Joseph Elledge, a 26-year-old Missouri man, was sentenced Friday to twenty-eight years in jail for second-degree homicide prices within the 2019 killing of his spouse, Mengqi Ji.
Elledge was convicted in November, as a jury really useful the utmost sentence for second-degree homicide of 28 years.
Ji, 28 on the time of her dying in October 2019, as Elledge alleged she fell throughout an argument and out of panic after discovering her useless of their mattress the following morning, he put her physique within the trunk of her automotive and buried her in Rock Bridge State Park south of Columbia two days later.
After he buried her, Elledge reported her lacking and allegedly misled police for months saying he did not know what occurred to her earlier than her physique was present in March 2021.
Boone County Prosecuting Legal professional Dan Knight referred to as Elledge through the trial a "stone-cold killer," who was additionally the "largest complainer within the historical past of the Boone County Jail."
Knight stated Elledge has filed 28 complaints about situations within the jail, together with temperature, noise from the heating system, plumbing, bathrooms and the TVs within the facility. Elledge reportedly referred to as the fixed sound "merciless and weird punishment."
Knight additionally introduced arguments through the trial that Elledge ought to be sentenced for first-degree homicide, claiming her dying was intentional.
Ji met Elledge after she moved to the U.S. from China to check engineering on the College of Missouri.
Earlier than Jacobs handed down his sentence, which could not have exceeded the jury's really useful one, Knight referred to as for him to place Elledge behind bars for so long as he might, KOMU-TV reported.
"The defendant deserves no break as a result of he displayed no regret," Knight stated.
Elledge's second-degree homicide conviction would require him to serve no less than 85 % of his sentence earlier than being eligible for parole.
Prosecutors used social media posts, audiotapes and a journal Elledge saved to doc the couple's risky relationship.
On Oct. 10, 2019, with the couple's then-year-old daughter within the automotive, Elledge drove to Rock Bridge State Park, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of Columbia. There, he dug a grave and buried Ji not removed from the place he had proposed to her. He then returned residence and reported her lacking.
Elledge's lawyer Scott Rosenblum argued that his consumer was awkward and made "unbelievably dumb" choices after Ji died, however that he by no means meant to kill his spouse and mustn't have been charged with homicide. Rosenblum filed a movement for a brand new trial, however Jacobs denied it.
Elledge stated he found within the days earlier than Ji's dying that she had been exchanging sexually suggestive messages on social media with a person from China. He additionally testified that the couple's relationship suffered due to stress brought on by her dad and mom, who moved from China to stay with them after their daughter was born in October 2018.
However Knight stated in an interview with The Related Press on Friday night time that the protection "fabricated" the story that Ji's dying was unintended. Knight stated Rosenblum stated in a 2020 bond listening to that Ji "took off."
He stated he wasn't in a position to query Elledge or Rosenblum in regards to the discrepancy due to attorney-client privilege.
"I want I'd have been profitable in convicting him of homicide within the first diploma," Knight stated. "It did not occur. The protection requested for an outright acquittal. We had been loads nearer in getting what we needed than the protection."
The couple met in 2015 at Nanova, an organization that makes dental merchandise, the place Ji was Elledge's supervisor. They started courting the next 12 months and finally traveled to China, the place Elledge requested Ji's dad and mom for permission to marry her. The couple married in 2017.
Ji earned a grasp's diploma in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the College of Missouri in December 2014. Elledge was a pupil on the college when his spouse died.
The household's lawyer, Amy Salladay, stated in an announcement that Ji's dad and mom, Ke Ren and Xiaolin Ji, are grateful that Jacobs upheld the jurors' really useful sentence.
"Her husband acquired one 12 months for yearly of her life," Salladay stated. "This does not convey her again, it would not make the nightmare of waking up daily and never having the ability to speak or see your youngster go away however it's justice when it comes to what the American court docket system can present."
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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