HONG KONG
A Hong Kong court has adjourned a case against a British banker charged with murdering two Indonesian women until May 8.
Rurik Jutting, 30, briefly appeared at the Eastern Court on Thursday with a full beard and clad in what appeared to be the same dark-rimmed glasses and black T-shirt he had worn to previous hearings, public broadcaster RTHK reported.
Magistrate Jason Wan Siu-ming adjourned the case by five weeks after the prosecution requested more time to supply certain documents to the legal team of Rutting, a Cambridge University graduate and former Bank of America employee.
During the hearing, the second woman found dead at Rutting’s upscale apartment in the bustling Wan Chai district last November was named as Seneng Mujiasih, according to the South China Morning Post.
Rutting told the court he understood the charges read to him, and was not required to enter a plea.
He was remanded in custody after the hearing, aimed at deciding whether the evidence gathered was sufficient enough for the case to be brought to a higher court.
Rutting is charged with two counts of murder over the killings of Sumarti Ningsih, 23, on Oct. 27 and Mujiasih, 29, on Nov. 1.
He was arrested Nov. 1 when he called police to his flat, where they found Mujiasih dead with cuts on her neck and buttocks. On the apartment’s balcony, they discovered Ningsih's decaying body inside a suitcase, wrapped in a carpet. A knife was found at the scene.
Later that month, a court found Rutting fit to stand trial after psychiatric tests.
Mujiasih and Ningsih, who local media described as prostitutes, had originally come to the international financial center for employment as domestic workers. Their families have told the Anadolu Agency that the victims had been sending money back to Indonesia.
Hong Kong is home to a large community of expatriate bankers who work long hours. Occasionally, the stressed -- but well-paid -- bankers are involved in grisly crimes.
