It’s a news item at the crossroads of countries. The victim is American, the suspect Irish and the crime scene Hungarian. This Monday, Hungarian justice announced that it had discovered the frame of a 31-year-old American tourist, killed in Budapest then transported in a suitcase to be thrown into the forest.
An Irish suspect has been detained since this discovery. Mackenzie Elizabeth Michalski, a nurse from the state of Oregon, disappeared Tuesday evening after being seen in the party district of the capital. Alerted by his relatives, investigators were put on the trail of his alleged murderer by analyzing video surveillance cameras.
Killed “during intimate relations”
Arrested Thursday, the 37-year-old man confessed to the crime while ensuring that it was an accident, according to the police. “At present, it is not possible to establish the cause of death,” the Budapest court said in a statement. According to the first elements, the suspect met the victim in a nightclub before taking her to his apartment where he killed her “during intimate relations”.
He then placed her body in a suitcase and drove towards Lake Balaton, just over two hours from the capital, where he hid her body “in the woods”. Investigators found traces of Internet searches carried out after the crime on the decomposition of the bodies, the presence of wild boars in the area and the level of competence of the local police.
Vigil in Budapest in memory of the victim
This Irish resident, who arrived in Budapest at the end of October, has no criminal record in the central European country. Contacted by AFP, the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “aware of the matter and is providing consular assistance”, without making further comments.
Hearing the news of her disappearance, the young woman’s parents had taken a plane to Budapest, hoping to bring her home, but learned of her death on the way. They attended a vigil in her memory Saturday near the U.S. Embassy, thanking all those who had mobilized to find their daughter. More than 40,000 dollars (37,000 euros), collected to carry out search operations, will be used to cover funeral and travel costs.
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