Jaeyoung Jang, accused of the double murder of Jung Sup Lee, 36, and his 11-year-old son, Ha-il Lee, appears in the High Court at Auckland on 12 November 2025. Photo: NZ Herald / Jason Dorday
The man accused of murdering a father and son who died in an Auckland house fire can now be named.
He is Jaeyoung Jang, from Sunnyhills in East Auckland.
The 38-year-old first appeared in the Manukau District Court on 24 October where he was granted name suppression.
An order was then made at a later High Court appearance on 12 November for the suppression to lapse late on Monday night, at 11.59pm.
On 2 October, emergency services rushed to the fully engulfed home on Murvale Drive at Bucklands Beach.
The bodies of 36-year-old Jung Sup Lee, and his 11-year-old son Ha-il Lee were found inside.
A homicide investigation was launched after police said the fire was deliberately lit with an accelerant.
Jaeyoung Jang has pleaded not guilty to murdering the pair.
Their family on Monday spoke out for the first time to RNZ National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood about what happened, revealing heroic actions of a father who died trying to save his youngest son.
Jung Sup Lee pictured with his son Ha-il Lee, then 4 years old. Photo: Supplied
'Our hero'
Yea Seul Park was at home in Jakarta when she received a message from her younger sister who lived in Auckland with her husband Jung Sup Lee and their two sons.
Park says her sister was woken to the house being on fire. She tried to save as many people as she could. But she says the fire was already too big and she had to get out of the house.
"Jung Sup threw himself into the flames to save his son when the fire started. That was the last moment my sister saw him.
"He must have known he could die, but he still ran into that huge fire to save his youngest boy. He's our hero, and honestly the best father anyone could imagine."
The couple's 13-year-old son used his fist to break a window and then jumped from the second floor roof to escape, Park said.
Park says Jung Sup Lee migrated to New Zealand with his family when he was young and met his wife while they were both studying at different universities.
She described Lee as a "very calm" man who never got angry or raised his voice at anyone.
Ha-il was a "lovely boy" who loved his sport and would always compliment his aunt.
Six weeks on, Park says the family continues to struggle with what has happened.
"We can't even talk about this at home, we try to avoid this conversation as much as we can."
She says her eldest nephew doesn't talk much these days.
Park is now living with her sister and nephew, doing her best to support them.
"We've been through a very fast process and also a very extreme process, and now we just got the new place, and it's like we just start grieving, and now it's really hard, coping that they're not here anymore.
"We're just trying to, like, process, you know, one thing at a time, like one day at a time … you just get through this day and the next day and then the next day."
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