Overview

• A jury at Auckland High Court found Lee guilty after a two-week trial in which she denied murder and pursued an insanity defence.
• Prosecutors said she administered the antidepressant nortriptyline to Yuna Jo, 8, and Minu Jo, 6, in June 2018 before concealing their bodies in suitcases.
• The Crown pointed to actions including a name change, cutting contact, fleeing to South Korea and later extradition as evidence of planning and rational intent.
• A forensic pathologist testified that decomposition prevented a definitive cause-of-death finding, with homicide recorded by unspecified means despite the presence of nortriptyline.
• The remains were discovered in August 2022 by buyers of an Auckland storage unit’s contents after payments lapsed, and New Zealand law mandates life imprisonment for murder with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.