Joshua Michals, 26, is on trial at the Old Bailey for the murder of 31-year-old Zhe Wang, who was a fellow student at Goldsmiths, University of London.
On March 20 2024, Ms Wang was found with two stab wounds to her face at her flat in Manor Park after the defendant called 999.
Brian St Louis KC, defending, told jurors on Monday that Michals acted in self-defence as Ms Wang attacked him with a knife shortly after the pair met at her flat, suffering her injuries in the struggle.
She had sent a message to Michals the day before her death saying: “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you”, Mr St Louis KC added.
“She was angry and she was out to deal with the person who was the bane of her life,” Mr St Louis told the trial.
“He had split seconds to do whatever he could to make sure that he was not stabbed and that he was not seriously injured.
“During the incident, he kept telling Ms Wang to calm down, to stop – ‘what the f*** are you doing?’
“But she did not calm down, and everything he did was acting in self-defence.
“The prosecution wants you to accept that Mr Michals deliberately intended to stab Ms Wang and he had no reason for it,” Mr St Louis KC added.
Michals previously told the court Ms Wang became “stressed”, believing – incorrectly – she had contracted a sexually transmitted disease (STD) after they had sex.
A post-mortem examination revealed Ms Wang, a Chinese national, died from stab wounds to the head and compression to the neck, the trial heard.
Michals previously told jurors he did not mean to strike Ms Wang with the knife, saying: “I just wanted to get her away from me.”
He also said he pressed his forearm to her neck to try to restrain her and insisted he did not mean to kill her, cause her serious harm – or any harm at all.
The trial heard Michals called his father and obtained the details for a solicitor before arriving at his flat and phoning an ambulance.
He also took Ms Wang’s phone from her kitchen and put it in a bin outside, jurors were told.
It was recovered days later at a refuse area in Newham, east London.
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Michals studied film making at university before coming to London to pursue a year-long, master’s degree at Goldsmiths.
He previously told the court how he met Ms Wang on his first day on the Goldsmiths campus and they “hung out” around 10 times before her death.
He further told jurors he had felt “so-so” about pursuing a relationship with her because she had a phobia of germs.
After finding a “red dot” on her skin after sex, she demanded he get an STD test, even vowing to find him on campus to “drag” him to see a GP, the court has heard.
Jurors have been told that Michals never had a sexually transmitted disease.
Michals, of Deals Gateway, has denied murder and the Old Bailey trial continues.
