Jordan
Graham Pleads GUILTY To Second-Degree Murder In Plea Deal
MISSOULA, Mont.— A newlywed bride accused of deliberately pushing her husband to his
death in Montana's Glacier National Park agreed Thursday to plead guilty to
second-degree murder.
News of the plea
deal for Jordan Graham, 22, came as a jury was set to hear closing arguments in
her murder trial. A judge is still deciding whether to accept the agreement.
Under the plea
deal, prosecutors would drop charges of first-degree murder and making false
statements. Graham would face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
No sentencing date
has been scheduled.
Prosecutors had
alleged Graham was having second thoughts about her 8-day-old marriage to
25-year-old Cody Johnson when she lured him to a steep cliff in the park on
July 7 and intentionally pushed him.
Defense attorneys
wrapped up their case Thursday without the bride telling the jury in her own
words what happened that summer night.
Graham did not take
the witness stand to defend herself against charges of first-degree murder,
second-degree murder and making false statements to authorities in the death of
Cody Johnson.
Instead, Graham's
attorneys showed the jurors pictures and videos of Graham smiling as she had
her hair done and tried on her borrowed wedding dress, then videos of the June
29 wedding and the couple's first dance.
Those images
attempted to chip away at the prosecution's image of Graham as a cold,
dispassionate woman who didn't want to marry Johnson and then eight days later,
led him to a dangerous precipice in the Montana park and deliberately pushed
him to his death.
Elizabeth Shea, a
musician whom Graham commissioned to write a song for their first dance,
described Graham as very quiet and standoffish — until she was asked about her
wedding.
"She would
light up. She would smile," Shea testified.
Jurors also heard
from Graham's longtime employer Sarah Bigelow. Graham was a nanny for Bigelow's
two children for five years. Bigelow, who loaned Graham her wedding dress, said
it was difficult for Graham to interact with people she didn't know, but that
her two children loved Graham.
"She was
always on time. She always took care of them very well. They love her,"
Bigelow said.
Both the
prosecution and defense rested their cases Thursday after three and a-half days
of testimony. Jurors were to hear closing arguments in the afternoon, and the
panel is expected to begin deliberations today.
Johnson was
reported missing on July 8. Graham initially said he left with friends the
night before, but eventually told the FBI that Johnson died in a tragic
accident during a heated argument.
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