New evidence reported in the death of Mengqi Ji
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Prosecutors say they have new evidence in the death of Mengqi Ji who they believe was killed by her husband Joseph Elledge.
New court documents describe audio recordings of conversations between Ji and Elledge. The new documents detail 12 secret audio conversations, two recorded by Ji and 10 recorded by Elledge. Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight said the recordings show months of verbal abuse by Elledge, including Elledge "gaslighting" Ji by talking over her and lying to her to manipulate her.
Some of the recordings, Knight said, include Elledge demanding Ji listen to what he says as the head of the household. A recording allegedly shows Elledge admitting to holding back feelings of wanting to hit Ji when the two fought.
Prosecutors say the evidence is necessary to play at trial to show Elledge's motive in killing Ji. Knight wrote that without this evidence in court, the jury will be unable to understand why Elledge killed Ji, or the significance of other evidence that developed after he allegedly killed her. Knight said the recordings also show he may have lied to police and reporters after Ji went missing in October 2019.
"[Elledge]'s lies were intended to deflect any suspicion that Mengqi had been killed and to deceive the police and the public into believing that Mengqi left the marriage voluntarily," Knight said.
In those documents, prosecutors say Elledge most likely killed Ji at their shared apartment, in the late evening of October 8th, 2019. Investigators previously claimed Elledge may have strangled Ji since they did not find any blood at the apartment. Police said cell phone records show Elledge drove to several different "remote" locations around mid-Missouri in the days following her disappearance. Elledge told police he wanted to find trails to walk with his daughter.
Police found Ji's remains at Rock Bridge State Park in March. Investigators had spent thousands of dollars searching the Lamine River in Cooper County after cell phone records allegedly showed him in that area and cadaver dogs alerted to something in the river.
Elledge's attorney in the murder case, Scott Rosenblum, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday. A hearing is set for July 12 in Boone County, with the trial beginning Nov. 1.
