"Evidence Suggests Suspect Knew Victim Before Crime… Police Failed to Investigate"

[Anchor]

The police special investigation team has uncovered evidence suggesting that Jang Yun-gi knew the high school girl he murdered long before the incident, and they are currently verifying whether he had been stalking her. If this is true, it means the Gwangju police effectively turned a blind eye to a major crime committed by a violent offender to protect themselves and avoid responsibility.

Reporter Son Gijun has the story.

[Reporter]

In an interim report on the investigation released yesterday (July 15), the police special investigation team stated, "There were traces indicating that Jang Yun-gi targeted the victimized high school girl in a premeditated manner."

The team explained that evidence found on a spare mobile phone belonging to Jang, which was seized during the initial investigation, suggests that "Jang Yun-gi may have unilaterally known the victimized high school girl."

The special investigation team estimates that the point at which he became aware of the victim was long before the incident occurred. However, during his pre-trial detention hearing, Jang had claimed that it was an impulsive crime against a stranger.

[Jang Yun-gi (May 7): (Why did you attack the student?) I did not know she was a female student.]

The original investigation team identified related circumstances on May 8, but conducted no further investigation or verification. They referred Jang to the prosecution on charges of impulsive murder, omitting any potential sexual crime motive.

The special investigation team revealed that the arrested investigation team leader, Inspector A, instructed his team members "not to frame this as a sexual crime." He also ordered the deletion of a report noting that the rear door of Jang's car appeared to be open at the time of the crime and failed to seize key evidence, including a sex doll and cable ties.

[Oh Dong-wook / Head of the Special Investigation Team, National Office of Investigation: (Inspector A) claimed that he omitted evidence such as the sex doll and cable ties because he 'judged they were not key evidence for the murder,' while also testifying that 'he was instructed by superiors not to link the stalking and murder cases.']

The special investigation team referred Inspector A to the prosecution yesterday, and in the afternoon, they summoned his direct superior, the former head of the detective division at Gwangsan Police Station, for questioning as a suspect.

Inspector A's side stated regarding the special investigation team's interim results that they appear to be based on artificial and one-sided inferences, and that they will clarify their position during the prosecution's investigation and the trial.

(Video reporting: Jang Chang-geon, KBC | Video editing: Choi Hye-ran | Design: Jo Su-in)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.