Cody Johnson

Jordan Graham and Cody Johnson were the picture of happiness on their wedding day, but soon after, Jordan was unhappy and already having doubts. Just eight days after the wedding, Cody Johnson ended up dead at the bottom of a cliff. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Cody Johnson. Jordan pushed Cody off a cliff at Montana’s Glacier National Park. Prosecutors argued that Jordan could have walked away from the argument, but she was overcome by anger and intentionally pushed him. Jordan claimed her new husband’s death was a tragic accident. You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetime Visit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation information An Emash Digital production See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

• 0:39Speaker 00

  Hello everyone and welcome to episode 498 of the True Crime All the Time Podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. Gibby, how are you?

• 0:48Speaker 01

  Hey, I'm doing pretty good. How about you?

• 0:50Speaker 00

  I'm doing great, man.

• 0:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:51Speaker 00

  We just have so much stuff coming up.

• 0:53Speaker 01

  We do.

• 0:54Speaker 00

  We'll be at Crime Con in like two weeks. Do want to announce that we're having a meetup Saturday night. That's the 30th at 8:00 PM in the Vista Cocktail Lounge and that's at Caesar's Palace where Crime Con is. So Vista. Vista, yeah. If you're going, come out, see us. We'll have a couple of Coca Colas.

• 1:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, something.

• 1:15Speaker 00

  Yeah, have some fun.

• 1:16Speaker 01

  We'll be the guys over there in the one corner.

• 1:21Speaker 00

  Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shout outs. We had Joanne Bat.

• 1:24Speaker 01

  What's going on, Joanne?

• 1:25Speaker 00

  Kimberly.

• 1:26Speaker 01

  Hey, Kimberly.

• 1:27Speaker 00

  Robin Moore jumped out of our highest level.

• 1:29Speaker 01

  Man, that's awesome. Thanks, Robin.

• 1:31Speaker 00

  HB Girl.

• 1:33Speaker 01

  HB Girl. Trying to think what the HB would be.

• 1:38Speaker 00

  Who knows? How would you even figure it out?

• 1:40Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 1:40Speaker 00

  Sweet P.

• 1:41Speaker 01

  What's going on, Sweet P?

• 1:43Speaker 00

  Nicole Crane.

• 1:44Speaker 01

  Hey, Nicole.

• 1:45Speaker 00

  And last but not least, Elizabeth Van Leanput.

• 1:49Speaker 01

  Oh, the old Leanput.

• 1:50Speaker 00

  Yep.

• 1:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:51Speaker 00

  And then if we go back into the vault.

• 1:55Speaker 00

  This week, we selected Cindy M.

• 1:57Speaker 01

  Well, thanks, Cindy.

• 1:58Speaker 00

  Yeah, great new support. We really appreciate it. We have an episode out right now on True Crime All the Time Unsolved. We're talking about Deborah Linsley. She was murdered on a train in 1988 in London, outside of London, I think. And it's fascinating case because there were like 70 people on this train.

• 2:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's a good case.

• 2:20Speaker 00

  And it was like a really vicious attack, but only one passenger reported hearing anything suspicious. So Gibbs, next Sunday night is our 500th episode.

• 2:32Speaker 01

  Man, that's amazing.

• 2:34Speaker 00

  It is amazing, and we have a big one planned. Somebody's actually already guessed it.

• 2:38Speaker 01

  Really?

• 2:39Speaker 00

  On Patreon. Yeah, I don't want to say who it is because then that'll give it away.

• 2:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:43Speaker 00

  But we do have 499, which is coming out Thursday, and that's on Samantha Josephson. She was kidnapped and murdered during a night out with friends when she got into a car that she mistakenly thought was an Uber.

• 2:59Speaker 01

  Oh, man.

• 3:01Speaker 00

  Yeah, fascinating case, and it's a case that led to a bunch of rideshare safety changes and things like that. All right, buddy, are you ready to get into this episode of True Crime All the Time?

• 3:11Speaker 01

  I am. I'm ready.

• 3:12Speaker 00

  We're talking about Cody Johnson. Jordan Graham and Cody Johnson were the picture of happiness on their wedding day. But soon after, Jordan was unhappy and already having some doubts. Just eight days after the wedding, Jordan pushed Cody off a cliff at Montana's Glacier National Park. Prosecutors argued that Jordan could have walked away from the argument, but she was overcome by anger and intentionally pushed him. Jordan claimed her new husband's death was a tragic accident.

• 3:44Speaker 01

  You know, people do things they might not ever do when they're really upset, enraged.

• 3:53Speaker 00

  Yeah, we talk about a lot of people, right, who do things that maybe they wouldn't or haven't ever done before, you know, because they're in a certain state of mind. But I do want to say this is one of the reasons why I don't go hiking, just one.

• 4:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:09Speaker 00

  I don't want to be pushed off a cliff.

• 4:11Speaker 01

  You mean, go hiking with me or hiking with anybody?

• 4:14Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 4:14Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 4:15Speaker 00

  Cody Johnson was born on April 8th, 1988 in San Jose, California to parents David Clarence and Sheri Ann Johnson. Cody and his mother moved to Kalispell, Montana in 2002. Cody settled in easily and made a lot of friends because he was said to have been very charismatic and he had a really funny personality.

• 4:40Speaker 01

  Kind of like you.

• 4:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, maybe. He loved Montana because of all the outdoor activities. And I just said, right, I'm not the biggest outdoors person, but if you are, Montana's probably a great state to be in.

• 4:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, seems like a good place to go.

• 4:56Speaker 00

  As a teenager, Cody became interested in both fixing and racing cars. This remained his favorite hobby. Throughout adulthood, he still enjoyed hiking and spending time outdoors, but it was said that he was happiest either working on cars or going out for a fast drive.

• 5:14Speaker 01

  Man, I love a fast drive.

• 5:16Speaker 00

  You get a fast car. So again, I've never been one to really work on cars. I don't know a lot about engines and nowadays I think some of the new cars are hard to work on anyway. There's so much computer stuff, but Cody worked for Nomad Global Communication Systems, a manufacturer that designs and builds connected mobile operations centers and specialized vehicles for defense, government, and commercial sectors.

