A New Zealand court has sentenced Hakyung Lee, a 45-year-old mother, to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of her two young children in a case that has shocked the nation. The crime, referred to as the ‘suitcase murders,’ involved Lee poisoning her six-year-old son Minu Jo and eight-year-old daughter Yuna Jo in 2018 by lacing their fruit juice with an overdose of prescription medication. Following the deaths, Lee wrapped the children’s bodies in plastic bags and concealed them in suitcases, which were stored in a suburban warehouse on the outskirts of Auckland. The bodies remained undiscovered until 2022, when an unsuspecting family purchased the storage locker at an auction and made the grim discovery. Police used DNA and forensic evidence to identify the victims and trace the crime back to Lee, who had fled to her native South Korea after the murders. She was eventually extradited to New Zealand to face trial. During the sentencing hearing, High Court Judge Geoffrey Venning described the children as ‘particularly vulnerable’ and imposed a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. Lee showed little emotion in court, bowing her head as the sentence was delivered. The trial revealed that Lee, grieving the death of her husband from cancer, had initially planned to kill herself alongside her children but failed to do so. Her defense argued that she was not guilty by reason of insanity, citing severe depression and suicidal thoughts. However, the prosecution countered that her actions were calculated, pointing to her efforts to hide the bodies and flee the country. The case has left deep emotional scars on Lee’s family, with her mother and brother-in-law expressing profound grief and anger over the loss of the children.