David Bonola arraigned in murder of Orsolya Gaal as new details revealed
NEW YORK - New details about the murder of 51-year-old Queens mother of two Orsolya Gaal were released during David Bonola's arraignment late on Thursday night.
Gaal let her ex-handyman lover into her Forest Hills home around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, April 16, after a night out.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz says that the pair got into an argument and Bonola, 44, slashed her throat and stabbed her more than 50 times. The attack came after she asked him to leave multiple times.
Who is David Bonola? Suspect in Orsolya Gaal murder
Bonola was charged with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the case.
Prosecutors say that Bonola was a handyman and had done work at Gaal’s home on and off for the last two years used a hockey duffel bag that belonged to one of the victim’s sons and stuffed the woman’s bloody body inside.
He was allegedly seen on video surveillance from a nearby home rolling the duffel bag through the neighborhood.
Orsolya Gaal murder case: Handyman-lover charged with murder
The duffel bag was discovered near Forest Park at Metropolitan Avenue and Union Turnpike around 8 a.m., Saturday. Gaal's remains were found inside the bag.
Police followed a trail of blood from the bag to the crime scene to Gaal's Juno Street home.
District Attorney Katz said, "Two boys are left without a mother and a young teenager faces the added trauma of being home when this heinous murder took place. As alleged, the defendant stabbed the victim over 50 times and then attempted to dispose of the body by stuffing it into a duffel bag and dragging it across a quiet residential neighborhood – leaving a trail of blood and a terrified community."
During the investigation, police recovered a bloody jacket and blood-stained tissues from inside Forest Park.
NYPD detectives say that Bonola made incriminating statements when they interviewed him.
He revealed that sometime on Saturday he went to a New York City hospital for a cut on his hand. He also made statements that he and the victim argued and allegedly confessed to stabbing her and moving her body, prosecutors said.
Bonola, of 114th St. in South Richmond Hill, Queens is being held without bail. He is due back in court on April 26, 2022. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.