• 5:46Speaker 01

  Sounds pretty techy.

• 5:47Speaker 00

  Yeah. So I mean, he probably had some smarts. Cody decided he wanted to get married and start a family in Kalispell. In 2011, he met a woman named Jordan Graham. She was a few years younger than Cody and grew up in the area. Jordan was described as quiet, introverted, and shy. She enjoyed being outdoors and was active in her church. She loved children and participated in her church's Sunday School and daycare programs. And I think I probably said it before, but my wife is very introverted. She can be very shy around new people, people she doesn't know. And I think when we first got together 30

• 6:31Speaker 00

  years ago, because this month is my 30th anniversary of being married. So we've been together like 32 years. I think people, my friends thought we were kind of an odd pair because I, at the time was even more extroverted.

• 6:45Speaker 01

  Right.

• 6:46Speaker 00

  And she was an introvert, but you know, they say opposites attract.

• 6:50Speaker 01

  You kind of bring her out of her shell too.

• 6:52Speaker 00

  Sometimes. And, and she, over the years, has kind of helped put me back in my shell because I was a little bit too out there.

• 7:01Speaker 01

  She reeled you in.

• 7:02Speaker 00

  Yeah, at times. After graduating high school in 2009, Jordan started working full time as a nanny. She dreamed of having her own family one day. Now she wasn't actively looking for a husband, but she met Cody a few months after she turned 20. So we've kind of heard about both of them wanting a family.

• 7:23Speaker 01

  Right.

• 7:24Speaker 00

  Cody made the first move. When he started talking to Jordan, it was clear to others that she was interested in him, but because she was so shy, it took her a while to accept his romantic advances. Jordan also wanted to find a man who was serious about his faith, and she helped Cody get more involved in church. They officially started dating in November 2011. Cody often told others that he knew Jordan was the one.

• 7:53Speaker 01

  The one. You knew your wife was the one, didn't you?

• 7:55Speaker 00

  I did. I did. Which is probably why we've been together as long as we have. He proposed in December 2012, and Jordan said yes. They started wedding planning and looking for a place to live. And I'm kind of in that spot right now. Not me personally, but with my daughter and my future son-in-law. They're getting married next month. They're looking for their, you know, first place.

• 8:20Speaker 01

  Right. It's always a fun time.

• 8:23Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's also stressful. My daughter is very stressed.

• 8:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:28Speaker 00

  Number one, about the wedding. I think maybe even more stressed about finding a place to live. There's not a lot of houses right now available and the ones that are get gobbled up extremely quickly around here.

• 8:42Speaker 01

  I think that's the difference between when you and I were getting our first places, we didn't have that competition. At least I didn't have that type of competition. There seemed like there was plenty of homes to look at.

• 8:53Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 8:53Speaker 01

  You didn't have to worry about, you know, being beat out left and right.

• 8:57Speaker 00

  No, now rates I think were a little higher.

• 8:59Speaker 01

  They were.

• 9:00Speaker 00

  But maybe that's part of it. I don't know.

• 9:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:03Speaker 00

  On June 22nd, 2013, they moved into their new home in Kalispell. A week later, on June 29th, Cody and Jordan were married. Their photos and wedding video showed a couple who seemed perfectly happy and in love. And, okay, I understand that, but who doesn't look extremely happy and in love at their wedding? If you don't, you got a serious problem.

• 9:29Speaker 01

  Exactly. I mean, if you're looking sad and depressed or angry and mad, I mean, you know, you might want to go ahead and just tear that piece of paper up now and act like it never happened.

• 9:40Speaker 00

  It's probably not going to, uh, to go great from there. On July 8th, 2013, Cody was reported missing by his friend and boss, Cameron Fredericksen. Cody was normally at work by 6 a.m. It was highly out of character for him not to show up. Cameron was so worried about Cody that he broke into his house to search for signs that anything was wrong. Cameron found Cody's phone in the garage, which was a red flag because Cody never went anywhere without his phone. And let's face it, most people don't.

• 10:16Speaker 01

  You know, especially with these phones today, having your whole life on them.

• 10:21Speaker 00

  Yeah. Now, this was 2013, but even back then, by that point, a lot of people were really attached to their phones. But the timing on this thing, right? We said it upfront, but you know, they move in together into this new home on June 22nd. They get married one week later on June 29th, and then Cody's reported missing on July 8th.

• 10:48Speaker 01

  Very short period of time.

• 10:49Speaker 00

  It is. Cameron called friends and family and learned no one had seen Cody since the previous evening. He went to church and was seen at the Dairy Queen in town, having dinner with friends. So, Jordan was first interviewed by the police on July 9th. Obviously, she has to be interviewed, right? She's the, the wife. She confirmed that on the evening of July 7th, she and Cody went to church and then to Dairy Queen. She mentioned that Cody received a call earlier in the day that made him upset. That evening, she received a text from Cody, saying he was heading out with a friend from out of town.

• 11:29Speaker 00

  She said she saw a dark colored car pulling out of the driveway. She also told police that she and Cody regularly deleted their texts, and that was why she couldn't produce the texts for law enforcement.

• 11:43Speaker 01

  Oh, well, I know you want to see some text messages between him and I, but we've always just kind of deleted them because we didn't want them on our phone.

• 11:51Speaker 00

  A little suspicious, right? If you're a detective, a police officer. Okay, I'm sure there are people who regularly delete their texts, but I, I think the percentage is probably pretty small. I know I don't because I want the ability to go back and look if somebody says, hey, I, I texted you that, you know, a month ago.

• 12:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:14Speaker 00

  I want to make sure they're telling me the truth.

• 12:17Speaker 01

  You do that with me sometimes.

• 12:18Speaker 00

  Yeah, sometimes you're right. Sometimes you're not. On July 10th, Jordan and her mother met with the police to show them a suspicious email from a man named Tony. The email, which was released by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Montana, read as follows. Hello, Jordan. My name is Tony. There is no bother in looking for Cody anymore. He's 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 jury ride before they had to go. So, he- Said bye to me and they took off in a black car for a ride.

