Jury recommends 28 years for Missouri man in wife’s murder

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A jury has recommended up to 28 years in prison for a Missouri man found guilty of killing his wife. The jury returned the recommendation early Friday only hours after Joseph Elledge was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Mengqi Ji. The judge will make the official sentence Dec. 17 but he cannot sentence Elledge to more than 28 years. Ji’s remains were found in March in a park near Columbia more than a year after she was reported missing. Elledge admitted during his trial that he buried the body of his wife, who had moved to Missouri from China to further her education. He said she died after she fell and hit her head after he pushed her during an argument.