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Student Guilty of Girlfriend's Brutal London Murder
8 Dec, 2025
Summary
- American student convicted of murdering girlfriend in London.
- Argument over STD and self-defense claims rejected by jury.
- Victim was a creative writing student at Goldsmiths University.
Joshua Michals, 26, a US student, has been convicted of murdering his on-and-off girlfriend, Zhe Wang, 31, in her south-east London flat. The creative writing student at Goldsmiths University sustained fatal stab wounds and was also strangled. The incident occurred in March 2024.
Michals testified that he killed Ms. Wang in self-defense during a dispute concerning a sexually transmitted disease. He claimed she attacked him with a knife after he arrived at her Lewisham residence. However, the prosecution argued that Michals had "flown into a rage" and intentionally caused her death.
The university has paid tribute to Zhe Wang, remembering her as a remarkable writer whose work will be published posthumously. Michals, originally from Chicago, was pursuing a master's degree at Goldsmiths. He is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.