• 13:04Speaker 00

  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. Signed, Tony.

• 13:26Speaker 01

  I mean, just looking at that email, it's just so bizarre.

• 13:34Speaker 00

  I mean, very bizarre, right? Number one, hey, I, you don't know me, but I, I want to tell you what happened. And oh, by the way, make sure you call off that missing person report because Cody's, he's gone for sure.

• 13:51Speaker 01

  Yeah. And how many car rides have you been with, with buddies that the one buddy would say, hey, pull over. I want to get out here. I'm going to hike for a little bit, guys. Continue your, you know, driving this car fast and having all that type of fun. But I need to get out here right now and hike.

• 14:08Speaker 00

  I'll make my own way home.

• 14:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 14:10Speaker 00

  Yeah. The following day, July 11th, Jordan contacted a ranger at Glacier National Park to report finding her husband's body at the bottom of a ravine in the loop trail area. Cody's body was found at the bottom of, of a 300 foot clip, face down in a shallow creek. When the park ranger commented that it was unusual, that Jordan was the one to make the discovery. She said it was a place he wanted to see before he died. He would come up here with friends to drive fast when his friends were visiting from out of state. Okay. I mean, this is strange as well.

• 14:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, it is.

• 14:51Speaker 00

  Cody's missing. Jordan meets with the police. She gets this anonymous email or not anonymous, but from a, an anonymous person named Tony. We don't know who he is. She doesn't know who he is. And then the next thing you know, she is the one to find his body. I mean, if you're a detective, any type of law enforcement, this, none of this smells right.

• 15:19Speaker 01

  No, it's a very suspicious.

• 15:22Speaker 00

  Cody's body wasn't recovered until July 12th because police had to bring in a helicopter due to the steep cliffs. His death was investigated by the National Park Service, the FBI, the sheriff's office, and the Kalispell Police Department. And we've talked about this before, but you know, when someone is killed on federal property, you are going to have a boatload of agencies involved.

• 15:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:51Speaker 00

  Cody's autopsy results were released on July 19th, confirming he died of a fall. Jordan went voluntarily to talk to authorities on the 16th. This time, she had a completely different story. She admitted that on the evening of July 7th, 2013, she and Cody went to Glacier National Park. She told federal investigators that Cody tried to hold me down during an argument at their home shortly before they went on a hike. Their argument resumed near a narrow ledge above a ravine on the loop trail. She said, "When Cody tried to grab my arm and jacket during the dispute,

• 16:33Speaker 00

  she acted in self-defense by pulling away, but also pushing Cody at the same time." According to Jordan, "He went to grab my arm and my jacket and I said, 'No.' I said, 'I'm not going to let this happen this time. I'm going to defend myself.' So I let go and I pushed and he went over and then I took off and went home."

• 16:56Speaker 01

  Just like that?

• 16:57Speaker 00

  Just like that. But what do we always talk about, right? You meet with investigators, you don't have any idea what happened to Cody. Next thing you know, you're finding his body. And then the next time you meet with investigators, you have this completely different story of self-defense and pushing him to his death.

• 17:23Speaker 01

  And then you have this email. So how do you respond to that?

• 17:27Speaker 00

  Well, it's going to be tough, right? Because now it makes it look like that email was a hoax, maybe perpetrated by you to throw authorities off the trail.

• 17:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:38Speaker 00

  But Jordan wasn't immediately arrested after this interview. It wasn't until September 9th of that year that a criminal complaint was filed accusing Jordan of second degree murder. Jordan made her first appearance that day. According to the affidavit, Jordan provided false statements about Cody's death before admitting to pushing him in her July 16th interview. And it's kind of hard to argue with that because she obviously did. The affidavit summarized the argument on the trail. It said at one point in time during their arguing, Graham turned and began to walk away. She stated Johnson grabbed her by the arm.

• 18:22Speaker 00

  After removing Johnson's hand from her arm, Graham stated she could have just walked away, but due to her anger, she pushed Johnson with both hands in the back. And as a result, he fell face first off the cliff. The charging documents also revealed that Jordan told a friend she was having second thoughts about the marriage and she wanted to talk about her doubts with Cody the night he died. She texted her friend on July 7th, "Oh, well, I'm about to talk to him." Her friend responded, "I'll pray for you guys." Jordan responded by saying, "But dead serious, if you don't hear from me at all again tonight, something happened.

• 19:05Speaker 00

  I really don't know, Gibbs, how it could look any worse for Jordan." Now, I get it, she has her story of this being self-defense, but I mean, you look at all these other things and it's kind of hard to think that that's really true.

• 19:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, it kind of looks like a cover up plus the fact that she says she could have walked away, but chose not to and pushed him in the back.

• 19:34Speaker 00

  That doesn't scream out self-defense.

• 19:36Speaker 01

  It does not.

• 19:37Speaker 00

  Another close friend of Jordan's told law enforcement that Jordan told her about an email she received saying, "Cody had left with three friends, went hiking, had fallen, was dead, and the search should be called off." Siblings Levi and Latani Blazdo, who were friends with the couple, spoke with the Kalispell Daily in her lake after the criminal complaint was filed. They said they had known Jordan since she was three and had known Cody for a handful of years. They stopped speaking to Jordan a year earlier. Latani said about Cody, "He's the best person ever. He's the guy that every father wants for his daughter." That pretty much sums him up.

• 20:19Speaker 00

  Levi agreed, saying, "Cody was the type of guy that was genuinely sincere with everyone. He welcomed every new friend with open arms and without bias. He supported each and every one of his friends, and he was the person you knew would be there if you ever needed him." Levi said he was the one who introduced Jordan to Cody. According to Levi, he was completely smitten with her. But Levi told the paper that he noticed one unsettling aspect about Jordan. Up to and beyond the wedding, she seemed emotionally distant from Cody. He said, "We all had our reservations about their relationship.

