Bride Charged with Pushing Groom off Cliff

Accelerating the "till death do us part" clause in her marriage vow, the newlywed allegedly shoved her husband off a cliff a week after they tied the knot

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David Gould

A Montana woman, apparently unsure that marriage was the right step, decided to skip counseling to solve her marital tension and opted to push her husband of eight days off a cliff, prosecutors say.

Jordan Linn Graham, 22, appeared in federal court for a hearing on Monday to face second degree murder charges stemming from the July 7 incident. According to a criminal complaint, Graham and her husband Cody Lee Johnson, 25, had a fight, but decided afterward to go hiking in Glacier National Park in Flathead County, Montana. Their spat continued and when Johnson grabbed her arm, she allegedly responded by removing his hand, then pushing him in the back, causing him to fall of the precipice to his death.

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An FBI affidavit shows that Graham was having second thoughts about having married Johnson, and had told a friend that she wanted to talk to him about it. Just before the couple’s argument took place, she sent a text message to a friend to say she was going to have that talk.

“But dead serious if u don’t hear from me at all again tonight, something happened,” the affidavit said Graham wrote.

Johnson failed to show up for work the following day and was reported missing. Graham was questioned by authorities. She told investigators that her husband was simply going for a drive with a friend, and added that she saw him get into a car that had pulled up to their home.

Two days after police questioned Graham, she told a park ranger that she found her husband’s body near the park’s Loop Trail, a popular path for hikers and one that Johnson favored. Five days later, she reportedly admitted to investigators that the two had an argument that resulted in her pushing Johnson to his death.

Her attorney, public defender, Andrew Nelson, declined comment in the case, the Associated Press reported.

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