Chilling details have emerged in the trial of Hakyung Lee, the mother accused of murdering her two children, after a psychiatrist revealed how she dissolved anti-depressant medication into juice and gave it to her son and daughter before putting their bodies in a South Auckland storage unit, Stuff reported.
According to a report by Stuff, Lee, formerly known as Ji Eun (Jasmine) Lee, admits giving her children, 6-year-old Minu Jo and 8-year-old Yuna Jo, the drug Nortriptyline in 2017 but claims she was insane at the time. The prosecution, however, argues her actions showed she knew what she was doing and that it was wrong.
The bodies of the children were discovered in 2022, four years after Lee left New Zealand for Korea. Their remains were found in suitcases wrapped in black plastic bags inside a rented storage unit.
On Thursday, defence counsel Lorraine Smith told the jury that Lee’s case falls under Section 23 of the Crimes Act, citing psychiatric evidence. Dr Yvette Kelly, who interviewed Lee multiple times, testified that Lee suffered from major depressive disorder with psychotic features, persistent suicidal thoughts, and delusions that she had caused family misfortunes, reported Stuff.
Kelly told the court that Lee described how the children became drowsy and went to bed after drinking the medicated juice. Lee attempted suicide at the same time but woke to find her children unresponsive. When asked why she did not seek medical help, Lee reportedly said she did not want them revived, as reported by Stuff.
The psychiatrist also detailed Lee’s deteriorating mental health following the death of her husband from cancer in 2017, her long-standing suicidal ideation dating back to 1998, and her belief that she was a “bad mother” who had cursed her family.
According to Stuff, after killing her children, Lee changed her name and moved to Korea, where she continued to battle depression, attempted suicide multiple times, and was eventually hospitalised.
Dr Kelly concluded that Lee did not understand the moral wrongness of her actions and met the legal criteria for insanity.
The trial, before Justice Geoffrey Venning and a jury, is ongoing.