• 21:00Speaker 00

  She seemed so remote from the relationship, so withdrawn." And they said they noticed this at Cody's funeral as well. Levi recalled, "At the funeral, a number of us had spoken. And while I gave my memorial for Cody at the podium, she was messing around on her phone. It was very hard for all of us to be there crying and mourning the loss of our friend, and she was so unresponsive to that. Really no emotion, no crying, very sober."

• 21:31Speaker 01

  It's so strange that she was so unemotional about their relationship, you know, because they were newlyweds and to be so unemotional at the funeral, too.

• 21:42Speaker 00

  Yeah, both of them are strange. You know, we, we've talked about it before, but you know, the, the time leading up to your marriage, I mean, that's like, you know, you're still kind of new, fresh, everything should be clicking.

• 21:58Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:59Speaker 00

  Right? And it doesn't sound like that's the case. If so, why'd you get married? And then obviously it is going to stand out to everyone. If, you know, everybody is emotional at this funeral, because let's face it, Cody was a pretty young guy when he died, right? Those funerals are even more emotional because the person hasn't lived their life, but yet the person they just married is playing on their phone. That is going to draw some attention for sure.

• 22:35Speaker 01

  Just really doesn't make her look good being on her phone. I don't know what she was thinking.

• 22:40Speaker 00

  Well, I, I think if, you know, you're on the side of law enforcement, you're on the side of the prosecution, you're probably chalking that up to, she didn't care. She wasn't remorseful because she wasn't sad that he died. The day after the funeral, Jordan posted photos of the children. She babysat as if nothing happened. And I think, you know, a lot of people are going to see that as, as strange as well. I get it. At a certain point, you, you gotta work through your grief and get on with your life. For most people, it's not the very next day.

• 23:20Speaker 01

  No.

• 23:21Speaker 00

  You don't go back to posting on Instagram and Facebook and all of these places unless it's to talk about your loved one. But it's not about, hey, I just had this great dinner or, you know, look at the kids that I, I babysit. It was said she behaved the opposite way. At her wedding, she was emotional and cried before walking down the aisle.

• 23:47Speaker 00

  Latani described Jordan as 100% normal, but very quiet. She told the paper they didn't start to suspect Jordan until she gave different stories about what happened to Cody in the days he was missing. Levi questioned the story Jordan gave to investigators because of her differing statements. One of his primary questions involved the location and nature of Cody's death because Cody was extremely afraid of heights. Levi recalled traveling to New Orleans with Cody and standing at the top of a parking garage. He wanted Cody to take a picture with him by the ledge, but Cody refused.

• 24:28Speaker 00

  And I get that because I've said it before, but I am, you know, afraid of heights.

• 24:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, you are.

• 24:35Speaker 00

  I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a fear of heights. And if you are a person who has that, there are certain things that you don't want to do. Stand next to a very big drop is one of those things. Whether it's at the top of a large parking garage or at the top of a big gorge in a national forest or something like that, that would freak me out.

• 25:05Speaker 01

  You're staying away from that.

• 25:06Speaker 00

  Yeah. Cameron Fredrickson, the friend who reported Cody missing, told the Daily Interlake, he immediately suspected Jordan after Cody was found dead. He said, I almost instantly thought Jordan knew something, did something, or was part of what happened to Cody. When Cody told me that he was going to propose to Jordan, I wasn't real supportive of it. I did have a conversation with him, saying, I think he should reconsider. And to me, that is strange. You know, if one of your friends comes to you before you're about ready to get married and says, oh, man, I don't know about this. I think you ought to think this one over. Okay. I don't know how many people have had that happen to them.

• 25:51Speaker 01

  It would be tough to hear, you know, I mean, especially if it's like your best, one of your best friends. You're like, you're supposed to be here to support me and you're telling me maybe I'm doing the wrong thing.

• 26:01Speaker 00

  But I, here's what I think. I think a lot of people around the couple were seeing things from Jordan that were red flags to them. My assumption is Cody wasn't seeing these because, you know, as it was described, he was so smitten with her.

• 26:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:21Speaker 00

  And when you're so totally in love with someone, I don't think you see some of the, I don't know if it's negative, but some of the signs that other people might pick up on.

• 26:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think that's true.

• 26:34Speaker 00

  On September 12th, 2013, a US magistrate judge ordered Jordan's release. She was put on house arrest and ordered to undergo mental health evaluation and complete the recommended treatment. Prosecutors filed a motion against her release based on the risk that she presented to the community, the seriousness of the charged offense, her repeated false statements and her mental health. I think what they're saying is we believe she's a killer and we don't think she should be, uh, you know, free to leave the jail.

• 27:11Speaker 01

  Yeah. Let's not let her just be out in public now.

• 27:14Speaker 00

  At a hearing on September 13th, Jordan's defense attorney, Michael Donahoe, told the judge that Cody's death was an accident and Jordan was acting in self-defense. Donahoe also said that prosecutors misrepresented events to incite national media attention and win public favor. He contended that Jordan's pushing of Cody was part of her action to free herself after being grabbed. This is all one motion. This grabbing, this pushing, that's what he said. Her attorney conceded Jordan did engage in some deception, but that didn't indicate malice or premeditation.

• 27:55Speaker 01

  Still doesn't explain when she made the statement, she pushed him in the back though.

• 27:59Speaker 00

  Yeah, right. I mean, I, I get what her attorney is trying to do. It doesn't indicate malice. It doesn't indicate premeditation, but it does seem to be more than this self-defense story, that it all just kind of happened in one motion, a blur. Like, those things can happen.

• 28:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:24Speaker 00

  But when you say, "I could have walked away, but I chose to push him in the back." You know, if that's what she told investigators, that does not scream self-defense. If anything, it screams the exact opposite. Now, it may not be premeditation, but it's certainly not an accident or self-defense.

