A wealthy American student who murdered his on-off girlfriend then called his dad to get legal advice instead of phoning 999 has been jailed for life.
Joshua Michals, 26, was handed a minimum sentence of behind bars after he stabbed ‘gentle’ fellow Goldsmiths student Zhe Wang twice in the face and strangled her on March 20 2024.
Straight after the killing, Michals called his father – a high-flying vice president of sales at a US firm – and obtained the details for a solicitor before taking an Uber back to his flat nearby.
It was only hours later that he phoned the emergency services, seeking to blame Ms Wang for what happened by claiming he acted in self-defence after she attacked him.
He was convicted by the jury following his trial at the Old Bailey last month.
Sentencing today, judge Richard Marks described Michal as ‘callous and thinking only of yourself’ by not raising the alarm after he throttled Ms Wang – and said the ‘self-interested’ defendant’s account was not believable.
He said: ‘You took no steps to check her pulse, her breathing, took steps to revive her or call the emergency services. It is highly likely she was still alive and had you called for help she may still be alive today.’
He added: ‘In your fury, you lost complete control of your temper and your senses.’
Joshua Michals, pictured, was found to have lied about his account of killing his on-off girlfriend at Goldsmiths
Michals, wearing a blue jumper over a white shirt, and with his mother in the public gallery, showed little emotion as the sentence was passed.
In a victim impact statement, cousin Xiao Li Wang said yoga enthusiast Ms Wang ‘loved the UK’ and ‘brought happiness to those around her’.
She said: ‘Zhe was so positive, hard-working and passionate about life, and yet something so cruel happened to her … she had been taken away in an instant.
‘If you ask someone to describe Zhe, they will have nothing but nice things to say.
‘She was really well-liked.’
The cousin, who said she treated Ms Wang ‘like a sister’, said the family found the ordeal ‘heartbreaking’ and initially thought they were being ‘scammed’ when they received a phone call from the police in the UK.
She said: ‘We initially thought this was some sort of scam – nobody wanted to believe what we were being told, we thought it was the sort of thing that you see in the movies.’
Defence counsel Brian St Louis KC said his client ‘deeply regrets’ what happened, but the judge replied: ‘I hear what you say but it is an expression of remorse extremely late in the day, not expressed during the trial.’
Zhe Wang, 31, originally from China, was described as ‘gentle and kindly’, and a talented writer
The Goldsmiths students had fallen out the day before the killing over the mistaken belief that Michals had given Ms Wang a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
‘Germophobic’ Ms Wang, 31, had confronted Michals after finding a ‘red dot’ on her skin following sexual intercourse and angrily demanded he take a test.
The following day, Michals visited Ms Zang at her flat in Lewisham, south east London, claiming he was trying to calm the ‘bizarre’ situation by bringing her a charcuterie board.
He told the jury that after going to the toilet, he came out to find Ms Wang looking ‘demented’ and ‘possessed’ with a knife in her hand before a struggle ensued.
But he stabbed her twice in the face and strangled her, leaving her to die in a pool of her own blood.
Michals only phoned for an ambulance three hours later, telling police he ‘did not see the rush’.
Michals also tried to cover his tracks by deleting his WhatsApp conversations with Ms Wang – but police were able to recover them.
Detective Inspector Claire Guiver, who led the investigation, 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.
Michals, 26, initially phoned his father after killing Ms Wang, instead of calling 999
‘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.’
The students had only been seeing each other for a few months and had slept together once.
Ms Wang had insisted on seeing Michals’ STI test results before the encounter but afterwards became concerned about a rash on her body.
She told him she would rather die than have an STI and demanded he take another test.
While in London, Michals lived at a flat alone in the upmarket California Building, Deals Gateway, Greenwich.
Prosecutor Henrietta Paget, KC, told the trial: ‘This was a brutal and savage attack. She was killed in her own bedroom.’
Michals, from Chicago, told the court he was not looking for a life partner in Ms Wang and it did not worry him that she told him she was. He said he did not tell her he only wanted something casual.
Michals, 26, was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey, after claiming he attacked fellow student Ms Wang in self-defence
Ms Wang was studying an MA in Creative Writing and Education and hoped to become a teacher while Michals was doing an MA in filmmaking.
Michals described himself as a cinematographer, photographer and drone pilot on his LinkedIn profile.
He became a freelance video production assistant and aspired to be a filmmaker, before starting an MA in filmmaking at Goldsmiths in September 2023.
Describing Ms Wang, the prosecutor said: ‘She was a quiet and gentle person. Her tutor described her as funny, very organised and well turned out.
‘She was a talented writer and keen to talk about her writing – wanting to complete a PHD and return to China.
‘She was a reflective, insightful, person interested in mindfulness and meditation.’
Michals denied murder but was convicted by a jury after a trial. Police later released a mug shot of Michals, who appeared to have scratch marks to his neck.
Dr Francis Gilbert, senior lecturer at Goldsmiths, described Ms Wang as ‘a wonderful student, a remarkable writer and a thinker who combined deep intellectual curiosity with creative courage’.
He said: ‘Her work blended Buddhist thought, imaginative storytelling, and reflective clarity in a way that marked her out as a unique and singular voice.
‘Zhe was joyful, mindful, and generous. She was deeply loved by her peers, who continue to speak of her gentleness, her humour, and her thoughtful presence. She made our community kinder and more attentive.’
He said some of her writing would be included in a forthcoming anthology.
Michals was told the nearly two years spent in custody awaiting trial would be deducted from his sentence, before he is eligible for parole.
