Tell Me a True Crime Story
Tell Me a True Crime Story
The Push
On Monday, July 8, 2013, Cody Lee Johnson did not show up for work and was reported missing. Four days later, his body was recovered from the bottom of a 300-foot cliff in Glacier National Park in Montana. It was soon revealed that his death was no accident.
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Tell me a true crime story. Hey there, welcome to Tell Me a True Crime Story Podcast. I'm your host, holly. Thank you so much for spending this time with me and for taking me along with you as you cook, clean, exercise, drive or whatever it is you're doing right now. I'm honored that you allow me to be a part of your day and I hope that you and your family are happy, healthy and together forever. Please follow this podcast on Facebook, instagram and TikTok. My username on all three of those is at TellMeAtrueCrimeStory.
Speaker 1:I'm still asking you guys for reviews on Apple and for ratings on Spotify. Thank you for your awesome reviews on Apple to ANJ, miss Independent 89, mocha 4, jc Cart Rockfan1, and Em Celine. They all gave me five-star reviews on Apple and said some really nice things about me and the podcast and I'll probably read them, maybe like in the next episode. And on Spotify, I got several more five-star ratings, so I'm up to 50 on Apple and 30 on Spotify, and it's thanks to you guys. You guys are really coming through for me. Thanks a ton and big, big hugs to you guys for doing that for me. Some of you guys may know this and some of you may not, but the reason that podcasters bug their listeners so much for reviews and ratings is because your audience and your podcast can't grow without reviews. The more reviews your podcast gets, the more it will show up in people's feeds as a suggestion and the podcast will gain more exposure and more people will see it. The more reviews that it receives, even more people will listen and you'll receive more downloads.
Speaker 1:Eventually, with enough downloads, this allows podcasters to place ads on their episodes so that they can earn money. And I know for some people that makes them roll their eyes because they despise ads, but it's just a way to make an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. I mean, we see and hear ads everywhere these days. It's been like that for me. It's been like that since I was a kid and my cartoons were getting interrupted by commercials. But I've read many one-star reviews on other podcasts that say that they're given a bad review because of the ads. So if you hate ads on your favorite podcast, please understand that that's just their way of getting paid, just like anyone else expects to get paid from their job. And on podcasts you have the benefit of being able to just fast forward through the ads if you're not interested in the product or service that's being advertised and I know it probably doesn't seem like it because so many good podcasters make it look super easy.
Speaker 1:But podcasts require a ton of work and time. Good podcasts do. There's such a big learning curve, and especially for some people with the audio equipment, and that's an investment and as far as the research and the writing and all of that, it requires a lot of time and energy and work on behalf of the podcaster, especially when I'm talking about like an independent podcaster that does all of it from start to finish by themselves. So so far me I've been doing this one for over a year without receiving one dime. Actually I take that back. I might have gotten like a couple of dollars from the company that hosts my RSS feed. I was offered by them to run a handful of ads that were less than two cents apiece, so it was probably less than five bucks total that I earned. Actually it costs me money to do this podcast, but that's okay because it's a business and I expect to have business expenses. But it wouldn't be like sustainable to do it forever without receiving compensation. Everyone wants to and expects to get paid for a job well done. So I thank you guys for your support and your understanding when I'm asking you guys for reviews, and I just wanted to let you know, like why I asked for that and other podcasters asked for reviews. And one more thing I met these awesome young ladies a couple days ago and I told them about my podcast, so I just wanted to give them a shout out. They're from Canada and their names are Brie and Michelle. So, yeah, I just wanted to say hi to them and it was nice meeting you guys and I hope that you become regular listeners of the podcast. Now let me tell you a true crime story.
Speaker 1:Cody Lee Johnson was born on April 8th 1988 in California to his parents, david and Sherry. In 2002, he moved from California to Montana with his mom. In the summer of 2013, cody was 25 years old and worked at Nomad Global Communications Solutions. He enjoyed the work he did there and the people he worked with. On June 22nd 2013, he moved into a home he'd just bought in Calispell, montana. These family and friends say he was hardworking, outgoing and always willing to help people. He loved life and he loved his new wife, jordan Graham. Cody Johnson knew soon after meeting Jordan Graham that he wanted to marry her one day.
