An Irish national has been handed a 14-year prison sentence in Hungary for the murder of an American tourist in Budapest in 2024.
The victim, 31-year-old Mackenzie Michalski from Portland, Oregon, went missing on November 5, 2024, while vacationing in Hungary. She was last seen in a nightclub in Budapest before her disappearance was reported.
Following a missing person investigation, authorities reviewed security footage from local nightclubs, which revealed Ms. Michalski, known as “Kenzie,” in the company of a man who was later identified as the perpetrator on the night she vanished.
The suspect, identified by the initials LTM and aged 37 at the time, was apprehended on November 7, questioned, and subsequently confessed to the crime.
According to investigators, Ms. Michalski and the suspect met at a nightclub, shared a dance, and then proceeded to the man’s rented apartment. Tragically, the man assaulted and strangled Ms. Michalski during what the police described as an “intimate encounter.”
In a recent court ruling, the Budapest Metropolitan Court convicted the man of murder and sentenced him to 14 years in prison with no chance of parole. The time spent in detention during the investigation will be credited towards his sentence, after which he will be deported from Hungary.
Additionally, the man has been ordered to pay 2.5 million forints (£6,000) in court fees. His legal representative has lodged an appeal against the judgment.
Initially claiming the victim’s death was accidental upon his arrest in 2024, the man’s attempt to conceal the crime was discovered as he cleaned the apartment, hid the body in a wardrobe, bought a suitcase, placed her remains inside, then disposed of the body in a wooded area near Lake Balaton, approximately 90 miles southwest of Budapest.
Law enforcement revealed that the suspect had conducted online searches on body disposal methods, police protocols for missing persons cases, animal scavenging behavior, and the wildlife in the Lake Balaton region. Furthermore, he looked up information on the efficiency of the Budapest police force.
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