Young Hungarian criminal, long deemed wicked, faces execution over pensioner horrors in Florida

A lethal poison injection could end the life of Zsolt Zs., who stands credibly accused of meticulously luring, robbing, and murdering elderly men while residing illegally in Florida as an undocumented migrant. American authorities brand him the embodiment of evil, and a court, invoking a recently enacted legal amendment, may yet sentence him to death. His mother harbours just one wish concerning her son.

Elderly gay men were his victims

Blikk reports that Zs. Zsolt, who held a US residency permit valid until the end of December 2024, made no effort to live lawfully in the Sunshine State. Though he assured his mother in January that he was leading an honest life, he had already claimed at least one victim by then.

Zsolt first encountered the authorities in the summer of 2024, arrested initially for robbery. Deportation was averted by his valid permit; instead, he was placed under criminal supervision, from which he absconded. He altered his appearance and began prowling Florida’s gay bars for elderly, retired men.

Over the years, he claimed at least two victims with a near-identical modus operandi. He first ensnared them in homosexual liaisons, then plundered their possessions. When discovered, he attempted bluster; failing that, he killed them. The first man was drowned in his own bathtub; the second was strangled with a seatbelt in his car.

The young Hungarian predator hunted fresh prey

Undeterred, he changed his look again and sought refuge in Miami’s Latin quarter, ceaselessly chatting up strangers in search of new quarry when police arrested him, sparing further lives in the process.

Though unequivocal evidence (such as DNA samples) substantiates his guilt, Zs. Zsolt denies everything. Florida permits capital punishment, and a new law explicitly allows its imposition on illegal migrants for the gravest offences. Thus, execution remains possible, though a court will decide. Appeals abound, as is customary, even to presidential clemency; the process could drag on for a decade.

His mother cherishes one sole wish

Zsolt’s mother, living in Hungary, stands aghast at her son’s deeds but insists that, if guilty as charged, he must pay the price. Her lone desire? One final embrace and farewell.

Hungarian diplomacy cannot meddle in America’s justice system; only post-verdict might the matter escalate diplomatically. That is when his mother plans to visit, as a pensioner, she says she may manage the trip financially just once.

In Florida, a double murder all but guarantees the death penalty.

Will Hungary restore capital punishment?

Hungary abolished the death penalty in 1990; life without parole is now the sternest sanction. The last execution occurred on 14 July 1988, when Ernő Vadász (then of an age with Zsolt Zs.) was hanged for the brutal slaying, with an accomplice, of 53-year-old Imre Juhász two years prior.

Lately, restoring it has resurfaced in debates over heinous cases, though EU law forbids it. János Lázár, the Minister for Construction and Transport, for instance, would deploy it against those committing sexual violence on children—though he admits to being in the minority within government.

If you missed our previous articles concerning crimes:

• Hungarian teenager arrested over alleged school shooting plans in his phone
• Two Hungarian tourists sexually assaulted after accepting lift in Sicily: verdict expected