Trial begins for New Zealand woman accused of murdering her two children

SYDNEY (Reuters) -A Korean-born New Zealand woman went on trial on Monday in Auckland charged with murdering her two children, whose bodies were discovered in suitcases in an abandoned storage locker after an online auction.

Hakyung-Lee, 44, has pleaded not guilty.

She allegedly killed her children, aged eight and six, in 2018, New Zealand media reported. Their father died of cancer in 2017, reports said, citing court filings.

Lee relocated to South Korea in 2018 and was extradited to New Zealand in November 2022.

New Zealand media reported that she sat with her head lowered for the jury selection in the High Court and did not look at those called to sit in the jury box.

She will be representing herself in court, assisted by two lawyers, reports said.

New Zealand police launched a homicide inquiry after the remains of the children were found in 2022 by a family going through the contents of a storage locker they had purchased. The family who found the bodies was not connected to the deaths.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)