A British banker charged with the grisly murder of two young women flashed a smile as he left a Hong Kong court Monday, after his case was adjourned for psychiatric evaluation.
The 29-year-old securities trader, who until recently worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is accused of killing two young Indonesian women whose mutilated bodies were found at his upmarket apartment in the southern Chinese city.
As the bodies of the victims were due to be flown home to Indonesia, Rurik Jutting shot a grin from the back of a prison van following the hearing.
The case was “adjourned… for two psychiatric reports on the defendant’s fitness to plead”, said principal magistrate Bina Chainrai.
Reports by two different doctors are required under Hong Kong law, prosecutor Louise Wong told AFP.
Jutting is being held at Hong Kong’s maximum-security Siu Lam psychiatric centre, Wong confirmed.
He will next appear on November 24.
Jutting, bearded and wearing black-rimmed glasses, remained impassive during the brief hearing at the Eastern Magistrate’s court — his second appearance after being charged with the murders a week ago.
– ‘No consent’ to reconstruction –
He spoke only once to say “I do” when the magistrate asked him whether he understood the arrangements.
Prosecutor Wong told the court that a reconstruction of the crime “has not yet been conducted because the defendant did not give consent”.
Defence lawyer Tim Parker said that Jutting had not agreed to a reconstruction yet but may do in future.
Parker also applied to obtain video recordings of interviews police had conducted with Jutting.
Following the hearing, Hong Kong solicitor Michael Vidler, who is also acting in Jutting’s defence, said it could be months before a plea is entered.
“Can’t give definite answer on that — could be 3-5 months time,” Vidler told AFP in an email.
The bodies of Seneng Mujiasih and Sumarti Ningsih, both in their 20s, are due to be flown home Tuesday morning, Indonesian consulate officials in Hong Kong said.
They were discovered after Jutting called police to his flat in the city’s Wanchai district in the early hours of November 1.
Seneng was found naked in the living room, with knife wounds to her neck and buttocks.
Sumarti’s decaying body was found hours later by police, stuffed into a suitcase on the apartment’s balcony.
According to court documents, she was killed on October 27.
Police are investigating whether the victims were sex workers.