Canada
This article was added by the user . TheWorldNews is not responsible for the content of the platform.

Suspect charged with killing kids found in suitcases extradited to New Zealand

A woman sits in a car as she leaves Ulsan Jungbu police station in Ulsan, South Korea on Sept. 15, 2022.
A woman sits in a car as she leaves Ulsan Jungbu police station in Ulsan, South Korea on Sept. 15, 2022. Photo by Bae Byung-soo/Newsis /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea extradited a 42-year-old murder suspect to New Zealand two months after she was arrested over her possible connection to the bodies of two long-dead children found in abandoned suitcases in August.

South Korea’s Justice Ministry said Tuesday that the unidentified woman was handed over to New Zealand authorities Monday evening at the Incheon international airport near Seoul. The ministry said it also has provided New Zealand with unspecified “important evidence” on the case.

As the Canadian national soccer teams head to their respective FIFA World Cups, Derek Van Diest is on the scene to cover all the action. Expect expert insights and analysis in your inbox daily throughout the tournaments, and weekly on Thursdays for the rest of the season.

By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

“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.

South Korean Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon issued an order for the woman’s extradition earlier this month. The Seoul High Court had earlier granted approval of her extradition after she expressed her consent in writing to be sent back to New Zealand.

South Korean police arrested the woman at a southern port city in September, based on a domestic court warrant issued after New Zealand 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 said the South Korean warrant for the suspect’s arrest was in connection with two murder charges. The children’s bodies were discovered in August after a New Zealand family bought abandoned goods, including two suitcases, from a storage unit in an online auction.

The children were between 5 and 10 years old, had been dead for years, and the suitcases had been in storage in Auckland for at least three or four years, according to police.

South Korean police say 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.

South Korean police had 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.