New Zealand: Woman charged with murdering children found in suitcase can be named

Hakyung Lee, the South Korean woman, who was accused of murdering her two children, can be named for the first time. The bodies of the children were found in abandoned suitcases last year. The exact year of the murders is not known.

In a report published by Radio New Zealand (RNZ), it was mentioned that the 42-year-old has lost the fight to keep her name secret and had pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder.

Today, the Court of Appeal denied Lee's request for name suppression to be extended until the end of the trial, which is set to commence in April of next year.

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While concluding, Justice Cull stated that the evidence did not meet the standard required to prove that publication would cause Lee great hardship or jeopardise her safety.

The bodies of the two young children, aged five to ten years, were discovered in suitcasesin Auckland, New Zealand, in August 2022. The woman, the mother of the children, was arrested and will stand trial in 2024.

The bodies were hidden in suitcases for several years before an Auckland family purchased the bags in an online auction held by a storage facility. They carried the baggage home in early August before discovering them and notifying authorities.

NZ Herald reported that Lee's lawyer, Chris Wilkinson-Smith, argued that the publication of her name could result in extreme hardship or endanger the woman's safety, and could also affect her ability to engage in court proceedings or medical assessments.

However, the news report mentioned that Crown Prosecutor Gareth Kayes and lawyer for NZME Tania Goatley disagreed. They have submitted that there was no evidence that publication sufficiently heightened the defendant's risk profile.

(With inputs from agencies)

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