New Zealand 'suitcase murders': Woman jailed for life for killing her two children

A woman has been jailed for life in New Zealand for murdering her two children, whose bodies were found in suitcases in an abandoned storage unit more than three years ago.

Hakyung Lee, born in South Korea, was convicted in September after admitting using anti-depressant medication to kill her children, aged six and eight, in 2018.

Their bodies were discovered in the storage unit when its new owners were sorting through its contents after buying it in an online auction in August 2022.

Lee - a New Zealand citizen - had money troubles and stopped paying rent on the Auckland storage unit.

The 45-year-old was extradited to New Zealand in late 2022, after fleeing to South Korea shortly after the murders and changing her name.

Her lawyers claimed the killings happened after she "descended into madness" following the death of her husband in 2017, and on Wednesday, argued that a life sentence would be unjust given her mental health issues.

But prosecutors said there was no evidence Lee was suicidal at the time of the killings, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Judge Geoffrey Venning rejected calls for a lesser penalty, but he did approve compulsory treatment at a secure psychiatric facility on the condition that Lee would return to prison once deemed mentally fit, the newspaper reported.

The judge told Lee: "You knew your actions were morally wrong... perhaps you could not bear to have your children around you as a constant reminder of your previous happy life."

Lee was sentenced to life imprisonment and must serve a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.

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Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Va'aelua said: "Yuna and Minu would have been 16 and 13 today.

"Our thoughts are with the wider family today for the tragic loss of these two young children."

Jimmy Sei Wook Jo, the children's uncle, was in court, where a lawyer read a statement on his behalf.

"I never imagined such a profound tragedy would ever befall our family," the statement said, according to local news outlets.

"I feel like I failed to look after my niece and nephew."

(c) Sky News 2025: New Zealand 'suitcase murders': Woman jailed for life for killing her two children