On Tuesday, September 23, 2025, a New Zealand courtroom was gripped by the conclusion of a harrowing case that has haunted the country for years. Hakyung Lee, a 45-year-old mother originally from South Korea but a New Zealand citizen, was found guilty of murdering her two young children and hiding their bodies in suitcases for years before their chilling discovery in an Auckland storage facility. The verdict, delivered by the Auckland High Court after a three-week trial, brought a measure of closure to a tragedy that shocked the nation and drew international attention.
The victims, Yuna Jo, aged eight, and Minu Jo, aged six, died in June 2018. Their remains were not discovered until August 2022, when a family who had purchased the contents of an abandoned storage unit at auction opened two suitcases and made the gruesome discovery. According to BBC, the children’s bodies had been stored for several years, wrapped in multiple layers of plastic bags and fully clothed, with no visible signs of trauma. A forensic pathologist concluded that the children died by homicide, with evidence pointing to the use of nortriptyline, an antidepressant medication.
Lee’s defense centered on her mental state at the time of the killings. Her lawyers argued that she was suffering from severe mental illness following the death of her husband, Ian Jo, from cancer in late 2017. As reported by Stuff and The Independent, Lee’s assistant counsel claimed she believed killing her children was the "morally right" thing to do, fearing that if she took her own life, her children would be left to discover her body alone. Lee admitted to giving the children an overdose of prescription nortriptyline mixed in juice, after which they became drowsy and went to sleep in their beds—never to wake again. She later tried to take her own life but survived, only to find her children dead.
Despite these arguments, the prosecution painted a different picture. Crown prosecutor Natalie Walker told the court, as cited by Stuff, that Lee’s actions after the deaths were not those of someone acting irrationally or with diminished responsibility. Instead, Walker described Lee as isolated and dependent on her husband prior to his death. After the killings, Lee meticulously concealed the bodies, moved them to a storage unit, applied for a name change, and fled New Zealand for South Korea, cutting off all contact with friends and family. "The steps she took [after the children's deaths] are consistent with her wanting a new life on her own and a new name," Walker argued. The prosecution characterized the murders as a "selfish act to free herself from the burden of parenting alone," rather than an act of insanity or altruism.
The jury’s deliberation was brief—just about three hours—before returning a unanimous guilty verdict on both counts of murder. Throughout the trial, Lee maintained a withdrawn and silent demeanor, sitting with her head bowed and her hair partly concealing her face. She followed the proceedings via video link from a separate courtroom, accompanied by an interpreter and a security guard, and did not speak or answer questions. When the verdict was delivered, Lee stood silently, giving no visible reaction.
The case’s timeline is as disturbing as its details. After her husband’s cancer diagnosis in early 2017, Lee began collecting prescriptions for nortriptyline, an antidepressant. The last recorded purchase was in August 2017, months before the children’s deaths. Investigators later uncovered PlayStation data indicating that both children last played on June 27, 2018, suggesting this was likely their last day alive. After their deaths, Lee placed their bodies in suitcases, moved them to a storage facility, and left New Zealand, eventually settling in South Korea under a new name, Ji Eun Lee.
The children’s remains might have gone undiscovered indefinitely, had Lee not stopped paying rent on the Auckland storage unit due to financial hardship. The storage company, as reported by CNN, auctioned off the contents online, and it was only when the unsuspecting buyers opened the suitcases that the grim truth came to light. The subsequent investigation quickly identified Lee as the mother of the deceased children, leading to her arrest in Ulsan, South Korea, in September 2022. She was extradited to New Zealand later that year to stand trial.
Throughout the proceedings, the defense maintained that Lee’s mental health had deteriorated so severely after her husband’s death that she was not in control of her actions. The court heard that Lee’s intent was for her entire family to die together—a tragic plan that went awry when she survived. Yet, the prosecution’s evidence of rational behavior after the killings—concealing the crime, relocating, and assuming a new identity—ultimately swayed the jury. The court rejected the insanity plea, finding Lee fully responsible for her actions.
Justice Geoffrey Venning, presiding over the trial, ordered Lee to remain in custody until her sentencing, scheduled for November 26, 2025. Under New Zealand law, murder carries a mandatory life sentence, with a minimum term of ten years before parole eligibility. As local media have highlighted, the case underscores the harsh penalties for intentional child murder in New Zealand’s legal system and the importance of thorough investigation into missing-person cases—especially those involving children.
The tragic deaths of Yuna and Minu Jo have left a deep scar on the New Zealand community and beyond. The case has prompted a broader conversation about mental health, parental responsibility, and the systems in place to protect vulnerable children. For many, the story is a stark reminder that the consequences of untreated grief and isolation can be devastating, and that vigilance and compassion are needed to prevent similar tragedies from unfolding in the future.
As the country awaits Lee’s sentencing, the memory of two young lives lost—and the years it took for their story to be told—continues to resonate, a somber testament to the hidden tragedies that sometimes lie just out of sight.
