Investigation Team Leader from Gwangsan Station Appears for Warrant Review over 'Jang Yoon-gi Evidence Destruction' Case

Denies Intentional Evidence Destruction
"No Order to Delete Collected Materials"

Inspector A, head of the investigation team at Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju, who oversaw the investigation into the 'Gwangju High School Girl Murderer' Jang Yoon-gi (23) case and is accused of destroying the cable tie used as a restraint tool and leaking investigation details, underwent a pretrial detention hearing on the 8th.

Detective A, head of the investigation team at Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju, accused of destroying evidence related to the 'high school girl murder suspect' Jang Yoon-gi case, is leaving the courtroom after attending the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) held at the Gwangju District Court in Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Jeonnam, on the morning of the 8th. Photo by Yonhap News

Inspector A, who was urgently arrested by the National Investigation Headquarters' special investigation team on charges of evidence destruction and official secrets leakage, appeared at the warrant review held at the Gwangju District Court in Dong-gu, Jeonnam Gwangju Metropolitan City that morning.

Inspector A, who got out of the police transport vehicle, covered his face with a white mask and a hat as he headed to the courtroom. He did not respond to reporters' questions such as "Do you admit to the charge of destroying evidence?" or "Do you have anything to say to the victim or the bereaved family?"

Amid a barrage of questions, Inspector A pushed past the reporters and quickly entered the hearing room. Even after coming out of the hearing, he maintained his silence and boarded the transport vehicle.

Inspector A is accused of discovering a bundle of cable ties, presumed to be the tool used to restrain the victim, during a search of the sports utility vehicle (SUV) used by Jang Yoon-gi immediately after the incident on May 5, but failing to secure the physical evidence and leaving it, resulting in its destruction.

At the beginning of this month, as controversy over an inadequate investigation arose, the prosecution and the police special investigation team uncovered circumstances indicating that Inspector A had instructed a subordinate officer to delete photos and videos of the cable ties stored on a field officer's mobile phone. Prosecutors pressed him intensively on this point. The missing cable ties were only secured as evidence the previous day, when prosecutors found them during a search of Jang Yoon-gi's father's home, who is an incumbent police officer.

It was reported that Inspector A's legal team strongly denied the related charges in the courtroom. Inspector A argued, "At the time, I was focused on recovering bladed murder weapons and overlooked the importance of the cable ties, so I missed securing the physical evidence, but I did not destroy them intentionally." Regarding the suspicion of ordering the deletion of collected evidence, he also claimed, "I was waiting to secure the physical cable ties and then submit them to the prosecution along with the report, not ordering unauthorized deletion."

The decision on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Inspector A, who is simultaneously under investigation by both the prosecution and the police, is expected to be made as early as late this afternoon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.