Joseph Elledge Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder

A jury found Joseph Elledge guilty of second-degree murder today in the death of his wife, Mengqi Ji.

Elledge was originally charged with first-degree murder in February 2020, but was found not guilty. Ji was reported missing by Elledge on October 10th, 2019. Her remains were found in Rock Bridge Memorial State Park in March 2021. The couple had a fight on October 9th, 2019 that led to Elledge pushing Ji. The defense argued that she fell and hit her head on the kitchen floor and that her death was accidental.

The jury said Elledge was not guilty of first-degree murder.