Just days after their wedding, Jordan Graham became terrified of having sex with her husband Cody Johnson, texting a friend that she “totally had a meltdown.”
Jordan Graham always dreamed of her perfect wedding — she just wished the husband wasn’t included.
To many of their loved ones, Graham’s relationship with Cody Johnson seemed happy. However, after their wedding on June 29, 2013, friends noticed that Graham became increasingly upset. The reason? According to a source close to the bride, she was terrified of having sex with her new husband.
One evening, just eight days after the wedding, Graham and Johnson went for a hike along a cliffside in Glacier National Park, near Graham’s hometown of Kalispell, Montana. She returned alone, and when Johnson was reported missing the next day, she claimed he had been out with friends.
Over a week later, with evidence and pressure mounting, Graham finally admitted the truth to the police: She had pushed Cody Johnson off a cliff to his death in the ravine below.
Jordan Graham And Her Relationship With Cody Johnson
Born in August 1991, Jordan Linn Graham lived with her family in Kalispell, Montana. Close to Glacier National Park, Kalispell is a rural town in one of the United States’ most scenic areas.
Throughout her life, Graham was deeply religious. She regularly attended the Faith Baptist Church for worship and special events. The church was central to Graham’s life, and she told friends there about her dreams of getting married and starting a family.
Graham told her friends, “I want to meet a nice guy, get married. I want to have kids and I want to be a stay-at-home mom. And just have my family.”
Graham shared this dream with Cody Johnson, an outgoing 25-year-old car enthusiast from California. The two met on Halloween in 2011.
A friend said, “For the longest time, Cody always talked about how he wanted a good church girl. Instantly that just summed up Jordan.”
Johnson joined Graham’s church and quickly made friends with everyone in her circle. Friends said Johnson appeared absolutely smitten with her, and the two officially began dating before the end of the year.
The couple’s relationship moved quickly, and in December 2012, Graham posted a photo on Instagram announcing her engagement to Johnson, and the two began planning their wedding.
Jordan Graham And Cody Johnson Get Married
The couple wanted their wedding to be memorable, so they hired professional songwriter Elizabeth Shea to compose a custom song for the big event.
Regarding Jordan Graham’s behavior during her interviews with the couple, Shea told CNN, “She was excited when she talked about the wedding. When she talked about surprising Cody, she would light up, and that seemed very genuine to me.”
Using information she gathered from the couple, Shea composed Graham and Johnson’s wedding song with ominous lyrics:
“Everyone wants a safe place to fall, and you’re mine…You helped me to climb higher for a better view. You’re my safe place to fall. You never let me go.”
On June 29, 2013, Graham and Johnson married, and friends noticed that Graham seemed a little off. To the couple’s friends, Johnson had always seemed more interested in Graham than she was in him. Her defense attorneys would later write that witnesses saw that Graham “cried too much walking down the aisle and appeared to not want to be there.”
According to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office, Graham reportedly texted friends a day after her wedding that she had “totally had a meltdown” and was having second thoughts about her marriage; she texted her friends wondering “what the heck I just did this all for.”
Those close to the couple brushed off these feelings, believing that Graham was just a nervous bride, but her nerves would eventually settle down. They truly believed that the couple would find normalcy in time, but that moment never arrived.
Eight days after the wedding, Cody Johnson vanished without a trace.
Cody Johnson Goes Missing
On July 8, 2013, Cody Johnson’s friend and boss, Cameron Frederickson, reported him missing after he failed to show up for work. Frederickson drove to the couple’s home, but no one was there.
Investigators immediately found it suspicious that Johnson’s wife, Jordan Graham, hadn’t reported him missing. They interviewed her, and she claimed she didn’t know where Johnson was, stating he had texted her the night before about going out with friends.
On July 10, Graham told the police she received a suspicious email from an account named “carmantony607” confirming her husband’s death. The email read:
“My name is Tony. There is no point looking for Cody anymore. He is gone. I saw your post on Twitter and decided to email you. He was with some friends and met up with me on Sunday night in Columbia Falls. He said he needed to spend time with his buddies and took them for a joy ride. Three of the guys came back and said they went for a ride in the woods, Cody got out of the car for a hike, and they are sure he fell and is dead, Jordan. I don’t know who the guys were, but they left. So call off the missing persons report. Cody is definitely gone. – Tony.”
The following day, police searched the Glacier National Park area based on the email’s information. Graham joined the search, but witnesses said she seemed uninterested and stoic.
While driving around Glacier National Park, Graham stopped on a secluded road leading to a mountain overlook. She told friends and family she “just had a feeling” about the spot. This location, known as “The Loop,” is a dangerous 200-foot cliff overlooking a ravine.
“Very steep area, very treacherous. Full of rocks,” said park spokesperson Denise Germann to NBC Montana.
Despite the rough terrain, Graham climbed over jagged rocks to get a closer look at the ravine. She then shouted that she had found a body. Police later confirmed it was Cody Johnson.
Jordan Graham Admits The Truth About Her Husband’s Disappearance
On July 16, investigators brought Jordan Graham in for another interview after park rangers expressed concerns about her quick discovery of the body. Both park rangers and police suspected Graham knew more than she was admitting.
Investigators delved into the email from “Tony.” They traced it to a computer at Graham’s parents’ house. Graham’s friend also showed investigators ominous texts from the night before Johnson’s disappearance. According to ABC News, the friend received a text from Graham stating, “Oh well, I’m going to talk to him. But seriously, if you don’t hear from me tonight, something happened.”
Faced with the evidence, Jordan Graham admitted to pushing Johnson off the cliff. “I just pushed… I wasn’t thinking about where we were,” she said.
Graham revealed she was unhappy after their wedding. Due to her strict religious upbringing, she was terrified of having sex with Johnson. On the night of the incident, they argued near the ravine. When Johnson grabbed her arm, Graham pushed him away with both hands, causing him to fall off the 200-foot cliff.
Graham was arrested and later accepted a plea deal for second-degree murder in exchange for full transparency. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison with a five-year observation period upon release. In 2015, her lawyers appealed the sentence, calling it excessive, but the court upheld it. She remains incarcerated in Alabama.
The truth of Johnson’s death left their family and friends heartbroken. “I never expected her to be capable of hurting someone,” said a friend of Graham. “Especially someone who worshiped her. He would have given her anything.”
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