• 28:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:47Speaker 00

  On October 3rd, 2013, Jordan was officially indicted for first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and providing false statements. According to documents unsealed by the prosecution, in November 2013, Jordan told park rangers where Cody's body was so the search would be called off. The affidavits were provided by National Park Service Special Agent Justin Ivory, written in support of search warrants, seeking evidence from Jordan's social media, iPhone, and email. According to the documents, Jordan texted her friend, whom she told earlier she was going to talk to Cody about her doubts concerning their

• 29:31Speaker 00

  marriage, late on July 7th, saying, "She talked to Cody, and all it did was cause me to get scratched and him to leave." One of her texts said, "Dude, I'm freaking out. I'm about to go for a walk or something. Jump off a frickin' bridge. I don't know. I've lost it."

• 29:50Speaker 01

  So it sounds like she got angry about how the supposed conversation went.

• 29:55Speaker 00

  Yeah, I think one of the problems is, you have to wonder if these texts are even real.

• 30:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:03Speaker 00

  Or were they sent as, you know, maybe part of a smokescreen or something like that? Or is it showing that she was really angry?

• 30:15Speaker 00

  Investigators also discovered that on the morning of July 10th, Jordan created an email account named Carmen Tony 607. From her father's IP address, Jordan had been living with her parents since Cody disappeared. A few minutes after the account was created, she emailed herself the suspicious message.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  Now we know who Tony is.

• 30:38Speaker 00

  Well, and I always wonder how people think they're going to get away with this stuff. How they can't see that it's just a digital footprint that is going to be found at some point. Later on July 10th, Jordan drove to the hiking trail in Glacier National Park and said that if the body was found, the investigation would be called off. According to one of three people who went with her. Jordan said, I don't care if they question me. I want the body found and the cops out of it.

• 31:12Speaker 01

  That's interesting.

• 31:13Speaker 00

  It is. I mean, the whole thing is fascinating, to be honest with you, because you go from, oh my gosh, my husband's missing. I think he went off with some friends to knowing where the body is, being able to tell park rangers where it is. And then obviously because of that, you have to craft a different story, putting yourself there because how else would you know where the body is?

• 31:45Speaker 01

  But she's also thinking they're going to call the investigation off. They're going to call the search off.

• 31:51Speaker 00

  Yeah, but the investigation is just going to get heated up, right? Because nothing seems to make sense. She said she wanted to check a spot where Cody liked to hike, but the others talked her out of climbing down a retaining wall. The next day, July 11th, Jordan and her mother and at least one other person returned to the area and Jordan told them she saw Cody's body from the cliff's edge. On the way home, Jordan said, now that we have the body, we can have the funeral and the cops will be out of it.

• 32:28Speaker 01

  Such a weird thing to say.

• 32:29Speaker 00

  Yeah, because she just wants them to go away, right? Don't investigate. You don't need to look for him anymore because he's found. Obviously, it was an accident, so nothing to see here type of situation.

• 32:45Speaker 01

  Move it along, move it along.

• 32:46Speaker 00

  In a defense brief filed that same month, Jordan's attorney said she was a victim of a witch hunt and a conspiracy involving attorneys, local police, and the FBI colluding to deprive her of due process and a fair trial.

• 33:03Speaker 01

  Well, I think they have that wrong.

• 33:05Speaker 00

  Not to say that conspiracies don't happen, but based on everything we've talked about, there was no conspiracy needed here on the part of the FBI, the police, or anybody like that, because, I mean, she had basically dug her own hole.

• 33:21Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 33:22Speaker 00

  They didn't need to dig one for her. The defense argued that Jordan's July 16 interview with the FBI was mishandled. They said the government selectively preserved evidence by recording only those portions of the defendant's interrogation, it felt would benefit its case, presented incomplete evidence to the grand jury, which rendered it false, and deliberately sought to acquire an early tactical advantage by deftly refusing to arrest the defendant at the conclusion of her interrogation by the FBI, only to turn around two months later to proclaim publicly

• 34:02Speaker 00

  that the defendant is a sociopath deserving of immediate incarceration. The brief noted that no part of Jordan's interrogation was video recorded. Additionally, according to the brief, although defendant had been at liberty for those two months, the government consciously elected to proceed to charge the case by way of unsealed complaint, knowing all the while that no grand jury would be convened for at least two more weeks. Prosecutors knowingly sought to influence the public with negative evidence that in the ordinary course would have remained confidential before the grand jury.

• 34:42Speaker 00

  They said that as a result of the prosecution's indirect use of the media, Jordan would never receive a fair trial. And for me, Gibbs, you know, it's always tough to know how much of this is really true? How much of this is what you might call defense spin, right? Because we know defense attorneys have to try to spin things in a certain way. Because let's face it, I think her attorney is up against it.

• 35:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think there could be some truth in there.

• 35:15Speaker 00

  Well, when you talk about someone getting a fair trial, I mean, anytime there's a lot of media coverage, does it become harder to get a fair trial? I'm sure it does. People are sitting at home. They're listening to what the news has to say. Maybe there's, you know, pundits or talking heads giving their opinion. I'm sure that can sway people.

• 35:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, and I think a case like this is going to get more attention because it's not your typical murder. Or accidental death.

• 35:51Speaker 00

  Yeah, I think the fact that they'd been married, what, less than a few weeks or something like that? That's going to be part of it. They're newlyweds. I mean, who kills their spouse a week and a half to two weeks after they're married?

• 36:09Speaker 01

  Off of a mountain cliff to, you know?

• 36:11Speaker 00

  Oh, also, yeah, that's, that's a part of it, right? The brief contained details about the July 16 interview that were previously unknown to the public. The interview was led by FBI agent Stacy Smedala, who was called in due to his experience with administering polygraphs. Jordan was introduced to the agent by a detective she had previously spoken to. In a signed affidavit, Jordan said, she, the detective and agent Smedala, sat in a room and she agreed to a polygraph. The detective left a few minutes later. What followed was an unrecorded interview with Agents Smedala that lasted over an hour.

