Grieving ex-boyfriend of US nurse found dead in a suitcase in Hungary believes she was beaten and raped then brutally murdered

The distraught former boyfriend of an American nurse who was found dead in a suitcase near a lake in Hungary has claimed she was 'beaten, raped and brutually' murdered. Kenton Reichen said following a vigil for Ms Michalski in the Hungarian capital that he wished he could have 'protected' his partner of six years The 37-year-old Irishman suspected of killing Michalski led police to the area where her body was dumped following his arrest over her disappearance on November 7 Friends hold candles while remembering Michalski during a candlelight vigil in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, November 9 The couple had planned to travel to the European country together at the end of October but 'were in the middle of a break up' so Mr Reichen decided not to take the trip. Mr Reichen, who had travelled to the country with the nurse's parents to look for her, said following a vigil for Ms Michalski in the Hungarian capital that he wished he could have 'protected her'. 'I'm sorry for letting you down,' he said in a post on social media Photos of Michalski at a candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday, when her father made a heartbreaking statement about her death The suspect then cleaned his apartment before allegedly stuffing the victim's body into a freshly bought suitcase and rolling it away along with a handbag, clothes and a credit card with Ms Michalski's name on it. Mackenzie Michalski had gone to Hungary as a tourist and was last seen at a nightclub before her body was eventually found Mackenzie's body was found near Lake Balaton in western Hungary after she went missing on November 5 A statement on behalf of the family was released on a Facebook group set up to find the nurse read: 'Dear members of our community, we are deeply saddened to confirm a report published by Hungarian police announcing the death of our beloved Kenzie.'