A trial opened Monday in Auckland for a woman accused of killing her two children and leaving their bodies in suitcases that were discovered years later in an abandoned storage unit.
Hakyung Lee, also known previously as Ji Eun Lee, is charged with the murders of 6-year-old Minu Jo and 8-year-old Yuna Jo in June 2018. Lee, a New Zealand citizen born in South Korea, was arrested in South Korea in September 2022 and extradited to New Zealand two months later. She denies the charges.
A jury was selected on the first day of the High Court trial, which is expected to last about four weeks. Prosecutors told the court they intend to call about 40 witnesses. Justice Geoffrey Venning is presiding.
Lee did not speak during the initial hearing and, when asked through an interpreter how she pleaded, shook her head rather than answer; Justice Venning entered not guilty pleas on her behalf. New Zealand news outlets reported that Lee is representing herself at trial, with two lawyers on standby to assist if necessary. The judge warned the proceedings would likely be distressing to Lee and granted her permission to view evidence and testimony from a separate room in the courthouse.
The children's remains were found in August 2022 after the contents of a storage unit in Auckland were auctioned online. Lee had stopped paying rental fees after running into financial difficulties, and the buyers discovered the bodies inside suitcases, according to court records and local reports.
The cause of death remains undetermined. Court documents cited by New Zealand media said forensic investigators detected a prescription sleeping medication in the children's bodies that had been prescribed to Lee, but they also said other causes of death had not been ruled out. The judge told jurors they may be asked to consider Lee's sanity at the time of the alleged killings.
Lee reportedly traveled to South Korea and legally changed her name in 2018, shortly after the time when prosecutors say the children were killed. Her husband died in 2017 after a period of deteriorating health, according to local reporting.
South Korea's Justice Ministry said at the time of Lee's extradition that it had provided New Zealand authorities with "important evidence" in the case. Court proceedings are scheduled to continue with prosecutors' opening statements and the presentation of evidence in the coming days.
The case has drawn intense public attention in New Zealand, where the particulars of the children's discovery and the years between the alleged killings and the recovery of their remains have raised questions that prosecutors and defense will address during the trial.