Investigator questioned by defense about text messages, financial files on Joseph Elledge's computer

Text messages and search history from Oct. 9 to 23, 2019, continued to be read Monday afternoon in a marathon of testimony from an investigator in the Mengqi Ji disappearance and eventual murder.

Joseph Elledge is accused of the crime.

Jeff Adams with the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team was on the stand reading through the series of text messages and search history.

Searches sought updates on Ji's disappearance and information on job openings.

Messages related to Ji's disappearance, playing video games and other subjects.

Elledge reported Ji missing Oct. 10, 2019. She allegedly was killed Oct. 8, 2019.

More: Investigator who looked at Elledge cellphone data gives marathon testimony

Dirt-caked boots at Elledge's apartment included trace evidence of vegetation. This vegetation, based on testimony from Missouri Botanical Garden staff, was a match with the location of where Ji's remains were found in March.

Cellphone data from Oct. 10, 2019, allegedly placed Elledge in the area of Rock Bridge Memorial State Park where Ji was found.

Elledge's Google account had activity each day from Oct. 8, 2019, through his arrest Oct. 25, 2019. Adams could not find any activity from Oct. 10, 2019.

The general nature of the activity Adams observed was watching YouTube videos, many of which were related to home improvement programs, such as This Old House.

Matching financial files found on computers

Financial paperwork from Ji's computer was also found on Elledge's computer. Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight wanted to know how an exact copy ended up on Elledge's computer.

Both documents had the same hash value file, which means they were exact copies, Adams said. He conducted two tests to verify the financial files as an exact match. The file was sent as an attachment in an email, Adams said.

Elledge provided log-in information to Ji's computer and iPad to investigators on Oct. 14, 2019, while it was still a missing-person case.

Adams agreed he did not know why Elledge had downloaded the financial documents to his own personal computer, in questioning from defense attorney Scott Rosenblum.

Witness relates familiarity with Columbia

Adams has lived in Columbia nearly his entire life. Before becoming an investigator for the state's technical assistance team, he was a Columbia Police Department officer.

Due to his life and career in Columbia, Adams is familiar with the roads and streets of the city as well as outlying regions, such as Rock Bridge State Park.

Adams viewed personal photos of Elledge's that had views of the park and was able to identify that a photo was taken at the Devil's Icebox in the park. This location in the park is about 0.6 miles by vehicle from the location where Ji was found.

Defense conducts questioning of investigator

Adams was on the stand for approximately six hours. Toward the end, he was shown a photo from Jean Elledge's phone. Jean Elledge is the mother of Joseph Elledge.

A photo from May 9, 2017, featured Elledge in which he was wearing boots. Photos from March, 2, 2019; April 6, 2019; and Oct. 3, 2019 showed Elledge wearing a pair of boots. A video Oct. 3, 2019, also showed Elledge wearing boots.

Rosenblum objected to Adams drawing a conclusion about the images of the boots, noting to Presiding Judge J. Hasbrouck Jacobs that it is a jury decision.

Elledge's dirt-coated boots were collected as evidence from Elledge's apartment after his arrest Oct. 25, 2019.

Adams throughout Monday provided information on his analysis of data from phones belonging to Elledge, Ji and Elledge's mother, in addition to other electronics.

WeChat and alleged online affair

Rosenblum started a line of questioning related to WeChat.

Ji is alleged to have had an online affair through the Chinese-based messaging service with a man named Zhou Chau. Messages were viewed by Adams during his investigative process, and a portion was translated using Google Translate.

The translations became an issue for attorneys as Adams testified he had not seen the portion of translations presented in a defense exhibit. Private bench discussion between attorneys and Jacobs lasted a few minutes.

Following this, Rosenblum asked not about the content of the messages but their frequency. This received continued objections by Knight about whether Rosenblum had foundation to introduce this line of questioning.

Adams also admitted to never searching out Ji's other social media accounts and that no review of these accounts took place.

Knight later objected to the Google translations as hearsay. Several bench discussions occurred related to Knight's objections.

Text messages, photos need context

Rosenblum moved onto questioning about a folder labeled "My thoughts" on one of Ji's devices. It made note of the couple's daughter's birthday.

Rosenblum also wanted to know how many text messages were exchanged between Ji and Elledge. Adams noted there were between 15,000 to 16,000 messages between the couple over the course of their relationship.

The messages shown by the prosecution was an "insignificant" comparison to the overall relationship, Rosenblum asserted. There were thousands of photos on the devices. Weren't there other significant photos Knight did not use? Rosenblum asked.

Adams agreed.

Of the pictures introduced earlier in the day from Ji's phone, none featured Elledge, including pictures at the hospital when Ji gave birth to the couple's daughter.

Pictures of all of the family were found on Ji's phone, Adams affirmed after a question from Rosenblum, but no complete family photos were shown to the jury.

Can text messages between Ji and Elledge presented in evidence be open to interpretation without context? Rosenblum asked Adams. Adams agreed.

There were some text conversations between the couple that cut off and did not have further context, Rosenblum said.

Recordings, journal entries not cross-referenced by investigator

Rosenblum wanted to know if Adams ever cross-referenced the recordings made by Ji and Elledge and journal entries written by Elledge on his phone to Elledge's Google searches. The searches on their own do not indicate motive behind them. Even Elledge's searches were numerous — in the thousands, Rosenblum said.

With regard to earlier testimony regarding playing video games, Adams noted he was generally familiar with them and agreed they can be used as a way to communicate further, after a question from Rosenblum. The conversations Elledge had about playing video games in the days after Ji's disappearance were with his brother, Richard.

Videos presented by prosecution also were just a narrow sampling of the hundreds available, Rosenblum argued. Would you agree some appeared to show happy times? he asked Adams, noting many were not shown to the jury.

Adams agreed that the videos did show some happy times the family had.

Following Rosenblum's questioning on how the state has not introduced every text message, photo and video from Ji's devices, Knight in response brought out four binders at least 4 inches thick full of photos, messages and videos Ji took of her daughter.

Adams testified that Elledge had minimal photos of his daughter or videos on his devices, answering a question from Knight.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Prosecution witness testifies for hours in Joseph Elledge murder trial