Newlywed agrees to mid-trial murder plea in slaying of her husband
A Montana woman accused of pushing her husband off a cliff at Glacier National Park a week after they married has agreed to a mid-trial plea.
Jordan Linn Graham, whose age is given as 21 or 22, agreed Thursday to plead guilty to second-degree murder. In return, federal prosecutors in the Missoula case have agreed to drop first-degree murder and false statements charges, according to the Associated Press, CNN and KXLH.
The defense had already rested its case without having Graham testify, but the two sides had not yet given closing arguments. If the judge in the case accepts the plea deal, she could be sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutors said she had been rethinking her marriage and deliberately pushed Cody Johnson, 25, off a cliff to his death on July 7, eight days after the couple was married. The defense called the fatal fall an accident that resulted from an argument. Graham initially lied to police, the defense said, because she was afraid she would be blamed, according to earlier Associated Press and CNN articles.
