Jordan Linn Graham was married at the age of 22, and widowed 8 days later.
The story was big headlines last summer, including here, the tale of a newlywed Montana couple with the tragic ending when Cody Johnson died after falling from a cliff in Glacier Park on July 7, 2013.
But there were stories the bride told that just didn’t add up. Jordan Linn Graham told one lie after another about her husband’s death, including saying that he had left suddenly with some friends. She even sent a fake email from a fictitious “Tony” that said Cody was never coming back. But police saw through her stories.
Eventually, she admitted to pushing her husband to his death that day. She told the FBI that the push was not meant to kill him. She said that they had argued when she told him that she was having second thoughts about getting married so young, and that he had grabbed her arm. She says she shoved him away, and was horrified to see him fall off the cliff.
With that confession, a plea deal was reached where Graham would plead guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a 30-year prison sentence. We reported on that deal here, as well.
Graham later tried to back out of the deal, saying that she felt it implied that she had killed her husband with premeditated aforethought. But the deal was in place and a judge upheld it.
The New York Daily News now reports that Graham’s sentence has been handed down and she is indeed off to serve her 30 years. Prosecutors do expect that the defense will appeal the sentence.
Cody’s mother says that she feels she can move on now that the sentence has been given.
Image via YouTube