Missouri man accused of killing his Chinese wife and mom-of-one, 28, and burying her body in a park testifies at trial that 'she had a temper and they often fought'
- Joseph Elledge testified during his murder trial about his rocky relationship with wife Menggi Ji prior to her disappearance in October 2019
- Ji's body was found buried in a Missouri park in March 2021
- Elledge pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Ji's killing
- Defense attorney argued Ji died after Elledge pushed her during an argument over the wife's suspected infidelity
- Prosecutors said Elledge recorded reasons why he hated his wife in a journal titled 'Grievances,' and both spouses recorded their arguments
A Missouri man accused of killing his wife and burying her body in a park testified at trial Tuesday on their turbulent relationship, saying that they often fought over misunderstandings.
Joseph Elledge is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 28-year-old Mengqi Ji, whom he reported missing in October 2019. Her remains were found in March at a park near Columbia, Missouri.
Prosecutors rested their case on Monday, after presenting a week of evidence that detailed the couple's troubled and deteriorating relationship before her death. They argued that Elledge killed his wife to avoid a costly divorce and to stop her from fleeing to China with the couple’s young daughter.
Ji moved from China to Missouri to study at the University of Missouri and stayed after marrying Elledge in 2017.
Joseph Elledge testified on Tuesday during his murder trial in Missouri about his rocky relationship with wife Menggi Ji prior to her disappearance in October 2019
Elledge is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing Ji, 28, and burying her body in a park, where the woman's remains were unearthed in March 2021
Elledge looks at a computer screen displaying some of the numerous text messages he and his late wife exchanged before her death
Elledge looks at a photo of himself and his late wife Mengqi Ji, when they took a trip to China to visit her family
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On the stand Tuesday, Elledge said his wife had a temper and they often argued as a way to control the other person's emotions.
Elledge said he and Ji met in 2015 and began dating the following year. They eventually traveled to China and he asked Ji's father for permission to marry her. The couple planned to have three to five children and Ji wanted them to grow up in the Chinese culture, which Elledge said he supported.
Elledge said he initially got along well with Ji's parents but tension arose after they moved in with the couple when their daughter was born on Oct. 3, 2018.
Elledge has pleaded not guilty to murder, domestic assault and child abuse charges related to the couple's young daughter.
He said Ji's parents began interfering with their child's care, and often spoke Chinese with their daughter, while she translated for him.
Elledge initially told investigators that he and his wife argued at their apartment on Oct. 9, 2019, and he discovered she was missing when he woke up the next day.
During opening statements last week, Elledge's attorney, Scott Rosenblum, acknowledged that Ji died after Elledge pushed her during an argument over the wife's suspected infidelity after discovering her sexually explicit exchanges with a man on a Chinese messaging app, but he argued that it was a 'tragic accident.'
He said Ji fell and hit her head but was able to get up and go to bed, where Elledge found her dead the next day.
Rosenblum attributed her death to a subdural hematoma, which is a build up of blood on the brain.
Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight on November 5 asks former Columbia police officer Kyle Gilliam if he recognizes photos of Elledge's arrest in October 2019
Columbia police officer Thomas Quintana shows Knight where Elledge's car was parked the day Elledge was arrested
Rosenblum conceded that Elledge made a series of bad decisions when he decided not to call for help, instead putting his wife’s body in the trunk of his car. But he said the evidence will show Elledge did not intend to kill his wife.
Elledge reported Ji missing on October 10, 2019, prompting numerous searches before her remains were found March 25 this year in a remote area of Rock Bridge State Park about 5 miles south of Columbia.
Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight said in his opening statement that Elledge mistreated his wife throughout their marriage and on the night she died. He said Elledge and his mother worked together to ensure that Ji did what Elledge wanted, KRCG-TV reported.
Knight told the jury they would hear more than nine hours of recordings of the couple arguing, some that were made by Elledge and others by Ji.
The first recording was played last week. The nearly hour-long recording of a phone conversation included Elledge chastising Ji for eating 'like a pig' and repeatedly swearing at her and criticizing her mother. Ji is heard sobbing.
Elledge testified that Ji had a temper and the two often argued. They even recorded some of their heated conversation so they could later listen back to them
Prosecutors said Elledge recorded reasons why he hated his wife (pictured above during her pregnancy) in a journal titled 'Grievances'
A defense attorney argued that Ji died as a result of a 'tragic accident,' after Elledge pushed her during an argument over the wife's suspected infidelity
Elledge also asked: 'Do you want me to leave? I’ll leave and never come back. I’m not happy here. Do you want me leave here? Tell me.'
Ji responded, 'No.'
In his opening statement, Knight said Elledge recorded reasons why he hated his wife in a journal titled 'Grievances.' And he said Elledge had a notebook that outlined how he should behave toward the media concerning his wife’s disappearance.
The prosecutor also said Elledge spent 30 minutes digging a grave in Rock Bridge State Park, where Ji’s body was found. The grave was a half a mile from where he had proposed to her, Knight said.
Ji came to the U.S. from China and earned a master’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Missouri in December 2014. She previously attended the East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai.
She stayed in Columbia and married Elledge, who was a student at the University of Missouri, in 2017.
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