South Korean Woman Admits Killing Children Found in Suitcases New Zealand Trial

Hakyung Lee, a South Korean woman on trial in New Zealand, admitted to giving her two children nortriptyline, a common antidepressant, which she accepted led to their deaths. The children, aged 6 and 8, were believed to have been killed in mid-2018, about a year after Lee's husband's death, and their bodies were found more than four years later in separate suitcases at an abandoned storage locker in Auckland. Lee was arrested in South Korea in 2022 and extradited to New Zealand for trial. While the prosecution alleges murder, the defense argues Lee is not guilty by reason of insanity, citing her depressive state following her husband's death and her mistaken overdose of the medication. A pathologist testified that it is difficult to determine if the antidepressant alone caused the children's deaths due to the advanced decomposition of the bodies. Lee has chosen to represent herself in court, with standby counsel available, and her trial is expected to last four weeks.