Monday 10 November 2014

Psych tests for murder suspect





  • The court adjourns the case for two weeks, pending the psychological reports

  • Rurik Jutting, a 29-year-old British banker, faces two charges of murder

  • The bodies of two Indonesian women were found in his upscale apartment

  • "She was forced to work abroad to feed her poor family," says the cousin of one victim




Hong Kong (CNN) -- A Hong Kong court on Monday said it would wait for psychological reports on a British banker who has been charged with the gruesome killings of two Indonesian women at his apartment.


Prosecutors have requested the assessments of Rurik Jutting, a 29-year-old former employee of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, to establish whether he is fit to enter a plea to the two counts of murder he faces.


In a court appearance last week, Jutting didn't enter a plea to the charges.


On Monday, the court adjourned the case until November 24 to allow time for the psychological reports to be carried out.


The grisly deaths of the two women shocked many residents of Hong Kong, where the violent crime rate is low for a city of its size.


Body found in suitcase


Jutting is accused of killing Sumarti Ningsih, 25, whose decomposing body was discovered inside a suitcase on the balcony of his high-rise apartment in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong.


The other woman, Seneng Mujiasih, 29, was found on the floor of the one-bedroom apartment with her throat slashed.


Police say Jutting called them to the apartment early on November 1. They say Mujiasih had been killed that day, and Ningish five days earlier.


Sumarti's father has called for his daughter's killer to be executed, but Hong Kong doesn't impose the death penalty.


'Just an ordinary woman'


The two victims' bodies are expected to be sent back to Indonesia on Tuesday, according to the Asian Migrants' Coordinating Body.


The Indonesian Consulate in Hong Kong wasn't immediately available for comment on the repatriation of the women's remains.


Around 200 people attended a vigil for the women Sunday in the city.


"Sumarti Ningsih is just an ordinary woman from Indonesia," said a woman named Jumiati, who identified herself as the victim's cousin.


"Like me and many others, she was forced to work abroad to feed her poor family and make her dream come true," Jumiati said in a statement.


CNN's Pamela Boykoff contributed to this report.



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