'Laughable': Criminologist questions police finding that missing woman hanged herself from palm tree

Lee Su-jung, a criminal psychology professor at Kyonggi University, has sharply criticized police for suggesting that Jang Mi-ran, 37, who had been reported missing in Jeju, died by hanging from a palm tree — calling the conclusion "laughable."

According to Financial News, Lee shared on her Facebook page Tuesday a news article quoting Yoo Jae-seong, acting commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, who said he had been briefed by the Jeju police chief that the cause of death was "presumed to be death by hanging."

"A young woman goes out in the dead of night and hangs herself from a palm tree? That's laughable," Lee said. In a separate post, she added: "The question is whether there are signs of foul play. Do not hastily claim there is no possibility of a criminal act."

Police said they discovered a body in a palm tree grove in Hallim-eup, Jeju, at around 10:46 a.m. Monday, and a subsequent autopsy confirmed it was Jang.

However, decomposition had advanced to the point where fingerprints were no longer recoverable, and police said they are conducting an emergency DNA analysis. Investigators said they are keeping all possibilities open as they work to determine the exact cause of death.

Jang's boyfriend said she "was not in a situation where she would have taken her own life." A local resident living near the scene also raised doubts, arguing that the physical characteristics of the palm tree made death by hanging there effectively impossible.

A local Jeju resident identified only as A posted an explanation of the characteristics of Canary Island date palms, saying it is "nearly impossible to hang a rope" from them because "they do not have branches like ordinary trees."

Profiler Bae Sang-hun also weighed in, telling YTN Radio's "Jang Seong-cheol's News Myeongdang" that day that "the only thing confirmed so far is that she died from asphyxiation to the neck — nothing else has been established," adding that "there could be some other, third cause of death."