Auckland, New Zealand — A woman convicted of murdering her two young children and hiding their bodies in suitcases was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday. Hakyung Lee, 45, originally from South Korea, drew national outrage after authorities discovered the remains of her children, Yuna, 8, and Minu, 6, in 2022, igniting widespread media coverage.
During a three-week trial that concluded in September, prosecutors outlined the disturbing circumstances surrounding the deaths, which occurred in 2018 following the death of Lee’s husband from cancer. The discovery was made by a family who purchased items from an abandoned storage unit, unwittingly finding the horrific remains among the belongings.
Justice Geoffrey Venning of the Auckland High Court stated that Lee would serve her life sentence initially in a locked psychiatric facility due to a mandatory mental health law. She must spend at least 17 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole. While her defense team argued for a reduced sentence on grounds of insanity—claiming she was mentally unstable at the time of the crime—Justice Venning noted that her actions appeared calculated.
The judge pointed out that Lee’s mental health challenges, including atypical depression and prolonged grief, contributed to her actions but did not absolve her of culpability. Justice Venning emphasized that her inability to cope with the responsibilities of motherhood after her husband’s death played a significant role in this tragic outcome.
Lee had attempted to take her own life and that of her children using antidepressants. However, her attempt failed when she miscalculated the dosage, leading to a grim realization upon awakening.
Following the murders, Lee changed her identity and fled to South Korea, where she was arrested in September 2022. She was extradited back to New Zealand shortly after her identification as the mother of the deceased children.
At the sentencing, emotional testimonies highlighted the devastating impact of Lee’s actions on her family. Lee’s mother expressed her sorrow, lamenting the missed opportunity for counseling and questioning why her daughter chose to take the children’s lives instead of her own. “If she wanted to die, why didn’t she die alone?” Choon Ja Lee stated in a poignant reflection on her daughter’s tragic choices.
Jimmy Jo, the brother of Lee’s late husband, shared his disbelief over the tragedy that had befallen their family, remarking that their mother remains unaware of her grandchildren’s fate. “It was my late brother’s will that I protect them,” he said, reinforcing the profound sense of loss experienced by their family.
As the courtroom heard the emotional statements, it became clear that the aftereffects of this crime would linger within the family for generations to come, haunting them with unanswered questions and unresolved grief.