American Mackenzie Michalski killed in Budapest; Irish man charged

The victim, Mackenzie Michalski, met the suspect at a nightclub in Budapest and the two went to other nightclubs before going to the man’s apartment, police revealed.

A 37-year-old Irish man was arrested and charged in connection with the death of an American tourist who went missing in Budapest on November 5, local police said.

The suspect, identified by the initials LTM, was taken into custody by Budapest police at his rented apartment on Wednesday evening and “confessed to killing the woman but claimed it was an accident,” the Budapest Police Station said in a statement . translated message on Facebook Saturday.

Police said the victim, Mackenzie Michalski, 31, who had arrived in Hungary as a tourist, met the suspect at a nightclub in Budapest, after which the two visited another nightclub, danced and later went to the man’s apartment, where ‘ they had arrived’. intimately, and he killed her in the process.” Security footage obtained by police from all CCTV cameras in the area showed Michalski and the suspect together at several nightclubs before she disappeared on Tuesday. Police said they were able to track down the suspect at his rented apartment with using camera images.

Authorities initially searched for Michalski as a missing person, but “suspicious circumstances related to her disappearance” led investigators to believe she could be the victim of a crime.

Suspect put the woman’s body in a suitcase; claimed death was accidental: police

Police said the suspect allegedly “tried to cover up the murder” by cleaning the apartment and hiding the victim’s body in the wardrobe before going to buy a suitcase.

“He then put the victim’s body in the suitcase, rented a car and drove to Lake Balaton with the suitcase in the trunk,” police said in their post, dumping the body in a wooded area about 150 kilometers southwest of Budapest, and “then drove back to Budapest, where he was captured and arrested.”

Although the suspect reportedly confessed to killing the woman, “he also claimed it was an accident,” police said, adding that he led detectives to the spot where he dumped the body after his interrogation. Budapest police also shared a video of the suspect taking police to the wooded area where he hid the body.

‘How reliable are the police in Budapest’: incriminating internet search history

The investigation also revealed that the suspect searched the Internet for information about sightings of wild boars in coastal towns on Lake Balaton, whether pigs eat dead bodies, what corpses smell like after decomposition, webcams in Budapest and how effective local police are in searching for missing persons.

“After the murder, the Irish man accused of killing the American girl searched the internet for many things: for example, ‘how reliable are the police in Budapest,’” police said in their post. “That’s how reliable we are. We caught him within 24 hours.”

The victim worked as a nurse in Portland

Police said they met the victim’s parents and “it was very traumatic” for them. All details were shared after consultation with them.

Michalski, who went by “Kenzie,” worked as a neurosurgery nurse in Portland, Oregon. according to KOIN-TV.

Her father, who was on his way to Budapest when he found out his daughter had been murdered, told the newspaper Associated press at a candlelight vigil in Budapest, he said he was “still overcome with emotion.”

“There was no reason for this to happen,” he told AP. “I’m still trying to wrap my arms around what happened. I don’t know if that will ever happen.”

A GoFundMeset up to help Michalski’s family with the costs of travel and funeral arrangements and to ensure justice for her, has raised more than $40,000, surpassing its $35,000 goal as of Monday morning.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.