HK court finds British banker guilty of double murder

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING (AA) - A British banker was convicted of double murder by a Hong Kong jury Tuesday for slitting the throats of two Indonesian women in 2014.

The South China Morning Post reported that Rurik Jutting now faces life behind bars after being found guilty by a nine-member jury who deliberated behind closed doors for close to four hours.

The court rejected Jutting’s defense of diminished responsibility in the murders of Sumarti Ningsih, 23, and Seneng Mujiasih, 26.

The 31-year-old had pleaded not guilty to murder, yet guilty to manslaughter in relation to the killings when the trial began in October amid demonstrations by migrant workers groups.

A doctor told the court that the investment banker might be suffering narcissistic personality disorder, sexual sadism disorder, and disorders relating to drug and alcohol use.

Jutting was arrested Nov. 1, 2014 when he called police to his flat, where they found Mujiasih dead with cuts to her neck and buttocks.

On the apartment’s balcony, they discovered the decaying body of Ningsih inside a suitcase, wrapped in a carpet.

A knife was also found at the scene.

A court later found Jutting fit to stand trial following psychiatric tests.

Hong Kong is home to a large community of expatriate bankers.

The families of Mujiasih and Ningsih had told Anadolu Agency soon after they were murdered that the women had initially emigrated to the international financial center for employment as domestic workers, from where they had been sending money back home.

The Network of Indonesian Migrant Workers and Asian Migrants' Coordinating Body, which organized an earlier vigil for the victims, had described them as having been breadwinners who only wanted “to support their poor families back home and give them a better life".

"In a place touted as one of the safest cities in the world, the twin murders brought Hong Kong, Indonesia and the international community in a state of shock," it said in a statement.