‘Suitcase’ killer mum gets life term
New Zealand mother Hakyung Lee has received life imprisonment for murdering her two young children and hiding their bodies in suitcases for four years.
A New Zealand mother has been sentenced to life in prison after murdering her two children, putting them into suitcases and keeping them in a storage locker.
Earlier this year, Hakyung Lee was earlier this year found guilty of killing her children in what was dubbed the “suitcase murders”.
The 45-year-old showed little reaction as High Court judge Geoffrey Venning sentenced Lee to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years on Wednesday morning.
Judge Venning said the children were “particularly vulnerable”.
Lee’s mother Choon Ja Le wrote a statement which was read out to the court, stating she could not fathom the logic behind her daughter’s horrific act.
“If she wanted to die why didn’t she die alone?” she wrote.
“Why did she take the innocent children with her?”
Children not found for years
The court previously heard how Lee killed her son Minu Jo and daughter Yuna Jo, aged six and eight, with an overdose of prescription medication in 2018.
Their bodies were not found until a family purchased the abandoned storage locker in 2022 and opened the suitcases.
Meanwhile, Lee had changed her name and fled for South Korea. She was extradited to face trial in New Zealand.
Lee’s lawyers had argued she was not guilty by reason of insanity and that the death of her husband in 2017 sent her into a depressive spiral.
The court heard from a forensic psychiatrist who said that Lee had suffered from a mental state of depression, suicidal thoughts, guilt, and a belief that killing her children was the right thing to do.
The prosecution successfully argued Lee’s knew her actions were wrong as she fled the country shortly after the act.
-with AFP
More Coverage
Originally published as ‘Suitcase’ killer mum gets life term
