A young man’s life in London shattered with a chilling phone call – not to emergency services, but to his father, seeking legal counsel. Joshua Michals, a 26-year-old from Chicago pursuing studies abroad, would soon be accused of a horrific crime, a betrayal of trust that ended in tragedy.
The victim, 31-year-old Zhe Wang, was found gravely wounded in her own home, the scene painting a grim picture of violence. Michals had contacted police hours after the attack, reporting a “serious incident” and claiming he’d already departed the premises. Officers discovered Wang with devastating stab wounds to her face, and a subsequent autopsy revealed a far more sinister truth: sustained and forceful neck compression.
Their relationship, a casual connection formed shortly after Michals arrived at Goldsmiths University in 2023, had been quietly fraying. Investigators meticulously examined Michals’ phone, uncovering a series of increasingly desperate messages from Wang. She repeatedly pleaded with him to undergo testing for sexually transmitted diseases, a request that became a mounting source of friction between them.
Michals initially remained silent after his arrest, refusing to cooperate with investigators. He later offered a defense of self-defense, claiming the altercation stemmed from a heated argument about STDs. However, prosecutors argued a far darker narrative – a sudden, uncontrollable rage that consumed Michals after arriving at Wang’s home.
The timeline painted a damning portrait of calculated actions. After the attack, Michals allegedly secured a lawyer’s information through his father, then returned to his own residence, delaying contact with authorities for nearly four hours. This delay, prosecutors argued, wasn’t the act of a panicked man, but one attempting to construct a defense.
Evidence recovered from Michals’ property further solidified the case against him. Bloodstained clothing, meticulously analyzed by forensic teams, yielded DNA that definitively matched Zhe Wang. The physical evidence, combined with the circumstantial details, presented a compelling and devastating case for the prosecution.
Detectives described Wang as a quiet, gentle woman dedicated to her studies, a life tragically cut short. The jury ultimately rejected Michals’ claims of accidental violence, finding him guilty of murder. The verdict brought a measure of closure, but could not erase the brutal reality of a life lost and a future stolen.
