A Mother's Calculated Crime
A New Zealand mother has been sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison for the murder of her two young children, whose bodies were discovered in suitcases stored in a rental unit. Hakyung Lee was found guilty of killing her eight-year-old daughter, Yuna Jo, and six-year-old son, Minu Jo, back in 2018.
The Tragic Discovery
The children's remains went undiscovered for four years. The grim finding was only made in 2022 when Lee failed to keep up with payments for a storage unit in Auckland. The contents of the unit were subsequently sold in an online auction, leading to the horrific discovery by an unsuspecting member of the public.
At the High Court in Auckland, Justice Geoffrey Venning delivered the sentence on Wednesday, November 25. He ruled that Lee must begin her sentence in a secure psychiatric facility under New Zealand's compulsory mental health treatment law, before transitioning to prison once deemed well enough.
The court heard that Lee, who had changed her name and fled to South Korea after the killings, murdered the children by administering antidepressant medication. Her defence lawyers argued for a reduced sentence, citing her mental state, profound shame, and the isolation she faced in custody.
A Family's Unimaginable Grief
The profound impact of the crime was laid bare in emotional victim impact statements presented to the court. The children's uncle, Jimmy Sei Wook Jo, expressed his devastation, stating he 'never imagined such a profound tragedy would ever befall our family' and that he felt he had failed to protect his niece and nephew.
Lee's own mother, Choon Ja Lee, described a pain that 'cut through my bones, or as if someone was gouging out my chest', adding she would likely carry the suffering for the rest of her life.
Despite evidence of Lee's depression following the death of her husband, Justice Venning concluded her actions were 'deliberate and calculated'. A jury had previously rejected an insanity defence, finding her guilty of murder in September.
Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Va'aelua noted that Yuna and Minu would have been 16 and 13 years old today, extending his thoughts to the wider family for their tragic loss. New Zealand police also acknowledged the assistance from authorities in South Korea during the complex investigation.
