montana bride Jordan Graham Thursday pleaded guilty to pushing her newlywed husband to his death in Glacier National Park last July.
The newlywed from Kalispell, 22, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a plea-bargain in the death of Cody Johnson, 25, as a jury prepared to hear closing arguments at her murder trial in Missoula. She was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs by U.S. marshals after Judge Don Molloy accepted the plea, the Missoulian reported.
Graham said she and Johnson were on The Loop trail in Glacier National Park July 7 when they argued about their marriage. She said Johnson grabbed her arm and she shoved him over a cliff into a ravine.
"I ran back up to the car and left," she said. "I was scared of what happened and that moment I was so scared I didn't know what to do."
Graham could be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Prosecutors had finished their case Thursday with videos of the couple's wedding.
Lawyers for Graham then began presenting witnesses to make the case that Johnson's death was an accident, KRTV, Great Falls, reported.
Graham was tried in U.S. District Court in Missoula because the death took place in a national park.
Some in the courtroom appeared close to crying as they watched videos of the couple's wedding in a Kalispell park eight days before Johnson died. Jurors also watched the couple dancing at the reception.
