Irishman accused of murdering American woman in Budapest has detention extended

Authorities in Budapest have applied to prolong the pre-trial detention of the 37-year-old Irishman accused of the murder of American woman Mackenzie 'Kenzie' Michalski, 31.

The accused Irishman, who has only been referred to by authorities by his initials "LTM," was arrested on November 7.

Ferenc Rab, spokesperson for Budapest's Metropolitan Prosecution Office, confirmed to RTÉ News on December 10 that his office had applied to extend the detention period, and that the suspect could now be held until March 10, 2025.

The decision by Budapest's metropolitan magistrate's court to prolong the suspect's detention was made on December 6 and came into effect on December 10.

Rab told RTÉ that the suspect and his lawyer have the right to appeal the decision.

Police in Budapest confirmed in November that they were looking for a 31-year-old American woman who had disappeared from a nightclub in the city on November 5.

As part of the search, investigators obtained all available CCTV footage from the neighborhood and eventually determined that the Irish man was with Kenzie in several nightclubs.

“Suspicious circumstances” led investigators to believe that Kenzie was the victim of a crime, police said.

The Irish man was arrested at his rented apartment on November 7. After the man’s arrest, further evidence was found which police say gave rise to the suspicion of murder, prompting the Homicide Division to launch an investigation.

Investigators determined that Kenzie had arrived in Hungary as a tourist. She met an Irish man in a nightclub and went on to visit another nightclub with him.

Police said that afterward, she decided to go with him to his rented apartment in the city's 7th district. They had gotten intimate and he "killed her in the process," police said.

Police said that the man tried to cover up the murder. He cleaned his apartment and hid Kenzie's body in a wardrobe cabinet while he went out to buy a suitcase. He then put Michalski's body in the suitcase, rented a car, and drove to Lake Balaton with the suitcase in the trunk.

Police shared photos, one of which showed a purse next to a bank card with Kenzie's name on it.

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Police said the man hid Kenzie's body in the woods, in an area outside Szigliget, and then drove back to Budapest, where he was eventually arrested.

Investigators from the Homicide Division questioned the 37-year-old Irish citizen with the initials LTM as a suspect for murder.

He confessed to killing Kenzie, but claimed it was an accident. 

After his interrogation, the suspect also showed the detectives where he had hidden Kenzie's body. He was taken into custody and his arrest was initiated.

(Footage may be disturbing to some viewers.)

The investigation also revealed that after the murder, the 37-year-old man had searched the Internet for the phrases "Do pigs really eat dead bodies?", "Texas woman killed by a wild boar. ", "Wild boar sighting in Lake Balaton coastal towns", "What does a corpse smell like after it decomposes", "Getting rid of the smell of rotting meat ", Budapest webcams", "What happens after a person is reported missing", "How do the police handle missing person cases?", "How reliable is the police in Budapest?"

Later, Rab told the Daily Mail that police were investigating if the victim's death was caused by "a sex game gone wrong" or if "bad quality drugs" had been consumed.

György Magyar, the accused Irish man's lawyer, separately told news outlet hu.24 in November that Michalski's death was "an accidental act without intention."

A GoFundMe to help bring Kenzie's body back to the US ultimately raised more than $46k.