• New Zealand woman gets life sentence for killing her two children
• Bodies found in suitcases in abandoned storage unit

A New Zealand woman of South Korean heritage has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering her two young children. Their bodies were discovered in suitcases inside an abandoned storage unit over three years ago, local media reported.

Hakyung Lee was convicted in September after admitting to killing her children, aged eight and six at the time, in 2018, a year after their father passed away from cancer.

Lee pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and chose to represent herself during the trial, with guidance from two lawyers.

Her legal team argued that a life sentence would be unjust due to her mental health problems, but prosecutors maintained there was no evidence to support this claim, according to reports.

Judge Geoffrey Venning denied requests for a reduced sentence but allowed compulsory treatment in a secure psychiatric facility, with the condition that Lee would return to prison once deemed mentally stable.

“You knew your actions were morally wrong… perhaps you could not bear to have your children around as a reminder of your previous happy life,” the judge remarked.

Lee is required to serve at least 17 years before she can apply for parole.

Life imprisonment is the severest penalty in New Zealand, which abolished the death penalty in 1989.

During the trial, it was revealed that Lee had given her children an overdose of prescription medication in 2018, then wrapped their bodies in plastic bags and placed them in suitcases.

The children’s remains were discovered in 2022 by a family sorting through the contents of a storage unit they had purchased through an online auction.

New Zealand police opened a murder investigation, and Lee, who had relocated to South Korea in 2018, was extradited to face trial in November 2022.