Glacier Park murderer to appeal sentence

Attorneys for the woman who pushed her husband to his death off a cliff in Glacier National Park are appealing her 30-year prison sentence, the Associated Press reports.

U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy sentenced Jordan Graham of Kalispell to 30 years in prison for killing her newlywed husband Cody Johnson, 25, last summer in Glacier National Park. Graham pushed Johnson off a cliff near the Loop Trail, initially tried to cover up the crime, and then later confessed.

Graham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder just before closing arguments during her December trial.

Prosecutors agreed to drop a first-degree murder charge and a count of making a false statement to authorities when Graham changed her plea, but Molloy warned Graham at the time that she could still face life in prison.

Her defense attorneys tried unsuccessfully to retract that plea after prosecutors recommended a prison term of 50 years to life and argued she had planned to kill her husband of eight days. Molloy denied that defense motion.

Defense attorneys plan on appealing the sentence to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals claiming several issues, including prosecutors raising the issue of premeditation in a sentencing memorandum. Graham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, which does not involve premeditation.

The notice says she also plans to appeal Molloy's decision not to allow her to withdraw her guilty plea and “all appealable aspects of the conviction and sentence.”