Bodies in suitcases: Woman extradited from South Korea to New Zealand on murder charges

A woman has been extradited from South Korea to face murder charges in New Zealand three months after the remains of two young children were found stashed in suitcases.

South Korea’s Justice Ministry has confirmed a woman, 42, was handed to New Zealand authorities at Incheon international airport near Seoul on Monday night.

The remains of two children were discovered in suitcases by a shocked family at a Manurewa storage unit in Auckland’s south on August 11. A girl and boy were believed to have been aged between five and 10 years old when they died.

The South Korean-born New Zealand woman arrived at Auckland Airport on Tuesday afternoon and was transported to Manukau Police Station.

She will spend the night in custody and is expected to appear in Manukau District Court on Wednesday charged with two counts of murder, NZ police said in a statement.

South Korean authorities have provided New Zealand counterparts with unspecified ‘important evidence’ regarding the matter.

A woman (pictured during her arrest in South Korea in September) has been extradited to New Zealand three months after the bodies of two children were found in suitcases

New Zealand police launched a homicide investigation in Auckland after the remains of the children were found by a family in August

‘We hope that the truth of this case, which has received worldwide attention, will be revealed through a fair and strict judicial process in New Zealand,’ a Justice Ministry statement added.

A passenger on a Air New Zealand flight from Seoul told the New Zealand Herald there were four police officers at the exit of the plane in the passenger boarding bridge.

But they added there had been no mention of a potential suspect on the flight and they didn’t see anyone in handcuffs or any uniformed police on the plane.

South Korean police arrested a woman in the southern port city of Ulsan in September on an arrest warrant following a request from NZ Police.

Images in local media at the time showed the woman, who South Korean police identified only by her surname Lee, being led out of an Ulsan police station by plainclothes investigators, covering her head with a large brown coat.

When asked by reporters whether she would confess to the killings, the woman repeatedly said, ‘I didn’t do it’ as she was led into a police vehicle.

She has spent the last two months in custody until an extradition hearing was conducted earlier this month when South Korean Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon issued an order for the woman’s extradition.

The Seoul High Court had earlier approved her extradition after she expressed her consent in writing to be sent back to New Zealand.

South Korea’s justice ministry said it would ‘make every effort’ to proceed with the woman’s transfer ‘in line with principles of the law’ after receiving the formal extradition request.

Three police officers travelled to South Korea to transport the woman back to New Zealand.

 A  Korean-born New Zealand woman (during during her arrest in September) is expected to appear in Manukau District Court on two charges of murder

Investigators on Tuesday acknowledged the assistance from agencies in both New Zealand and South Korea.

The children’s bodies were discovered after an unsuspecting family bought a trailer-load of items – including the suitcases – at an auction for abandoned goods.

New Zealand police said the bodies were likely in storage for several years, which has complicated its investigation.

Authorities have repeatedly stressed the family who found the bodies were not connected to the homicides and have been provided support to help deal with the trauma of the harrowing discovery.

The grisly discovery of the girl and boy, thought to be aged 10 and five respectively when they died four years ago before being found on August 11. The news made headlines around the globe.

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A family from Manurewa, in south Auckland bid in an auction on August 11 and won the unit’s contents before making the shocking discovery human remains were inside

 The arrest comes a month after the children’s remains were discovered in suitcases by a family at a Manurewa storage unit on August 11 (pictured)

An interim non-publication order issued by the coroner the protect the identities of the two victims remains in place. 

South Korean police said the woman was born in South Korea and later moved to New Zealand, where she gained citizenship.

Immigration records show she had returned to South Korea in 2018.

The Korean Society of New Zealand vowed at the time of the arrest to provide any support the woman requires during the court process if she was extradited to New Zealand.