GUILTY NZ - Two Children's Remains Found in Suitcases Bought at Auction - Auckland *Mother Arrested*

[SouthAussie]

Just looking at the school terms for NZ in 2018. The school term didn't end until 6th July in 2018, so maybe the last day the children were in school was Friday 22nd June and maybe the mother took off (childless) for Korea on Thursday 28th June 2018. And that is how the police have narrowed down the date of when the children died.

imo

School terms and holidays archive

State and state-integrated school term and holiday information from 1986 to 2023.

www.education.govt.nz

 

[Kemug]

So maybe she killed them (if she did) because for some reason she wanted to go back to South Korea, but not take them.

 

[Kemug]

Maybe she had a husband in SK who hadn't come to NZ, and it would have brought shame to the family to produce 2 children who weren't his.

 

[SouthAussie]

Maybe she had a husband in SK who hadn't come to NZ, and it would have brought shame to the family to produce 2 children who weren't his.

Her husband (and/or the children's father) died in NZ on 22nd Nov 2017. About 7 months before the children both died.
Presuming he was her husband, but possibly he might have been the children's father but the parents were not married? Seeing that her name is Hakyung Lee and his surname, like the children's, was Jo.

He is noted on the children's Find A Grave listings, and if you follow the link (his name) you can see his death date.

Minu Jo (2012-2018) - Find a Grave Memorial

Children whose bodies were found in suitcases can be named Catrin Owen Sep 25 2023 The two children whose bodies were found in suitcases in an Auckland storage locker in 2022 can now be named. Minu Jo, 10, and Yuna Jo, 12, were the children of Hakyung Lee. Lee, the children's mother, has pleaded...

www.findagrave.com

 

[Dotta]

Her husband (and/or the children's father) died in NZ on 22nd Nov 2017. About 7 months before the children both died.

He is noted on the children's Find A Grave listings, and if you follow the link (his name) you can see his death date.

Minu Jo (2012-2018) - Find a Grave Memorial

Children whose bodies were found in suitcases can be named Catrin Owen Sep 25 2023 The two children whose bodies were found in suitcases in an Auckland storage locker in 2022 can now be named. Minu Jo, 10, and Yuna Jo, 12, were the children of Hakyung Lee. Lee, the children's mother, has pleaded...

www.findagrave.com

Dad died young - only 37.

 

[SouthAussie]

Dad died young - only 37.

Yes, he apparently died of cancer.

The children's father died of cancer in New Zealand in late 2017, before the children's disappearance. Link

 

[Dotta]

Yes, he apparently died of cancer.

The children's father died of cancer in New Zealand in late 2017, before the children's disappearance. Link

I see.

It might have been too much for her, meaning some kind of nervous breakdown.
Being a single mother in a foreign land.
Barely coping mentally and maybe financially.

Only speculating!!!
Not excusing!!!

But, unfortunately, sometimes life experiences break people and they commit terrible things

JMO

 

[DFWNF]

Any updates on this case?

 

[kiwi50]

Update on trial.

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

 

[SouthAussie]

It has now been two years since these two young children's remains were found.

A new trial date has been set for Hakyung Lee - it was actually set at a hearing in May.

Lee now has a revised trial date - for double murder - set for 8th September 2025. The judge said her case will be in court every two months up until then, to make sure it is staying on track.
The trial is expected to last for four weeks.

New trial date for mother accused of murdering children, leaving bodies in suitcases

Hakyung Lee had initially been scheduled to go to trial last month.

www.nzherald.co.nz

 

[Marg944]

Suitcase murders-accused Hakyung Lee makes rare appearance in court​

6 August 2025

“A woman accused of murdering her two children and hiding their bodies in suitcases has made a rare in-person court appearance as her trial date nears.

Hakyung Lee's hair covered her eyes and she wore a dark grey hoodie over a grey T-shirt when she appeared for criminal callover at the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday morning.

The appearance was for a progress update ahead of her trial, which is now set to begin on 8 September.”

Suitcase murders-accused Hakyung Lee makes rare appearance in court

Hakyung Lee, accused of murdering her two children and hiding their bodies in suitcases, has made a rare in-person court appearance.

www.rnz.co.nz

 

[Marg944]

Both of the children were born in South Korea….

At least someone was kind enough to bury the children at the same cemetery as their father.





———-

https://www.geni.com/people/Ian-Jo/6000000203386688835

https://thelawassociation.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Lee-v-R-2023-NZCA-305.pdf

 

[Marg944]

https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/6-Going-to-Court/calendar/daily-lists/20250905-High-Court-daily-list.pdf

 

[Marg944]

Woman faces NZ trial over bodies-in-suitcases murders​

“A trial has opened in New Zealand for a woman accused of murdering her two children and leaving their bodies in suitcases for years before they were discovered.

Hakyung Lee is charged with killing Minu Jo, 6, and Yuna Jo, 8, in June 2018.

She was extradited from South Korea to face the charges, which she denies.

The children’s remains were found inside luggage at an abandoned storage unit in Auckland in August 2022.

Not guilty pleas were entered by Justice Geoffrey Venning, who is presiding.”

Woman faces NZ trial over bodies-in-suitcases murders

A trial has opened in New Zealand for a woman accused of murdering her two children and leaving their bodies in suitcases.

www.thenewdaily.com.au

 

[TootsieFootsie]

MSN

ABC News Australia


The trial began in Auckland’s High Court on Monday, with Ms Lee keeping her head down during jury selection.

She did not answer when asked to enter a plea, despite prompting from her interpreter, according to RNZ.

Judge Geoffrey Venning recorded a not guilty plea on her behalf.

