A SOUTH KOREAN-born New Zealand woman has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her two young children, whose bodies were discovered in suitcases in an abandoned storage locker more than three years after their deaths.
Reuters reported today that Hakyung Lee, who admitted killing her eight- and six-year-old children in 2018, was convicted in September. The murders occurred the year after the children’s father succumbed to cancer.
Lee had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and represented herself during the trial, though she was supported by two lawyers.
Her defence team argued that a life sentence would be unjust given her mental health issues. However, prosecutors maintained there was no evidence she had been suicidal at the time of the killings, according to the New Zealand Herald.
Presiding over the sentencing, Judge Geoffrey Venning dismissed calls for a lesser penalty, while approving compulsory treatment at a secure psychiatric facility.
The judge specified that Lee would return to prison once deemed mentally fit.
He told her: “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 must serve a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. Life imprisonment is the severest sentence available in New Zealand, which abolished the death penalty in 1989.
During the trial, the court heard that Lee had administered a fatal overdose of prescription medication to the children in 2018, before placing their bodies in plastic bags and packing them into suitcases.
Their remains were discovered in 2022 by a family clearing out the contents of a storage locker purchased through an online auction.
New Zealand police subsequently launched a murder investigation, and Lee, who had relocated to South Korea in 2018, was extradited to face trial in November 2022. - November 26, 2025
