Zsolyomi is next scheduled to appear in court on March 12.
Hungarian Facing Deportation Charged in Gay Murders
A Hungarian national illegally in the U.S. faces second-degree murder charges for strangling two elderly gay men.
A Hungarian national who overstayed his temporary U.S. visa and had been slated for deportation was re-arrested in Florida and charged with strangling two older gay men.
Zsolt Zsolyomi, 26, is in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami. He faces two charges of second-degree murder for allegedly killing the two gay men in two separate incidents and staging their deaths to cover up his crimes, according to the Miami Herald.
Zsolyomi entered the United States in October 2022 on a three-month visa, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Miami office told The Washington Post in an email.
He subsequently overstayed his visa by almost two years. In July 2024, he was charged with robbing a woman of $50 on Miami Beach, prompting ICE to issue him a final order of removal, even though the charge was dropped.
Zsolyomi was transferred to the Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade, fitted with an ankle monitor, and released through the Alternatives to Detention Program, an ICE-sponsored diversion program that allows some detainees to be released pending deportation after undergoing a risk assessment.
Within 13 days, the Department of Homeland Security’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program alerted ICE that the ankle monitor had been tampered with, but when Zsolyomi was ordered to report in person to check the device, he “absconded,” an ICE spokesman told the Herald.
It took six days for his case to be referred to ICE’s Fugitive Operations Unit.
Zsolyomi avoided detection for five months, which is when police claim he killed the two elderly gay victims, who lived in Miami Beach’s South Beach neighborhood and Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood. He was ultimately arrested in downtown Miami on February 19 on charges related to the murders.
Police wrote in a report that Zsolyomi admitted to the murders.
When Zsolyomi was first arrested on the robbery accusation, he allegedly gave the police a fake name, “Thomas Kray,” according to an arrest warrant from Miami Beach police. After being released, Zsolyomi, still going by his assumed name, allegedly began a romantic relationship with his first known gay victim, 66-year-old Carlos Alonso Villaquiran, of South Beach.
According to Miami Beach police, Villaquiran often texted with a “Thomas” whose photo looked similar to a man who was captured by a Nest security camera making multiple trips to and from Villaquiran’s apartment on the evening of November 20. The man appeared to be wearing an ankle monitor in the video.
Text messages from Villaquiran’s phone showed he had accused “Thomas” of beating him and stealing from him, according to the police warrant. “Thomas” reportedly denied the attack when confronted, but allegedly wrote, “Sometimes I don’t know what I do when I’m drunk.” Villaquiran later confronted him over text, addressing him by his real name, Zsolt Zsolyomi, and threatening to report him to law enforcement.
On November 21, Villaquiran failed to report for work.
After being contacted by his employer, his family members became concerned and went to his apartment, where they found him, face down in his bathtub, which was filled with six-and-a-half inches of water. An autopsy showed he had been strangled, with internal trauma on both sides of neck, a broken bone in his neck, and a fractured left rib.
After Villaquiran was killed, his SUV was involved in a hit-and-run. Authorities claim they found Zsolyomi’s prints inside the car.
On the evening of January 18, Zsolyomi allegedly met 71-year-old Rodolfo Fernandez de Velasco, of Little Havana, who was also gay. Hours later, on January 19, de Velasco was found dead in a vehicle that had crashed into a concrete wall, with both front seatbelts wrapped around his neck. Miami police said they believed the seat belts were used to prop up de Velasco’s body in the driver’s seat after the 71-year-old had been strangled to death, to make it appear that de Velasco had been driving.
Surveillance footage from a nearby home allegedly shows Zsolyomi driving the vehicle from the passenger’s seat, sideswiping two vehicles before it crashes into the wall. He then ran away, putting his hands on the vehicle to jump over it, according to police.
That’s where police claim they found fingerprints matching Zsolyomi. De Velasco allegedly had a photo of Zsolyomi on his cell phone, just as Villaquiran had, according to police.
Investigators told the Post that they believe Zsolyomi targeted Villaquiran and de Velasco due to their age and sexual orientation, but also their physical disabilities. Villaquiran’s right leg had been amputated below the knee, and de Velasco used a walker.
At a joint press conference on February 21, Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne Jones called Zsolyomi “the epitome of evil,” claiming that the Hungarian migrant’s modus operandi was to “hunt his prey” and take time to befriend his victims before killing them.
He said he believed that Zsolyomi was likely to continue committing similar crimes had he not been arrested.
“Had he not been caught, he would have done this again and again and again,” Jones said.
During the five-month period while he was successfully avoiding detection by federal authorities, Zsolyomi allegedly traveled to other cities in Florida, including Orlando and Gainesville, according to authorities.
At the February 21 joint press conference, Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales alleged that Zsolyomi may have been targeting the elderly gay community and encouraged victims or those close to them to contact the Miami Police homicide unit to see if Zsolyomi may be linked to other crimes or murders in those locations.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.