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HANDYMAN'S CONFESSION
David Bonola ‘admitted to murdering Orsolya Gaal in interrogation after affair claims’ as Facebook chats revealed
A HANDYMAN charged in the brutal stabbing death of a mom whose body was found inside a duffel bag reportedly confessed to the murder during an interrogation, NYPD sources told The US Sun.
David Bonola, 44, was charged on Thursday with murder, criminal tampering and criminal possession of a weapon in relation to the death of Orsolya Gaal, 51, who was found dead in Queens on Saturday.
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Bonola was taken into custody at NYPD's 112th precinct on Wednesday night, a police source said.
According to the source, Bonola confessed to the killing during an interrogation.
He allegedly told officers he'd been having an affair with Gaal and carried out the brutal stabbing during an argument.
A press information officer initially declined to comment on the claims when contacted by The US Sun.
Bonola, who lives in the Richmond Hill neighborhood of Queens, has no known prior criminal history.
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GUSHING POSTS
Posts to Gaal's Facebook page show Bonola interacting with the married mom, publicly gushing over his "love" for her.
In one comment beneath a photo from May 2020, Bonola told Gaal she had the "look of love" and in another called her the most beautiful woman in the world in Spanish.
Gaal was briefly reported missing by her husband just days later on May 29, 2020.
The circumstance surrounding the disappearance remain unclear, though Gaal returned home shortly afterward and the investigation was closed.
In a third post, from April 2019, Bonola wrote: "Love these streets and architecture! [sic] That landscape and the Giant Volcano. , and you [heart emoji]."
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During a press conference on Thursday morning, investigators confirmed Gaal and Bonola have been having an "intimate affair" on and off again for the last two years.
It's unclear specifically when and how the affair started, but law enforcement sources previously told The US Sun that Bonola once worked as a handyman for Gaal.
That account was confirmed by the NYPD on Thursday, who added Bonola was known to Gaal's family.
According to investigators, Bonola stopped by to see Gaal in the early hours of Saturday morning to discuss their relationship. They had briefly reunited in April but their tryst was "considered at an end", Deputy Chief Julie Morrill said.
During that conversation, police say Bonola and Gaal started arguing about "domestic things" when a knife was pulled and a violent struggle ensued.
BRUTAL KILLING
Gaal was murdered in the basement of her Forest Hills home in the early hours of Saturday morning after returning from a night out.
She went out to a show with friends at the Lincoln Center on Friday evening, before she was spotted drinking alone at a bar in Queens and leaving around 12.30am.
Witnesses told that Orsola appeared to be waiting for someone, but that person never showed.
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After returning home, she was repeatedly stabbed in the neck, torso, and arm, suffering a total of 58 stab wounds.
During Thursday's press conference, police described the attack as "ruthless" and "brutal."
Police recovered a knife at the scene that appeared to be from Gaal's home, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig told reporters.
Gaal's killer then stashed her body in a black Bauer hockey bag, reported to belong to one of her sons.
The suspect was then seen wheeling the blood-soaked duffel bag away from her home and through the local neighborhood at 4.30am.
A local resident walking their dog discovered the bag in the middle of a sidewalk four hours later, around half a mile from Gaal's home.
On the night of the murder, Gaal's husband received a message from her phone, which read: "Your wife sent me to jail some years ago… I'm back."
The author of the message also threatened to kill the entire family if he contacted the police.
Former Chief of Detectives for the NYPD, Bob Boyce, told The US Sun earlier this week that the text message may have been a "red herring" deployed by the killer to throw investigators off their trail.
Police on Thursday confirmed the text was indeed a ruse and that Bonola had admitted to sending the message himself.
'BLOOD-SOAKED BOOTS'
Throughout the investigation, police have suspected Gaal knew her killer, due to both the nature of her injuries - with the violence suggesting the attack was personal and fueled by rage - and the fact there were no signs of force entry inside the home.
A report by the NY Post said Bonola was linked to the crime by a pair of blood-soaked boots that were left in a trash can outside of Gaal's home.
A bloodied jacket believed to have been worn by him was also retrieved nearby.
Police say Bonola sought treatment for wounds to both of his hands on Saturday, hours after the death of Gaal.
They believe he was either let into the home by Gaal or entered with the use of a spare key.
The US Sun previously reported that three people of interest had initially been identified in the case after their numbers were found in Gaal's phone.
Her family has not yet spoken publicly to address the arrest of Bonola.
Gaal's husband Howard Klein was out of town touring prospective colleges with their eldest son at the time of her death.
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Their youngest son, 13, was believed to be upstairs in bed when his mother was killed.
He was temporarily detained by police after Gaal's body was found but released a short while later.
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More to follow...
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