Orsolya Gaal news: David Bonola appears in court as police say he slashed lover’s throat
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The handyman accused of murdering Queens’ mother-of-two Orsolya Gaal before stuffing her body in her son’s hockey duffle bag and dumping it in a nearby park appeared in court on Thursday night charged with her murder.
David Bonola, 44, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on charges of murder in the second degree, tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
A judge ordered him to be held without bond after police said he confessed to killing the 51-year-old, who he had been in an on-off relationship with for the last two years.
Prosecutors said Ms Gaal let Mr Bonola into her home in Forest Hills in the early hours of Saturday morning before they got into an argument in the basement and she asked him to leave.
The suspect then allegedly slashed Ms Gaal’s throat and stabbed her over 50 times with a kitchen knife before moving her body to Forest Park, where a passer-by discovered it later that morning.
Police said Mr Bonola handed himself in on Wednesday and spilled the details of her murder.
‘GET A NEW HANDYMAN’: Victim’s chilling note pointed police to alleged killer
A chilling note written by Orsolya Gaal before her murder helped lead investigators to her accused killer, it has been revealed.
The handwritten note, reading “GET A NEW HANDYMAN”, was found posted on the fridge inside the victim’s Forest Hills home early on into the investigation, a law enforcement source told The Daily Beast.
The memo was reportedly written by Ms Gaal prior to her murder in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Investigators believe the note was a reference to David Bonola who turned himself in to police on Wednesday and confessed to killing the mother-of-two.
Mr Bonola worked as a handyman for Ms Gaal’s family and the pair had been having an on-off affair for the last two years, police said.
Suspect wolfed down bagel with cream cheese after spilling details of murder
Suspected murderer David Bonola calmly proceeded to wolf down a bagel with cream cheese after he confessed to murdering his on-off lover Orsolya Gaal, according to law enforcement sources.
Police sources told The New York Post that Mr Bonola confessed twice to stabbing Ms Gaal to death – once to detectives after he offered to speak to investigators and then a second time on video for prosecutors.
The sources described the confession as “matter-of-fact” and “very thorough”, saying he answered every question he was asked and didn’t ask for an attorney once.
After spilling the details of the brutal crime, he then scarfed down the breakfast item as his statements were being processed by investigators, the sources said.
Watch: Suspect curses at media as he is walked out of police precinct
Suspected killer David Bonola cursed at members of the media as he was marched out of the 112th NYPD police precinct in Queens on Thursday.
Mr Bonola, dressed in a white jumpsuit, was escorted by officers from the precinct into a waiting police car after he was arrested on murder charges.
Watch the video below:
Suspect became focus early on in investigation
David Bonola became a focus of the police investigation and his home in Richmond Hill was placed under surveillance not long after Orsolya Gaal’s body was found stuffed inside her son’s hockey duffle bag left at Forest Park on Saturday morning.
A police source told The Daily Beast that when a sanitation truck collected trash from his home on Wednesday, investigators watching the property stopped the vehicle around the corner and retrieved the contents.
Inside, they found a bloodstained pair of work boots and other bloodied items, the source said.
Police had earlier found a bloody jacket and blood-stained tissues in Forest Park believed to have been discarded by the killer.
Mr Bonola appears to have become aware he was under surveillance as he allegedly approached detectives in the area, saying he had seen them around and asking if they were looking for him.
When police said they did want to speak to him, he agreed to go with officers to the 112th police precinct in Queens where police said he confessed to the crime.
Suspect commented on victim’s Facebook photos weeks before she went missing in 2020
Osolya Gaal’s suspected killer David Bonola commented on photos on her social media just weeks before she was reported missing by her husband back in 2020.
In a post dated May 2020, a Facebook account belonging to Mr Bonola commented on a photo she posted of a Zoom party.
“Your eyes in love,” he commented along with a smiling emoji.
He also posted “Hola” on a chilhood photo Ms Gall posted the same month.
