Irishman confesses to 'accidental' killing of American tourist in Budapest

An Irish citizen remains in police custody in the Hungarian capital Budapest for the murder of an American tourist.

Police in Hungary said the 37-year-old Irish man has confessed to killing American nurse Makenzie Michalski, after he tried to conceal her body in a suitcase in a wooded area 90 miles outside of the city.

Makenzie, a 31-year-old nurse practitioner, was reported missing on Tuesday, November 5, when she failed to check out from the AirBnB she was staying in.

CCTV footage reviewed by the Budapest Metropolitan Police showed Makenzie meeting the Irishman in a nightclub before they continued on to another, before they returned to his apartment, where the police said they had been "intimate" before she was killed.

Police said that the Irishman, identified by the initials LTM, attempted to cover up the crime by cleaning his apartment and concealing Makenzie's body before he purchased a suitcase and placed her body inside.

He then drove her body in a rented car to a wooded area near Lake Balaton, almost 90 miles south-west of Budapest, where he is said to have disposed of it outside the town of Szigliget.

The man was arrested upon his return to the city, and confessed to killing Makenzie, claiming it was "an accident".

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The Head of the Life Protection Department at the Budapest police headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Sándor Gál, said that the Irish citizen was a suspect for murder.

"He confessed to killing the woman, but claimed it was an accident. After his interrogation, the suspect also showed the detectives where he had hidden the body, and after the body was found, a search was carried out," he said at a press conference in Budapest yesterday.

"During the search, we also intended to use a cadaver dog, but as the suspect showed us the body, the dog was not used. The suspect was taken into custody, and his arrest was initiated after the interrogation."

Police also said they found internet searches made by the man that included wild boar sightings near Lake Balaton, "do pigs really eat dead bodies?" and "what does a corpse smell like after it decomposes", as well as how reliable Hungarian police were with missing persons cases.

The investigation is continuing.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has said it is aware of the case and that it is providing consular assistance.