Missouri man who buried wife’s body in 2019 convicted of 2nd-degree murder

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A Missouri man who admitted to burying his wife’s body and misleading authorities about her whereabouts was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder.

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A jury of five women and seven men deliberated for nearly seven hours before finding Joseph Elledge guilty of second-degree murder but acquitted him of first-degree murder, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported. The jury decided to move ahead with the sentencing phase Thursday evening, The Missourian of Columbia reported. The defense and the prosecution will plead their case regarding sentencing. The jury will then deliberate on sentencing.

Elledge killed his wife, Mengqi Ji, in October 2019, authorities said. He was arrested Oct. 15, 2019, and charged with first-degree murder in February 2021, The Missourian reported. Elledge pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and to related charges of child endangerment and domestic abuse.

Elledge married Ji after she moved to the U.S. from China to study at the University of Missouri, according to The Associated Press.

Elledge told police he woke up on the morning of Oct. 9, 2019, to find his wife missing, The Missourian reported. Elledge did not tell anyone about his wife’s disappearance until the next day when a friend visited their home, authorities said. Her remains were found in Rock Bridge State Park near Columbia in March 2021.

During closing arguments on Thursday, Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight told the jury that Elledge was a “stone-cold killer” who was guilty of first-degree murder because he intentionally killed his wife.

Elledge’s attorney, Scott Rosenblum, argued that his client was awkward and made “unbelievably dumb” decisions after his wife died. He concluded by saying that Elledge never intended to kill his wife and should never have been charged with murder.

>> Body of Chinese woman missing since 2019 found, Missouri authorities say

“He then made a stupid decision, and every decision after that, the die was cast,” Rosenblum said in court. “Decisions like that, they are not made in the cool comfort of a courtroom. They are made by a 22-year-old, linear-thinking engineer in the course of panic.”

The couple had engaged in a violent argument on the night of Oct. 8, 2019, according to The Missourian. Elledge testified that he found his wife dead in bed the next morning.

Elledge also testified that he killed his wife during the argument but did not intend to, saying that she hit her head on a kitchen counter, the newspaper reported. Elledge said he spent the day looking for a place to bury her with her body in the trunk of his car, The Missourian reported. The couple’s 1-year-old daughter was in the car as Elledge searched for a spot, the AP reported.

The burial spot was a half-mile from where he proposed to her in 2017, according to the news organization.

According to court records, Knight described Elledge as a “jealous, controlling, manipulative psychopath.” Knight played four audio recordings of the couple arguing, the AP reported.

In the recordings, Elledge allegedly said, “I don’t like being with you,” “I’m eager to end it” and “I will bury the earth under you,” The Missourian reported.

Elledge also allegedly said that he wanted a divorce, “the sooner the better.”

The couple met in 2015 at Nanova, a company that makes dental products, according to the AP. Ji was Elledge’s supervisor at the business. They began dating the following year and were married in 2017, the news organization reported.

Ji earned a master’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Missouri in December 2014. Elledge was a student at the university when his wife died, according to the AP.

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