Man arrested in Hungary after death of Portland nurse

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A 31-year-old woman from Portland was killed while on vacation in the Hungarian capital and the suspect, a 37-year-old Irishman, was arrested, Hungarian police said Saturday.

Mackenzie Michalski was reported missing on November 5 after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest. Police launched a missing persons investigation and reviewed security footage from local nightclubs where they observed Michalski with a man later identified as the suspect on the night of her disappearance.

Police arrested the man, an Irish national, on the evening of November 7th. Investigators said Michalski, who friends on Facebook said went by “Kenzie,” and the suspect met at a nightclub and danced before going to the man's rental apartment. The man killed Michalski during an “intimate encounter,” police said.

The suspect, whom police identified by the initials LTM, later confessed to the murder but said it was an accident. Police said he tried to cover up his crime by cleaning the apartment and hiding Michalski's body in a closet before buying a suitcase and putting her body inside.

He then rented a car and drove to Lake Balaton, about 90 miles southwest of Budapest, where he dumped the body in a wooded area outside the town of Szigliget.

A video released by police showed the suspect leading authorities to the spot where he left the body. Police said that before his arrest, the suspect researched online how to dispose of a body, how police handle missing person cases, whether pigs really eat corpses and whether there are wild boars in the Lake Balaton area.

He also conducted an internet search and inquired about the competence of the Budapest police.

Michalski's parents are currently in Budapest, police told The Associated Press.

According to a post from an administrator of a Facebook group called “Find Mackenzie Michalski,” which was created on Nov. 6, Michalski “will forever be remembered as a beautiful and compassionate young woman who was dedicated to caring for others and creating the world.” “has prescribed.” a better place.”

According to the hospital's website, Michalski was a registered nurse at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and worked in neurocritical care. According to her Facebook profile, she grew up in Buffalo, New York.

She was the second nurse working at Providence St. Vincent to be killed recently. Melissa Jubane was killed in September. A neighbor from her Beaverton apartment complex is facing charges including first-degree murder.

—JUSTIN SPIKE, Associated Press