Speaker 1:Cody was 24 and Jordan was 21 when they first met at Taco Bell after church one Sunday night, but some that knew the couple worried that they were mismatched. As I mentioned, cody was outgoing and he was friendly too. He enjoyed playing softball, going for a willing, spending time with his friends and drinking beer. He loved cars, fixing them up and driving them fast. Jordan, on the other hand, was quirky and quiet. She attended church regularly and worked at a daycare center. She was religious and didn't believe in sex before marriage. She hadn't been allowed to date until the age of 18. But despite the differences in their personalities, they both shared a strong desire to have children and start a family.
Speaker 1:People familiar with Cody and Jordan's relationship said that the relationship seemed to be one-sided. Friends of both Jordan and Cody said things like Cody did everything for Jordan, everything he could, to make her happy, but they didn't see much effort from Jordan to reciprocate any of the love and attention that Cody bestowed upon her. Cody put a lot into the relationship and Jordan didn't. Cody always wanted to hang out with Jordan, but she was always making excuses not to hang out with him. Cody was in love with Jordan but she was distant towards him. One friend said it was like Jordan didn't want to be alone with Cody. They'd go out on dates but Jordan would often bring someone along with her. It was like they didn't have many one-on-one dates. A friend of Jordan said she never saw the two flirt with each other, hold hands or kiss at get-togethers. A friend of Cody said he told Cody not to marry Jordan. He said that he had reservations about the relationship between Cody and Jordan. He said it didn't seem healthy because Cody was giving his all and he wasn't getting much back. So, as you can imagine, many of the couple's friends were surprised when Cody proposed and Jordan accepted after a little over a year of dating.
Speaker 1:Kimberly Martinez was Jordan's matron of honor at her wedding. She said Jordan was excited for the planning part of the wedding, but not so much about the actual wedding. In fact, sometimes Jordan would get irritated when the subject of the wedding came up. According to Kimberly, she ended up doing a lot of the wedding preparation by herself and even with Cody, but not with Jordan. Kimberly said she ended up spending more time with Cody picking out a venue than she did with her friend, the bride-to-be Jordan. Jordan didn't spend much time planning the wedding with her future husband, cody, either. Kimberly Martinez said that before the wedding. There were a couple of times that Jordan asked her if she was making the right decision about marrying Cody. Kimberly told her that she could not answer that question for her and that if she was having second thoughts about it, she needed to talk to Cody about it.
Speaker 1:On Saturday, june 29, 2013, jordan and Cody tied the knot. They got married at Woodland Park in Calispell in front of 90 guests. According to some friends of the couple and some of the wedding guests, it was not as joyous an occasion as the wedding photos might suggest. Jordan's friend, hannah said quote she was kind of shaking her head, like just bawling hysterically down the aisle. It wasn't pretty at all. Like a bride would be really happy, like having tears go down her face with a smile looking at Cody, and when she got up there, she didn't look at him in the eyes. She was standing there holding his hands and she was looking down at the ground the whole time. End. Quote. However, others have said that the couple locked eyes with one another during the ceremony and nervously smiled at each other. At their reception, jordan and Cody danced together to a custom song that Jordan had written especially for Cody. For their wedding, jordan paid songwriter Elizabeth Shea to write a song for them. Some of the words in the song called your Mind Go Like this Everyone wants a safe place to fall, and your mind. After the wedding, jordan and Cody had a one-night honeymoon in Big Fork, montana. To surprise Jordan and to do something extra special for her, cody had one of the bridesmaids buy flowers for their room.
Speaker 1:The very next day after her wedding, jordan began texting her friend Kimberly. She sounded very regretful about having married Cody. She said that the wedding night had been miserable and they didn't really enjoy it. The message from June 30th at 10.31pm said quote totally just had a meltdown. I'm completely second guessing everything. I don't know if all of this was the right thing to do. So much happened last night. I just don't know. End. Quote.
