Chinese student Zhe Wang, 31, was found with two stab wounds to her face at her flat on Manor Park, Hither Green, late at night on March 20 last year.
Joshua Michals, a 24-year-old American student she was in a sexual relationship with, is accused of murdering her.
He claims that he stabbed her by accident whilst defending himself as she attacked him.
“This case concerns the killing of a young woman by a man whom she had only been seeing for a few short months. This was a brutal and savage attack, as the evidence of her injuries and from the scene plainly shows, she was killed in her own bedroom,” prosecutor Henrietta Paget told a jury.
Zhe and Michals had come to know each other early in their academic year and in February they slept together.
On the night of Zhe’s death Michals phoned 999 from his own flat in Deals Gateway to say Zhe was injured at her flat.
He told the operator that Zhe had attacked him but said he only had a few scratches.
During the call he commented that it would be too late for anyone to help her.
Halfway through the call Michals hung up to phone his dad, then when the paramedic phoned him back he commented “it’s all just so f***ed”.
Ms Paget told the jury that when Michals and when he was arrested he was asked if he understood why, at which point he replied: “Yeah, but it’s not what it seems.”
When police arrived at Manor Park in Hither Green it took them some time to locate the flat.
They knew the injured person was a woman so asked neighbours which flats contained a woman.
Ms Paget said: “There was no reply at Flat 5, so entry was forced. The lights were on in the living room, hallway and kitchen.
“The door to the bedroom, straight ahead, was closed. On opening that door, the officers found the lights off but light from the hallway allowed them to see that Ms. Wang was lying face up on the floor next to the bed with her feet towards the door and her head up against the floor length curtains.
“Her face was coated with dried blood. The carpet was saturated with blood, which had pooled around her head, neck and shoulders. Dried blood was noted on the walls and carpet.”
Zhe was pronounced dead at the scene, with officers noting she had been stabbed at least twice to the face.
A post mortem found that Zhe died as a result of a sustained physical assault which resulted in blood loss from stab wounds to the head as well as an act of compression to the neck.
Ms Paget said Zhe was 31 when she was killed.
“She was Chinese. She lived by herself in Manor Park and was studying for an MA in Creative Writing and Education at Goldsmiths University. It was her ambition to be a teacher.
“Ms Wang was, by all accounts, a quiet and gentle person. Her tutor and fellow students describe her as funny, very organised and well turned out. She took care to look after her health and had a clear sense of order and routine.
“She was known to be close to her family. She was a talented writer who took her studies seriously and was keen to talk about her writing, wanting to complete a PhD and return to China.”
Michals denies murder. The trial continues.
