Zoltán Ember

[4] In the late 1980s, he attempted to kill his Russian girlfriend Ludmilla during an argument by stabbing her with a knife, but she survived and informed the authorities, who arrested Ember.

[3] Over the next few years, Ember continued to work in construction, but also made money on the side by committing petty thefts and then spending it all on pubs.

[1] In the early 2000s, Ember began harboring the thought that he could make money off the elderly residents of Szentkirályszabadja, rationalizing that they had significant amounts of cash in their homes.

Fear prevailed in the settlement at the time,[4] with the elderly villagers locking themselves inside their homes, setting up alarms and keeping emergency services within reach of them.

On March 7, 2004, Ember committed another robbery and used his trademark method, killing 82-year-old Károlyné Pinter and stealing 160,000 forints worth of cash and jewellery from the house.

[4] Throughout the proceedings, Ember appeared to be completely apathetic and uncaring about what would happen to him, answering questions addressed to him in a cheeky, almost cynical manner with a smile on his face.

[4] When interviewed by reporters in prison, he alluded to the possibility of additional murders, and openly expressed his lack of guilt, claiming that the only thing he was remorseful for was that he had missed out on stealing 122,000 forints from one of the crime scenes.