No Remorse Gets Newly Wed Murderess 30 Years in the Pen

Michael Gallagher photo

 Jordan Linn Graham pushed her husband to his death off a cliff in scenic Glacier Park eight days after their marriage on July 7 of last year according to this article in the Missoulian. As is often the case, the judge in this trial based the sentence at least in part on the failure of the defendant to express remorse for her actions. She's probably pretty remorseful. Given a trip back to Glacier Park in a time machine she probably wouldin't have given new hubby Cody Johnson that shove over the edge. In fact, she might well have set the dial back 9 days or so and skipped the marriage and subsequent murder altogether.

Maybe it isn't even a curiosity that a judge would require a demonstration of remorse before pronouncing sentence, it seems to happen all the time. According to the news account she did do a substantial amount of crying during the process. It must have been transparent or badly timed or just ineffective. She needed better coaching. Defense attorneys hire jury analysts and all manner of other experts to assist in trials. I'm going to hang out my shingle as defendant remorse coach. It might be a good supplement to my current gig as a touchdown celebration coach for high school wide receivers.