British banker Rurik Jutting in court over Hong Kong murders

A British investment banker has appeared in a Hong Kong court to hear two charges of murder against him, in a grisly case that has gripped one of the world's most important financial centres renowned for its low crime rate.

Rurik Jutting, a 29-year-old former equities trader at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday in his apartment in the Wanchai district of Hong Kong.

The body of a young woman was found on the floor of his bloodstained flat, where a knife was recovered by police. Hours later, police discovered a second body. Both women were reported to be sex workers, one of Indonesian origin, according to local media.

One of the women has since been identified as 25-year old Sumarti Ningsih, who police say was killed on October 27. The other woman has not been named.

"Police sped to the scene and an unconscious woman aged 25 to 30 was found lying inside the unit. Sustaining cut wounds to her neck and buttocks, the woman was certified dead at the scene," the Hong Kong police said in a weekend statement. "In the course of investigation, police found a suitcase at the balcony of the unit, and a female dead body with neck injuries was found inside the suitcase."

On Monday, Mr Jutting appeared in court to hear the two murder charges against him, before the case was adjourned until November 10. He did not enter a plea.

The killings - local media say one of the women was found nearly decapitated - have knocked the city's street protests off Hong Kong's front pages for the first time in weeks. Hong Kong has one of the lowest murder rates in the world for a city its size, with only 14 reported homicides in the first six months of this year.

Mr Jutting's apartment in the J-Residence tower block in Wanchai - where rents are around HK30,000 a month - is just a short walk away from one of Hong Kong's best-known party districts, famous for its all-night bars and clubs. The area is popular with expats and tourists, and is home to one of Hong Kong's main red light districts.

Mr Jutting, a graduate of Cambridge university and educated at Winchester College, arrived in Hong Kong in the summer of last year to work on BoAML's structured equity desk, according to his LinkedIn account. He previously worked for both BoAML and Barclays in London.

The charges against Mr Jutting mark the first high-profile murder case involving an expat from the financial community in more than a decade.

In 2003, Robert Kissel, a Hong Kong-based Merrill Lynch banker, was murdered by his wife in the now infamous "milkshake murder". Nancy Kissel was later convicted and is now serving a life sentence in prison.

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