Lawyers ask for more time to prepare in murder case

KMIZ — Defense attorneys want a delay in Joseph Elledge’s upcoming murder trial.

Attorneys asked the judge to consider pushing back the start of the Nov. 1 trial in Boone County. They claim “voluminous” records sent to them by prosecutor Dan Knight give them more work to do to vet the information before trial.

Elledge is set to go to trial on Nov. 1 for the alleged murder of his wife, Mengi Ji. Elledge has been in custody since November 2019, when Knight called him the “prime suspect” in his wife’s disappearance. Authorities found Ji’s body in March at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park following searches at several parks and a river in Mid-Missouri. Police have theorized that Elledge strangled Ji and left her body in the park because they found no blood left behind at their apartment.