Duffel bag murder suspect accused of slaying mom of 2 pleads guilty to lesser manslaughter charge

The suspect accused of murdering and dismembering a New York City mother in her upscale home in Queens before dragging a blood-trailing duffel bag with the woman’s remains to a nearby park earlier this year pleaded guilty on Wednesday after accepting a deal on the lesser charge of manslaughter. 

David Bonola pleaded guilty on Wednesday to manslaughter for the brutal slaying of Orsolya Gaal, whose dismembered body was discovered in a sports duffel bag near Forest Park in April. 

A Mexican national who has been in the country illegally for more than two decades, Bonola previously pleaded not guilty in May to a 13-count indictment that included charges of murder, burglary and concealment of a human corpse. He allegedly claimed to police that Gaal gave him HIV, according to court papers. 

Gaal reportedly broke off an alleged two-year affair with the handyman. 

DAVID BONOLA ALLEGEDLY THOUGHT NYC MOM ORSOLYA GAAL GAVE HIM HIV, COURT PAPERS 

At the time she was killed in the basement of her upscale Forest Hills home, Gaal’s 13-year-old son was reportedly asleep in an upstairs bedroom while her husband and 17-year-old son were out of town visiting colleges.

“This heinous killing devastated an entire family, left two boys without a mother, and horrified the surrounding community. I want to thank my prosecutors for their exhaustive efforts in securing this plea,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “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.”

Bonola, 44, of Queens, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of manslaughter in the first degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise, who said he would sentence the defendant to 25 years in prison to be followed by five years post-release supervision. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 16.

According to the charges, Bonola went to the victim’s home at approximately 12:30 a.m. on April 16. Gaal, 51, had just returned to her Juno Street address from an evening out. The defendant, a handyman who had done work at the residence on several occasions, entered the home, prosecutors said. 

Bonola and the victim were arguing when the defendant slashed Gaal’s throat and stabbed her more than 50 times. Hours later, at approximately 4:15 a.m., Bonola is captured on a nearby home’s security video surveillance footage wheeling a hockey duffel bag belonging to one of the victim’s sons. 

The bag, containing Gaal’s dismembered body, was found at about 8:00 a.m. on Metropolitan Avenue, near Union Turnpike, in the vicinity of Forest Park. Police were able to follow the trail of blood from the bag to the crime scene – the Juno Street home where the victim resided with her husband and two sons. 

 

During the investigation, police recovered the murder weapon hidden in the victim’s home and the defendant’s jacket inside Forest Park, prosecutors said.