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The man accused of stabbing Queens mom Orsolya Gaal nearly 60 times, stuffing her body into a hockey duffel bag and then dragging it more than a half-mile was remanded to Department of Corrections custody and placed on suicide watch by a judge after his first court appearance in New York City late Thursday night.
David Bonola, 44, is charged with murder, criminal tampering and criminal possession of a weapon. His defense did not enter a plea, but requested medical attention and that he be placed on suicide watch, which the judge granted.
ORSOLYA GAAL MURDER: WHO IS HANDYMAN DAVID BONOLA?
Judge Anthony Battisti ruled that because of Bonola’s alleged confession to police, as well as the severity of the charges, no bail conditions would be set. An interpreter had to translate the hearing for Bonola, who is a Queens transplant from Mexico.
Bonola 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.
He allegedly confessed to parts of the gruesome crime and made further incriminating statements during interviews with NYPD investigators late Wednesday.
Police 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, when he dragged the bag about seven-tenths of a mile from her Juno Street home and dumped it.
Left: This image shows Queens murder suspect David Bonola, obtained by Fox News Digital from a prior arrest that is now sealed. Right: Murder victim Orsolya Gaal
(Facebook: Orsolya Gaal)
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.”
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 and later released. Her 53-year-old husband, Howard Klein, was with their other son on the West Coast at the time.
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. Police say she either let Bonola into the home or he used a spare key that was hidden in the barbeque about 10 to 20 minutes later, police said.
SLAIN NYC MOM ORSOLYA GAAL’S HOME HAD SEPARATE BASEMENT ENTRANCE, FAMILY ELECTRICIAN SAYS
Police presence at Orsolya Gaal’s home in Queens after her body was found in a duffel bag on Saturday.
(Fox News Digital)
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.”
Police said the murder weapon was then left behind at the crime scene, and they developed leads that pointed them to a location “where boots, a T-shirt and bloody bandages were discovered.” Police said Bonola was treated for hand wounds at an area hospital.
Surveillance footage from early that morning showed a figure pulling what appears to be a hockey bag along the sidewalk, sources confirmed.
ORSOLYA GAAL MURDER: HANDYMAN DAVID BONOLA HAD ‘INTIMATE’ RELATIONSHIP WITH SLAIN WOMAN, NYPD SAYS
Investigators said the pair had been off and on, but had reunited in the month of April. At the time of Gaal’s death, their relationship had been considered “at an end,” police said. Their relationship went on for about two years, cops said.
Police allege that Bonola confessed to sending 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.
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Police also said the knife used in the crime was “consistent with knives that are in the home.”
Bonola is due back in court April 26th. If convicted of Gaal’s murder, he faces up to 25 years-to-life in prison.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