Speaker 1:The next night, july 1st, jordan sent more texts to Kimberly. She said quote. I cannot freaking pull myself together. I haven't stopped crying since I was married. I wish someone would have stood up and asked me what I wanted, but I can't go back and change anything. I should be happy and I'm just not. I don't feel like myself. End quote.
Speaker 1:Jordan's texts to Kimberly continued for the next week. In some of them she expressed her less than enthusiastic attitude about the prospect of having sex with her new husband. Jordan wrote in one text, quote I just know he is going to want to do stuff and I'm not really wanting to end quote. In another text message she said quote using the my period started spiel tonight. I freaking hope it works, because if I'm forced to do something I'm going to freak out. End quote.
Speaker 1:Kimberly said that, according to Jordan, jordan and Cody didn't consummate their marriage. Jordan had told Kimberly that she didn't want to and that she was too nervous about it. Here's another despondent sounding text that she sent to Kimberly, quote it's just so freaking hard. I want my happy self back, but I'm a loser who can't open my mouth and say how I feel. End quote. Kimberly encouraged Jordan to talk to Cody about everything, but Jordan said that she was scared to because she didn't want to hurt him, because he seemed so happy. Cody's friend, jeremiah, also doesn't think that Jordan and Cody had sex on their wedding night or that they ever consummated their marriage at all.
Speaker 1:Cody didn't go to church much before meeting Jordan, but she'd gotten him to start going with her regularly after they started dating. So, as was typical for a Sunday, on July 7th 2013, the newlyweds of only eight days attended church together at Faith Baptist Church. After the morning church service, jordan's stepdad Steve asked Cody if he and Jordan had plans to go kayaking that day, but Cody said no, that Jordan had a surprise for him. So later, when Jordan's stepdad Steve saw Cody before the evening church service started, he asked him what the surprise had been and Cody told him that it hadn't happened yet.
Speaker 1:Around 7.15 pm, after the 6 pm church service let out, jordan and Cody went to Dairy Queen for dinner, as did other church members. They sat in a booth and talked with some fellow church goers, but Cody, as usual, was more talkative than Jordan. Jordan was being Jordan, quiet and reserved, but people who knew Jordan described her as shy and standoffish and they said that she often answered questions with one word answers. Meanwhile, jordan was still texting Kimberly about her misgivings regarding her new marriage to Cody, but she did text Kimberly that she was quote going to talk to him tonight. End quote. Kimberly said that she would pray for them and Jordan responded quote but dead serious if you don't hear from me. Something happened end quote. A little after 8 pm that evening, jordan and Cody left Dairy Queen and headed for home. About two hours later, 25-year-old Cody Johnson would be dead at the bottom of a 300-foot cliff in a nearby national park.
Speaker 1:Sometime before 11 pm that night, kimberly received text from Jordan that said now I'm freaking out and I don't even know what to do right now. Around 11 pm, jordan received a text from a 17 year old girl from church named Blake. Blake wanted to let Jordan know that a couponing event at church had been rescheduled. Then the two exchanged some lighthearted text about dancing at an upcoming luau. Jordan texted quote dude, you better work on those sweet moves, although you are pretty amazing already. End quote.
Speaker 1:Jordan called her younger brother, michael, around 11 pm and told him that she and Cody had gotten into a fight. She said she wanted him to come over so that she wasn't alone. He came over and they sat together in the living room. She told her brother that she and Cody had argued and then he left to go on a joy ride with friends from Washington State. Meanwhile Jordan was still texting back and forth with Kimberly and she'd told the same story to Kimberly. Kimberly pressed her for more details and information, but Jordan just texted quote. I talked to him and all it did was cause me to get scratched and him to leave. There's no way I'm gonna be able to fall asleep. If I do, I won't wake up. End quote. Kimberly asked her if they should go out and look for Cody. Jordan responded quote. I really don't want anyone to talk to him today. It all happened so fast it'll just backfire on me. I'd rather wait and see if he shows up to work in the morning. End quote. When Jordan's brother eventually fell asleep on the couch, jordan drove to Kimberly's house. It was after 1 am. When she got there, jordan was shaking and seemed more nervous than upset.
