New Zealand 'suitcase murderer' convicted of killing her two children Our Foreign StaffSeptember 23, 2025 at 12:58 AM 0 Hakyung Lee faces a maximum sentence of life in prison with a nonparole period of at least a decade under New Zealand law Lawrence Smith A mother in New Zealand has been found guil...
- - New Zealand 'suitcase murderer' convicted of killing her two children
Our Foreign StaffSeptember 23, 2025 at 12:58 AM
0
Hakyung Lee faces a maximum sentence of life in prison with a non-parole period of at least a decade under New Zealand law - Lawrence Smith
A mother in New Zealand has been found guilty of killing her two children and stashing their bodies in suitcases, in a high-profile case that drew global attention.
Hakyung Lee, 45, admitted to killing Yuna Jo and Minu Jo, aged eight and six, in June 2018, but had pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder on the grounds of insanity.
Lee, a New Zealand citizen originally from South Korea, was extradited from Seoul in 2022 after the remains of her children were discovered in suitcases left at a storage unit in south Auckland.
The children had been dead for three to four years before their bodies were found. She travelled to South Korea and changed her name shortly after the children were killed.
New Zealand police investigators work at a scene in Auckland on August 11, 2022, after bodies were discovered in suitcases - Dean Purcell
Lee stood with her head bowed and showed no reaction as the jury at the Auckland High Court delivered their unanimous verdict.
Lawyers for Lee admitted she had killed the children by giving them an anti-depressant medication, but they said the death of her husband in 2017 had sent her into a depressive spiral.
A forensic psychiatrist testified for the defence about Lee's mental state – describing depression, suicidal thoughts, guilt and a belief that she was doing the morally right thing by ending her children's lives.
But the prosecution argued she knew what she was doing, pointing to Lee's attempt to conceal the bodies and fleeing the country as proof.
"Ms Lee deliberately, and in sound mind, deliberately murdered Minu and Yuna and the right verdict is guilty of murder," prosecutor Natalie Walker said in her summary.
"Ms Lee deliberately, and in sound mind, deliberately murdered Minu and Yuna and the right verdict is guilty of murder," prosecutor Natalie Walker said - RNZ
The prosecution also pointed to evidence that Lee had taken deliberate steps to distance herself from her past – including changing her name and cutting ties with her New Zealand life before returning to South Korea.
In his summary, Justice Geoffrey Venning told them: "It's natural to feel sympathy for the young children who were killed. It's also natural to feel someone should be held responsible for their deaths."
"On the other hand, some of you may feel sympathy for the defendant," he added, urging them to come to their verdicts on the basis of the evidence they had heard.
Lee may be detained in a mental health facility under a compulsory treatment order before she is moved to prison.
She now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison with a non-parole period of at least a decade under New Zealand law. She will be sentenced in November.
Throughout the three-week trial, Lee sat between a translator and a security guard with her head bowed, and her hair obscuring her face.
Although she technically represented herself in court, she never asked a question or spoke for the duration of the trial.
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