[Anchor]

It has been confirmed that the father of Jang Yoon-gi, the suspect in the murder of a high school girl in Gwangju, was allowed by police to speak with his son over the phone while the suspect was in custody, just before he destroyed key evidence of the sex crime. It was also confirmed that the police provided the father with the suspect's home address and door lock password.

Reporter Kim Minjun has the story.

[Reporter]

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

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

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

Although Jang Yoon-gi was in custody at the time and prohibited from making personal calls to outsiders, it was confirmed that a police officer from the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station, who was in charge of the case, facilitated the phone connection between the suspect and his father.

It was also confirmed that the police provided Inspector Jang with various pieces of investigative information.

The team leader of the Jang Yoon-gi case at the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station was found to have passed on information regarding Jang Yoon-gi's residence to Inspector Jang.

The investigation team leader provided Inspector Jang with not only the address of the studio apartment but also the password for the door lock.

Inspector Jang was able to visit his son's apartment and dispose of the two real dolls precisely because he had received this information from the police.

Furthermore, circumstances have emerged suggesting that a key investigator on the case, identified as A, also leaked investigation-related information to Inspector Jang through multiple phone calls.

The National Police Agency has dispatched an inspection team to Gwangju to examine the overall initial investigation and plans to conduct an in-person interview with Inspector Jang as soon as the review of the records is completed.

(Video Editing: Won Hyeong-hee)