Speaker 1:According to Kimberly, when Cody uncharacteristically didn't show up for work the next morning, monday July 8th 2013, his supervisor and close friend, cameron, was perplexed because Cody was never late for work. Cameron texted Cody at 8 30 am but got no response. At 10 30 am, two hours after Cameron texted Cody, he tried calling him, but it went straight to voicemail. During lunch, cameron called around asking friends if they'd heard from Cody, but no one had. At 4 30 pm, cameron received a text from Jordan asking if Cody had shown up to work that day. She told him that they'd gotten into a fight the night before and then he'd gone off in a black car with quote-unquote car buddies from Washington. Then Cameron heard that Jordan had told someone else the same thing, but added that she'd followed the mysterious black car to Hungry Horse Dam before she'd lost track of it. Cameron called the local police and the Montana Highway Patrol. He also contacted many hospitals in several different states to see if Cody had been in an accident Sometime on this day, monday July 8th 2013,.
Speaker 1:Cody was reported missing to the police by his uncle and Cameron. They told Callispell police that Jordan said Cody went out for a joy ride with some friends on Sunday night but never returned. Cameron was suspicious of Jordan in her contradictory stories. He went to Jordan and Cody's house the next day, tuesday July 9th 2013. No one was home and the back door was unlocked, so he went in and looked around to see if he could see anything that would give him insight as to what might have happened to his friend Cody. He found nothing.
Speaker 1:Jordan's friend Hannah said that during this time, jordan was not worried about her husband Cody's mysterious disappearance. In fact, she said Jordan was carefree and happy, the happiest that Hannah had ever seen her. According to Hannah, jordan told her that she and Cody had not been fighting the night he went missing. She said she'd gone to their garage to see Cody but he wasn't there. She then saw him leave with some friends in a black car that had Washington license plates. She said the black car disappeared around the corner and she never heard from her husband again after that. But Jordan's story kept changing depending on who she talked to. She told her friend Kimberly that she and Cody did have a fight the night he disappeared. She said that Cody had held her down while they were arguing, but she got away from him. She said that he grabbed his keys and scratched her, but, like she told Hannah, she told police that she and Cody had not been fighting.
Speaker 1:The hours ticked by and there was still no sign of Cody. Johnson, like Cameron, kimberly began to get suspicious of Jordan too, because of her nonchalant attitude and her odd behavior that wasn't in line with the circumstances. Jordan wasn't distressed over her missing husband. She wasn't sad or worried, and the inconsistencies in her stories were unsettling. After Cody had been missing for almost 48 hours, jordan's friends and family gathered at her house to discuss where Cody could be. Jordan was being asked questions by the people there and she seemed very uncomfortable, kimberly said. At one point Jordan became upset and took off her wedding ring and flung it across the room.
Speaker 1:Jordan and some of her friends drove around Flathead County and went to the Hungry Horse Dam searching for Cody or any sign of him. A friend that was with Jordan on that trip said that she didn't seem very upset or interested in looking for Cody. She was texting and giggling. While Jordan and her friends were making their way back to Callus Spell, jordan's phone rang and it was Sergeant Chad Zimmerman of the Callus Spell Police Department. He asked Cody to come into the station for an interview. Jordan agreed to go in and arrived at the Callus Spell Police Station a little after 7 pm. She spoke with Sergeant Zimmerman in a recorded interview for about 30 minutes. Sergeant Zimmerman told Jordan that there were inconsistencies in what she was saying and he felt like she was not being honest with him.
Speaker 1:Then there was a strange development in Cody's disappearance. Jordan showed her friend Hannah an email she'd received from a man she didn't know. The email came from the email address TonyCarMan607 at gmailcom and read Hello Jordan, my name is Tony. There is no bother in looking for Cody anymore. He is gone. I saw your post on Twitter and thought I would email you. He had come with some buddies and met up with me on Sunday night in Columbia Falls. He was saying he needed to be with buddies for a bit and take them for a joy ride before they had to go. So he said bye to me and they took off in a black car for a ride. Three of the other guys came back saying they had gone for a ride in the woods somewhere and Cody got out of the car and went for a little hike and they are positive. He fell and he is dead, jordan. I don't know who the guys were, but they took off. So call off the missing person report. Cody is for sure gone, tony.
