A US student has been found guilty of murdering his on-and-off girlfriend at her Lewisham flat in south-east London.
Joshua Michals, 26, stabbed Goldsmiths University creative writing student Zhe Wang, 31, in March 2024. Ms Wang suffered two stab wounds to the face and was also strangled, a post-mortem examination revealed.
Michals, who claimed he acted in self-defence following an argument about a sexually transmitted disease, met Ms Wang on the Goldsmiths campus in 2023, beginning an on-and-off relationship.
During the trial, Michals said he visited her flat on 20 March 2024 with a charcuterie selection to ease tensions, but said she was “cold” and “monosyllabic” when he arrived. He claimed she attacked him with a knife as he came out of the bathroom and that he pressed his forearm to her neck in an attempt to restrain her.
Prosecutor Henrietta Paget KC told the jury that Michals “flew into a rage” and killed Ms Wang at her flat. Michals said he did not intend to harm her and called his father and a solicitor before calling 999 after the incident. He also removed Ms Wang’s phone, which was later recovered from a refuse area in Newham.
Michals, originally from Chicago, Illinois, had moved to London to study for a one-year master’s degree at Goldsmiths, having previously studied film-making in the US.
Goldsmiths University paid tribute to Ms Wang, describing her as “a remarkable writer” whose work will be published posthumously in an upcoming anthology. Dr Francis Gilbert, senior lecturer in the School of Mind, Body and Society, said: “We are devastated by the loss of Zhe Wang, who combined deep intellectual curiosity with creative courage and approached writing as a mindful practice.”
Michals, of Deals Gateway, south-east London, will be sentenced at a later date.
