According to judge Geoffrey Venning, Hakyung Lee’s sentence will already begin in the psychiatric institution where she is required to be admitted according to New Zealand law. When she recovers, she will serve the remainder of her sentence in prison.
“You could not cope with the fact that your husband became seriously ill, and perhaps you could not bear that the children would constantly remind you of your former happy life, which had been cruelly taken from you,” the judge allegedly told the woman, according to BBC News.
South Korean (45) found guilty of murdering children (6 and 8), left bodies in suitcases in storage box
The jury in Auckland found the woman guilty of murdering 6-year-old Minu Jo and 8-year-old Yuna Jo in 2018.
Bodies of two murdered children in suitcases
She left the two’s bodies in suitcases in a storage unit in Auckland. She then traveled back to South Korea. The contents of that storage were sold at an online auction in 2022 after Lee defaulted on her payment obligations. This brought the grisly case to light.
The suspect’s lawyers argued for a reduced sentence due to a mental illness, but this was rejected by the jury. The judge told Lee that while she was undoubtedly suffering from severe depression when she killed the children in 2018, her actions were deliberate and calculated, news outlet Stuff reported.
Children murdered with antidepressants
During the trial, Lee’s lawyers admitted that Lee killed the children by giving them an antidepressant, but defense attorney Lorraine Smith said the deaths occurred after her client “went into madness,” local news media reported. Lee had always been “vulnerable,” Smith said, but her mental illness worsened after her husband’s death.
During the trial, Lee’s lawyers reportedly admitted that she killed the children by giving them an antidepressant, CBS News reported. Lee had always been “vulnerable,” attorney Smith said. Her husband’s death only worsened her mental illness.