New York City police have charged a man with the murder of Orsolya Gaal, whose body was found in a duffle bag in a Queens area near her home on Saturday.
David Bonola, 44, who police said had an "affair" with the married mother of two, was charged with murder, criminal tampering, and criminal possession of a weapon, the New York Police Department said on Thursday.
Police said that Mr Bonola was taken into custody after he voluntarily walked into New York’s 112 precinct where he “made incriminating statements”.
Gaal’s body had been stuffed into the bag and dragged to a nearby area on Saturday morning, police said.
A post mortem examination revealed that she had been stabbed nearly 60 times to the neck and throat.
On Friday night, April 15, Gaal attended a show at the Lincoln Centre with friends and then took a train back to her neighbourhood in Forest Hills at 11.20pm.
She stopped at “a local establishment for a short while before returning home” at 12.20am, NYPD Chief Det James Essig said.
Police estimate that Mr Bonola, who had access to the home, arrived at the residence between 12.30 and 12.40am.
Mr Essig confirmed that Gaal and her accused killer had been involved in an “affair” while he was in her employment.
“We believe the relationship Mr Bonola had with our victim was an intimate-type relationship,” he said.
Mr Bonola was either let in by Gaal or used a key hidden outside in a barbeque, police said. The two then had what police say was a heated argument in the home’s 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,” Mr Essig said.
Police say that Mr Bonola then placed Gaal’s body into a duffle bag, dragged it through the streets of Forest Hills and then disposed of it under the Jackie Robinson Parkway at Metropolitan Avenue.
Home security video shows a man dragging a duffle bag down Gaal’s street, leaving a bloody trail that led to its discovery.
A walker saw the bag at 7.50am on Saturday, when his two dogs picked up the scent.
Police believe a knife recovered at the crime scene was used in the killing, and they also found a bloodied jacket and boots believed to be worn by the suspect.
NYPD’s investigation has further revealed that on Saturday, Mr Bonola “received treatment for wounds to both hands at an area hospital”.
