NY - Orsolya Gaal, 51, body found in duffel bag, Queens, Apr 2022

[tlcya]

Investigators believe Gaal’s killer entered the home and killed her on the first floor, and then took her to the basement, the sources said.

The suspect stabbed Gaal 60 times in the neck, torso and left arm before stuffing her in a black Bauer hockey duffle bag similar to one used by one of her kids — and dragging it outside, less than a half-mile from the home, according to authorities.
Murdered Queens mom Orsolya Gaal sat alone at local bar before attack

 

[Normancita]

The basement was likely soundproof.

<modsnip>

 

[kaen]

I'm curious how a woman from Queen's gets to the Lincoln Center in the city. Does she take a cab, take the subway, ride with friends? (Parking must be a bear. I rarely drove in the city)

And where would she stop for a drink alone? A small bar near her home, a bar in the City?

How do Queen's people, or in this case, a nicely dressed attractive lady get into the city in the evening and how do they get back home? Anyone know?

The 15th was a holiday (Good Friday and Passover) traffic would have been incredibly light as schools and banks, etc were closed. When I go to events at places like Lincoln Center with friends more often than not we drive and park in a lot. There are many of them around that area. She traveled a lot and seems to have led a fairly comfortable life financially so I don't really see her taking the subway back and forth especially if she was not close to a line that would go fairly directly. If she was with 3 friends the cost to park would have been what the public transportation might have been.

In doing a google search for transportation options it is almost the same amount of time on a walk to subway route and a drive a car directly route. She could have taken the LIRR as well which would have taken her to Penn Station and a quick jaunt up to Lincoln Center via cab/ride service or subway.

The bar she went to has not been disclosed. It is possible that it is a bar in the Austin Street area near the train station. There are a couple that seem fairly nice.

 

[SuziQ]

About getting the body up the stairs. I have drug heavy wheeled suitcases up stairs easily. You put the wheels against the riser and pull the suitcase up a step at a time walking backwards. This also works with a moving dolly. Moo.

 

[MsLGinNC]

I’m European and I heard people saying “some years ago” a lot when speaking english for example “ some years ago I went to Spain “. English is not my native language I didn’t know that it’s a strange thing to say.

I am not a native English speaker, and I didn't realize using a phrase like this might "out" me as such. I don't have an accent and I'm fully bilingual, but the syntax and some idioms learned in childhood conveyed and people sometimes say "well, aren't you fancy!" in a mocking way when I use what they consider dated expressions. I think it would reflect reading a lot, but I guess that's my bias?

 

[TexLil]

So now it seems she was killed on the first floor and then moved to the basement. Why move her body to the basement after she was killed? This case is getting more and more confusing.

Murdered Queens mom Orsolya Gaal sat alone at local bar before attack: sources - NY Post (April 19, 10:03AM)
<snipped & BBM>
Upon returning to Queens, Gaal sat alone in a local bar – as if waiting for someone – before returning to her Juno Street home, according to the sources.

Investigators believe Gaal’s killer entered the home and killed her on the first floor, and then took her to the basement, the sources said.

[...]

By Tuesday morning, cops had not made any arrests in Gaal’s slaying, or identified any suspects.

MOO possible scenario: she's killed on first floor. Killer moves body to basement to hide her. Once there, killer changes plan using hockey bag. MOO

 

[Sunny Day]

IMO the text message is designed to throw people off, regardless of who the perp ends up being. If you've just committed a sloppy murder, why announce who you are? Why give LE any clues that would invariably lead to you, with such specific wording?
If the perp wanted to intimidate, they could have simply said 'Your family is next" without the preceding stuff. I doubt she has many past enemies who would want to harm her (she seems like a nice, average, lady) so I can't imagine it would be hard to narrow down who could have sent such a text without being directly incriminating. IMO I only see these kind of wordy letters left at cartel killings, where the perps are hidden being anonymity and know that announcing their cartel affiliation won't get them caught. I think this text was entirely done to lead a wild goose chase, or point LE towards an uninvolved person in OG's life, to distract from others.
(I agree w/ a previous poster who said it reminded them of the JonBenet letter - excess details sounding like a bad crime thriller)

I thought of the JonBenet letter too. The "Don't Try to Grow a Brain" movie comment.

 

[Elley Mae]

“Your whole family is next”

Inside the seemingly perfect life of slain Queens mom Orsolya Gaal

…

So this is directed to her husband? Not her.

