US EditionNew Zealand mother gets life sentence for killing children in ‘suitcase murders’
Hakyung Lee was sentenced to life with a minimum of 17 years parole eligibility after hiding her children's bodies for four years following their 2018 murders, court found her actions deliberate.
- The Auckland High Court handed down the sentence on Nov 26, 2025, sentencing Hakyung Lee to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.
- Investigators say Hakyung Lee wrapped the bodies of Minu Jo, 6, and Yuna Jo, 8, in plastic, stuffed them into suitcases, and hid them in a storage locker at a suburban Auckland facility, later sold at auction.
- A jury in September convicted Lee, rejecting a not‑guilty‑by‑reason‑of‑insanity defence, while Crown prosecutor Natalie Walker said, `The Crown suggests that when she gave her two young children nortriptyline, it was a selfish act to free herself from the burden of parenting alone.`
- Justice Venning ordered Lee be treated as a special patient under the Criminal Procedure Mentally Impaired Persons Act and New Zealand Police credited South Korean agencies for their cooperation on Wednesday.
- Family statements read at the hearing said the sentencing highlighted deep emotional scars, with Jimmy Sei Wook Jo and Choon Ja Lee speaking as Yuna Jo and Minu Jo would have been 16 and 13 today.
109 Articles
109 Articles
A New Zealand woman has been sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of her children, aged six and eight, in 2018 after using antidepressants to kill them. Their bodies were found in suitcases in an abandoned warehouse more than three years ago.
The sentence sentencing a woman who murdered her two children to life has closed a case that has impacted New Zealand’s public opinion on Wednesday. The Auckland High Court (on North Island) has confirmed Hakyung Lee’s 45-year-old guilt in the murders of Yuna Jo, eight years old, and Minu Jo, six years old. Another lower-ranking court had ruled in January that this mother administered to the two children a lethal dose of medication before puttin…
Lee killed her children after her husband died and she fell into a deep depression.
In August 2022, remains of the two 6- and 8-year-olds were found in suitcases stored in a storage room in Auckland.
The case, nicknamed the "murders of the suitcase", shocked the country when the bodies of its two children were discovered in August 2022. The court imposed a 17-year security period.
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