New Zealand: Trial begins for ‘suitcase murder’ suspect Hakyung Lee

A woman accused of murdering her two children and hiding their remains in suitcases is being tried in New Zealand, in a high-profile case that has shocked the country.

Hakyung Lee, who was extradited from South Korea to New Zealand in November 2022, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder.

The remains of her children were discovered in suitcases by a family who had purchased the contents of an abandoned storage unit at an auction in Auckland.

The bodies were believed to have been stored there for several years.

The trial opened on Monday and is expected to last up to four weeks. The prosecution will open arguments on Tuesday, according to local media.

Given the public attention the case has received, the judge told the jury that Ms Lee’s guilt or innocence must be determined based on facts.

Justice Geoffrey Venning added that it’s also likely that the case will be determined “whether, at the time the children were killed, Ms Lee was insane”.

Ms Lee, 44, will represent herself in court with two court-appointed lawyers acting as stand-by counsel. She remained silent when asked to enter a plea on Monday.

A New Zealand national who was born in South Korea, Ms Lee lived in Auckland for several years before she returned to South Korea in 2018.

The year before – 2017 – the children’s father died of cancer. And the two children, aged six and eight, died some time after that, though it is not known when exactly.

Their bodies then discovered in August 2022 after a family bought a trailer load of goods, including the suitcases, in an online auction.

Local media reported that the sale was part of an effort to clear abandoned items from a storage unit.

Police said the buyers had no connection to the deaths.

Ms Lee was arrested in Ulsan, South Korea in September 2022 after Interpol issued a global red notice for her.