Just weeks later on 29 May 2020, Ms Gaal was reported missing by her husband Howard Klein who said his wife had not returned from a late night walk the night before.
Mr Klein later reported his wife had been found safe about 30 minutes later.
It is not clear if Mr Bonola had anything to do with her brief disappearance.
Police said that Mr Bonola and Ms Gaal had been having an affair on and off for the last two years and it had recently come to an end.
Everything we know about the man charged with Orsolya Gaal’s murder
David Bonola, 44, was arrested and charged with the murder of Orsolya Gaal in the early hours of Thursday after police said he confessed to stabbing her to death during an argument.
Mr Bonola worked as a handyman for Ms Gaal and her family at their Forest Hills home.
He had been having an on-off affair with the 51-year-old married mother-of-two for the last two years, police said.
Mr Bonola appeared in court for the first time on Thursday night where he was ordered to be held without bond.
The Independent’s Bevan Hurley reports on everything we know about the suspect:
David Bonola: What we know about the man charged with Orsolya Gaal’s murder
David Bonola, 44, killed Orsolya Gaal in a crime of passion, police sources say
David Bonola tried to pin blame on other handymen, says source
During initial questioning from police, David Bonola sought to pin the blame for Orsolya Gaal’s killing on other handymen, according to a source.
An unnamed senior NYPD official told The Daily Beast that the suspect tried to throw off detectives before confessing to the grisly murder.
Mr Bonola allegedly approached detectives on Wednesday in the area around his home, saying he had seen them around and asking if they were looking for him.
When police said they did want to speak to him, he voluntarily went to the 112th police precinct in Queens.
The source said that the 44-year-old initially tried to point detectives towards other men including other handymen.
But, after around 30 minutes in which detectives questioned him about injuries to his left hand believed to have been sustained in Saturday’s attack, Mr Bonola readily confessed to killing his on-off lover.
Jealous handyman says he killed lover after finding text messages to another man
The jealous handyman accused of murdering his on-off lover Orsolya Gaal has said he killed her after discovering she had been texting another man, according to a police source.
An unnamed senior NYPD supervisor told The Daily Beast that David Bonola said he had been having an affair with the married mother-of-two on and off for the past two years.
Mr Bonola, 44, claimed he had seen text messages between Ms Gaal, and another man and so he went to her home in Forest Hills in the early hours of Saturday morning to confront her when she returned home from an event.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:
Handyman lover allegedly killed Orsolya Gaal after finding texts
David Bonola was Orsolya Gaal’s handyman and on-off lover for the last two years, police said
Police say suspect admitted sending threatening text to husband
Suspected killer David Bonola has admitted to sending threatening text messages from Orsolya Gaal’s cellphone to her husband after she was killed, according to investigators.
Ms Gaal’s husband had received a message from his wife’s number indicating that their whole family was in danger and that she had been targeted in revenge over a previous conviction.
“Your whole family is next... Your wife sent me to jail some years ago... I’m back,” read the chilling messages.
The NYPD confirmed in a press conference Thursday announcing Mr Bonola’s arrest that they believe the text messages were “completely false”.
“We don’t believe there was any danger to the family,” said officials.
Mr Bonola had no prior convictions related to Ms Gaal, they said.
Timeline of Orsolya Gaal’s death and police investigation
The grisly murder of mother-of-two Orsolya Gaal has stunned residents of the Forest Hills, Queens, neighbourhood where she lived.
Ms Gaal, 51, was stabbed over 50 times in the basement of her home before her killer placed her body in a duffle bag and left her remains in a nearby park early on the morning of Saturday 16 April.
On Thursday, handyman David Bonola, 44, was arrested and charged with Ms Gaal’s murder.
Police say they had been in an “on and off” relationship for two years.
The Independent’s Bevan Hurley gives a timeline of the events leading up to Ms Gaal’s death and the investigation:
Timeline of events in brutal murder of NYC mother Orsolya Gaal
Police piece together Ms Gaal’s final moments as they identify ‘person of interest’
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