According to the prosecution, the couple's marriage broke down and they divorced in 2023. The woman stayed in Hungary with their two young children while the man moved to the Netherlands, and they agreed on custody. He visited the children in Hungary every month or two, staying in the flat they had formerly shared.

The woman later asked Hungary's guardianship authority for permission to move with the children to Japan. It is alleged that the man, fearing an unfavourable ruling and that his ex-wife would gain sole custody, decided to kill her and stage her death as a fire.

He travelled to Budapest last January. On Jan 29, after their son left for school, he took their young daughter to the swimming pool, leaving his ex-wife alone at home. He is suspected of returning to the flat and strangling her having changed his clothes, then setting fire to the sofa on which the body lay, placing a wine bottle, a cigarette and cigarette butts near the furniture before leaving the flat.

It is alleged that he then changed back into his clothes and returned to the flat in the early afternoon. When he opened the door, the influx of fresh oxygen caused the fire he had earlier lit to flare up. He reported the fire ten minutes later, the prosecution said.

Police initially found no sign of third-party involvement and concluded the flames had been caused by the woman smoking on the sofa. However, her acquaintances said on several forums that the victim did not smoke, and the Patent Association, a Budapest-based Hungarian women's-rights NGO, said that she had repeatedly sought help from them over her husband's abuse. After further investigation, police arrested the perpetrator a few days after the killing.

The Budapest Chief Prosecutor's Office charged the Irishman with premeditated murder, seeking a prison sentence of 17 years in the event of the full admission of guilt.

At this preparatory session, he denied all charges, acknowledging only facts relating to his family circumstances. As he did not plead guilty, the court referred the case to trial, which will continue on Nov 6 with the questioning of the defendant.


Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881.

Photo: Police.hu

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