British accused of murdering two women in Hong Kong
A 29-year-old British man accused of murdering two women in Hong Kong has been remanded in custody.
Rurik Jutting was arrested after police found the victims in his apartment in the Wan Chai area early on Saturday. One of the women died on 27 October and her body was found in a suitcase, court papers said.
The women are believed to be sex workers.
Mr Jutting did not ask for bail and was remanded until 10 November.
He had resigned from a job at Bank of America Merrill Lynch a week ago. A LinkedIn profile under his name suggested he was a Cambridge University graduate, whilst Winchester College confirmed he had been a student at the school.
Mr Jutting was unshaven and wearing a black T-shirt during the brief court hearing at Eastern Magistrates' Court.
Asked if he understood the charges against him, he replied: "I do."
Police said Mr Jutting called them to the luxury residential building where he lived at 03:42 on Saturday (19:42 Friday GMT).
One of the victims, named in a court document as Sumarti Ningsih, was found in a suitcase almost a week after her death, a charge sheet said. She had sustained neck injuries.
The second woman had wounds to her neck and buttock. She has not been officially named, but was known locally as Jesse.
Hong Kong Police said they had retrieved a knife from the apartment in the J Residence block, which is situated in an affluent area and is popular with professional people working in the financial sector.
Assistant district commander Wan Siu-hung told reporters Ms Ningsih had been dead "for quite some time".
Speaking about the other dead woman, he said: "We believe the death was caused by a sharp object which cut the throat of the deceased.
"When police found her she was lying in the living room - the room was messy."
The BBC's Hong Kong correspondent Juliana Liu reported that the two victims were well known in the Wan Chai entertainment district.
It could now take months or even years for the case to come to conclusion, our correspondent added.
The South China Morning Post reported that police had found a small amount of cocaine in the apartment and that they were examining Mr Jutting's mobile phone.
A resident of the 40-storey block, who said his fellow occupants were mainly expats, told the newspaper: "It was a shock because you would never expect something like this to happen in Hong Kong."
A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said: "We can confirm that a British national has been arrested in Hong Kong.
"We are in touch with the local police and stand ready to provide consular assistance."
Post-mortem examinations are being conducted to determine the causes of the women's deaths.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has yet to respond to BBC requests for information about Mr Jutting.
Historically Hong Kong has enjoyed a relatively low crime rate. According to the Hong Kong Police website, there have been 14 homicides between January and July, down from 56 over the same time period in 2013.
Credit: The BBC
