Traces of the anti‑depressant Nortriptyline were found in the bodies of two children whose remains were discovered in suitcases in a New Zealand storage unit, a court in Auckland heard on Tuesday.
Prosecutors told jurors that Hakyung Lee, 44, is on trial charged with the murders of her children, eight‑year‑old Yuna Jo and six‑year‑old Minu Jo, and that pathologists identified Nortriptyline in the chest cavity and liver of both children. The drug is not recommended for use in children and, in cases of overdose, can cause seizures, drowsiness and death, the court was told.
Lee has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder but accepts she caused the deaths of the children and that she wrapped their bodies in three plastic bags, placed each in a suitcase sealed with duct tape, and left the suitcases in a storage unit for about four years. Prosecutors say she later changed her name and flew to Seoul a month after the killings. She was arrested in Ulsan, South Korea, in September 2022 after Interpol issued a global red notice and was extradited to New Zealand in November 2022.
The children's remains were discovered after two members of the public purchased the contents of an abandoned storage locker at auction on Aug. 10, 2022, paying NZ$401. The locker contained household items, including bicycles, clothing and two locked suitcases. When loading the suitcases the following day, a buyer noticed an unusual smell and, after returning home, cut into the plastic‑wrapped and locked cases. Inside were several tightly tied black plastic bags nested within one another; each contained the body of a child. An autopsy found no signs of external trauma such as broken bones, but concluded the deaths were homicides by unspecified means that included exposure to Nortriptyline, the prosecution said.
Prosecutor Natalie Walker told the jury that Lee had been prescribed Nortriptyline on a trial basis in August 2017 after telling a doctor she was struggling to sleep and felt dizzy following her husband Ian Jo's cancer diagnosis. Lee picked up the prescription about five months after her husband's diagnosis, and prosecutors say his death in November 2017 preceded a deterioration in her mental state.
Witness accounts and messages cited by the prosecution describe Lee making comments indicating she and the children would die if her husband died. The court heard that Lee's mother recalled calls in which Lee cried and said she would die if her husband did. On another occasion, Lee allegedly texted her husband, "if you die I will die along with our two kids." Prosecutors also told jurors that while on holiday in Australia after her husband's death, Lee told a friend she wished the plane had crashed so she and the children could have died together.
Defence lawyer Lorraine Smith told the court that Lee's conduct stemmed from a severe psychiatric decline after her husband's death. Smith described a "descent into madness" that led to the children's deaths. The defence says Lee administered anti‑depressants to the children but miscalculated the dosage; Smith told jurors that Lee awakened to find the children dead and that she is not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.
Justice Geoffrey Venning told the jury as the trial opened that the central issue was likely to be whether Lee was legally insane at the time the children died. Under New Zealand law, a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity requires the jury to be satisfied that, at the time of the act, the accused was suffering from such a disease of the mind that they were unable to understand what they were doing, unable to know that what they were doing was morally wrong, or unable to control their actions.
The prosecution alleges Lee changed her name and left New Zealand soon after the killings, travelling on a business class ticket to Seoul. After the storage unit contents were auctioned in August 2022 and the bodies discovered, police investigations led to Lee's arrest in South Korea two months later. She was returned to New Zealand to face the charges.
A pathologist's testimony presented at trial described the presence of Nortriptyline in internal samples from both children. The court was told the drug, a tricyclic anti‑depressant, is rarely used in children and can be dangerous in overdose. Forensic evidence will be central to the jury's consideration alongside medical and witness testimony about Lee's mental state in the months and years before the children's deaths.
Lee is a New Zealand national born in South Korea. The trial in the Auckland High Court is expected to last up to four weeks.