A recent graduate of the University of Cambridge has been ruled fit to stand trial for the murder of two women in Hong Kong.

Rurik Jutting, 29, a Peterhouse alumnus and former Secretary for the History Society (CLIO), was remanded for psychiatric reports in early November.

He has been ruled fit to stand trial, however, and reappeared in court in Hong Kong on Monday 24th November.

Jutting spoke only once – responding to a question from the judge with “I do” – and has not entered a plea.

Lawyers for the prosecution requested that a government laboratory be allowed 28 weeks to examine over 200 items of evidence collected from the crime scene.

Judge Bina Chainrai allowed the prosecution’s request for a delay, adjourning the case until July 2015. No trial date has been set, and Jutting did not object to the lengthy interval for the processing of evidence.

Jutting, who graduated from Peterhouse with a degree in History in 2008, was arrested after the bodies of two young women were discovered in his 31st floor apartment in the Wan Chai district. The district is a centre for foreign finance workers, as well as representing a major centre for nightlife and the Hong Kong sex industry.

Police discovered the bodies of Sumarti Ningsih, 23, and Seneng Mujiasih, 29, in his apartment. Both women were domestic workers, and are thought by Hong Kong police to have been peripherally employed in sex work.

A neighbour in the building told reporters for the South China Morning Post that he had noticed “a stink in the building like a dead animal”. The second body was severely decomposed, and was found inside a carpet rolled up in a suitcase on the balcony.

Alison Humphreys, the current President of CLIO, said that the society “does not keep any information about its previous committee members and is therefore unable to comment on the matter.”