Judge accepts guilty plea of Montana wife charged with pushing husband off cliff.

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Family and friends testified that Cody Johnson, 25, was in love with his new bride, Jordan Graham, 22, but she only seemed infatuated.

A federal judge has accepted a guilty plea Thursday from a Montana newlywed after she reached a surprise plea agreement and said she pushed her husband from a cliff in Glacier National Park. 

In exchange for the plea to second-degree murder, prosecutors agreed to drop 22-year-old Jodan Graham's first-degree murder charge and a count of making a false statement to authorities.

She also had to recount exactly what happened the night of July 7 when her husband of eight days, Cody Johnson, fell to his death.

The development came before a jury was set to begin considering the case against Graham. First-degree murder means a crime is premeditated. 

Graham could face a maximum sentence of life in prison on Mar. 27.

MICHAEL GALLACHER/THE MISSOULIAN/AP

Jordan Graham (center) has pleaded not guilty to first- and second-degree murder of her husband of eight days.

Following through on her end of the deal, Graham told District Judge Donald Molloy that she told Johnson that she wasn’t happy and wasn’t feeling like she should after getting married. 

She said they argued and at one point he grabbed her by the arm.

She said she brushed his hand away and pushed him, with one hand on his arm and one on his back.

“I wasn’t thinking about where we were ... I just pushed,” she told the judge. She said she then drove back to Kalispell without calling for help because she was so afraid she did not know what to do. 

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Cody Johnson allegedly canceled plans to go kayaking and golfing the day his murder, witnesses testified in court.

Graham did not take the witness stand to defend herself during Thursday's closing arguments.

Instead, Graham’s attorneys showed the jurors pictures and videos of Graham smiling as she had her hair done and tried on her borrowed wedding dress, then videos of the June 29 wedding and the couple’s first dance.

Those images attempted to chip away at the prosecution’s image of Graham as a cold, dispassionate woman who didn’t want to marry Johnson and then eight days later, led him to a dangerous precipice in the Montana park and deliberately pushed him to his death. 

Those who did speak on the stand included Graham's stepfather, Stephen Rutledge.

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Cody Johnson and Jordan Graham had been married a little more than a week when he plummeted to his death. The defense claims Graham pushed him out of self-defense during an argument.

Rutledge told jurors that he'd chatted with her new husband about going kayaking and golfing on the morning of July 7.

But he said Johnson told him he'd decided not to go that day because his bride of eight days "had a surprise" for him.

Rutledge's account was backed up by Eddie Alberto Colon, who testified Wednesday that his pal Johnson had called off a round of golf for the same reason.

Graham, 22, has already admitted pushing Johnson 200 feet off a cliff in Glacier National Park. But she claims it was self-defense during an argument.

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The newlywed fell to his death at Glacier National Park in Montana. Witnesses say Cody Johnson agreed to go on the hike because his bride had a 'surprise' for him.

Federal prosecutors, however, claim she meant to kill her spouse — and point to texts she sent to a friend saying she was "unhappy" in her marriage, reports the Missoulian.

Graham had pleaded not guilty to first- and second-degree murder.

Johnson's mom and other friends and family also testified that Johnson was "much more in love" with Graham than she was with him.

Brad Blasdel, a close friend, claimed Johnson was "infatuated" with his wife, but that "it seemed one-sided." And Cameron Fredrickson testified he never thought the marriage would work out.

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Cameron Fredrickson, friend of Cody Lee Johnson, testified that he never thought the marriage would work out.

In stark contrast Elizabeth Shea, a musician whom Graham commissioned to write a song for their first dance, described Graham as very quiet and standoffish — until she was asked about her wedding.

“She would light up. She would smile,” Shea testified. 

Jurors also heard from Graham’s longtime employer Sarah Bigelow. 

Graham was a nanny for Bigelow’s two children for five years. Bigelow, who loaned Graham her wedding dress, said it was difficult for Graham to interact with people she didn’t know, but that her two children loved Graham. 

KURT WILSON/AP

Jordan Graham allegedly set up a fake email account for a person named 'Tony' to make it seem like 'Tony' was with her husband when he died.

“She was always on time. She always took care of them very well. They love her,” Bigelow said. 

Deputy Flathead County Coroner Richard Sine testified that when Johnson, 25, was found in a small pool below a cliff, he wasn't wearing his wedding ring and did not have a set of keys on him.

Both the prosecution and defense rested their cases Thursday after three and a half days of testimony.

Prosecutors claim she initially told friends, family and cops that the last time she'd seen her husband was when he went off with a friend in his car.

They allege she created a fake email account to send messages to herself from a person called "Tony" who said her husband had fallen to his death while hiking. And they say she claimed to have only found his body after going to a spot where he liked to hang out with his friends.

Graham initially said he left with friends the night before, but eventually told the FBI that Johnson died in a tragic accident during a heated argument.