The father of Jang Yun-gi, who was convicted of murdering a high school girl, has been named as a witness in the trial of police officers accused of shielding his son from a proper investigation. The father is himself a police officer and is suspected of destroying key evidence, including a sex doll.
Judge Lee Seung-yeon of the Gwangju District Court's Criminal Division 12 decided on the 14th to call the father, a police captain surnamed Jang in his 50s, as a witness at a hearing on Oct. 28. The decision came at the first hearing in the case of a violent crimes team leader at the Gwangsan Police Station in Gwangju, a 57-year-old captain surnamed Park, and a team member, a 41-year-old sergeant surnamed Kim, who face charges including aiding the destruction of evidence.
Captain Jang, the father of Jang Yun-gi, is suspected of receiving the passcode to his son's rented room and the key to his sport utility vehicle from Park and Kim, and then destroying or hiding related items including a sex doll and cable ties. He was earlier excluded from criminal prosecution for destroying evidence under a provision of the criminal code that exempts family members.
The violent crimes team led by Park learned on the day the case occurred that Jang Yun-gi's father was a fellow officer with the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency. Kim had also worked alongside Captain Jang at a local police substation for about six months between 2024 and last year.
Park and Kim were indicted on charges of conspiring to return the SUV, which contained cable ties that were key evidence, to Captain Jang while investigating Jang Yun-gi's killing of the high school girl in May this year. They are also accused of leaving two badly damaged sex dolls untouched after finding them during a search of Jang Yun-gi's room, and of helping Captain Jang dispose of them.
The charges against Park also include instructing a member of the investigation team to delete video footage of the cable ties filmed during the search of the SUV, rather than sending it to prosecutors.
Kim was found to have repeatedly passed on details of the investigation to Captain Jang, his former colleague, including plans to seek an arrest warrant, whether the suspect had admitted to the crime and the seizure of a spare mobile phone.
At the first hearing, Park's side said it was sorry to the victim's bereaved family for causing controversy over a flawed investigation, but argued that the defendants' overall conduct should not be judged in hindsight based on the outcome that Jang Yun-gi was indicted for rape and murder.
Park's side added that in the early stages of the case, investigators had focused on the killing itself and on finding a weapon used in the crime, and therefore failed to properly assess the significance of items such as the cable ties.
The court will hold a hearing on Oct. 14 to question the violent crimes team member who filmed the cable ties on video during the forensic examination of Jang Yun-gi's vehicle. Subsequent hearings will continue with questioning of Captain Jang, officials of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency who took part in the investigation into the Jang Yun-gi case, and the defendants including Park.
