NZ mother found guilty of murdering two children, hiding their remains

A jury at the High Court in Auckland on Tuesday found Hakyung Lee, 45, guilty of murdering her two children and concealing their bodies in suitcases that were later discovered at an abandoned storage unit in Auckland. The verdict closes a case that began publicly in 2022 when luggage purchased at an online auction yielded the remains of the children, and that prosecutors say stretches back to June 2018.

Lee was convicted of killing her son, Minu Jo, 6, and her daughter, Yuna Jo, 8, in June 2018, according to charges laid at trial. Authorities said the children had likely been dead for three to four years before their remains were found inside luggage at the disused storage facility in August 2022. The remains were discovered after Lee stopped paying rental fees for the unit amid reported financial difficulties and its contents were auctioned online.

Jurors deliberated for only a few hours before returning the guilty verdict, rejecting an insanity defense advanced by Lee and the argument by her lawyers that she was not criminally responsible at the time of the killings. Defense counsel told the court that Lee had descended into mental illness following the death of her husband...