Speaker 1:After reading the email, hannah began to shake, while Jordan remained calm and unflustered. She wasn't crying or upset. Hannah said quote I told her to go to the cops and she did go, but I was rushing it. Go move. What are you doing? Don't just stand here looking at me. End, quote. Jordan and her mom, lindy, went to the Calispell Police Department to show them the email. They spoke to Detective Corey Clark and Detective Melissa Smith. Jordan was informed of her Miranda rights and waived her right to remain silent and spoke to the detectives. Detectives asked her to see her cell phone and text messages from Cody, but she said that she and her husband always erased their messages at the end of every day.
Speaker 1:Detectives sent a subpoena to Google for information regarding the Tony Carman 607 at gmailcom account. It was determined that the email was a fake and that Jordan had sent the email to herself. The email account was created on an IP address that traced back to a computer at Jordan's mom and stepdad's house. The email account was created on the morning of July 10, 2013. Then, shortly after the account was established, the mysterious email from Tony was sent to Jordan Graham Detectives had already been suspicious of Jordan because her story had changed several times and because of her total lack of emotion. However, after she gave authorities the email from the so-called Tony, they became even more suspicious of her. They were also surprised that Jordan actually believed that the fake email would stop them from investigating Cody's disappearance.
Speaker 1:On July 10, 2013, jordan took friends and family with her to Glacier National Park to look for Cody, hannah said. On the way there, jordan exhibited more bizarre, uncaring behavior. She was waving her hand out the window in the wind, dancing and laughing, acting like nothing had happened. When they arrived at the park, the search party, made up of Jordan's family and friends, put up missing posters and looked for places that Cody could have fallen from or gotten hurt. Hannah said she did most of the work, while Jordan did nothing. In the evening they stopped at an overlook called the Loop. There at the Loop is a sheer 300-foot drop off a cliff and, just for reference, 300 feet is approximately equivalent to a 30-story tall building. Jordan wandered around the parking lot near the Loop, then went to the safety retaining wall that overlooks the gorge. She announced that she wanted to go down past the wall, but her brother stopped her. He said it was too dark and too dangerous.
Speaker 1:The next day, which was July 11, 2013, they went back to the park to continue the search for Cody. Hannah saw many roads and trails that she suggested they search for Cody on, but Jordan would have none of it. Jordan said she was sure she knew where Cody was, so they drove to the area known as the Loop. Again, she went to the overlook. That's protected by a safety wall and Jordan said I think he's down there. Then Jordan suddenly jumps over the safety wall and goes to a rock landing so she can see to the bottom of the ravine. Hannah said that Jordan knew just how to get down there and did it just like a pro. And then Jordan proclaimed that she saw Cody.
Speaker 1:Around 8.30 pm a park ranger was notified that someone had found a dead body below the Loop. The park ranger responded to the Lake McDonald camp store and met with the person who'd found the body. That person was Jordan Graham. The ranger thought it was quite a coincidence that the wife of the missing man was the one to find his body, especially considering that it was in a place where it was out of sight to anyone that was standing at the overlook at the Loop. When the ranger mentioned the seemingly huge coincidence to Jordan, she replied that it quote was a place he wanted to see before he died end quote. Jordan later told Detective Clark that the Holy Spirit had led her to know where Cody was and that's how she'd located him.
Speaker 1:Cody's body was below the Loop there, a big switchback on going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. It was a long, difficult journey to the bottom of the ravine to recover Cody's broken and badly damaged body. It was located at the base of a waterfall floating face down in a shallow creek. A massive cliff loomed above his body. Authorities said that it appeared that he'd landed head-first. He had significant injuries to his arms and head. Cody's tungsten wedding ring was not on his finger. One of his shoes and a black rag were a little downstream from his body. His other shoe was later found on a rock outcropping that Cody had hit on the way down. A wallet was found too, and the items contained within it allowed for the official identification of the body it was Cody Lee Johnson. Pictures were taken and the scene was carefully recorded. Then Cody's body was taken out of the gorge by a special short-haul rescue team from Parks Canada. This team used a special lift helicopter that had also been retained from Parks Canada.
