Rurik Jutting, Hong Kong Murder Suspect, Found Fit To Be Tried; Court Adjourns Trial To July

Rurik Jutting, a British banker who has been charged with the killing of two women in Hong Kong, was found fit for trial by a court on Monday, which also adjourned the trial to July. Jutting was taken into custody earlier this month and was referred for psychiatric tests.

The pre-trial court proceedings were adjourned until July 6 to give prosecutors time to prepare their case, as they had stated they would need 28 weeks to examine the large exhibits and other evidence in the case, reports said. Judge Bina Chainrai also said that the case could be heard at an earlier date if needed. No trial date has so far been set and Jutting has not entered a plea yet, according to The Associated Press.

"We just advised him that we'd be asking more reasons as to why it was going to be taking eight months. We've got that. In the end we had no objection," Michael Vidler, Jutting’s lawyer, said, according to Reuters.

The bodies of Seneng Mujiasih and Sumarti Ningsih, two Indonesian sex workers, were found at Jutting’s house in the city's Wan Chai neighborhood on Nov. 1. While Mujaisi’s body was found naked in the living room, with knife wounds to her neck and buttock, Ningsih’s body was found inside a suitcase on Jutting’s balcony. The police believed that Ningsih was killed on Oct. 27, BBC reported.

Jutting, a graduate from Cambridge University and a former employee with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, was charged with both murders on Nov. 3. The North Carolina-based bank had confirmed that Jutting had been an employee with the company but did not state when he left and the reason for his departure, Reuters reported.