British banker Rurik Jutting had become a chronic user of cocaine and alcohol in the weeks leading up to his alleged murder of two young Indonesian women, Hong Kong’s high court has heard.
On Wednesday, day three of Jutting’s trial for the 2014 murders of 23-year-old Sumarti Ningsih and 26-year-old Seneng Mujiasih, jurors were told how the Cambridge-educated defendant became dependent on a daily cocktail of cocaine, alcohol and energy drinks.
Toxicologist Lau Fei-lung, who was called as an expert witness by the prosecution, told the court that at the time of the deaths, in the autumn of 2014, the 31-year-old had been “deeply addicted” to cocaine, consuming the equivalent of three uncut grams of the drug each day.
Jutting had also been consuming up to four bottles of wine a day as well as large quantities of the energy drink Red Bull, Lau said.
However, Lau told the court that despite his heavy intake of drugs and alcohol – amounts he said would put most people in a coma – Jutting was not intoxicated and remained in largely control of his actions at the time of the killings.
The claims were made one day after jurors were shown graphic video footage, filmed by Jutting on his smartphone, in which he admitted to raping, torturing and killing Sumarti Ningsih after luring her to his luxury apartment on Hong Kong island on 25 October 2014.
“Obviously I’m clearly loopy… that’s paranoia from cocaine,” the semi-clothed banker can be heard saying in one of more than 40 videos that was shown to the court on Tuesday. In another excerpt viewed by the jury, Jutting says: “My destiny is to push the boundaries of complete and utter inhumanity.”
As well being accused of murdering Ningsih on the night of 27 October, Jutting, a trader for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is also alleged to have murdered Seneng Mujiasih after convincing her to return to the same apartment on 31 October.
Shortly after cutting Mujiasih’s throat, Jutting is alleged to have called police to his 31st-floor home, where he was arrested in the early hours of 1 November.
On Wednesday afternoon, the court was shown excerpts from a police interview with Jutting, conducted one day after his arrest, in which he admitted to both killings.
“Yes, I did kill her. I cut her throat,” Jutting told police according to a reporter from Channel News Asia who was at the hearing. “I can honestly say these are the only two individuals who have been killed by me,” Jutting reportedly added.
The gruesome killings have shocked Hong Kong, where murders are rare, and cast a spotlight on the hardships often suffered by more than 300,000 domestic helpers who migrate to Hong Kong from places such as Indonesia and the Philippines in search of work.
Friends have said that Mujiasih and Ningsih, who had a five-year-old son, both came to Hong Kong hoping to improve their lives and fell into part-time prostitution in the neighbourhood near Jutting’s home as a way of helping support their families.
On Monday, day one of his trial, Jutting pleaded guilty to the women’s manslaughter but not guilty to murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The trial continues.
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