British banker Rurik Jutting needed the boost of cocaine to rape, torture and kill two Indonesian women in his luxury Hong Kong apartment and cannot shirk responsibility for their murder, prosecutors told a court on Friday in closing arguments.
Jutting, 31, a former Bank of America Corp employee, has denied murder in the 2014 killings on grounds of diminished responsibility, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in a case that has caught the attention of the world.
His defence has argued that the former Cambridge University graduate had recognised disorders from cocaine and alcohol abuse on top of his other personality disorders of sexual sadism and narcissism, which impaired his ability to control his behaviour.
"He needed the boost of cocaine to give him the courage to rape, torture and ultimately kill," prosecution lawyer John Reading said, explaining that despite Jutting's disorders his "mental responsibility was not substantially impaired".
The jury of five men and four women listened closely as Reading presented his final arguments, giving several examples of Jutting acting rationally and calmly in between and during the killing of Sumarti Ningsih, 23, and Seneng Mujiasih 26.
He described Jutting's ability to form judgments and exercise self-control by trying to cut Ningsih's neck as she knelt by the toilet bowl and later dragging her to the shower when he finished sawing her neck.
He detailed Jutting's plan to torture Mujiasih buying "treats", including a hammer and pliers from a hardware store, and his hiding of two knives.
"Let's be clear about these, I am going to use these to torture someone in the most inhumane way possible," Reading said, citing one of Jutting's self-made videos.
The prosecution said on Wednesday Jutting acted rationally before and after the killings and had even telephoned his mother.
Jutting, a former vice president and head of Structured Equity Finance and Trading (Asia) at Bank of America, captured parts of his torture of Ningsih on his iPhone. He also shot hours of himself discussing the killings, cocaine binges and detailed his violent sexual fantasies.
Parts of the footage have been shown to the jury during the trial. The courtroom has been constantly packed with international and local journalists due to the graphic nature of the killings in a city where such crimes are rare.
Sitting inside a sectioned off area in the courtroom, Jutting watched the arguments with a blank expression. He has attended the trial every day, escorted by three policemen each time.
The jury must decide whether the psychiatric and psychological evidence provided by the defence classifies the killings as manslaughter.
Murder carries a mandatory life sentence, while manslaughter carries a maximum of life though a shorter sentence can be set.
The defence has argued that Jutting felt huge stress during his working life, prompting him to binge on cocaine and alcohol which culminated in the killing and torture a year after he moved to Hong Kong.
He was drinking a bottle of spirits every day and started consuming increasing amounts of cocaine. Jutting only worked for 10-15 days in the month before he was arrested and only worked a few hours per day.
Police have testified that they found Ningsih and Mujiasih's bodies in Jutting's high-rise apartment after he called them to report the killings. Ningsih's mutilated body was found in a suitcase on the balcony, while Mujiasih's was found inside the apartment with wounds to her neck and buttocks.
British banker in HK "needed cocaine boost" for courage to torture, kill
British banker Rurik Jutting needed the boost of cocaine to rape, torture and kill two Indonesian women in his luxury Hong Kong apartment and cannot shirk responsibility for their murder, prosecutors told a court on Friday in closing arguments.
Jutting, 31, a former Bank of America Corp employee, has denied murder in the 2014 killings on grounds of diminished responsibility, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in a case that has caught the attention of the world.
His defence has argued that the former Cambridge University graduate had recognised disorders from cocaine and alcohol abuse on top of his other personality disorders of sexual sadism and narcissism, which impaired his ability to control his behaviour.
"He needed the boost of cocaine to give him the courage to rape, torture and ultimately kill," prosecution lawyer John Reading said, explaining that despite Jutting's disorders his "mental responsibility was not substantially impaired".
The jury of five men and four women listened closely as Reading presented his final arguments, giving several examples of Jutting acting rationally and calmly in between and during the killing of Sumarti Ningsih, 23, and Seneng Mujiasih 26.
He described Jutting's ability to form judgments and exercise self-control by trying to cut Ningsih's neck as she knelt by the toilet bowl and later dragging her to the shower when he finished sawing her neck.
He detailed Jutting's plan to torture Mujiasih buying "treats", including a hammer and pliers from a hardware store, and his hiding of two knives.
"Let's be clear about these, I am going to use these to torture someone in the most inhumane way possible," Reading said, citing one of Jutting's self-made videos.
The prosecution said on Wednesday Jutting acted rationally before and after the killings and had even telephoned his mother.
Jutting, a former vice president and head of Structured Equity Finance and Trading (Asia) at Bank of America, captured parts of his torture of Ningsih on his iPhone. He also shot hours of himself discussing the killings, cocaine binges and detailed his violent sexual fantasies.
Parts of the footage have been shown to the jury during the trial. The courtroom has been constantly packed with international and local journalists due to the graphic nature of the killings in a city where such crimes are rare.
Sitting inside a sectioned off area in the courtroom, Jutting watched the arguments with a blank expression. He has attended the trial every day, escorted by three policemen each time.
The jury must decide whether the psychiatric and psychological evidence provided by the defence classifies the killings as manslaughter.
Murder carries a mandatory life sentence, while manslaughter carries a maximum of life though a shorter sentence can be set.
The defence has argued that Jutting felt huge stress during his working life, prompting him to binge on cocaine and alcohol which culminated in the killing and torture a year after he moved to Hong Kong.
He was drinking a bottle of spirits every day and started consuming increasing amounts of cocaine. Jutting only worked for 10-15 days in the month before he was arrested and only worked a few hours per day.
Police have testified that they found Ningsih and Mujiasih's bodies in Jutting's high-rise apartment after he called them to report the killings. Ningsih's mutilated body was found in a suitcase on the balcony, while Mujiasih's was found inside the apartment with wounds to her neck and buttocks.
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