Jang Yun-gi, 23, facing murder charges and other allegations, is transferred from Seobu Police Station in Seo-gu, Gwangju to prosecutors on May 14. [Newsis]
Jang Yun-gi, 23, facing murder charges and other allegations, is transferred from Seobu Police Station in Seo-gu, Gwangju to prosecutors on May 14. [Newsis]

A police internal audit into the investigation of Jang Yun-gi, convicted of murdering a high school girl, has escalated into a criminal probe after evidence of misconduct emerged.

The Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency on Sunday arrested Inspector A of the Gwangsan Police Station's criminal investigations division on charges of destroying evidence.

Inspector A, who led the team handling the Jang case, is suspected of destroying some evidence during a search and seizure of Jang's SUV shortly after the May 5 incident.

Police had handed over key pieces of evidence — including the SUV used in the crime and a damaged sex doll found at Jang's rented room — to his family early in the investigation without preserving the physical items.

After it emerged that Jang's father is a mid-ranking active-duty police officer, an internal audit was launched to examine whether the investigation from arrest to transfer to prosecutors had been conducted properly. Police then opened a formal criminal investigation after signs of misconduct came to light.

Inspector A is suspected of directly destroying criminal evidence, though the specific details and motive have not been made public.

The Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency has formed a dedicated 22-member task force, headed by the chief of its investigations division, to look into allegations of collusion between Jang's father and the officers who handled the case.


sij@heraldcorp.com