A 37-year-old Irish man was arrested in connection with the murder of an American woman vacationing in Budapest, local police said.
The man was taken into custody earlier this week at his rented apartment, Budapest Police Headquarters said Saturday in a translated post on Facebook. They identified him by the initials L.T.M.
Police said the suspect met the victim, Mackenzie Michalski, 31, at a nightclub in Budapest. Authorities said the two danced and then went to the man’s apartment, according to the Facebook statement. Security footage showed Michalski and the suspect together before she vanished on Tuesday.
The suspect allegedly tried to cover up the murder, Budapest police said. He allegedly cleaned the apartment, put Michalski’s body in a suitcase, and dumped the luggage in a wooded area near Lake Balaton.
He was arrested this week at his rented apartment, police said.
The man allegedly told investigators that Michalski’s death was an accident, police said in the Facebook post. Detectives also accused him of making internet searches on whether wild boars eat human remains and how Budapest police investigate a missing person case.
In a video shared by authorities, the man was seen being booked into jail and taking police to the wooded area and showing them where he hid the body.
Michalski was from Portland, Oregon. Her father told The Associated Press at a candlelight vigil in Budapest that he was “still overcome with emotion.”
“There was no reason for this to happen,” he said. “I’m still trying to wrap my arms around what happened … I don’t know that I ever will.”
