An Irishman has been sentenced to 14 years in prison without parole for the murder of Mackenzie Elizabeth Michalski, a 31-year-old nurse from Portland, Oregon, who disappeared while on holiday in Hungary in November 2024. The Budapest-Capital Regional Court found the defendant, identified only by the initials LTM due to Hungarian anonymity laws, guilty of murder.
LTM met Michalski at a Budapest nightclub and invited her back to his apartment for sex. The court found that he then tied her up, assaulted and strangled her, and attempted to conceal the crime by hiding her body in his closet. He later cleaned the apartment, placed her body in a newly purchased suitcase, and disposed of it in the woods near Lake Balaton, approximately 90 miles southwest of Budapest, using a rented car.
Michalski was reported missing by friends on November 5, 2024, after she failed to check out of her Airbnb and missed her flight back to the U.S. Security footage showed her leaving the Szimpla Kert nightclub with LTM, the last time she was seen alive. Investigators discovered disturbing video of Michalski's body on LTM's phone, along with footage from a "spy pen" showing him approaching other women in Budapest.
Evidence presented in court indicated that LTM had searched online for information regarding pigs eating dead bodies, the presence of wild boars in the Lake Balaton area, and the reliability of the Budapest police. His internet searches included queries like "Do pigs really eat dead bodies?" and "Texas woman killed by a wild boar."
During the trial, LTM's defense argued that Michalski's injuries were the result of consensual rough sex and that she had asked him to choke her, leading to her accidental death. They petitioned the court to exhume her body and reopen her psychological and medical history, but these requests were denied. LTM told the court, "Everything I did, I did because Kenzie asked me... I didn't want to take her life."
Prosecutors countered the "rough sex" defense, noting that Michalski had an old neck injury and no documented interest in BDSM. An autopsy revealed she had been choked for two to three minutes and suffered blunt force trauma to the head. Her mother testified that Michalski's face was unrecognizable.
After his arrest, LTM led investigators to Michalski's body, maintaining her death was accidental. Police shared images of the collected evidence, including the suitcase used to transport her body. Michalski's mother urged the court to impose the harshest penalty allowed by law.
Once LTM completes his 14-year sentence in 2038, he is set to be deported back to Ireland. His defense has filed an appeal against the verdict and sentence.
Michalski, a nurse practitioner, was remembered by her family as a compassionate young woman dedicated to caring for others. She was a frequent traveler and posted photos of her journeys on social media.