A man charged with stabbing a Queens woman to death and hiding her body in a duffel bag will be sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter, prosecutors said Wednesday. 

David Bonola, 44, of South Richmond Hill, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter Wednesday morning in connection with 51-year-old Orsolya Gaal’s death, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a press release. 

Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise plans to sentence Bonola to 25 years in prison, as well as five years of post-release supervision, Katz said in the release. 


What You Need To Know

  • A man charged with stabbing a Queens woman to death and hiding her body in a duffel bag will be sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter, prosecutors say

  • David Bonola pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree manslaughter Wednesday morning in connection with 51-year-old Orsolya Gaal’s death, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said

  • Bonola faced charges including second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse before he agreed to plead guilty

Bonola faced charges including second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse before he agreed to plead guilty. 

“This heinous killing devastated an entire family, left two boys without a mother, and horrified the surrounding community,” Katz said in a statement. “In pleading guilty, the defendant has accepted responsibility and is being held fully accountable for his criminal actions.” 

Police arrested Bonola on April 20, less than a week after a passerby discovered a duffel bag containing Gaal’s body at a park near her Forest Hills home. 

Prosecutors said Bonola slashed Gaal’s throat and stabbed her more than 50 times after the two got into an argument in her basement on April 16. 

Bonola, a handyman whom prosecutors said had been hired by Gaal’s family several times, had been having an “off and on” relationship with Gaal for around two years before he attacked her, police said

After he stabbed Gaal, Bonola hid her body in a duffel bag that belonged to one of her sons and wheeled it to the park, where he left it, prosecutors said. 

Bonola’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to request for comment Wednesday.