A British banker has been found guilty of the murders of two Indonesian women in Hong Kong, following a trial that heard details of cocaine-fuelled torture and rape. Rurik Jutting, 31, a Cambridge graduate employed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, killed Sumarti Ningsih and Seneng Mujiasih in 2014 after meeting them in bars in the city's red-light district. The jury returned a unanimous verdict, and Jutting showed no emotion as it was read.
In a written statement read by his lawyer, Jutting expressed remorse, saying: 'My actions were horrific even by the standards of homicide trials. The jury has delivered a verdict that I cannot and do not have any objection to. I remain haunted daily by my actions. The evil I have inflicted can never be remedied by me, neither words nor actions.' He had claimed diminished responsibility due to a personality disorder, but the judge rejected this, describing him as 'the archetypal sexual predator'.
Handing down two life sentences, Judge Michael Stuart-Moore said: 'During this trial we have been made to dredge the very depths of depravity during the three days of torture he subjected his first victim to. He described himself as evil and a monster, and neither is adequate to describe the true nature of what happened.' The judge noted Jutting's comfortable upbringing and said his salary and job were things most people 'only dream of'.
The court heard that Ningsih, 23 and a mother of one, sustained severe knife wounds to her neck and buttocks. The decomposing body of Mujiasih, 29, was found stuffed in a suitcase on the balcony of Jutting's apartment. Jutting filmed the killings on his iPhone, and jurors were shown footage in which he described holding Ningsih captive for three days, raping and torturing her repeatedly. At one point he said: 'I feel a bit sad because she was a good person, but I don't really feel guilty.'
Jutting's lawyers plan to apply for his transfer to a prison in the UK, but the judge said he would ensure English courts knew the extent of his crimes, adding: 'If this had been in the UK I would make sure this is a full life term, but I have no such power here.' No members of the victims' families were present in court, as they could not afford to travel from rural Indonesia. In a statement, Mujiasih's family said: 'The family regrets allowing her to work. If she did not leave, she would have not died.'