Speaker 1:The date was July 12th. Twenty-five-year-old Cody Lee Johnson had moved into his new home just twenty days before and had married a woman he was madly in love with just thirteen days before. Now his battered body was being transported to a local funeral home. State medical examiner Gary Dale performed an autopsy on Cody. His right eye socket had been crushed in the impact and he'd sustained a seven-inch skull fracture. He'd also sustained multiple rib fractures and his legs were badly bruised. It was determined that Cody's cause of death was blunt force trauma. The injuries to his body were similar to those suffered by someone who'd been in a severe car crash.
Speaker 1:Family and friends of both Cody and Jordan were shocked and devastated, not only by the fact that Cody was gone and how they'd lost him, but by the cold, callous, emotionless Jordan. The young widow didn't shed a tear and instead appeared to be relieved. Hannah said that Jordan mentioned Now that we have the body, we can have the funeral and the cops can be out of it. Just 16 days after Cody's family and friends attended his wedding, they attended his funeral. At the funeral, jordan displayed more shocking behavior. According to witnesses, she was texting while her parents were in tears. As Cody's friends and loved ones spoke about him, jordan was on her phone At a potluck meal after the service. People said Jordan laughed and socialized.
Speaker 1:Jordan's conduct at the funeral made her friend Kimberly furious. It was then that she became positively sure that Jordan had been the one that killed Cody. And Kimberly wasn't the only one. There were many that began to believe that Jordan had killed Cody. Up until this point, jordan consistently denied ever being at the National Park with Cody on the night he died. However, she was easily caught in that lie because there was a surveillance camera at the entrance to the park. On July 16th, an FBI investigator confronted Jordan with a still image taken from footage from that surveillance camera. It showed Cody Johnson's outie arriving at the west entrance of the park at 9.17 pm and there were two occupants inside that looked like Cody and Jordan. Furthermore, cell phone records indicated that both Cody and Jordan were in Glacier National Park that night.
Speaker 1:Jordan then admitted to authorities that she'd lied about Cody's disappearance. Jordan said that he didn't really leave with buddies to go on a joy ride. According to Jordan's confession and court documents, this is what purportedly happened the night Cody was killed. After they left Dairy Queen, they went home At home. Jordan began opening up to Cody about her feelings. This led to an argument and they decided to go for a drive to Glacier National Park to talk things out. They parked at the area called the Loop on going to the Sun Road. They left their cell phones in the car, as was allegedly their routine. Even though Cody had driven, jordan took the car keys. It was almost dark as Jordan and Cody walked on the Loop hiking trail for a bit and were arguing. Then they walked to the other side of the trail, to an area that was very steep. They walked off trail then proceeded down the rocks. Near a stump, jordan Graham stated that at this point their argument intensified. She said that she tried to walk away, but Cody grabbed her by her arm. After removing Cody's hand from her arm, jordan stated that she could have just walked away, but due to her anger she pushed Cody with both hands in the back and as a result, he fell face first off the cliff.
Speaker 1:Two months later, fbi agents arrested Jordan Graham on September 9th and she was taken to the Calispell Police Department. When she was informed by federal agents that she was under arrest for the murder of her husband, she didn't even flinch, said FBI Special Agent Stephen Liss. She only broke down and cried when she was confronted with the overwhelming amount of evidence that authorities had compiled against her. Jordan told FBI agents on audio tape her version of what happened that night. It was a similar version of the story she'd told on July 16th when she was confronted with the picture of her and Cody entering the park the night Cody disappeared. She admitted that she and Cody had been arguing the night he died. They argued at home, but at some point they decided to go to Glacier National Park. They went to the park, walked up the loop and once at the top they walked across the road and walked down the loop trail.
Speaker 1:On the recording, jordan said, quote I didn't want to do that trail because I was afraid that he could fall. And he said he could do it with a blindfold on. I could take a step out and I wouldn't even fall. I said you are going to fall and we started to get into an argument and he grabbed my arm and my jacket and I said no, I want to defend myself. Then he let go and I pushed and then he went over and, quote she said he'd turned his back to her and he was facing the cliff. And that's when she went up to him and, with both hands, pushed him in the back off the cliff.
