Accused banker Rurik Jutting, right, sits in a police van as it arrives at a court in Hong Kong on November 3. (Reuters)
Hong Kong:
A British banker accused of killing two Indonesian women was on Monday ruled fit to stand trial, but the case was delayed seven months for analysis of forensic evidence found with the victims' mutilated bodies in his Hong Kong apartment.
Magistrate Bina Chainrai said Rurik Jutting, a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch employee, was mentally fit to face murder charges after two weeks of examination at the maximum-security Siu Lam psychiatric centre.
The 29-year-old was charged with the murders of Seneng Mujiasih and Sumarti Ningsih after police found the bodies of the two women in his upmarket flat, one of them decomposing in a suitcase.
In a surprise decision, Chainrai agreed to the prosecution's request to delay the trial until July 6 while investigators comb through hundreds of pieces of evidence.
Dressed in the same black T-shirt he had worn when he last appeared in court two weeks ago, Jutting stood impassively in the dock as the magistrate made her ruling in a packed but silent courtroom.
He faces life in prison if convicted of the killings.
Prosecutor Louise Wong told the court that investigators would need 28 weeks to examine some 200 pieces of evidence, including conducting DNA tests.
"We are waiting for the chemists," Wong told AFP outside the courtroom.
The former high-flying securities trader will remain in custody while the forensic tests are carried out.
Ningsih's father Ahmad Kaliman, 59, told AFP in Indonesia he was "very disappointed" with the court's decision to delay the trial.
"The pain I feel as a father whose daughter was killed in such a brutal way is indescribable," he said.
"Why did the court in Hong Kong delay the trial for such a long time? I want him to be sentenced quickly. I'm very disappointed."
'Not common... but reasonable'
The bodies of the two women were discovered after Jutting called police to his flat in the city's Wanchai district in the early hours of November 1.
Mujiasih was found naked in the living room, with knife wounds on her neck and buttocks. Ningsih's decaying body was found hours later by police, stuffed into a suitcase on the balcony.
Police are investigating whether the two victims were sex workers after cocaine and sex toys were found at the crime scene.
Hong Kong-based barrister Albert Luk said it was "not common... but reasonable" for investigations to take so long in such a complex case.
"It may give an impression that it's unfair for the defendant because he will be in jail without being convicted," he told AFP.
"But... murder is the most serious type of crime."
Acquaintances described Jutting, a University of Cambridge graduate and former securities trader, as a "very, very ambitious" and a "classic banker" who pushed himself both academically and athletically.
On October 27, the day police believe Ningsih was killed, he posted on his Facebook page that he was embarking on a "new journey".
"Stepping down from the ledge. Burden lifted; new journey begins. Scared and anxious but also excited. The first step is always the hardest," he wrote.
He was also reported to be a regular in the red-light district just a few streets away from his apartment.
The brutal killings have highlighted the huge wealth divide in Hong Kong, a city known for its famous financial sector and trendy nightlife but where a fifth of the population lives in poverty.
Both of the victims, whose bodies have been flown back to Indonesia, formerly worked in Hong Kong as domestic workers.
The case has also sparked criticism of what some locals say is a culture of excess enjoyed by some Western expatriates who come to work in Hong Kong's financial industry.
Magistrate Bina Chainrai said Rurik Jutting, a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch employee, was mentally fit to face murder charges after two weeks of examination at the maximum-security Siu Lam psychiatric centre.
The 29-year-old was charged with the murders of Seneng Mujiasih and Sumarti Ningsih after police found the bodies of the two women in his upmarket flat, one of them decomposing in a suitcase.
In a surprise decision, Chainrai agreed to the prosecution's request to delay the trial until July 6 while investigators comb through hundreds of pieces of evidence.
Dressed in the same black T-shirt he had worn when he last appeared in court two weeks ago, Jutting stood impassively in the dock as the magistrate made her ruling in a packed but silent courtroom.
He faces life in prison if convicted of the killings.
Prosecutor Louise Wong told the court that investigators would need 28 weeks to examine some 200 pieces of evidence, including conducting DNA tests.
"We are waiting for the chemists," Wong told AFP outside the courtroom.
The former high-flying securities trader will remain in custody while the forensic tests are carried out.
Ningsih's father Ahmad Kaliman, 59, told AFP in Indonesia he was "very disappointed" with the court's decision to delay the trial.
"The pain I feel as a father whose daughter was killed in such a brutal way is indescribable," he said.
"Why did the court in Hong Kong delay the trial for such a long time? I want him to be sentenced quickly. I'm very disappointed."
'Not common... but reasonable'
The bodies of the two women were discovered after Jutting called police to his flat in the city's Wanchai district in the early hours of November 1.
Mujiasih was found naked in the living room, with knife wounds on her neck and buttocks. Ningsih's decaying body was found hours later by police, stuffed into a suitcase on the balcony.
Police are investigating whether the two victims were sex workers after cocaine and sex toys were found at the crime scene.
Hong Kong-based barrister Albert Luk said it was "not common... but reasonable" for investigations to take so long in such a complex case.
"It may give an impression that it's unfair for the defendant because he will be in jail without being convicted," he told AFP.
"But... murder is the most serious type of crime."
Acquaintances described Jutting, a University of Cambridge graduate and former securities trader, as a "very, very ambitious" and a "classic banker" who pushed himself both academically and athletically.
On October 27, the day police believe Ningsih was killed, he posted on his Facebook page that he was embarking on a "new journey".
"Stepping down from the ledge. Burden lifted; new journey begins. Scared and anxious but also excited. The first step is always the hardest," he wrote.
He was also reported to be a regular in the red-light district just a few streets away from his apartment.
The brutal killings have highlighted the huge wealth divide in Hong Kong, a city known for its famous financial sector and trendy nightlife but where a fifth of the population lives in poverty.
Both of the victims, whose bodies have been flown back to Indonesia, formerly worked in Hong Kong as domestic workers.
The case has also sparked criticism of what some locals say is a culture of excess enjoyed by some Western expatriates who come to work in Hong Kong's financial industry.
