New witness testimony could shift focus in Hungary's Fenyő murder case

A potential turning point has emerged in the high-profile Fenyő murder case, with a witness now claiming that Tamás Gyárfás did not issue the order for the assassination. This testimony could significantly impact the legal proceedings against the former swimming federation president. Gyárfás, along with Tamás Portik, was convicted in 2019 as an instigator in the 1998 murder of media mogul János Fenyő. The crime, which occurred in Budapest, sent shockwaves through Hungarian society, prompting then-Prime Minister Gyula Horn to declare, "What we have today is not public safety." The police pursued the case for thirteen years before making a breakthrough in 2011 with the arrest of Jozef Roháč, linked to the murder and other contract killings. Roháč's DNA was found on a cap left at the crime scene. The prosecution later charged Gyárfás and Portik as instigators of premeditated murder. The court's 2023 ruling, sentencing Gyárfás to seven years and Portik to life imprisonment, hinged on crucial evidence. This included audio recordings made by Portik during conversations with Gyárfás in the mid-2000s, where they alluded to the Fenyő murder. Portik's confidant, who passed a polygraph test, also testified that he delivered a message from Portik to Gyárfás in late 1997, stating "the matter will soon be realized." The court also considered the testimony of Péter Tasnádi, who stated Gyárfás had commissioned him to arrange the murder, allegedly paying twelve million forints for the deed, though Tasnádi claims he did not carry it out and defrauded Gyárfás. This new witness statement, however, challenges the narrative that Gyárfás directly ordered the killing, potentially reopening aspects of the investigation.