Court Sentences Hakyung Lee to Life Imprisonment for Murdering Her Two Children

Hakyung Lee, a 45-year-old New Zealand citizen born in South Korea, was convicted of murdering her two young children in 2018 and has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.

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Aaj English TV

Prosecutors say Lee killed her son Minu, aged six, and daughter Yuna, aged eight, by lacing their fruit juice with an overdose of prescription medication.

Aaj English TV

They say she then wrapped their bodies in plastic and hid them in suitcases at a suburban storage facility.

The remains were discovered in 2022 when the contents of an abandoned locker were opened after it had been sold at auction.

The case has been widely described as New Zealand's "suitcase murders."

The children's remains were discovered in 2022 when a family bought the contents of a storage unit at auction after Lee stopped paying the fees.

DNA and forensic evidence later linked the deaths to Lee, who had changed her name and fled to South Korea.

Al Jazeera

She was located and arrested in Ulsan and extradited to New Zealand in 2022 to face trial.

Reports across outlets note the timeline from the auction discovery to identification, arrest, and extradition, with New Zealand authorities thanking their South Korean counterparts for assistance.

At trial Lee mounted an insanity/diminished-capacity defence and at times represented herself.

“Hakyung Lee, 45, has been sentenced in New Zealand to life in prison with a minimum of 17 years before parole after being found guilty in September of murdering her two children, eight-year-old Yuna Jo and six-year-old Minu Jo”

BBC

Defence witnesses and her lawyers pointed to severe depression and suicidal thinking after her husband’s 2017 death.

Prosecutors argued the killings were calculated and that concealment and flight showed she understood the wrongfulness of her actions.

A forensic psychiatrist reported Lee believed killing the children was the right thing to do.

The jury rejected her insanity plea and found her guilty earlier this year.

High Court Judge Geoffrey Venning imposed life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.

He ordered that Lee begin her sentence as a "special patient" in a secure psychiatric facility under New Zealand's compulsory mental-health treatment provisions, to be returned to prison when judged fit.

BBC

The judge described the victims as "particularly vulnerable"; the court heard the jury had earlier rejected the insanity defence, and some reports noted he called the killings "deliberate and calculated."

Family members delivered emotional victim-impact statements in court, and coverage highlighted deep, ongoing grief while some outlets also raised questions about mental-health supports.

“A South Korean-born New Zealand woman was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for murdering her two young children, whose bodies were discovered in suitcases in an abandoned storage locker more than three years ago, New Zealand media reported”

CNN

Relatives said the deaths have left them with lifelong anguish and uncertainty, and police and prosecutors expressed condolences.

CNN

Several reports noted the case prompted national debate about parental responsibility, mental health, and child welfare.

Some articles, including at least one mainstream report, also included unrelated crime stories alongside the sentencing coverage.