Mother Guilty of Murdering Children and Hiding Bodies in Suitcases for Years

A mother in New Zealand, Hakyung Lee, has been found guilty of murdering her two children and hiding their bodies in suitcases, a case that has shocked the nation.

The 44-year-old was convicted of murder by the Auckland High Court on Tuesday after a two-week trial. Lee had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Her lawyers claimed she was insane during the killings, which occurred months after her husband died from cancer. However, prosecutors argued that her actions were planned.

The bodies of Lee’s children were discovered in 2022 by a family who bought items from an abandoned storage unit at an auction in Auckland. The children had been hidden there for several years, BBC reports.

Lee was arrested in Ulsan, South Korea, in September 2022 and was extradited to New Zealand later that year.

During the trial, the court learned that there were no signs of trauma on the children’s bodies, but they had been murdered. A pathologist stated they died from homicide, possibly involving the antidepressant Nortriptyline.

The court revealed that Lee had picked up her prescription for the drug in August 2017, shortly after her husband was diagnosed with cancer.

The defense argued that Lee’s mental health worsened following her husband’s death, leading her to believe it was best for her and her children to die together. They claimed she attempted to poison them with the antidepressant but miscalculated the dosage, resulting in her children’s deaths.

The prosecution countered that Lee showed rational behavior by hiding the bodies, changing her name, and returning to South Korea. They described the killings as a “selfish act” to escape the burden of parenting alone.

When the jury delivered the verdict after about three hours of deliberation, Lee was silent and kept her head down.

She is scheduled to be sentenced in November and could face a maximum of life in prison.