Overview

• An Auckland High Court jury returned guilty verdicts after about three hours of deliberation, rejecting the not‑guilty‑by‑reason‑of‑insanity defense.
• Sentencing is set for 26 November, and the judge ordered mental‑health reports as murder in New Zealand carries a mandatory life term with at least 10 years before parole eligibility.
• Lee admitted giving her children the antidepressant nortriptyline in 2018 and later placed their remains in suitcases stored at a Papatoetoe facility where they were discovered in 2022.
• The Crown highlighted post‑offence conduct including a name change, storing the suitcases, vacating her rental home, and flying to South Korea, from where she was extradited in 2022.
• Lee largely represented herself with assistance from standby counsel as psychiatric experts offered opposing views on insanity, with the prosecution expert concluding the legal threshold was not met.