Judge denies newlywed's request to withdraw guilty plea

U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy has denied Jordan Graham’s request to withdraw her guilty plea to killing her newlywed husband last summer in Glacier National Park.

Molloy denied Graham’s request as her sentencing hearing began today, March 27, in Missoula.

Graham, 22, of Kalispell, pleaded guilty in December and admitted she pushed Cody Johnson, 25, off a cliff along The Loop Trail near the Going-to-the-Sun Road on July 7 — eight days after they were married.

Her attorneys asked to withdraw the plea on March 25 after prosecutors recommended 50 years to life in prison and cited evidence of premeditation by Graham in Johnson’s death.

Graham claimed she accidentally pushed Johnson off the cliff on July 7 following an argument. Johnson’s body was found three days after he was reported missing. She said at her trial that she was having second thoughts about being married so young, and the newlywed couple went to Glacier Park to talk about it.

But Graham took steps to stop investigators from tying her to Johnson’s death, including fabricating a story about Johnson leaving their recently purchased Kalispell home in a black car headed for West Glacier. She also created a fake e-mail from someone named “Tony” claiming that Johnson was with friends when he accidentally fell off a cliff in the Park.

Her story unraveled when the versions she told to friends, relatives and authorities didn’t match. It was Graham herself who told a Park ranger where her husband’s body could be found.

As of presstime, Molloy had not sentenced Graham. That could take place later today.