Hong Kong police yesterday charged a former British banker in the deaths of two women, including an Indonesian woman whose body was found inside a suitcase on the balcony of the suspect’s upscale apartment, authorities said.
The killings have shocked Hong Kong, which has a reputation for a low rate of violent crime.
Rurik George Caton Jutting appeared briefly at a preliminary hearing, at which he spoke only to confirm that he understood the two murder charges against him.
Photo: Bloomberg
Police said over the weekend that the 29-year-old had called them to his apartment in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai nightlife district at 3:42am on Saturday.
Court documents listed his nationality as British and his occupation as a “Banker of Bank of America.”
Jutting worked for the bank until recently, Bank of America Merrill Lynch spokesman Paul Scanlon said on Sunday.
According to a police statement, officers rushed to the man’s apartment, where they found an unconscious woman, aged 25 to 30, with cuts to her neck and buttocks. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
While investigating, police found a suitcase on the balcony containing the body of a woman who had sustained neck injuries and had died a few days earlier, police said.
INDONESIAN VICTIMS
A charge sheet said a woman named Sumarti Ningsih was killed on Monday last week, which suggests that she was the woman whose body was found in the suitcase. The other woman’s name was unknown.
Indonesian consulate spokeswoman Sam Aryadi confirmed that Sumarti was Indonesian. Eni Lestari, an adviser with the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Hong Kong, said that the second woman was also Indonesian.
“We are now trying to locate those victims’ families and we’re trying to let the families and relatives know about this very sad situation,” said Aryadi, who added that records showed Sumarti entered Hong Kong on a tourist visa on Oct. 4 and was given permission to stay until today.
During the court appearance, the two murder charges were read to Jutting, who was wearing black pants and a black T-shirt with “New York” and “Champions” written on it.
When asked whether he understood the charges, he said: “I do,” in a calm voice.
He was remanded into custody until Monday next week.
Police said they seized a knife at the apartment, in the upscale J Residence building, a 40-story tower.
Jutting is a University of Cambridge graduate who worked in structured equity finance and trading for Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong since July last year and before that in London for about three years, according to a listing on LinkedIn. Prior to that he worked for Barclays PLC.
According to people who were at Cambridge at the same time, Jutting attended Peterhouse, the oldest college, and was president of the Cambridge University History society.
Prior to Cambridge he went to Winchester College, one of Britain’s most famous and oldest private schools.
Martyn Richmond, Jutting’s duty lawyer, said his client had been denied contact with the British consulate and access to a lawyer of his choice prior to being interviewed.
Jutting had been given up to seven police interviews over many hours, Richmond added.
Police declined to comment on Richmond’s accusations.
The British consulate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
‘MILKSHAKE MURDER’
The territory has not seen such a high-profile case involving a foreign resident since the so-called “milkshake murder” case in 2003, in which US expatriate housewife Nancy Kissel was convicted of bludgeoning her high-flying banker husband to death after giving him a strawberry milkshake laced with a sedative.
Kissel is serving a life sentence for killing her husband, Robert Kissel, who worked at Merrill Lynch, which was later bought by Bank of America.
Additional reporting by Reuters
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus. Its uncontrolled entry was confirmed by both the Russian Space Agency and EU Space Surveillance and Tracking. The Russians indicated it came down over the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The European Space Agency’s space debris office also tracked the spacecraft’s doom after it failed to appear over a German radar station. It was not immediately known how much, if any, of the half-tonne spacecraft survived the fiery descent from orbit. Experts said ahead of time
RSS