Hong Kong jury shown ‘ torture’ video
> British banker on trial for murder of two Indonesians
HONG KONG: Jurors in the murder trial of British banker Rurik Jutting viewed harrowing mobile phone footage yesterday showing his attacks on an Indonesian woman whose decaying body was later found in a suitcase in his Hong Kong flat.
Jutting, 31, is standing trial for the murders of two Indonesian women, both of whom were killed in his luxury apartment two years ago.
The former securities trader for Bank of America-Merrill Lynch pleaded “not guilty” to the two murder charges Monday, on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, which was rejected by the prosecution.
Jurors watched around 20 minutes of footage of Jutting attacking the first victim, Sumarti Ningsih, 23, who prosecutors said was tortured for three days after she arrived at his flat on Oct 25, 2014. Jutting had offered her money for sex. Reporters in court did not view the disturbing footage, which was shown on individual screens to jurors, but were able to hear the audio.
“Do you want me to hit you? If you say yes, I hit you once. If you say no I hit you twice,” Jutting was heard to say.
“If you scream I will punch you, you understand?”
Jutting repeatedly asked Sumarti if she loved him. The only sound from Sumarti in the video was a muted squeal, according to an AFP reporter in court.
The prosecution then showed a number of clips of a topless and ranting Jutting talking to the camera after he had killed her.
The court heard on Monday he had cut her neck with a serrated knife in the shower after forcing her to lick a toilet bowl.
“About five minutes (ago) I just killed, murdered this woman,” Jutting said in the footage. “I’ve done a lot of coke”, he said. “I’ve tortured her badly.”
The start of the footage showed a brief glimpse of Sumarti’s body lying awkwardly in the shower.
“Three days of torture, rape and mentally brutalised,” he said. “I’ve never seen anyone that scared.” He had used pliers, sex toys and a belt in the attacks, the court heard.
He said the sense of dominance was “addictive”.
“I feel a bit sad because she was a good person, but I don’t really feel guilty,” he said in the footage. – AFP