Exclusive: 'Cable Ties' Missing From Vehicle Found at Father's Home

[Anchor]

The prosecution has secured the cable ties that police discovered but failed to seize from the vehicle of Jang Yoon-gi, the suspect in the Gwangju high school girl murder case, at the home of the suspect's father. It has been confirmed through our reporting that the cable ties, which are critical evidence for proving sex crime charges, were found at the father's residence. The police's mishandling of this key evidence continues to come to light.

Reporter Kim Deok-hyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

On May 5, the day of the high school girl murder case.

The investigation team at the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station discovered cable ties while arresting Jang Yoon-gi and searching his vehicle.

These are key pieces of evidence that could be suspected as tools Jang intended to use to kidnap the victim or commit a sex crime.

Despite this, the police did not seize the cable ties, and even excluded the video footage of them when transferring the case to the prosecution.

The existence of the cable ties, which had remained unknown since Jang's crime, was revealed three days ago when Police Investigation Team Leader Inspector A was arrested on charges of destroying evidence.

However, SBS has confirmed that the prosecution secured the cable ties while raiding the home of the suspect's father, Inspector Jang, on the morning of July 7.

The items consist of a 40cm-long bundle, and it is understood that Inspector Jang testified to the prosecution that they were indeed the cable ties that had been in Jang Yoon-gi's vehicle.

Previously, Inspector Jang had moved the cable ties in question to his family home in South Jeolla Province. It is reported that he moved them to his residence in Gwangju on the night of July 6 after the police recently requested that he submit them if he was in possession of them.

By failing to seize the key evidence and returning the vehicle to Inspector Jang just one day after the crime, the police investigation team effectively provided the opportunity for the inspector to move the cable ties elsewhere.

The prosecution summoned two officials from the police investigation team yesterday to question them about the circumstances of the investigation at the time.

(Reported by Lee Byeong-ju | Video by Shin Se-eun | Graphics by Jegal Chan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.