A New Zealand woman, Hakyung Lee, has been sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison for the murder of her two children, Minu Jo, 6, and Yuna Jo, 8. The tragic case unfolded when the children’s remains were discovered in suitcases stored in an Auckland storage unit in 2022. Lee, who had fled to South Korea after the killings and changed her name, was extradited back to New Zealand to face trial. She was found guilty of murder in September 2023, with the jury rejecting her insanity defense. Justice Geoffrey Venning, presiding at the High Court in Auckland, ruled that Lee would begin her sentence in a locked psychiatric facility under New Zealand’s compulsory mental health treatment law. She will return to prison once deemed mentally stable. The judge emphasized that while Lee suffered from severe depression at the time of the murders in 2018, her actions were deliberate and calculated. Lee’s lawyers argued for a reduced sentence, citing her mental illness and the shame she felt for her crimes. However, the judge upheld the severity of the sentence, noting that a successful insanity defense requires proof of the defendant’s inability to understand their actions or their wrongfulness. The children’s remains were discovered after Lee stopped paying rental fees for the storage unit, leading to its contents being auctioned online. The buyers found the bodies and alerted authorities. During the trial, Lee’s lawyers admitted she had killed the children by administering an antidepressant medication, attributing the act to her deteriorating mental health following her husband’s death. Family members expressed their profound grief, with the children’s uncle stating he felt he had failed to protect them, and Lee’s mother describing her pain as unbearable. New Zealand police acknowledged South Korean authorities for their assistance in the investigation, while Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Va’aelua reflected on the tragic loss of the young lives.
A woman who murdered her 2 children and left them in suitcases is jailed for at least 17 years
