British banker ‘tortured victim for days before killing her’, Hong Kong court told

A Hong Kong court on Monday heard how British banker tortured one of his victims for three days as the trial opened into the killings of two Indonesian women at his upscale apartment.

Rurik Jutting, right, pictured in 2014, denied murder charges in a Hong Kong court on Monday, but pleaded guilty to the lesser plea of manslaughter. Philippe Lopez / AFP /

HONG KONG // A Hong Kong court on Monday heard how a British banker tortured one of his victims for three days as the trial opened into the killings of two Indonesian women at his upscale apartment.

Rurik Jutting, 31, pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He instead pleaded guilty to the lesser plea of manslaughter, which was rejected by the prosecution.

The court heard Mr Jutting filmed both women on his iPhone, which judge Michael Stuart-Moore warned was “very shocking” footage.

“The defendant even recorded on his iPhone part of the torture that he inflicted on his first victim,” Mr Stuart-Moore said.

Sumarti Ningsih and Seneng Mujiasih, both in their 20s, were found dead in Mr Jutting’s flat in the early hours of November 1, 2014, after he called police.

Prosecutor John Reading said Ningsih was tortured for three days at Jutting’s apartment in Wan Chai — where expensive homes lie close to a red-light district.

Mr Jutting then killed her in the shower with a serrated knife, Mr Reading said.

Ningsih who was in Hong Kong on a visitor visa, had sex with Mr Jutting for money on a previous occasion at a hotel, Mr Reading said, but had offered to refund half the cash to be allowed to leave early because he treated her violently.

She had reluctantly agreed to meet Mr Jutting again on October 26 when he offered her more money, the amount of which was not specified.

After she was killed, her body was wrapped in plastic sheets and blankets and put inside a suitcase, Mr Reading said.

Mr Jutting recorded footage describing how he had enjoyed the killing and saying he could not have done it without using cocaine.

Late on October 31, Mr Jutting met Mujiasih at a bar in Wan Chai and brought her home after offering her money for sex. They had never met before, said Mr Reading. Mujiasih was in Hong Kong on a domestic helper visa.

Before going out to meet her, Mr Jutting hid two knives under sofa cushions. He had also bought a small blowtorch, plastic ties and a hammer.

“In one of his interviews with the police, the accused explained how he went out that evening hunting for prey, and that Mujiasih was his prey,” Mr Reading said.

Mr Jutting cut Mujiasih’s throat that night.

When police arrived after Mr Jutting called them, they discovered her body in a pool of blood in the living room, said Mr Reading.

Ningsih’s body was found hours later in a suitcase on the balcony.

A Cambridge graduate and a former securities trader at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Mr Jutting faces life in prison if convicted of murder.

The killings shocked the city of seven million and shone a spotlight on the seedy underbelly of the financial centre.

Mr Jutting was deemed fit to stand trial after psychiatric tests and is being held at a maximum-security prison.

Clean-shaven, much thinner than during his first court appearances and wearing a dark-blue shirt, Mr Jutting calmly entered his official plea for the first time on Monday.

“Not guilty to murder by reason of diminished responsibility but guilty to manslaughter,” he said.

He pleaded guilty to a third charge of preventing the burial of a body.

Outside the court, a small group of protesters from Indonesian migrant worker organisations called for a speedy and fair trial and for compensation for the victims’ families. The trial is expected to last three weeks.

* Agence France-Presse