A New Zealand citizen originally from South Korea, Hakyung Lee was sentenced to life imprisonment. She is a criminal convicted of murdering her two small children, Minu Jo and Yuna Jo. Yet in 2018, six- and eight-year-old children did, tragically, die. In 2022, law enforcement discovered their bodies stuffed into suitcases in a locked-up rental storage unit. That grim story came to light after an unsuspecting family bought the abandoned storage locker at auction and opened its contents with horror.
During the trial, which captivated the nation, the central question revolved around whether Lee understood that her actions were morally wrong. High Court Judge Geoffrey Venning issued a stiff judgment against the action. In this case, he discovered that Hakyung Lee intentionally gave her children overdoses of prescription drugs to kill them. He described Minu Jo and Yuna Jo as “especially vulnerable,” which made the circumstances of their deaths all the more heartbreaking.
Judge Venning imposed a life sentence with a 17-year minimum non-parole period. He emphasized the egregiousness of the offense, stating that Lee’s behavior deserved the most severe punishment available under New Zealand law. The judge’s statements underscored the deep impact of the children’s extended family and the entire community.
Her defense team argued that she was not guilty by reason of insanity. She said her husband’s 2017 death set off a debilitating depressive episode. This drove her deeper into guilt and suicidal ideation. One forensic psychiatrist who testified during the trial said that Lee had a delusional belief that killing her children would be merciful.
After the murders, Hakyung Lee fled New Zealand, changed her name and moved to South Korea. Authorities were ultimately able to extradite her back to New Zealand to stand trial, where the case against her was strong. The case captured widespread media interest. It empowered the public’s hunger for understanding the nuances of mental health concerns associated with these horrific events.
The recovery of the children’s bodies has uncovered a harrowing story about their tragic deaths. The family that discovered them couldn’t believe what they had come across, naturally shocked and horrified. Instead, they discovered a gruesome truth within what they thought was simply an empty, dank, abandoned storage unit.