Exclusive: Police Officer Facilitated Call Between Gwangju Murder Suspect and His Father, Who Asked, "Did You Throw Your Phone in the River?"

[Anchor]

We will now report exclusively on the events surrounding the destruction of evidence by the father of Jang Yoon-gi, the suspect in the murder of a high school girl in Gwangju. The father is a serving police officer. Circumstances have emerged suggesting that the police investigation team may be linked to this case. It has been revealed that just before Inspector Jang, the father, destroyed key evidence of his son's sex crime, he spoke directly with his son, Jang Yoon-gi, and asked if he had thrown away his mobile phone. The call between Jang Yoon-gi, who was in custody, and Inspector Jang was facilitated by a police officer from the team investigating the case at the time.

For our first report, here is Kim Deok-hyeon.

[Reporter]

Around 12:10 a.m. on May 5, Jang Yoon-gi, who murdered the late Lee Chae-won, threw his mobile phone into a nearby river immediately after the crime.

Jang Yoon-gi was arrested by police on the morning of the crime and was formally detained two days later. The day after his detention, his father, Inspector Jang, visited his son's studio apartment, dismantled two real dolls, and discarded them in various locations around Gwangju.

However, SBS has confirmed that a direct phone call took place between Jang Yoon-gi and his father, Inspector Jang, before the inspector destroyed the key evidence, including the real dolls.

It is understood that during the call, Inspector Jang asked his son if it was true that he had thrown his mobile phone into the river immediately after the crime.

At the time, Jang Yoon-gi was in custody and could not make direct calls to outsiders. It has been confirmed that the person who facilitated the call between him and Inspector Jang was a police officer from the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station investigation team, which was handling the case.

It was also revealed that Inspector Jang had multiple phone conversations with officials from the Gwangsan Police Station investigation team while the investigation into Jang Yoon-gi was ongoing.

This means that a serving police inspector, known to have experience working in investigative departments, had been in direct communication with the officers in charge of his son's case.

In response to inquiries from SBS regarding these details, the police stated, "Jang Yoon-gi was not cooperating actively with the investigation, so we had his father persuade him," adding, "This was not providing special treatment to the suspect."

(Video Editing: Shin Se-eun, Design: Kim Han-gil)

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