HONG KONG (REUTERS) - A graphic video of a former British banker killing an Indonesian woman in his apartment will be shown to a jury in Hong Kong on Tuesday (Oct 25), the first in a series of extreme evidence to be shown during the trial which has attracted global attention.
Rurik Jutting, whose trial for murdering two Indonesian women two years ago started on Monday (Oct 24), pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of "diminished responsibility".
The women's bodies were found in Jutting's luxury high-rise Hong Kong apartment. One mutilated body was found in a suitcase on the balcony, the other inside the apartment with wounds to her neck and buttocks, the prosecutor told the court.
The 31-year-old, who studied at Cambridge University and Winchester College, one of Britain's most famous and oldest private schools, recorded the torture on his iPhone, Deputy High Court Judge Michael Stuart-Moore told the court on Monday.
Jutting captured hours of footage filming himself discussing the murder, the pleasure he took from extreme violence and whether he should turn himself in or fly to Britain, according to the prosecution.
Prior to the jury selection, Judge Stuart-Moore warned potential jurors that if they were unable to cope with viewing extreme violence they should not take part. He described the videos and evidence as "graphic" and horrifying".
The defence and prosecution were largely in agreement over the physical evidence, but the dispute may lie in psychiatric and psychological evidence provided by the defence to determine whether it was a case of murder or manslaughter.
Jutting has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Jutting who previously worked at Bank of America Corp in Hong Kong, was accused of murder in October 2014 after police found the bodies of Sumarti Ningsih, 23, and Seneng Mujiasih 26, in his apartment.
Ningsih, who had a son in Indonesia, was visiting Hong Kong on a tourist visa. Her mutilated body was discovered inside a suitcase on Jutting's balcony, while Mujiasih, a domestic helper, was found lying inside with wounds to her neck and buttocks. She was working in a bar when she met Jutting, according to the prosecution.
Jutting used a belt, sex toys, a pair of pliers and his fists to torture Ningsih before eventually slitting her throat in front of the toilet bowl with a serrated-edged knife, said the prosecution.
