Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced the guilty conviction of Jacob Holt Johnson for the aggravated murder of S.M. As part of the guilty plea, the defendant agreed to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
On December 31, 2024, a Bluffdale police officer found the defendant unconscious in a white jeep at a gas station parked across multiple stalls. An assisting officer noticed a female, S.M., in a cardboard box in the trunk of the defendant's vehicle. When officers opened the trunk, they saw that there was an extension cord around S.M.'s neck; she was unresponsive and cold to the touch, with multiple bruises and lacerations to her head, arms, and legs. As police investigated, they discovered a hammer with blood on it in the defendant's vehicle, a hatchet, a knife, a gas can, and a bottle of bleach. Detectives determined the crime had happened in Herriman. They executed a search warrant on the defendant's home, where they found blood throughout the house and apparent signs that someone had attempted to clean up a crime scene. They also found a bat on the kitchen floor with smudge marks that made it appear as if it had recently been washed.
Multiple acquaintances of S.M. told police that she had previously told them about verbal and physical abuse by the defendant.
Today, the defendant pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony.
Sentencing is set for December 17, 2026. m
"We appreciate the victim's family working with our office through this process, including meeting with me to talk about this case and how it has affected their family. We share in the heartbreak felt by the family, and offer our compassion and support," said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. "We appreciate the work of our prosecutors Dayne Skinner and Chris Alberico, our social worker who worked with the family, Jaynie Palmer, and our support staff for their dedication to this case. We also appreciate the detectives at Herriman Police Department who conducted a thorough investigation, which made this conviction possible."