David Bonola and Orsolya Gaal.
A New York City man has admitted that he stabbed his ex-lover — a married mother — more than 50 times, dragged her body out of her house in a duffel bag, and dumped it on a street corner.
David Bonola, 44, of 114th Street in South Richmond Hill, Queens, had been involved in an on-again, off-again “intimate affair” with victim Orsolya Gaal, 55, according to a report from New York City ABC affiliate WABC-TV.
Bonola pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter on Wednesday morning, according to a press release from the office of Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise said he would sentence the defendant to 25 years in prison plus five years of post-release supervision, Katz’s office said. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 16, 2022.
Prosecutors originally charged Bonola with murder, but they dropped that charge in return for a plea, according to WABC’s report.
Back when Gaal was found dead, a homicide detective said during a press gaggle that the authorities believed Bonola and Gaal had an “intimate-type relationship” and that a “heated” argument began over “domestic” issues between the two.
The New York Daily News described Bonola as Gaal’s “former lover,” and several other tabloids reported similarly. The Daily News added that Gaal was the mother of two teens.
Facebook posts suggest that Orsolya Gaal and David Bonola Facebook communicated online. His comment roughly translates to English as follows: ‘you look in love.’
The NYPD said Bonola was employed as Gaal’s handyman for about two years.
The killing occurred in April after Gaal joined friends at Lincoln Center and then retreated to a bar where she appeared to be waiting for someone who never arrived, according to earlier reports. Eventually, she left.
The DA’s press release says Bonola went to Gaal’s house at around 12:30 a.m. on Sat., April 16. Some reports say Bonola wished to speak to Gaal about their “relationship.”
It is unclear whether Gaal let Bonola into the house or whether Bonola entered the house via a key that was hidden on the property, the constabulary indicated at the time of the crime.
“Bonola and the victim were arguing when the defendant slashed Gaal’s throat and stabbed her more than 50 times,” the DA’s press release says.
The violent stabbing reportedly occurred in Gaal’s basement while her younger son was asleep elsewhere in the house — despite attempts to save her own life.
At around 4:15 a.m., Bonola was caught on a neighbor’s video surveillance system dragging a wheeled hockey bag that belonged to one of Gaal’s sons out of her family’s home on Juno Street. Inside that bag was Gaal’s body.
A surveillance image showed to the press at a NYPD press conference shows suspected David Bonola. (Image via WABC-TV screengrab.)
The authorities theorized that Bonola moved Gaal’s body so her family wouldn’t see it; however, he left a bloody trail through the neighborhood that attracted considerable attention.
A dog-walker found the bag that contained the body at around 8:00 a.m. on that Saturday in question on Metropolitan Avenue near Union Turnpike in the vicinity of Forest Park, the DA’s office said.
Police found the murder weapon “hidden in the victim’s home and the defendant’s jacket inside Forest Park,” the DA’s office continued.
A pair of what the Post called “blood-soaked boots” left at Gaal’s home allegedly led the police to Bonola.
Gaal’s husband and other son were out of town touring college campuses when the violent stabbing occurred, according to the Daily News.
As the constabulary combed the crime scene, WABC reported that Bonola simply walked up to detectives and said, “I hear you are looking for me.”
“Days later, the defendant offered to speak to police and during questioning made incriminating statements,” the DA’s press release added. “He revealed that some time on Saturday he went to a New York City hospital for a cut on his hand. He also stated in sum and substance that he and the victim argued and confessed to stabbing her and moving her body.”
DA Katz indicated that the punishment fits the crime. Assuming Bonola serves his entire sentence, he won’t be released until he’s 69 years old. Plus, as WABC noted, a murder conviction in New York carries a 25-to-life sentence. This sentence is close to that — and without a trial.
“This heinous killing devastated an entire family, left two boys without a mother, and horrified the surrounding community,” Katz said. “I want to thank my prosecutors for their exhaustive efforts in securing this plea. In pleading guilty, the defendant has accepted responsibility and is being held fully accountable for his criminal actions. We express our sincerest condolences to the victim’s family and hope that today’s plea will allow them to begin to heal.”
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