15 September 2022 | A 42-year-old woman has been arrested in Ulsan, Korea over the deaths of two children whose bodies were found in suitcases in Manurewa, Auckland.
Video / NZ Herald
A 42-year-old woman arrested in Korea after the bodies of her two children were found abandoned in suitcases in Auckland has appeared in a New Zealand courtroom for the first time on the murder charges.
Media from New Zealand and abroad filled the small Manukau District Court courtroom to capacity, with others listening in via audio-video feed, as the woman stood in the dock this morning before Judge Gus Andrée Wiltens.
The judge confirmed the women’s relationship to the deceased children was not covered by suppression given it was common knowledge and already being reported. She was their mother.
The defendant had shoulder-length hair that appeared wet. She walked into the dock with her eyes looking down and was wearing a beige hooded jacket and a black T-shirt, similar to the one she was photographed pulling over her face shortly after she was arrested and being escorted from Ulsan police station in Korea.
The woman accused of murdering her two children appears in Manukau District Court today. Photo / Dean Purcell
“Thank you, Your Honour. I think it would be best if perhaps she didn’t.”
The judge responded: “I agree.”
She was then taken out of the courtroom.
The hearing lasted less than five minutes.
The case was discussed among lawyers before the woman was brought to the courtroom.
Crown prosecutor Gareth Kayes asked the judge for sweeping suppression orders that included the defendant’s identity, the identity of the children, the identity of a family member, new facts regarding the case that have not already been widely published in New Zealand media and some of the reasons provided to the court for the suppression requests.
Defence lawyer Lorraine Smith agreed with the request while media lawyer Tania Goatley, representing the Herald and Stuff, opposed.
Judge Andrée Wiltens agreed to all of the Crown’s interim suppression requests. Interim suppression orders will be addressed again during her next appearance in two weeks.
Earlier this month a South Korean court approved the extradition of the woman after she was arrested in the port city of Ulsan in September. Immigration records show the woman arrived in South Korea in July 2018.
South Korea’s Justice Ministry said yesterday the unidentified woman was handed over to New Zealand authorities on Monday evening at the Incheon international airport near Seoul. The ministry said it had also provided New Zealand with unspecified “important evidence” on the case.
“With the extradition, we hope that the truth of the case, which has garnered worldwide attention, will be revealed through the fair and strict judicial process of New Zealand,” the ministry said in a statement.
Detective Inspector Tofilau Fa’amanuia Vaaelua, of Counties Manukau police, confirmed the woman had been extradited to New Zealand and was expected to appear in court today.
Three New Zealand police officers travelled to South Korea to transport her back to Auckland, he said. The woman arrived at Auckland Airport yesterday afternoon and was then taken to the Manukau Police Station.
A passenger on an Air New Zealand flight from Seoul, which arrived in Auckland at about 12.30pm yesterday, told the Herald there were four police officers at the exit of the plane in the passenger boarding bridge.
However, they said 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 aircraft. It is believed the suspect might have been on the flight after being handed over to NZ authorities in Seoul.
Police investigate after human remains were found in suitcases. Photo / Dean Purcell
South Korean Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon issued an order for the woman’s extradition earlier this month after the Seoul High Court had earlier granted approval of her extradition.
The Seoul High Court said its decision to approve extradition came after the unidentified woman agreed in writing to be sent back to New Zealand. The court had previously planned to review her case to determine whether she should be extradited but later said it was no longer necessary.
South Korean police arrested the woman based on a domestic court warrant, issued after Kiwi authorities requested her provisional arrest. New Zealand’s Justice Ministry then submitted a formal request for her extradition to the South Korean ministry.
New Zealand police have said the South Korean warrant for the suspect’s arrest was in connection with two murder charges, and that they requested South Korean authorities keep the woman in jail until she was extradited.
Vaaelua had earlier confirmed NZ police had also been working with Interpol as part of the homicide investigation.
The children’s bodies were discovered in August after an Auckland family bought abandoned goods, including two suitcases, from a storage unit in an online auction. Police have said the family had nothing to do with the deaths.
The victims were between 5 and 10 years old and had been dead for years, according to police.
South Korean police have said the woman was born in South Korea and later moved to New Zealand, where she gained citizenship.
South Korean police have also said it was suspected she could be the mother of the two victims, as her past address in New Zealand was registered to the storage unit where the suitcases were kept.
