Irish man denies intentionally killing American nurse in Budapest
A 38-year-old Dublin man denies intentionally killing American tourist Mackenzie Michalski after the 31-year-old nurse died at his Budapest flat in November 2024.
Irish man denies intentionally killing American nurse in Budapest
A 38-year-old Dublin man denies that he intentionally killed Mackenzie Michalski, a 31-year-old American nurse who arrived in Hungary as a tourist in November 2024 – according to court records from proceedings at the Budapest Metropolitan Court.
The defendant has previously admitted to killing Michalski during a sexual encounter and then concealing her body. However, he has pleaded not guilty to murder, claiming that the victim's death was an accidental tragedy that occurred during a mutually consensual act.
At Friday's hearing, the prosecutor requested that the judge impose a prison sentence on the man and order his deportation from Hungary. According to the prosecutor, the evidence makes it extremely unlikely that Michalski, who had suffered an old neck injury and had previously shown no interest in violent sex, would have asked the Irish man to strangle her.
The court previously heard that Michalski was strangled for at least two to three minutes. During forensic examination, numerous additional injuries were found on her body, including head trauma injuries.
Clinical psychiatrists told the court that the man claimed to have kissed the victim's body. He may have spent up to four hours lying in bed alongside the corpse, although he gave contradictory statements about the duration.
Police found detailed notes and diary entries on the man's laptop, which indicated that his sole motivation in life was picking up women and having sexual relations with them. The court previously heard that the man had ranked European cities according to how attractive and willing he found the women. He had set himself a goal of picking up 1,000 women – shortly before meeting Michalski.
Police also found a "spy pen" among the man's possessions, which contained a hidden camera. Footage on it showed the man attempting to pick up 16 women on the street.
The defendant stated at a previous hearing that he had arrived in Hungary less than a week before the tragedy, and met Michalski at the Szimpla Kert, a popular Budapest tourist bar, on 4 November 2024. They drank at the bar and at a nightclub, and then went to the man's flat, where Michalski died in the early hours of 5 November.
At Friday's hearing, it emerged that it took police two days to locate the building where the Irish man lived and to which he had gone with the victim. When police arrived, the man was not at home. However, on the evening of 7 November, just as police were concluding their search of the building, the man entered.
He initially denied ever meeting the missing woman, but appeared confused and frustrated. Police requested his phone because the man matched the description of the person last seen with the victim. The phone contained naked, bound and apparently lifeless images of Michalski, and the man was arrested at the scene.
On Friday, the judge read out Google searches found on the man's phone, including whether wild boars eat human corpses and where they live in Hungary. The search history also showed that the man had considered fleeing towards Serbia or Croatia.
According to the police report, the man attempted to cover up the crime: he cleaned the rented flat, and purchased a suitcase to dispose of the victim's body. He then hired a car and drove to Lake Balaton, approximately 145 kilometres south-west of Budapest, where he concealed the body in a wooded area near Szigliget before returning to Budapest.
After his arrest, the man showed police where he had hidden the body.
At Friday's hearing, the judge read out statements made to police by the victim's friend and father. The friend said that Michalski was a "friendly, talkative and sensitive person" and had no interest whatsoever in violent sex. According to her father, his daughter "always lit up the room" and perhaps trusted people too readily.
The trial will continue next month.
Source: Irish Times
Source: Irish Times