• 36:55Speaker 00

  Jordan was distressed by Agent Smedala's body language. He put his chair close to hers, so their knees were touching. And he put his hand on her knee and he kept it there the whole time. She tried moving back, but he just moved closer. Jordan admitted that she began her interview by telling the same lie, but she soon realized she needed to tell the truth. She described the events of July 7th and how Cody fell off a ledge, according to her, in what I truly believe was an accident. At one point, she physically reenacted how Cody grabbed her and how she pulled away and pushed him in a single motion. According to Jordan, per the signed affidavit,

• 37:39Speaker 00

  when I first read the complaint after I was arrested, I was shocked. I never told Agent Smedala that I started to walk away and then decided to turn around and push Cody off the ledge with two hands. Those were his words. That is not what happened. Jordan's defense argued that the explanation of events in Smedala's polygraph exam report, in which he stated, Jordan pushed Cody in the back with both hands due to extreme anger, was fabricated evidence. Jordan recalled that after a while, Agent Smedala told her she passed and he thought she was telling the truth. The detective returned to the room and a recorder was turned on.

• 38:23Speaker 00

  Jordan did a 12-minute summary interview, briefly going over each part of her statement. And so this is a fascinating piece of the puzzle. Now, this is Jordan saying this happened.

• 38:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, we're just hearing one side of the story.

• 38:38Speaker 00

  Right, so that doesn't mean it's true, but this is what she said in an affidavit. If it is true, then I think you would have to question some of the actions by this FBI agent. Right? If she never actually said, "I turned around and I pushed him in the back with two hands." Okay, that's a big deal.

• 38:59Speaker 01

  It is a big deal.

• 39:00Speaker 00

  Because to me, it's a very important part of the case. So if it didn't happen, big deal. Also, this idea of kind of having the interview not recorded and then turning on the recorder later. I mean, to me, that's, that's obviously not best practice. It's not a good way to do things.

• 39:22Speaker 01

  No. And I don't know why he would put his hand on her knee.

• 39:27Speaker 00

  Yeah, that's the other thing. I mean, she really made it sound like, I didn't take it as though it was like sexual. I took it more as like very intimidating. Like he's right next to me.

• 39:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:38Speaker 00

  He's got his hand on my knee, almost like he's trying to intimidate me to make me say something. But this is why I always say Gibbs, that, you know, a jury has a really tough job. You know, when you've got to sit and weigh, who's telling the truth? Is the FBI, is law enforcement telling the truth? Or is Jordan telling the truth? And a lot of times, it's tough to take someone like Jordan's side because they've already lied about a bunch of things.

• 40:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 40:09Speaker 00

  So are they now being truthful in this affidavit? In her interview, Jordan said she and Cody went to church, then to Dairy Queen on the 7th. She discussed a surprise for Cody with his friends. She said she could tell he needed a break. So she planned a barbecue with his friends. She and Cody went home and got into an argument about their marriage, during which Cody held her down. She said, he didn't hit her, but controlled her movements. He just kind of pulled me and told me that I wasn't leaving until we sat there and talked. And then he would hold me down and I could not get up. Jordan recalled that Cody once

• 40:52Speaker 00

  told her that if he ever hit her, she could leave him and never come back. After the argument, Cody came up with the idea to go for a drive to the park. They walked down Loop Trail and began arguing. According to Jordan, I was kind of getting some built up anger, not very happy that he was talking at me like I was a child. And when I was trying to tell him how I was truly feeling. At one point, Cody began bragging about not being afraid of the cliff. And he said, I could do this with a blindfold on. I could just put it on, take a step, but I wouldn't even fall. And I was like, and it just keeps going through my head that you're going to fall or something.

• 41:37Speaker 00

  Cody tried to grab her arm. I said, no, not gonna let this happen to me. I'm going to defend myself. So I kinda said, let go, and I pushed. And he went over. Jordan said about the push, I took two and I just pushed. Like to get him off me, like pushed. It was, it was two hands. Alright, so let me go back to the fear of heights thing for a minute.

• 42:03Speaker 01

  I was thinking the same thing.

• 42:05Speaker 00

  If this person was truly afraid of heights, as many people said he was. I just don't see someone, I know I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't get anywhere near the cliff and I certainly wouldn't be playing around.

• 42:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 42:20Speaker 00

  Next to it, you know, saying, oh, I could do this blindfolded or there's no way I'm gonna fall over. The whole time I'd be thinking, if I get close to this, I'm going to fall over.

• 42:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, and you would not do it.

• 42:33Speaker 00

  I wouldn't.

• 42:34Speaker 01

  So I kinda side with you on that, that I doubt that's something he would do if he had that type of fear.

• 42:42Speaker 00

  Yeah, it doesn't mean it couldn't have happened. It just doesn't seem very likely. She was asked if she could have avoided pushing Cody and just walked away. She responded, yes, looking back, I guess I could have. When asked why she continued to turn around and push Cody, she said, it was because of high emotions. I was frustrated. I was angry. I was every emotion that I could ever think of all at once. And I'd never felt like that before. I had never experienced that such high emotion. So again, if you're the jury, what are you making of all of these different things that Jordan has said?

• 43:24Speaker 01

  I mean, they seem to be all over the place.

• 43:26Speaker 00

  They do. They do. I mean, but even in the parts where she's trying to make it seem like an accident, even then she's saying, yeah, I could have walked away.

• 43:39Speaker 01

  Yeah. I didn't have to do it. I was just so angry that I did it.

• 43:43Speaker 00

  So if you're a juror, are you saying, yeah, that was self-defense or no, maybe that was not self-defense? I don't think it's clear cut that it was self-defense. That's for sure.

• 43:55Speaker 01

  Right.

• 43:56Speaker 00

  In the brief, the defense called the investigators' failure to record all of Jordan's statements, a grand government strategy designed to avoid creating a complete electronic record of the interrogation. Due to these issues, the defense argued the indictment should be dismissed on constitutional grounds. But on November 15, 2013, the judge rejected the request to dismiss the indictment. Towards the end of the month, prosecutors filed more documents indicating Jordan spoke about killing her mother and stepfather in the weeks before the June wedding. Prosecutors planned to introduce this evidence at the trial. Her remarks would

• 44:39Speaker 00

  be used to negate innocent intent and demonstrate the likelihood that the defendant did act with the requisite intent in the charged case. That's what they said. Those are not my words. Cause there's a lot of big words in there.

