Chilling footage released by Hungarian police shows the Irish suspect in the murder of US nurse Mackenzie Michalski leading them to her body that was found in a suitcase next to a lake outside Budapest.
The 37-year-old Irishman – who can only be legally identified by his initials LTM – has admitted to killing the 31-year-old tourist who was last seen at a nightclub in the capital.
The Irishman has insisted the death of Michalski on November 5, who was seen on CCTV with her killer in the hours before her disappearance, was an accident.
CHILLING: Video shows Irish murder suspect leading police to body of American nurse in Hungary
In the video taken by Hungarian investigators, the suspect is seen being finger-printed as police officers watch and is then photographed with his face toward the camera and from the side.
Wearing an adidas top, the suspect, whose face is blurred throughout, has his hands pressed onto documentation to leave an imprint.
He then has a black belt tied around his waist which is secured by more handcuffs before police use it as a leash as they march him along a corridor.
The next part of the footage shows him being taken out of a police car on the outskirts of Szigliget, two hours from the city, while still handcuffed to officers.
He is then seen leading officers through a thickly wooded area consisting of bushes and knee-length grass.
Police dogs wait by the side of the road as they prepare to follow the team while specialist officers in hazmat suits leave markers along the trail.
Police officers can be seen conversing in the woods while evidence bags and samples of soil and grass are collected in jars.
The suspect is then seen being led to a police van as the final shot focuses on his handcuffed hands.
Mackenzie Michalski
It has been reported that after meeting in a nightclub, they then went to a second club together before returning to the Irishman’s rented apartment nearby.
According to police, the 31-year-old nurse from Portland, Oregon, was killed inside the apartment during “an intimate moment”.
Detectives claimed Michalski’s body was hidden in a wardrobe while the killer “cleaned his apartment and went to get a suitcase”.
Her body was then stuffed inside the case and transported in the boot of a rented car to Lake Balaton, where the body was dumped.
The Irishman was arrested inside his apartment on November 7.
Police have since released photographs of the evidence collected so far including a suitcase, boots, a woman’s purse, containing lip-gloss, a credit card, keys and some coins.
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Police have not yet confirmed how Michalski died, but revealed her killer made a series of disturbing online searches after her death, including: ‘Do pigs really eat dead bodies?’ and ‘Texas woman killed by wild boar’.
He also searched for ‘appearance of wild boar in the settlements along the Lake Balaton’ which is the area he would later dump her body.
Other searches included asking ‘what does a dead body smell like after it decomposes’ and how to ‘remove rotting meat smell.’
LTM had also searched for ‘how reliable is the police in Budapest’ and ‘how do the police handle missing person cases?’.
The 31-year-old tourist was last seen at a nightclub in Budapest
Gretchen Tower, who had reported her missing, said the group had been traveling together when they lost contact with Michalski.
Michalski travelled to Budapest with a friend for a holiday, but she was initially meant to be in Europe with her boyfriend of six years, Kenton Reichen.
Reichen who had travelled to Hungary with Michalski’s parents in the wake of her disappearance to look for her said following a vigil for Ms Michalski in the Hungarian capital that he wished he could have “protected” his partner.
Reichen had decided not to go on the trip, as the couple were in the midst of a breakup, according to MailOnline.
“It hurts me a lot, and I wish I could have protected her,” he is quoted as saying.