NYPD has arrested a 44-year-old man for the murder of Queen mom Orsolya Gaal. The suspect, according to reports, is none other than the former handyman, who is believed to have had an affair with the Gaal. David Bonola, 44, has been charged with murder, criminal tampering and criminal possession of a weapon over the brutal weekend stabbing.
According to Fox News, the NYPD is likely to confirm the arrest at a press conference on Thursday morning. According to the New York Post, multiple sources confirmed that Bonola was the handyman, according to multiple reports, and he confessed fully after his arrest.
Nabbed at Last
According to authorities, Bonola was arrested thanks to a pair of blood-soaked boots left at Gaal's lavish Forest Hills home after she was stabbed about 60 times early Saturday. However, it remains unclear how, Bonola knew Gaal.
Police sources told NBC that the suspect is believed to have had access to the home, which they had been stressing on since the day of the murder. Bonola reportedly killed Gaal after the two argued inside, according to detectives.
According to police, Bonola, from Richmond Hill, has no prior arrests. There have been conflicting stories as to where she was attacked inside the house. Some sources claim evidence leads to a fight on the first floor, while others claim she was slain in the basement.
However, according to investigators, the 51-year-old mother of two was allegedly assaulted on the first floor of the house before being carried to the basement.
Her body was subsequently placed in a duffel bag and hauled to a local park early Saturday morning (16 April), leaving a trail of blood that police followed from the remains to her home.
The NYPD is scheduled to give a press briefing ay 11.30am later today. Bonola is understood to be in custody at the 112th Precinct in Queens.
Mystery Almost Solved
The mystery behind Gal's death now seems to be fast getting unraveled. Although a lot of details are yet to come in, including the motive behind the murder, the biggest success for cops is nabbing Bonola within four days of the gruesome murder.
Gaal went out with friends to watch a show at Lincoln Center on Friday evening — and then hung longer at a bar in her neighborhood, evidently expecting to see someone who never came up, according to sources.
She subsequently returned to Queens sometime before 11 p.m., stopping at the Forest Hills Station House for a Moscow Mule. And then she returned home only to be murdered. It's unclear whether the killer was already inside the house when she was stabbed 58 times in the neck, body, and arm around 12.40 a.m.
An unknown individual was seen hauling a bloody duffel bag away from Gaal's home around 4:30 a.m., according to grainy video obtained from a neighbor's doorbell camera. About four hours later, a local dog walker discovered the remains.
According to insiders, police instantly assumed the killer knew Gaal because there were no evidence of a break-in and the assault appeared to be personal and motivated by rage directed at her.
It seems now after the arrest of Bonola that police were on right track as he reportedly has admitted to his crime.
Following the discovery of her body, investigators tracked the blood trail left by the dragged bag all the way back to Gaal's house. They found her 13-year-old son Leo unharmed inside and took him in for questioning, handcuffing him before releasing him later that day.
Howard Klein, Gaal's husband, and Jamie, Gaal's older son, who had been on the West Coast, rushed back. Since then, they have not been seen or heard from. There have been numerous reports in the week since her death that Gaal was having an affair, based on unnamed police sources.
Cops honed in on an unidentified handyman, now thought to be Bonola, who they said knew his way around the house and might even have a spare key. They claimed that whoever killed her did it without preparation and left a "sloppy" crime scene that likely contained the killer's DNA.
With Bonola now in custody, the case seems to be almost solved although a lot of details are still awaited.
