A New Zealand woman convicted of murdering her two young children and hiding their bodies in suitcases for years has been ordered to serve at least 17 years in prison. The sentencing was delivered on Wednesday at the High Court in Auckland.
According to a report by NDTV, Justice Geoffrey Venning ruled that Hakyung Lee would begin her life sentence as a patient in a secure psychiatric facility under the country’s compulsory mental health treatment law. He added that Lee must return to prison once she is deemed well enough.
Lee was found guilty in September of murdering her children, Minu Jo, 6, and Yuna Jo, 8. The jury rejected her defence of insanity. At the hearing, her lawyers sought a reduced sentence, arguing that she suffered from serious mental illness, faced threats in custody, and felt deep remorse for her actions, NDTV reported.
However, Justice Venning said that although Lee experienced severe depression in 2018 when she killed the children, her actions were “deliberate and calculated,” according to a report by Stuff. Under New Zealand law, an insanity defence requires proof that a defendant was incapable of understanding their actions or knowing they were wrong.
The children’s remains were discovered in 2022 after Lee stopped paying rent for an Auckland storage unit due to financial difficulties. The storage locker’s contents were later auctioned, and the buyers found the suitcases containing the bodies, as reported by NDTV.
Lee fled to South Korea after the killings, changed her name, and was eventually extradited to New Zealand. Born in South Korea, she is a New Zealand citizen and previously went by the name Ji Eun Lee.
During the trial, her legal team acknowledged that Lee had killed the children by giving them antidepressant medication. Her lawyer, Lorraine Smith, told the court the deaths occurred after Lee “descended into madness,” adding that her client had always been “fragile,” and her mental health worsened after her husband's death, as quoted by NDTV.
In New Zealand, murder carries an automatic life sentence with a minimum non-parole period of at least 10 years. Justice Venning set Lee’s minimum period at 17 years.
Family members expressed their grief in court. A lawyer read a statement from the children’s uncle, Jimmy Sei Wook Jo, which said, “I never imagined such a profound tragedy would ever befall our family… I feel like I failed to look after my niece and nephew,” NDTV reported.
A statement from Lee’s mother, Choon Ja Lee, read by a prosecutor, described her anguish: “It felt like a pain that cut through my bones, or as if someone was gouging out my chest… I do not know when this pain and suffering might heal, but I often think I may carry it with me until the day I die,” NDTV quoted.
Police also issued a statement acknowledging the assistance of South Korean authorities in the case. “Yuna and Minu would have been 16 and 13 today,” said Det. Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Va'aelua. “Our thoughts are with the wider family today for the tragic loss of these two young children.,” NDTV reported.