Pyo Chang-won Says Jang Mi-ran May Have Died from Strangulation... Police Criticized for Hasty Conclusion of Hanging Death

[Financial News] Pyo Chang-won, a criminal psychologist and profiler who heads the Pyo Chang-won Crime Science Research Institute, raised the possibility that Jang Mi-ran, 37, who was found dead in Jeju Province about three months after going missing, may have died from strangulation.

Police had previously assumed that Jang died by hanging, or suicide, based on a fracture in the hyoid bone found in her body. But Pyo explained that the hyoid bone can also fracture in cases of strangulation, not just hanging. He said police were being too hasty at this stage, since homicide cannot be ruled out.
On the afternoon of the 27th, Pyo appeared on MBC Radio's "Cho Seung-won's News High Kick" and reviewed the investigation into Jang's case, which has sparked major controversy after police falsely closed the missing-person report.
He said, "It is possible to infer asphyxiation caused by pressure on the mouth and nose. But whether this was a hanging death, in which the person hanged themselves, or a case of suffocation caused by another person strangling the victim, is now impossible to determine through forensic medicine."
Jang disappeared after leaving her lodging in Hallim-eup, Jeju Province, at around 10:15 p.m. on May 12. She was found dead at a nearby palm tree farm 104 days later, on the 24th of this month. The police officer in charge, a senior constable surnamed Bu, who received the initial missing-person report, closed the case as false without even confirming Jang's whereabouts. In the meantime, all CCTV footage that could have provided key clues to her movements was deleted after the retention period expired.
Police currently believe Jang died by hanging sometime between the night she went missing and the early hours of the following morning. However, Jang's father has raised questions, saying the palm tree farm was a place his daughter usually avoided because she found it frightening.
Pyo said, "If a long time passes and the body decomposes and becomes skeletal, it is almost impossible to estimate the time of death itself. Since it is not feasible through forensic medicine, we have no choice but to infer it from evidence in daily life and social relationships."
He added, "Based on when the person was last seen, their clothing, and the absence of any subsequent movement or signs of daily life, police are inferring that death likely occurred around dawn shortly after the disappearance."
Pyo also pointed to flaws in the police investigation system for adult missing-person cases. He said, "The problem is a system in which one person can unilaterally close a case falsely and no one notices. Many missing-person cases are linked to domestic violence, and placing someone who has been disciplined for domestic violence in charge of missing-person investigations is a serious institutional and procedural problem."
It was also confirmed that Senior Constable Bu had previously been under internal investigation over domestic violence and had been referred to a disciplinary committee.
 

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