SYDNEY: A South Korean-born New Zealand woman has been convicted of murdering her two young children, whose bodies were found inside suitcases in an abandoned storage locker.
Hakyung Lee admitted to killing the children, aged eight and six, but pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder on the grounds of insanity.
She chose to represent herself throughout the trial with the assistance of two lawyers.
The court heard that Lee gave the children an overdose of prescription medicine in 2018 before wrapping their bodies in plastic bags and placing them in the suitcases.
The children’s father had died of cancer in late 2017.
Lee stood with her head bowed and showed no reaction as the jury delivered their unanimous verdict.
Neither the prosecution nor the defence spoke to the media as they left the court, according to RNZ.
The children’s remains were discovered in 2022 by a family going through the contents of a storage locker they had bought at an online auction.
New Zealand police launched a murder investigation and Lee, who had moved to South Korea in 2018, was extradited to face trial in November 2022.