• 44:55Speaker 01

  You could have said they were my words, but.

• 44:57Speaker 00

  But then everybody would just know I'm lying.

• 45:00Speaker 01

  But yeah, I mean, if that's true, that she was thinking about killing her mother and stepfather, that's big. That's big news.

• 45:09Speaker 00

  Yeah. Because what does it mean if it's true? If she's thinking about doing that, is it much of a leap to think that she could possibly have killed her husband?

• 45:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:24Speaker 00

  Prosecutors also intended to prove Jordan lied about alleged abuse she experienced in previous romantic relationships, which provided insights into her state of mind and credibility. Jordan's trial began on December 9th, 2013. Prosecutors told the jury that Cody was head over heels for Jordan, but she was having serious doubts that came to a head during their argument on the trail. The day after the wedding, Jordan told a friend, she totally had a meltdown and was having second thoughts concerning her marriage and wondered what the heck I just did all this for. Now, I'm sure Gibbs, there are people that after the

• 46:08Speaker 00

  marriage think, oh, did I mess up? Seems awful strange that the day right after.

• 46:16Speaker 01

  Yeah. I mean, why go through with it? I mean, if you, you probably had those feelings going into it.

• 46:22Speaker 00

  Yeah, that was my thought. I mean, this wasn't like a hangover situation or hangover two, whichever one it was. Yeah. I think it was the first one where, you know, he got married after a drunken night in Vegas. Yeah. You're going to have maybe some regrets the next day after that, but.

• 46:38Speaker 01

  I mean, this is something that they planned together. You know, according to people at the wedding, she was emotional and crying and happy. And now she thinks she made a mistake.

• 46:50Speaker 00

  Several witnesses testified that on July 7th, 2013, Cody said Jordan had a surprise planned for him later that day. The prosecution argued that Jordan lured Cody to Glacier National Park with the promise of the surprise. During their argument, she intentionally pushed Cody off the cliff and drove away without seeking help. She lied to family, friends, and the police about what happened to Cody and fabricated the email from Tony claiming Cody was dead. The prosecution noted that multiple people reported Cody missing on July 8th, but Jordan wasn't one of them.

• 47:30Speaker 01

  See, that's, that doesn't look good.

• 47:32Speaker 00

  No, it doesn't. You know, if you just look at all of these things from kind of the perspective of the jury, you're just like, oh, that doesn't look good. Oh, that doesn't look good. Because, you know, things go to a person's credibility or against their credibility. Obviously, the different stories go against it. When you don't report your new husband, very new husband, missing, but yet a whole bunch of his friends do. Okay, that is going to have to be put in the go against you column.

• 48:09Speaker 01

  She's done a few things that goes against her.

• 48:13Speaker 00

  And, and of course, this email, right? Because we've talked about it a few times. The revelation that it came from her father's IP address and she was staying there at the time. You know, to me, that, that would be a, a big deal. Just kind of another piece of this, I'm making up this grand story. She communicated with numerous people in Kalispell about what happened to Cody, telling them he left with friends. But then she led authorities to his body. After providing several false statements and impeding the investigation with false information, Jordan ultimately admitted to pushing Cody from behind.

• 48:58Speaker 00

  Jordan's defense said she had finally worked up the nerve to talk to Cody about her doubts on July 7th. But their argument ended in a tragic accident when he grabbed her and she pushed him to remove his hand. As quoted by the Daily Interleg, the defense said, arguing on this small ledge was like arguing in a phone booth. Jordan lied because she was afraid no one would ever let her explain what happened on that ledge. The defense characterized Jordan as naive, immature and shy. She dealt better with the children she nannied than with adults. She was awkward around Cody's friends and since they didn't like her, so she avoided them.

• 49:42Speaker 00

  She didn't want to report the accident because she was afraid. And in her naivete, she created an implausible story. And that's the one thing I do agree on. It was an implausible story.

• 49:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, she really did fabricate it.

• 49:59Speaker 00

  But you know, I give it up to the defense team. They're, they're trying hard, right? To, to put a spin on her situation. I just think this is a really tough one to spin. Cause there are so many things that are just not making her look good at all.

• 50:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, she kinda set them up.

• 50:18Speaker 00

  Like she didn't give them a lot to work with.

• 50:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly.

• 50:21Speaker 00

  Yeah, I get you. On December 12th, 2013, Jordan Graham pleaded guilty to second degree murder. On day four of her trial, the plea deal was announced after the prosecution and defense rested their cases and took a courtroom break. They had not yet begun closing arguments. When the trial resumed, the judge said there were new developments and the prosecution announced the deal had been made. Prosecutors agreed to drop the first degree murder charge and the count of making a false statement. Jordan was asked to recount exactly what happened on July 7th. She described the argument and how she pushed Cody when he grabbed her saying,

• 51:05Speaker 00

  "I wasn't thinking about where we were. I just pushed." On March 27th, 2014, Jordan was sentenced to 30 years in prison plus five years of supervised release. She was ordered to pay $16,910 in restitution. But then Jordan filed a motion to withdraw her guilty plea, but the judge denied her motion. I mean, she is just so all over the place.

• 51:34Speaker 01

  Really is. Seems almost uncontrollable.

• 51:38Speaker 00

  And I just wonder with this latest thing, you know, was there something along the lines of, okay, they're gonna drop first degree, they're gonna drop making a false statement. It's gonna be second degree, but then she finds out she's gonna have to do 30 years in prison. So she's like, oh, I'd just rather take my chances.

• 51:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:58Speaker 00

  I just wonder if it was something along those lines.

• 52:02Speaker 01

  I mean, it could have been, but I don't think she would have fared any better.

• 52:07Speaker 00

  No, I don't either, but I understand, you know, from the prosecution's standpoint, do you even want to take the chance? They had to believe their case was pretty strong, but you never know with a jury.

• 52:21Speaker 01

  That's true.

