A Hungarian court has convicted an Irish citizen of murder in the November 2024 killing of an American nurse who was on vacation in Budapest, according to ABC News.
Mackenzie Michalski, 31, of Portland, Oregon, was reported missing on Nov. 5, 2024, after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest, according to ABC News. Police reviewing security footage from nightclubs in the city identified a man, later named as Lorcan Tadgh Murphy, 38, of Killiney, Dublin, as having been with Michalski at several venues that night, according to ABC News and Sunday World.
According to prosecutors cited by RTE, the pair met in Budapest’s nightlife district before returning to Murphy’s rented apartment, where Michalski died after being strangled for at least two to three minutes. Murphy admitted to strangling Michalski but maintained throughout the trial that her death was accidental, occurring during what he described as consensual sadomasochistic activity, according to RTE.
The Budapest Metropolitan Court rejected that account, finding no evidence that Michalski had consented to being strangled and noting testimony that she had previously suffered a neck injury, according to RTE. Medical experts also testified that her injuries were inconsistent with the defense’s version of events, according to the same report.
Investigators said Murphy did not seek help after Michalski’s death. Instead, according to ABC News, he cleaned the apartment, hid her body in a wardrobe, then purchased a suitcase, placed her body inside it, and drove roughly 150 kilometers, or 90 miles, to a wooded area near Szigliget, by Lake Balaton, where he left her remains. He was arrested the following day and later led investigators to the location, according to ABC News.
Police also recovered a hidden camera disguised as a pen containing footage of Murphy approaching numerous women in Budapest, as well as videos on his phone showing Michalski’s body after her death, according to RTE. According to Human Events, citing the Irish Independent, investigators additionally found files on Murphy’s computer containing secret recordings of encounters with women and digital diary entries, with footage involving 16 women who had declined to be with him.
A court-appointed forensic psychiatric evaluation found Murphy showed disharmonious, impulsive, and aggressive personality traits along with severe psychopathology, according to RTE.
The Budapest Metropolitan Court found Murphy guilty of intentional homicide and sentenced him to 14 years in prison without the possibility of parole, with time already served counting toward the term, according to ABC News. The court also ordered his expulsion from Hungary for 20 years, according to RTE, and ordered him to pay 2.5 million forints, or $7,995, in court costs, according to ABC News.
Michalski’s parents traveled from Oregon to attend the trial. Her mother said the family had endured repeated attacks on their daughter’s character due to the defense’s claims, according to RTE. Murphy apologized to Michalski’s family in a final statement to the court, according to RTE.
Murphy’s attorney has filed a full appeal of the verdict, arguing the court’s legal findings were flawed, and has requested a reduced sentence, according to RTE.
