On Saturday, the family of a 31-year-old American tourist killed while on vacation in the Hungarian capital mourned his death while the 37-year-old suspect was in custody.
The victim, Mackenzie Michalski, of Portland, Oregon, was reported missing on November 5th after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest. Police launched a missing persons investigation and examined security footage from local nightclubs, which showed Michalski was seen with a man later identified as the suspect at several clubs on the night she disappeared. It had been witnessed.
The man was detained on November 7 and interrogated by police, where he later confessed to the murder.
Before her confession, Michalski’s family and friends began efforts to find her, starting a Facebook group to gather information about her whereabouts. Her parents traveled to Hungary to help with the search, but learned along the way that she had been murdered.
At a candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday night, the victim’s father, Bill Michalski, told The Associated Press he was “still emotional” over his daughter’s death.
“There was no reason for this to happen,” he said. “I’m still trying to come to terms with what happened…I don’t know if I ever will.”
Police detained the Irish national suspect on the night of November 7th. Investigators said Michalski and the suspect met at a nightclub and danced before heading to the man’s rented apartment. Police said the man killed Michalski during an “intimate encounter.”
The suspect, identified by police by his initials LTM, confessed to the killing but said it was an accident. Police said the man tried to cover up the crime by cleaning out the apartment and hiding Michalski’s body in a closet, then buying a suitcase and placing her body inside.
They then rented a car and drove to Lake Balaton, about 150 kilometers southwest of Budapest, where they disposed of the body in a wooden area on the outskirts of the town of Sigligett.
A video released by police showed the suspect leading authorities to the location where he left the body. According to police, before being arrested, the suspect had searched the internet for questions such as how to dispose of bodies, police procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs really eat carcasses, and the presence of wild boars around Lake Balaton. It is said that
He also conducted an Internet search on the capabilities of the Budapest police.
Crime scene photos released by police showed a rolling suitcase, several items of clothing, including fleece-lined boots, and a small handbag next to a credit card with Michalski’s name on it.
Michalski, known as “Kenzie,” was a nurse who “will forever be remembered as a beautiful and caring young woman,” according to a post by the administrator of a Facebook group called “Find Mackenzie Michalski,” which was founded on Nov. 7. It is said that .
At a candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday, Michalski’s father gave a brief comment to those gathered, wearing a baseball cap he said his daughter had given him as a gift.
Michalski had previously visited Budapest and called it his “happy place,” his father told The Associated Press.
“She loves history and was very relaxed here,” he said. “This was her city.”