• 52:22Speaker 00

  Jordan took the stand and apologized to her family and Cody's family. As reported by the Daily Interlake, she said she still loved Cody. It was a moment of complete shock and panic. I have no other explanation. Judge Donald Malloy indicated he had continuing doubts about her honesty, and he was waiting for her to say she was sorry for killing Cody. He added, there's only one person in this room that knows what happened, and I don't think she's been entirely truthful about what happened. And, and that's to me, a very interesting statement, and one that I was kind of thinking about, you know, based on what she said.

• 53:07Speaker 00

  After her plea deal, to me, it didn't even seem that after that, she fully came clean, because she really didn't say that much different from what she had already been saying.

• 53:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, she kind of held the line there.

• 53:23Speaker 00

  Right, we had an argument. I wasn't thinking about where we were. I just pushed. That's what she said. To me, that's not admitting you did it on purpose at all. That is still kind of, kind of self-defense, but also kind of, yeah, I pushed him, but I didn't mean to push him off the cliff.

• 53:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, and she didn't follow it up with, and I'm sorry it happened.

• 53:48Speaker 00

  And she never said, I'm sorry, yeah. And I think the judge wasn't happy about that. According to NBC Montana, Jordan was moved to a federal prison in Alabama. Her release date is listed as June 2040.

• 54:04Speaker 00

  So as we wrap this one up, Gibbs, you know, I think the judge said it correctly. Jordan's the only person who truly knows what happened at the cliff's edge in Glacier National Park. Prosecutors argued that Jordan could have walked away, but she was overwhelmed by anger and pushed her husband of eight days to his death. Jordan's defense argued that it was a tragic accident that occurred when Jordan acted in self-defense, pushing Cody away when he grabbed her. And there, there are quite a few elements of this case that you know would make the media, right?

• 54:45Speaker 00

  People pay attention to stuff like this because it's salacious. You have the, all right, they, they were only married eight days. There's kind of a self-defense argument to it, but yet she's caught in a number of different stories. I'm kind of with you. I don't see how, and obviously we, we didn't talk about everything at trial, but I don't see how a jury with what we know of wouldn't have found her guilty.

• 55:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, I can't see that either. I, I think it, to me, it's a slam dunk of guilt.

• 55:26Speaker 00

  But it does sometimes get tricky with that first degree, right? Premeditation, intent, things like that. You know, sometimes a jury, they have problems with that because could they see an argument breaking out? And in the heat of the moment, she decides to push him off the cliff. Even if it wasn't in self-defense, would it truly be first jury murder? And, and that part, I don't know. I think it probably goes to maybe, again, the prosecution's thinking of, well, we'll do a plea deal. She'll tell the whole story, but I'm not sure she actually did that part.

• 56:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:08Speaker 00

  And like you said, the fact that she didn't apologize and the judge had to call her out for not apologizing or feelings bad about it or sorry. I mean, I think that tells you a lot.

• 56:20Speaker 01

  It does.

• 56:21Speaker 00

  Cause she already had the plea deal. She could have said anything she wanted. So what she chose to say and what she chose not to say, I think is very telling at that point.

• 56:31Speaker 01

  Very.

• 56:33Speaker 00

  But that's it for our episode on Cody Johnson. We got a voicemail. You want to check that out?

• 56:38Speaker 01

  Let's hear it.

• 56:39Speaker 02

  Hi Mike, hi Gibby. Hope yous are both doing well. This is Charles from North Lanarkshire, Scotland here. Just a wee message to thank you for all the great episodes over the years. I'm actually a long-term listener and I've recently signed up to Patreon. Heard a chuckle at the last one I listened to Kelsey Barath where Ferdy mentioned her friend Ashley Cockburn many times. It's just that here in the UK, if the surname was spelt Cockburn, it's actually pronounced Coburn. And I think it would be the same in the States as well, but maybe it's a little bit different. But to me, that seems like something you need to put a cream on. And Gibby, don't let anybody say your Scottish accent isn't up to scratch because I think you do an absolutely great impression name as you's Doubtfire when you try it.

• 57:24Speaker 02

  Thanks for the great work, guys. Stay safe and keep your own time ticking. Goodbye, dear.

• 57:29Speaker 00

  Okay, so that one actually made me laugh when I heard it. When he said that sounds like something you should put some cream on. Okay, if it's pronounced Coburn, then why is it spelled C-O-C-K? Why is it not spelled C-O-B-U-R-N?

• 57:45Speaker 01

  Now, you're asking for too much now.

• 57:46Speaker 00

  Come on now.

• 57:47Speaker 01

  You know, did you feel like you were home when he was speaking?

• 57:50Speaker 00

  Oh, not. No, because I've never been to Scotland. I know what you're getting at. I am of Scottish heritage, but that accent, man, you know it. That's my favorite accent of all time. And I know they have different Scottish accents, just like we have different accents here in America, but there is something about the Scottish accent that is just, it's one of my favorites.

• 58:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, it really lit you up. I seen that.

• 58:17Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's just, it makes me happy to hear. I really, I've got to get over there, but it's a long flight.

• 58:23Speaker 01

  And you understood everything he said, didn't you?

• 58:26Speaker 00

  I did not. There were some things I didn't. I tried really hard. But we, I don't know if you ever worked with him, but there was a guy that worked at the place that I used to work at, used to work at. I used to play golf with him. He was from Scotland.

• 58:42Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 58:42Speaker 00

  And he had a very thick brogue, or whatever you call it, Scottish accent. And I used to just like go golfing with the guy so I could hear him talk.

• 58:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, he had like a little. Man Crush?

• 58:56Speaker 00

  I wouldn't call it that. I just enjoyed his accent.

• 58:59Speaker 01

  Okay. That's why you ate lunch with him every Wednesday in one lunchroom that nobody ever went in. Okay.

• 59:06Speaker 00

  All right, buddy. That is it for another episode of True Crime All The Time. So for Mike-

• 59:10Speaker 01

  And Gibby.

• 59:11Speaker 00

  Stay safe and keep your own time ticking.