'American Psycho' Banker's Trades Were Being Probed

Was Rurik Jutting a white-collar criminal before he was accused of two grisly murders in Hong Kong? The British investment banker was part of a Bank of America Merrill Lynch unit involved in "tax-minimization" trades that were being investigated by prosecutors, regulators, and the bank itself, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. The banker—whose email auto-reply suggests contacting somebody who isn't an "insane psychopath"—resigned from the bank after a period missing from the office, but before he allegedly killed the first of two women on Oct. 27, a source at the bank says.

At a court appearance yesterday, Jutting was charged with two counts of murder and shifted from police custody to prison until his next court appearance on Nov. 10. The American Psycho-style murders have put Jutting's background under intense scrutiny, and police are examining his travel history in case there are more victims. Acquaintances describe him to the Telegraph as a man "obsessed with power and money" who was "devastated" when a former fiancee cheated on him. A more recent ex-girlfriend in Hong Kong tells Channel 4 News that he's a "nice person, intelligent and smart," but he was stressed over work and financial issues and told her last year that he had tried to kill himself. "I think he tried to kill himself because he's under pressure with his job," she says. "He was depressed." (More Rurik Jutting stories.)