US nurse killed by man she met in Budapest nightclub: police

An American nurse’s journey to her “happy place” ended in tragedy when she was killed this week by a man she met at a nightclub in Hungary, police said Friday.

A manhunt erupted when Kenzie Michalski, 31, of Portland, Oregon, disappeared from the Budapest crime scene at night on Nov. 5, and police immediately suspected she had been murdered, according to Budapest police.

Security footage from the area showed Michalski hopping between different clubs with a man later identified as a suspect on the night of her disappearance.

While in custody, the 37-year-old Irishman, identified only by the initials LTM, confessed to the murder and led police to her body.

LTM allegedly told police the murder was an accident and occurred during an “intimate encounter.”

The couple met at a nightclub and danced before heading to their rental apartment, investigators said.

The man allegedly tried to cover up the murder by cleaning the apartment and hiding the nurse’s body in a closet before stuffing it into a suitcase he had purchased to smuggle the body outside.

LTM 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.

His internet history was peppered with research on how to dispose of a corpse, police procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs really eat corpses and the presence of wild boars in the Lake Balaton area – as well as the competence of the Budapest police.

The stunning murder occurred just a day after Michalski and her friend finished a trip through Europe.

Michalski stayed in Hungary for one final night while Gretchen Tower moved on to visit some friends in Italy, the grieving friend told WKBW.

The duo stayed in touch until just after midnight on Tuesday. Michalski then failed to check out of her Airbnb or take her flight back to the US – prompting Tower to call the US Embassy.

At a candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday, Michalski’s father Bill said she had visited Budapest before and called it her “happy place.”

“She just loved the story and was just so relaxed here. This was their city,” the grieving father told the Associated Press.

“There was no reason for that. “I’m still trying to come to terms with what happened… I don’t know if I ever will.”