Man arrested and identified in case of murdered Queens mother stabbed dozens of times

FOREST HILLS, Queens (WABC) — A man is under arrest in the gruesome murder of a mother whose body was found in a duffel bag in Queens

David Bonola, 44, arrived at the 112th NYPD precinct where he was interviewed in connection with the death of 51-year-old Orsolya Gaal and then taken into custody.

He’s now facing charges of murder, criminal tampering, and possession of a weapon.

On Wednesday, the NYPD’s investigation led them to a bar that may have been the place where she was last seen alive.

Tavern owners in Forest Hills are telling investigators that 51-year-old Orsolya Gaal was a familiar face.

She often met friends for drinks in Forest Hill’s business district. In fact, on the night of the murder, she was drinking alone at the Forest Hills Station House. A bar adjacent to the train station.

“Same thing every time, one Moscow mule. She was a delightful lady to talk to, real classy,” said Gabriel Veras, the bar manager at Forest Hills Station House.

Veras says Gaal was at the bar the Friday night of her murder, around 11:45 to 12:30 a.m.

“She was here alone, business as usual, Moscow mule, bite to eat, talked with some staff,” Veras said. “She was friendly. And when she left alone, it didn’t seem like anything was out of the ordinary or unusual.”

It may have been the last time she was seen alive.

When she returned to her home, she would be beaten and stabbed to death, then dragged through the neighborhood in a large duffel bag, leaving a trail of blood for blocks before being abandoned alongside the Jackie Robinson Parkway.

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A surveillance image is said to be crucial to the case. It shows a man, believed to be the killer, dragging the bag just before daybreak.

Sources tell Eyewitness News that Gaal had contact with at least three men that night.

One of them was Bonola who had done work at the house. He was known to have a key to the back door of the home.

Gaal’s husband was out of town with their elder son and their younger son was in an upstairs bedroom at the time of the murder.

There are reward posters now up in her neighborhood, and Crime Stoppers was offering $3,500 for information leading to an arrest. It’s not yet known if anyone will claim the reward in Bonola’s arrest.

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