Prosecutors, who are currently investigating allegations of evidence destruction and a botched probe by police surrounding high school girl murderer Jang Yun-gi, 24, issued a statement rejecting the police's claim that prosecutors had requested supplementary investigation to apply charges including rape-murder.
The Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office said on the 28th, "The two-page A4 investigation report filed in the case records sent by Gwangsan Police Station on May 14 did not contain any content indicating that prosecutors should review a rape-murder charge or that supplementary investigation was necessary."
According to prosecutors, the crux of the report was that "since proving rape-murder is difficult, the case is being sent on a simple murder charge." The report also stated that police reviewed circumstances suggesting that Jang Yun-gi's motive may have been a sex crime, including a damaged sex doll and the fact that he raped another woman just before killing the victim.
Prosecutors said the main point of the report was only that "proving rape-murder is difficult," and that nowhere in the text was there a direct request or contextual mention that a review of rape-murder or supplementary investigation was needed. They added that the cable tie, an instrument of restraint that was in the car when Jang Yun-gi tried to kidnap the high school girl and evidence the police investigative team is accused of destroying, was not recorded in the report.
The statement serves as a rebuttal to claims by the attorney for Park, a superintendent who was the head of the criminal division at Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station overseeing the Jang Yun-gi case, and by the National Police Workplace Council.
The National Police Workplace Council held a press conference in front of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office on the 27th, saying, "The Gwangsan station investigative team strongly presumed a crime with a sexual motive, but since securing Jang's confession or direct evidence was difficult, the case was sent on a simple murder charge while specifying that additional prosecution investigation was needed regarding the rape-murder charge," and demanded the release of the related investigation report.
Meanwhile, prosecutors found a 50-centimeter cable tie during a search and seizure at Jang Yun-gi's father's home on the 7th. Prosecutors believe Jang prepared it to restrain the victim when he kidnapped her, and identified the purchase time as December last year. In addition, analysis of vehicle data reportedly confirmed that Jang left the rear door of the car open for about three minutes in an attempt to kidnap the victim.