Hong Kong - Former banker Rurik Jutting calmly and politely told police how killing a prostitute in his Hong Kong flat gave him a thirst for more, a court here has heard.
At times, the 31-year-old was even jovial and animated as he told officers the grisly details of his two victims’ deaths.
His chilling demeanour was in contrast to his crazed and paranoid state in a series of ‘selfie films’ he had recorded in the days before he was arrested, the High Court in Hong Kong heard on Wednesday.
The former Merrill Lynch banker, who is British, told detectives that killing his first victim had given him a ‘sense of enjoyment he never had before,’ adding: ‘It made me realise I would do it again.’
The Cambridge graduate is accused of murdering Sumarti Ningsih, a 23-year-old single mother, and another Indonesian woman, Seneng Mujiasih, 26, in his apartment in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, two years ago. Both died after their throats were cut.
He has pleaded guilty to their manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility – a plea rejected by prosecutors.
Jutting, formerly of Cobham, Surrey, told in one police video interview how cocaine made him feel sexually charged and led to him fantasising for long periods of time. He said killing Ningsih ‘had awoken something I didn’t think existed’ and that he knew ‘there would be more’.
He said: ‘She was unlucky to be the person in my flat when I realised that physically hurting someone when under [the influence of] cocaine was something I gained satisfaction from.’
Again speaking enthusiastically to police, Jutting said he had filmed Ningsih’s torture over three days before her death because he intended to watch it for ‘sexual satisfaction’ later.
He detailed how he met her in a bar called New Makati, a place where he said it was known that sex workers were available.
Jutting said: ‘She was prey – I was in a mode I can only describe as hunting.’ He said he didn’t sleep in between the two killings, which was a period of about five days. He instead took huge amounts of cocaine and watched extreme pornography which included violence and rape.
Jutting claimed he only became interested in violent sex after he started buying cocaine directly from a dealer six weeks before he killed the women. He told police he had previously bought the drug from vice girls. But an African prostitute then put him in touch with a dealer and the cocaine he was supplied with ‘brought out fantasies.’
He told officers after his arrest on November 1, 2014: ‘From Friday to Monday I would essentially phone up and take large amounts of cocaine, getting high and drinking. Visiting sex workers or them visiting me.’
Earlier in the trial, Dr Lau Fei-Lung, an expert in toxicology, concluded that Jutting was an addict. Tests showed the cocaine he was sold by his dealer was low quality, which allowed him to take ‘huge’ amounts.
For a while he was able to continue at work until his addiction to cocaine and extreme sexual behaviour caused him to become ‘withdrawn and unable to function at work’.
Dr Lau added: ‘He had a liberal use of alcohol with three to four bottles of wine a day, allowing him to use a huge amount of the stimulant drug.
‘Three to four bottles of wine daily would result in many social drinkers falling into a coma.’
The trial continues.
Daily Mail