Reuters
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A South Korean-born New Zealand woman was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for the murders of two young children whose bodies were found inside a suitcase in an abandoned storage locker more than three years ago, New Zealand media reported.
Ha-kyung Lee was sentenced in September after admitting to killing the children, ages 8 and 6, in 2018, a year after the children’s father died of cancer.
Lee has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and was represented at trial with the assistance of two attorneys.
The New Zealand Herald reported that Lee’s lawyer argued on Wednesday that a life sentence was unfair given his mental health issues, but prosecutors said there was no evidence that Lee was suicidal at the time of the killing.
Judge Jeffrey Venning granted Lee compulsory treatment in a secure psychiatric facility on the condition that he return to prison if he is deemed mentally sane, but rejected his request to reduce his sentence, the report said.
“You knew your actions were morally wrong… Perhaps you couldn’t bear to have your children around as constant reminders of your previous happy life,” Benning said.
Lee is required to serve a minimum of 17 years in prison without parole.
Life imprisonment is the harshest penalty available in New Zealand, where the death penalty was abolished in 1989.
The court heard during the trial that Lee gave the children an overdose of prescription drugs in 2018, then wrapped their bodies in plastic bags and put them in a suitcase.
The children’s bodies were discovered in 2022 by their families who were organizing the contents of a storage locker they had purchased at an online auction.
New Zealand police launched a murder investigation and Mr Lee, who moved to South Korea in 2018, was extradited to stand trial in November 2022.