Speaker 1:She said that the act had not been premeditated, but did say that it was not an accident. She said she'd been unhappy in her eight day marriage. She said she just wasn't feeling like she was on quote unquote cloud nine and she kind of felt like they should have waited a little bit longer before they married. But authorities weren't so sure that Cody's murder wasn't premeditated. Detective Corey Clark speculated that Jordan may have lured Cody to Glacier National Park as part of a sex game in which she'd blindfolded him. Remember, cody had told people that Jordan had a surprise for him, and those people told investigators about the supposed surprise and how much Cody had been looking forward to it. Some witnesses described Cody as having been in a euphoric mood, beaming and super happy the day he died. However, the theory that Cody had been blindfolded could never be proven, though.
Speaker 1:Two days after Jordan's arrest, a hearing was held to determine if Jordan would be released from jail and instead placed on house arrest. Us attorneys said that Jordan should not be released and should be held in jail because of the seriousness of the crime, public safety concerns, potential harm to herself and the spread of misinformation. Regarding the argument that Jordan was a potential harm to herself, the prosecution cited emails in which Jordan said I want to kill myself and I might as well be dead. And concerning the spread of misinformation, prosecutors referred to her repeated false statements and to the email that Jordan had sent about Cody being dead in order to mislead investigators and the public from the fabricated Tony the Carman. The defense argued that Jordan had no criminal history and no evidence of violent tendencies. The defense also argued that if the prosecution felt that Jordan posed a public safety risk, that they would not have waited two months to arrest her.
Speaker 1:The next day, on September 12, 2013, it was ordered that Jordan be released on her own recognizance and placed on house arrest pending trial. Us magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch wrote in his nine-page decision that Jordan Graham was not a safety risk to the community, nor a flight risk. Judge Lynch also said in that decision quote the Ninth Circuit has repeatedly reminded the district courts of the presumption of innocence and its corollary, that the right to bail should be denied only for the strongest of reasons. End quote. Jordan was required to wear an electronic monitoring device and was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation. Jordan was on house arrest at her mother's house in Kalispell and was only permitted to leave home for religious services, medical treatment, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, attorney visits and court appearances. Jordan was not allowed to have any contact with the family of Cody Johnson or with any potential witnesses in the case.
Speaker 1:On October 3, jordan Graham was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, a lesser included charge of second-degree murder and a charge of making false statements to law enforcement. She pleaded not guilty. Three months later, on Monday, december 9, 2013, the trial of 22-year-old Jordan Lynn Graham began in a Missoula Montana federal courtroom. Senior US District Judge Donald Malloy had barred prosecutors from presenting quote-unquote, highly prejudicial evidence that, they say, shows that Jordan Graham made comments the summer prior about killing her parents or that she fabricated allegations of abuse in previous relationships. Prosecutors were also not allowed to reference DNA evidence in their opening statement that was determined to be on the black cloth found near Cody's body that may have been used as a blindfold. On the fourth day of Jordan's trial, just as the jury was about to hear closing arguments, there was news that a plea agreement had been made. Jordan Graham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. District Judge Donald Malloy accepted her guilty plea but said that he was unwilling to accept some kind of fabrication from her. This is what Jordan told Judge Malloy in court.
Speaker 1:She said that she and Cody were on the loop trail in Glacier National Park on July 7th of 2013. Arguing over her qualms about their eight-day marriage, jordan said she wasn't feeling like she thought she should after you get married. She said. They walked down a rocky embankment off the trail and during their argument Cody grabbed her arm and that's why she got angry. She wasn't sure if he was going to pull her. After she told him to let go, she brushed him away and then pushed him because she was afraid he would restrain her or hold her down. She said both had been facing the cliff at the time of the shove and he went over the edge of the steep cliff. She then fled instead of going for help. She said she ran back to the car and left. She said she was so scared she didn't know what to do. She said that before she pushed her husband, she already had the car key, so she quickly left the scene without checking to see if Cody had survived the fall or not. She said they'd both left their cell phones in the car. Shortly after, jordan said she exchanged text messages with a friend from church about dance moves at an upcoming luau. About that text, she said quote that was my personal way of maybe just trying to make myself calm down. End quote.
