US man who killed Chinese wife Mengqi Ji admits abusing daughter
- Detectives said Joseph Elledge struck the toddler on the buttocks hard enough to cause severe bruising
- Elledge was sentenced to 10 more years in jail on the child abuse charges, which he must serve after he completes his 28-year sentence for murder
A Missouri man convicted of killing his wife, burying her body and lying to authorities about her whereabouts pleaded guilty on Tuesday to child abuse charges involving the couple’s young daughter.
Joseph Elledge had originally pleaded not guilty to child abuse, child endangerment and domestic assault, KMIZ-TV reported.
Elledge, 26, was convicted in November of killing his 28-year-old wife, Mengqi Ji, a Chinese woman he married while they were studying at the University of Missouri. He was sentenced in January to 28 years in prison.
A judge sentenced Elledge on Tuesday to 10 more years on the child abuse charges, which he must serve after he completes his sentence on the murder charge. He will be given credit for the two years he has already served.
Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight said as part of the plea agreement, the state will not charge Elledge with more felonies related to his wife’s death, such as abandonment of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
And prosecutors will not be allowed to charge Elledge with anything else if an appeal in his murder case is approved. Elledge’s lawyers filed an appeal of his murder conviction in January.