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TO CATCH HER KILLER

Orsolya Gaal map reveals her movements as ex-NYPD chief reveals cops are tracking phone numbers to place killer at scene

THE final movements of a mom who was found dead inside a blood-soaked duffel bag after being stabbed 60 times are being pieced together by cops as her killer remains at large.

Orsolya Gaal, 51, was murdered in the early hours of Saturday morning in the basement of her $2 million home in Queens, New York, after returning from a night out.

Orsolya Gaal, 51, was stabbed to death inside her home early Saturday
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Orsolya Gaal, 51, was stabbed to death inside her home early SaturdayCredit: Facebook/Orsolya Gaal
Her body was found in a blood-soaked suitcase around half a mile away from her home
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Her body was found in a blood-soaked suitcase around half a mile away from her homeCredit: NBC
Orsolya's last know movements are shown in the map above
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Orsolya's last know movements are shown in the map above

Her killer was later videoed wheeling her body through the neighborhood in a black Bauer hockey bag at 4.30am before discarding it in the middle of a sidewalk around nine blocks away.

Precisely what happened to the mom-of-two and who would carry out such a vicious crime largely remains a mystery, though investigators suspect Gaal knew her killer.

Gaal had started the day in the backyard of her Forest Hills home on Friday morning. She later headed out with friends to see a show at the Lincoln Center, in Manhattan, before she was spotted sitting alone at a bar in Queens sometime around midnight.

Police have identified three people of interest in the case after their numbers were found on Gaal's phone, NYPD sources confirmed to The US Sun.

Read More on Orsolya Gaal

One of those people is believed to be a former lover of Gaal's who at one time worked as a handyman at the home, the .

Robert Boyce, a thirty-five-year veteran of the NYPD, told The US Sun that investigators will be using Gaal's cellphone data to create a map of her final movements.

They will then combine that data with credit card activity and any surveillance footage captured of her in the hours before her death, he said.

Additionally, cellphone pings for the three people of interest in the case will also be analyzed by investigators to determine whether they were in or nearby the home at the time of her murder.

"[Gaal] was very active on social media," Boyce said. "Investigators will be taking those numbers, connecting them to Facebook profiles, and triangulating them to the home to see if they were there when she was killed."

Boyce added that if the killer had "half-a-brain cell" they'd likely have left their phone behind before carrying out the murder.

However, recent reports suggest that police believe the brutal killing was not premeditated because the killer left behind a trail of blood and the crime scene was not "clean."

That means it's possible, and likely, that the killer had their phone with them during their butchering of Gaal, Boyce said.

Furthermore, the nature of her injuries - 58 stab wounds to her neck, body and left arm, in addition to defensive wounds on her hands - suggest the killer knew Gaal and killed her in a sudden outburst of "rage", he added.

'UNUSUAL DECISIONS'

Boyce said the killer's decision to remove Gaal's body from the home was "unusual" and signals the culprit may have panicked in the immediate aftermath of the slaying.

"There are two particularly unusual things in this case," Boyce said, ";and the first is that they removed the body from the home.

"That to me suggests they panicked because that's a very risky thing to do."

Boyce said it "doesn't make sense" to him that the killer would opt to place her body in a bag and physically wheel it from the crime scene, instead of putting it into a car and driving away, "particularly when it's leaking huge amounts of blood."

"Also, at that time of night, who is up?" he asked. "Being spotting pulling that bag behind you you're running a high risk of being stopped by police.

"I'd have stopped them, that's for sure.

"The second unusual thing about this case is this murder happened in an affluent, low crime area," the veteran cop added. "With affluent areas, surveillance cameras are common meaning you're more likely to be spotted."

Boyce theorized the killer likely decided to remove the body from the basement of 72-24 Juno Street after learning Gaal's youngest son was upstairs and they didn't want him to find it.

The place where Gaal's remains were ultimately disposed of - in the middle of a sidewalk in a residential stretch of Forest Hills - suggests the killer may have been "spooked" by someone or something, such as an early morning dog walker or the sound of an approaching car, he said.

SLAM DUNK NEEDED

Ultimately, Boyce said he believes the investigation into Gaal's brutal killing will be a "forensic case."

He believes police will bid their time, lining up all of their evidence before moving in on any potential suspect.

"The case will have to be rock-solid as the District Attorney will want a smoking gun," he said. "And they'll likely need to have a motive figured out too.

"But perpetrators always make mistakes, and, as I always say, it's the police's responsibility to turn these mistakes into evidence."

It's currently unclear what forensic evidence police have so far gathered in the case.

Investigators spent more than two days inside Gaal's family home. The property remains an active crime scene.

However, one piece of physical - and potentially vital - piece of evidence known to have been recovered by cops is surveillance footage of Gaal's killer wheeling her body away from the home.

CHILLING FOOTAGE

"One thing investigators will be able to do from the video is identify whether the killer has an abnormal or unique gait," Boyce said, referring to the way somebody walks and moves.

"If they have a limp or anything like that, then they may be easily identifiable to police ... these distinctive features become more clear each time you watch it."

Boyce said he was involved in a case a few years ago in which a hooded gunman who shot someone dead during a botched robbery at a pizza shop was identified by his walk in a surveillance clip.

"There was footage of the shooter walking away ... You couldn't see his face but he had a distinctive limp," Boyce recounted.

"We put the clip out and received a call from a woman who said, 'that's my husband' ... turned out it was her husband. He'd severed a toe in a construction accident a few years earlier."

Surveillance footage of Gaal's killer wheeling her body away from the home may help unmask the culprit
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Surveillance footage of Gaal's killer wheeling her body away from the home may help unmask the culpritCredit: NYPD
Gaal is pictured with her husband and two children. Her youngest son was at home when she was murdered
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Gaal is pictured with her husband and two children. Her youngest son was at home when she was murderedCredit: Facebook

In the case of Gaal, Boyce said the suspect appears to take "long strides" and "seems panicked."

"That's over 100 pounds he's pulling behind him, yet he does it so quickly," he added.

"He [also] seems to be carrying a bag in front of him."

Another piece of potentially key evidence came in the form of a text message after Gaal's killer used her phone after the murder to message her husband.

"Your wife sent me to jail some years ago... I'm back," the text read.

The author of the message also threatened to kill the entire family if he contacted the police.

No suspects have been identified in the case. Gaal's youngest son was home, but investigators do not believe he had any involvement in the killing, according to reports.

READ MORE SUN STORIES

Read More on The US Sun

Gaal's husband has not yet returned a request for comment from The US Sun.

When reached by phone, friends of Gaal's said they were unable to speak with the press under instructions from the NYPD.

The mother-of-two was stabbed almost six times, suffering fatal blows to her neck
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The mother-of-two was stabbed almost six times, suffering fatal blows to her neckCredit: Facebook
Police will now be reviewing receipts, cellphone data, and surveillance footage to track her final movements
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Police will now be reviewing receipts, cellphone data, and surveillance footage to track her final movementsCredit: Facebook/Orsolya Gaal
Investigators spent more than two days inside Gaal's family home gathering evidence
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Investigators spent more than two days inside Gaal's family home gathering evidenceCredit: Splash
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