American jailed for life for killing Chinese student in UK

An American student at a London university was jailed for life Friday, with a minimum term of 16 years, for murdering a Chinese student who was his casual girlfriend.

Joshua Michals, 26, was sentenced at London's Old Bailey criminal court for stabbing and killing Zhe Wang, 31, a fellow student at Goldsmiths, University of London, in March 2024.

The two master's degree students met in 2023 and started a casual relationship, and had a sexual encounter in February 2024.

However, Wang, who was described as "germophobic", grew increasingly agitated after discovering she had a rash after they slept together, and became "convinced" she had a sexually transmitted disease.

Despite Wang insisting that Michals get tested for a sexually transmitted disease, he refused.

"In my judgement, your unwillingness to do so showed a real lack of sensitivity... on your part," Judge Richard Marks Michals said as he handed down the sentence

On 20 March 2024, Michals went to Wang's home to "calm her" down, the court heard. In the next 50 minutes, he stabbed and strangled her, before leaving her to die.

The judge said Michals "became enraged by the whole situation" and killed Wang, delivering two stab wounds to her face and strangling her.

"In a fury, you lost complete control of your temper and senses," said Marks.

In his defence, Michals argued that the encounter began with Wang approaching him with a knife, and that he was acting in self-defence.

However, the judge said he was "quite unable to accept" the defendant's account of how the incident began.

Wang, who was a creative writing student at Goldsmiths, was described in court as "gentle", "positive" and a "talented writer".

Her family told the court in a statement that one of her "great passions in life was languages" and studying abroad, especially in the UK, was a "dream" of hers.