US Man Convicted For Killing Girlfriend After She Asked Him To Take STD Test

A US student has been found guilty of murdering his Goldsmiths University classmate following an argument over sexually transmitted diseases.

Joshua Michals, 26, killed 31-year-old Zhe Wang at her flat in London in March 2024. A post-mortem examination revealed she suffered two stab wounds to the face and was also strangled.

Michals claimed during his trial that he acted in self-defence. He told jurors, "I just wanted to get her away from me," and said he applied pressure to her neck to restrain her, not to harm her, the BBC reported.

The two began an on-and-off casual relationship in 2023 after meeting on the Goldsmiths campus. Michals said he had been hesitant to pursue the relationship because Wang had a phobia of germs. Tensions escalated when Wang discovered a "red dot" on her skin after sex and repeatedly asked Michals to take an STD test, even threatening to come to campus to "drag" him to a doctor.

On March 20, Michals visited Wang's flat with a charcuterie selection as a peace offering. He claimed that she was "cold" and responded with one-word answers, and that she attacked him with a knife as he came out of the bathroom. Prosecutor Henrietta Paget KC said Michals "flew into a rage" and killed Wang.

Police recovered deleted messages from Michals' phone, showing the couple had been fighting for months, largely due to the STD dispute. The last message he sent to Wang that day read "here" at 19:17, according to the Metropolitan Police.

Her phone was later recovered from a bin outside, and bloodstained clothing at Michals' residence matched her DNA. He called his father and got legal advice before contacting the police nearly four hours after the attack.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Michals moved to London to pursue a master's degree in filmmaking at Goldsmiths. He will be sentenced at a later date.

Detective Inspector Claire Guiver said, "Michals carried out a brutal and savage attack on Zhe, who was described by her friends as a quiet and gentle woman enjoying her studies in London...We are pleased the jury has seen through his claims that he killed Zhe by accident when she tried to attack him with a knife. It is clear that Michals is a dangerous, violent individual, and he will now have to live with the consequences of his actions."