Mom kills her kids, hides them in suitcases before family bought them in auction

A mother was found guilty of murdering her kids and hiding their bodies in a suitcase in a high-profile case that has shocked the country.

According to BBC, Hakyung Lee, 44, was convicted of murder at Aukland High Court on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, after a trial that lasted about two weeks and she had pleaded not guilty before.

Lee was arrested on September 22, 2025, and was deported from South Korea after the bodies of her two children, Yuna and Minu were discovered hidden in suitcases that were bought at a storage unit auction.

As per the recent development of the case, the mother found guilty for this heinous act of killing her own children than hiding them in suitcases which were later bought by another family at auction.

The bodies of Lee’s children Yuna Jo and Minu Jo, who were aged eight and six at the time of their deaths were discovered inside suitcases bought at a storage unit auction in August 22, 2025.

Moreover, the authorities believed that they had been dead for three to four years by the time their dead bodies were found.

During the trials, the Auckland’s high court was informed that the children's bodies had no sign of trauma, though it was clear they had been killed by someone.

As per the prosecution judges a pathologist found they had died by homicide by unspecified means including the use of "Nortriptyline" an antidepressant.

The court heard that Lee picked up her prescription for the drug from a pharmacy in August 2017, five months after her husband, Ian Jo, was diagnosed with cancer.

Further more, defense lawyer claimed Lee's mental health deteriorated after her husband's death and came to believe it was best if they all died together.

This led her to try to kill herself and her children with the antidepressant, but she got the dose wrong and remained safe while her children were dead.

Her lawyer further informs, “While she did kill her children, she was not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.”

In addition to that the prosecution argued that Lee had demonstrated rational thought by hiding the children's remains, changing her name and moving back to South Korea and killings were a "selfish act to free herself from the burden of parenting alone".

The 44-year-old women had pleaded not guilty to their murders but was convicted by the jury after just two hours of deliberations.

Furthermore, Lee is set to be sentenced in November 2025 as she now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, reports AFP.