"A woman has been found guilty by a New Zealand court of murdering her two young children and hiding their bodies in suitcases for years, until their remains were accidentally discovered. A jury at the Auckland High Court on Tuesday found Hakyung Lee, 45, guilty of the double murder after just two hours of deliberations, rejecting an insanity defence made by her lawyers."
"The New Zealand case garnered international headlines in 2022, when the children's remains were found inside luggage at a disused storage facility in Auckland, after Lee stopped paying rental fees for the unit due to having run into financial difficulties. The shocking discovery was made when the contents of the storage unit were auctioned online and the buyer took possession, finding the bodies inside suitcases."
"Lee, who represented herself in court with the aid of two standby counsels, had argued that she was insane at the time of the killing. Public broadcaster Radio New Zealand (RNZ) said Lee's standby lawyer, Lorraine Smith, had argued that the death of Lee's husband had led to a deep descent into insanity and the killing of her children. Crown Prosecutor Natalie Walker said that Lee's actions after the killing of her children were calculated, and she knew what she was doi"
Hakyung Lee, 45, was found guilty of murdering her six-year-old son, Minu Jo, and eight-year-old daughter, Yuna Jo, in June 2018. The children's remains were concealed in suitcases stored at a disused Auckland storage facility and were discovered in 2022 after the unit's contents were auctioned online. Lee stopped paying rental fees after running into financial difficulties following her husband's death from cancer. A jury at Auckland High Court convicted Lee after two hours of deliberation and rejected an insanity defence. Lee represented herself with two standby counsels. Justice Geoffrey Venning ordered Lee to remain in custody until sentencing on November 26. Murder carries a mandatory life sentence in New Zealand with a minimum non-parole period of ten years.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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