Speaker 1:Under the plea agreement, prosecutors would drop charges of first-degree murder and making a false statement to law enforcement officers. Jordan faced a maximum sentence of life in prison, as well as up to $250,000 in fines and the possibility of five years of supervised release. Judge Malloy said he would take the severity of the crime, as well as Jordan Graham's clean record, into consideration at sentencing, based on federal sentencing guidelines. The judge warned Jordan that she could easily be sentenced to 19 to 25 years in prison. The prosecution asked that she be given 50 years to life and Jordan's defense asked for only 10 years. Then, on March 26, 2014, jordan Graham, through her attorneys, filed a motion to withdraw her guilty plea because prosecutors had sought life in prison as punishment. The next day, judge Malloy denied that request.
Speaker 1:On March 27, 2014,. In a federal court session held in Missoula, montana, senior US District Judge Donald Malloy handed down Jordan Graham's sentence for the murder of her husband, cody Lee Johnson. In Judge Malloy's pre-sentencing remarks, he had this to say about Jordan Graham. Quote I just don't find Graham credible. End quote. He said she'd lied from the beginning. He said that Jordan Graham is a dishonest person who showed little remorse for killing her husband. According to an article in Missoulacom, judge Malloy said he concluded that Jordan Graham is, quote unquote very strange. Judge Malloy then sentenced her to 365 months, which is 30 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole. Judge Malloy also stated that during her incarceration she is prohibited from profiting directly or indirectly from disclosing information about the murder. Following her sentence, she will have five years of supervised release. Judge Malloy ordered that Jordan Graham pay nearly $17,000 in restitution to cover the cost of the recovery of Cody's body. She must also undergo mental health treatment. It was probably a good idea that Judge Malloy ordered Jordan Graham undergo mental health treatment to determine if she was just a heartless, strange duck or if she had some mental illness.
Speaker 1:Even her defense attorneys had this to say about Jordan's personality in court documents. Quote witnesses will talk about taking Jordan with them on out-of-town trips and how their friends wondered aloud what was wrong with her. She wouldn't talk, end quote. And they also said quote Jordan Graham is naive, immature, socially inept, shy, quiet and unable to relate well to adults end quote Jordan, it seemed, was more comfortable around the young children she took care of at her job at the daycare than she was around adults. In a press release dated the same day Jordan Graham was sentenced. United States Attorney Michael Cotter wrote quote the investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, national Park Service, kalispell Police Department, flathead County Sheriff's Office and Parks Canada. These agencies worked as one and are to be commended for their tireless efforts to bring justice to this case, to Cody Johnson and to his family and friends. End quote In 2015, jordan Graham appealed her conviction and her sentence to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, and it was rejected. So then she took it to the Supreme Court and asked the justices to review her case. Her appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2016.
Speaker 1:Because the murder of Cody Lee Johnson was committed in a national park, it is a federal crime and Jordan Graham will remain in federal prison without the possibility of parole. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, jordan Lynn Graham is register number 12764-046. At the Bureau of Prisons, they call it a register number instead of an inmate number. The first five numbers are unique to the prisoner and the last three numbers, after the dash, indicate the court district where the inmate was arrested and processed into the federal correctional system. Jordan Graham is serving her sentence at Aliceville Federal Correctional Institution in Aliceville, alabama, which is in West Central Alabama near the Mississippi State Line. The prison is all female and the Federal Bureau of Prisons website states it is quote a low-security federal correctional institution with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp. End quote. Jordan Graham is now 32 years old and her release date is November 10th of 2039, at which time she will be 48 years old.
Speaker 1:Sherri Cody's mom said that the question still on her mind is why, why did she do it? And if Jordan didn't love Cody, why did she say yes to the proposal About Cody? His mom said quote Cody Johnson was a kind, wonderful young man that I miss a lot. He was a wonderful person and he did not deserve this kind of life. End quote. Cody's best friend, jeremiah, said of Cody quote I really wish Cody was here. He did so much for everybody. I never realized what he actually did for me until he was gone. I really miss him. End quote.
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