Richmond Hill Handyman Charged with Brutal Killing of Forest Hills Woman: Queens DA

David Bonola (L) has been charged with the murder of Orsolya Gaal (R) (Photos: NYPD and Facebook)

April 22, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

A Richmond Hill handyman has been charged for the grisly murder of Orsolya Gaal — the Forest Hills woman whose bloodied body was found stuffed in a duffel bag on the side of a road Saturday.

David Bonola, 44, believed to be the longtime lover of the married victim, was charged with murder Thursday by the Queens District Attorney’s Office for allegedly stabbing Gaal to death and dumping her body off the side of the Jackie Robinson Parkway near Metropolitan Avenue.

Bonola, who worked as a handyman for the victim’s family, allegedly stabbed Gaal, a 51-year-old wife and mother of two teenage boys, more than 50 times inside her home on Juno Street sometime after midnight Saturday, Queens District Melinda Katz said yesterday.

He was arraigned at Queens Criminal Court late Thursday charged with murder in the second degree, tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.

Bonola faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

“Two boys are left without a mother and a young teenager faces the added trauma of being home when this heinous murder took place,” Katz said.

The slaying of Gaal, Katz said, has terrified the quiet residential neighborhood where she lived.

“The defendant is now in custody and will be held to account for this horrific crime.”

The knife allegedly used to stab Orsolya Gaal to death early Saturday (Photo: NYPD)

Gaal was fatally stabbed in Forest Hills over the weekend. A blood trail led to her Forest Hills home, located at 72-24 Juno Street, pictured (Photo: Google Maps)

Bonola and Gaal had an on-and-off romantic affair for about two years and had rekindled their relationship in early April, only to have broken things off once again, according to police.

Gaal arrived home from a night out at Lincoln Center and a local bar 20 minutes after midnight Saturday. Bonola entered the home shortly after — either let in by Gaal or by using a key hidden in the family’s outdoor grill, police said.

Bonola and Gaal got into a heated argument over their relationship in the home’s basement, which turned deadly. Bonola is believed to have used a knife from the family’s kitchen to stab Gaal to death as her 13-year-old son slept upstairs, police. The NYPD released an image of the knife allegedly used in her killing at a press briefing Thursday.

Gaal reportedly put up a fight against her killer. Investigators found defensive wounds on her hands.

Bonola then allegedly jammed Gaal’s body into one of her son’s hockey bags and dragged it several blocks — leaving a blood trail from her home to the sidewalk near the Jackie Robinson Parkway, where he dumped the body bag.

Investigators honed in on Bonola after they recovered a blood-soaked jacket, blood-stained tissues, a t-shirt as well as boots from inside Forest Park, according to prosecutors and police.

Police believe Bonola fled through Forest Park after disposing of the body.

On Wednesday, Bonola offered to speak to police and allegedly confessed to killing Gaal and moving her body. Bonola told police he received treatment for wounds to both hands at an area hospital the same day Gaal’s body was found.

Bonola’s public defender, David Strachan, said Thursday night that his client would apply for bail at a later date, according to the New York Post.

Bonola was ordered back to court Tuesday.

Gaal was killed at her Juno Street home last weekend before being stuffed into a duffle bag and dumped on the side of the road on Metropolitan Avenue near the Jackie Robinson Parkway overpass, pictured (Photo: Google Maps)