Prosecutors Recount Horrific Details of How Mom Killed Her Kids — Then Stuffed Bodies in Suitcases By Christina Coulter

A New Zealand mother accused of killing her two children and hiding their bodies in suitcases allegedly drugged them with a powerful antidepressant — and told others she would rather the whole family die together, prosecutors said in court this week.

Hakyung Lee, 44, is currently on trial in Auckland for the 2018 deaths of her daughter Yuna Jo, 8, and son Minu Jo, 6.

According to the BBC, prosecutors told jurors that toxicology tests revealed traces of the antidepressant Nortriptyline in both children’s chest cavities and livers. A pathologist determined they died by homicide of “unspecified means,” though the passage of time prevented exact dosing analysis — an autopsy showed no signs of trauma, like broken bones, on their bodies.

Nortriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant used for depression and nerve pain, can cause seizures, dangerous heart arrhythmias and cardiac arrest in children, even at relatively low doses, per The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne.

Lee had obtained a prescription for the drug in August 2017 — several months after her husband was diagnosed with cancer — and told a doctor she was suffering from dizziness and had trouble sleeping, according to the BBC.

Prosecutors said Lee’s mental state worsened after her husband’s diagnosis and death.

She allegedly texted him, “If you die, I will die along with our two kids,” and later told a friend she wished they had all died together in a plane crash, according to the outlet. Lee also allegedly told the friend that she would have been “less sad” if her children had died instead of her husband.

Prosecutors claim Lee has admitted to wrapping each child’s body in three layers of plastic, sealing them with duct tape, and placing them in separate suitcases that she moved to a storage unit, per the BBC.

The remains went undiscovered for four years — until 2022, when a local family purchased the unit’s contents at auction and opened the suitcases, PEOPLE previously reported.

Lee fled the country a month after the killings on a business class ticket and changed her name.

She was later extradited from South Korea in 2022, PEOPLE previously reported, and has since pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and is pursuing an insanity defense.

Her attorney argued this week that Lee experienced a “descent into madness” and believed the entire family should die together.

“She has killed her children, but she is not guilty of murder by reason of insanity,” the attorney said, according to the BBC.

Justice Geoffrey Venning told jurors they may need to decide not only whether Lee killed the children, but whether she was legally insane at the time.

The trial is expected to last up to four weeks.