Ms Lee, who was born Ji Eun Lee, will be representing herself in court, assisted by two lawyers acting as stand-by counsel.

The trial is expected to last up to four weeks.

 

[Dotta]

MSN

ABC News Australia


The trial began in Auckland’s High Court on Monday, with Ms Lee keeping her head down during jury selection.

She did not answer when asked to enter a plea, despite prompting from her interpreter, according to RNZ.

Judge Geoffrey Venning recorded a not guilty plea on her behalf.

Ms Lee, who was born Ji Eun Lee, will be representing herself in court, assisted by two lawyers acting as stand-by counsel.

The trial is expected to last up to four weeks.

Representing herself??

With not answering when asked to enter a plea
(despite prompting),
I'm doubtful about this tactic.

I'm not sure about her MH.

JMO

 

[Marg944]

Antidepressant drug found in bodies of two children left in suitcases​

“A jury has been told traces of an antidepressant drug was found in the bodies of two children who it is alleged were killed by their mother, and left in suitcases in a storage unit in Auckland.

The bodies of Minu Jo and Yuna Jo, aged six and eight at the time of their deaths, were found nearly four years after they were killed and were discovered in suitcases after a family bought the contents of an abandoned storage locker in an Auckland auction.

Crown prosecutor Natalie Walker's opening to the jury took them back to August 1, 2022, when a Clendon couple won an auction of the storage locker's contents containing furniture and whiteware – only to discover the body of a clothed child after opening a foul-smelling suitcase.

A toxicology test of the children found there was a presence of an antidepressant drug in their bodies.

Walker said the pathologist concluded that they died by homicide of unspecified means associated with an antidepressant drug, but could not be certain whether the children died from it or whether they were incapacitated by the drug, and killed by other means.

Walker said Lee accepted having caused the children's deaths and putting their remains in the suitcases in the storage unit, but the jury's task would be to decide whether she was insane at the time the children were killed.

She argued that Lee's actions following the deaths of her children – including hiring a storage unit, moving the bodies, changing her name, and returning to Korea in late July 2018 flying business class – showed that these were the actions of someone who knew what they were doing, and who knew that it was wrong.

Stand-by counsel Lorraine Smith, who is assisting Lee in her self-representation, told jurors the loss of her husband in 2017 drove Lee to insanity.

"At the time Hakyung Lee killed her children, was she sane or was she insane?" she asked jurors.

"On behalf of Ms Lee, it will be submitted that at the time she killed her children, she was insane and this should be the verdict in this case," Smith said.”

Antidepressant drug found in bodies of two children left in suitcases

Their mother Hakyung Lee does not dispute causing their deaths, but that the loss of her husband drove her to insanity, the court has heard.

www.1news.co.nz

Amazing that forensic was able to determine that anti-depressants were present in the children, after their death 4 years earlier!

 

[Marg944]

Teacher in tears giving evidence about children found dead in suitcases​

“A teacher giving evidence at the trial of the woman accused of murdering her two children and leaving them in suitcases broke down in tears as she described to the court how they were adored at school.

On Tuesday, the court heard from Mary Robertson, who worked at the Papatoetoe South School for over 40 years. She said she first met Yuna Jo when she was five, and said she had "a smile that lit up the world".

She said Yuna was "beautifully behaved" and that Minu was a "joyful bubbling boy".

Robertson's emotional testament saw several members of the jury wipe away tears.

She said Lee and her husband Ian Jo were "caring parents" who were involved and interested in their children's education.

Minu had a speech impediment and had a cleft pallet, and Lee was worried that he would be targeted at school because of it, Robertson recalled.

She said Minu managed really well at school, but later became withdrawn after his dad got sick.”

Teacher in tears giving evidence about children found dead in suitcases

Mary Robertson said Yuna Jo was "beautifully behaved" and that Minu Jo was a "joyful bubbling boy".

www.rnz.co.nz

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Court hears of NZ mother's 'descent into madness' before children's deaths

Hakyung Lee is accused of murdering her children, eight-year-old Yuna Jo and six-year-old Minu Jo, and leaving their remains in suitcases at a storage facility in Auckland.

www.abc.net.au

Court hears details of Hakyung Lee's 'descent into madness' before children's deaths​

In short:​

New Zealand mother Hakyung Lee took her two children on holiday after their father's death from cancer, spending tens of thousands in the process, a court has been told.

Ms Lee is accused of murdering both children, but argues she is not guilty by reason of insanity.

What's next?​

The trial is expected to last another two weeks, with the Crown saying evidence proves Ms Lee knew what she was doing was wrong.

 

[Marg944]

Suitcase murders-accused wanted 'to die in New Zealand', court hears​

1:32 pm on 16 September 2025


“The police officer who extradited a woman accused of murdering her children and hiding their bodies in suitcases back from South Korea says she told him she did not do it.

Hakyung Lee is charged with the murders of her children Minu and Yuna Jo.

The bodies of the six and eight-year-old were discovered in suitcases almost four years after they were killed, when a family bought the contents of an abandoned storage locker in an Auckland auction.

Lee, who was born Ji Eun Lee, is representing herself in the trial in the High Court at Auckland, assisted by two standby counsel.

She admits causing her children's deaths and putting their remains in suitcases in storage, but argues she is not guilty by reason of insanity at the time of the killings, following a "descent into madness" after the death of her husband Ian Jo in late 2017.”

Suitcase murders-accused wanted 'to die in New Zealand', court hears

The officer who extradited a woman accused of murdering her children and hiding their bodies in suitcases says she told him she did not do it.

www.rnz.co.nz