Every once in a while, a case surfaces that shakes investigators to their core. That was what happened in New Zealand this week, as 45-year-old Hakyung Lee was sentenced to life for murdering her two children and hiding their bodies in suitcases in a suburban warehouse locker. Named the “suitcase murders,” the case has now officially closed.
Lee is a New Zealand citizen but originally from South Korea. She killed her son, Minu Jo, and daughter, Yuna Jo, who were six and eight years old. This happened in 2018. Prosecutors said she laced their fruit juice with an overdose of prescription medication, wrapped their bodies in plastic bags, and stuffed them into two suitcases. The bodies stayed hidden for four years after that. But how did the horror come to light? An unsuspecting family purchased the abandoned storage locker at auction and opened it.
From that moment, authorities traced Lee, who is now living under a new name. She was in Ulsan, South Korea, where she was arrested and extradited to New Zealand to stand trial. She confessed to the killings, but the case centred on why would she commit such a crime. Lee’s defence argued she was in a state of mental collapse after her husband’s death from cancer in 2017.
Mother who murdered her two children and stuffed them into suitcases stashed inside a storage locker is sentenced to life imprisonment in New Zealandhttps://t.co/7ig6XeDRlP pic.twitter.com/n5a6x9zBRD
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 26, 2025
They said that Lee intended to kill herself and her children via a suicide pact, but miscalculated the dosage. A forensic psychiatrist testified that Lee suffered from severe depression, suicidal ideation, guilt, and a belief that killing her children made her merciful.
The prosecution, however, said that the suitcase murders were calculated. They pointed to her steps to hide the bodies, flee the country, and build a new identity. They argued that this proves she understood her actions were morally and legally wrong. Ultimately, High Court judge Geoffrey Venning agreed with the prosecution and handed down a sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years. The victims were “particularly vulnerable,” and the crime was a breach of trust.
Per The Guardian, Lee’s mother (Choon Ja Lee) asked:
“If she wanted to die, why didn’t she die alone?”
Lee’s brother-in-law, Sei Wook Cho, revealed that the children’s other grandmother was diagnosed with cancer and still does not know they are dead. He described living in a “time bomb of fear” that the truth would reach her. He also said that his late brother’s final wish had been to protect the children. Even as Lee begins her life sentence, her two children will not come back.
