Orsolya Gaal's accused killer David Bonola approached cops and said, 'I hear you are looking for me': Reports
Handyman and accused killer David Bonola faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted on the highest count
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}David Bonola, the handyman accused of killing Queens mom Orsolya Gaal during an argument about rekindling their "intimate" relationship, approached investigators who were canvassing the crime scene and told them: "I hear you are looking for me," according to a local report.
Bonola, 44, has been charged with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence in connection with the Saturday morning stabbing death of Gaal, a 51-year-old married mother of two. Police took him into custody late Wednesday and charged him hours later, after he made incriminating statements and confessed to the crime, officials have said.
ORSOLYA GAAL MURDER MYSTERY TIMELINE
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}David Bonola being led out of the NYPD'S 112th precinct on April 21, 2022; David Bonola mugshot
But new details reported by ABC 7 Eyewitness News shed light on the moments police went to the Queens area to pick up Bonola. According to the report, he spotted investigators canvassing the area near the crime scene on Wednesday night and approached them himself, telling them: "I hear you are looking for me."
Bonola faces 25 years to life if convicted.
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department would not confirm the report.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}David Bonola appears in court April 21, 2022. He is accused of stabbing Queens mother Orsolya Gaal to death. (Daily Mail)
Bonola made his first appearance in a Queens court late Thursday and is expected to be back in court on April 26.
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The handyman had worked for Gaal and her family over the course of the past two years, the same length of time that police said he and the 51-year-old married mother began having an "intimate" relationship.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Law enforcement officials have said he went to Gaal’s family home in Forest Hills, Queens, early Saturday morning and stabbed her more than 55 times after a failed attempt to try to convince her to rekindle their romance.
The victim was found murdered and then loaded into one of her son’s hockey bags on Saturday morning; investigators believe Bonola dragged the bag about seven-tenths of a mile from her Juno Street home and dumped it.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police said they received a call around 8:10 a.m. Saturday for a report of "a suspicious bag with blood on it at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Jackie Robinson Parkway."
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Investigators also found a blood trail that led them back to the family’s home. One of Gaal's sons was home at the time of the murder, and was questioned by authorities but was later released. Her 53-year-old husband, Howard Klein, was with their other son on the West Coast at the time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gaal attended a show at Lincoln Center on Friday night and then rode the train to the Forest Hills neighborhood, where she stopped in a local watering hole around 11:20 p.m., police said.
She returned home around 12:20 a.m. Saturday. Prosecutors said she say let Bonola into the home about 10 to 20 minutes later.
Gaal and Bonola then went down to the basement where they began arguing, police officials said. Bonola allegedly went to the home that evening "to speak about the relationship again."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"A heated argument ensues between the two in the basement. A knife is brandished. A violent struggle ensues, resulting in our victim being stabbed ruthlessly and brutally in excess of 55 times, causing her demise," NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said.
Police said the murder weapon was then left behind at the crime scene.
"Mr. Bonola then retrieved the hockey bag belonging to Ms. Gaal's son, placed her in the bag and, as video showed, was seen rolling the body down the sidewalks, leaving a bloody trail through the streets of Forest Hills," Essig continued. Police believe he then fled to Forest Park, "where investigators discovered the jacket believed to be worn by him during this vicious crime."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said detectives also developed leads that pointed them to a location "where boots, a T-shirt and bloody bandages were discovered." They learned he was treated for hand wounds at an area hospital, Essig said.
Surveillance footage from early that morning showed a figure pulling a similar-looking bag along the sidewalk, sources confirmed.
Investigators said the pair had been off and on, but had reunited in the month of April. At the time of the murder, their relationship had been considered "at an end," police said. Their relationship went on for about two years, cops said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Investigators further described how Bonola's "confession" included an admission that he had sent a chilling text message from the victim’s cell phone.
The message, as reported by WPIX, stated: "Your wife sent me to jail some years ago when you were living near Austin Street in Forest Hills. I'm back, don't call the police or I will kill your family."
The NYPD said Thursday they believe the contents of the message to be bogus.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We have it from, in the confession, that he sent that message," an NYPD executive said. "We don’t believe there was any danger to the family."
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Investigators further described how they believe Bonola moved the victim’s body because he did not want the family to find it. And said the knife used in the crime was "consistent with knives that are in the home."