 

[Lusitana]

So now it seems she was killed on the first floor and then moved to the basement. Why move her body to the basement after she was killed? This case is getting more and more confusing.

Murdered Queens mom Orsolya Gaal sat alone at local bar before attack: sources - NY Post (April 19, 10:03AM)
<snipped & BBM>
Upon returning to Queens, Gaal sat alone in a local bar – as if waiting for someone – before returning to her Juno Street home, according to the sources.

Investigators believe Gaal’s killer entered the home and killed her on the first floor, and then took her to the basement, the sources said.

[...]

By Tuesday morning, cops had not made any arrests in Gaal’s slaying, or identified any suspects.

Well, that’s new.

 

[Pseudonymph]

1) I don't think it's weird that the son heard nothing. First, if she was intentionally meeting someone, she would have been quiet. Second, noise cancelling airpods or headphones would make anything else impossible to hear. Third, if he was upstairs gaming with friends, he would have been so wrapped up in that that he wouldn't hear a thing. Fourth, she was mostly stabbed in the throat. One stab (never mind 60) through the trachea and she wouldn't have been able to make a sound.

2) Someone said that it looks like the person dragging the suitcase was holding a laptop. That caught my attention because my son's friends always brought their laptops when they came over to play video games.

3) I think the killer dumped the suitcase when they realized they were on a busy street. Maybe a car passed by. Moving the body makes sense to me psychologically for a million reasons.

4) This was definitely an unplanned, undisciplined, rage-filled murder by someone who has never done this before. My theory is it is someone known to the family.

 

[taylorss]

The 15th was a holiday (Good Friday and Passover) traffic would have been incredibly light as schools and banks, etc were closed. When I go to events at places like Lincoln Center with friends more often than not we drive and park in a lot. There are many of them around that area. She traveled a lot and seems to have led a fairly comfortable life financially so I don't really see her taking the subway back and forth especially if she was not close to a line that would go fairly directly. If she was with 3 friends the cost to park would have been what the public transportation might have been.

In doing a google search for transportation options it is almost the same amount of time on a walk to subway route and a drive a car directly route. She could have taken the LIRR as well which would have taken her to Penn Station and a quick jaunt up to Lincoln Center via cab/ride service or subway.

The bar she went to has not been disclosed. It is possible that it is a bar in the Austin Street area near the train station. There are a couple that seem fairly nice.

Yeah there are lots of small, nice wine bars & restaurants with bars around there - on Austin St & also on Metropolitan Ave, which is even closer to her house

 

[Vaderman]

I've had a completely different initial take on the perpetrator and the case.

I feel like the killer wasn't necessarily sloppy...they just reached the breaking point. With the extremely personal manner of death, I don't think they care about getting away with it. They're just...done.

Removing her from her home and then leaving her randomly? The ultimate, final disrespect to her. Discarded as though she's garbage.

Just my initial thoughts. I do find it odd that the police don't seem to be treating this as though the public is in danger.

 

[Elley Mae]

Yeah there are lots of small, nice wine bars & restaurants with bars around there - on Austin St & also on Metropolitan Ave, which is even closer to her house

Which means she could have walked home from the bar after having a nitecap.

 

[Spartygirl]

Who is the source of information that she went on a date the evening before? Wasn't she out with friends? Also, if she returned home just before midnight, she likely wasn't followed home, or the murder would have happened hours earlier.

True!!
We have read both she was out with friends and another article saying she was on a "date" so not sure.
According to the article, the "date" is the suspect.

If someone wanted to kill her, IMO, they would have before she got home, not followed her home, especially if they think the whole family is there...they would have to had known her husband and son were gone. A random follower set out to kill her would not know this unless he saw something on hubby's twitter and was following his twitter.

But over 60 Stab wounds !!!! YIKES !!!

Up close and personal, IMO with a lot of anger.

Also- do we know the text to husband came from HER phone??
I haven't seen that mentioned.
Only that he received a text supposedly from the killer, but does not say it came FROM HER phone.

 

[MsLGinNC]

Well, that’s new.

Now it remains to see if calling what she was on "a date" was a misinterpretation on the part of the press or a Freudian slip of the son's. Because that was what was originally mentioned: she was on a date with a man, no?

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Some thoughts based on the current information we have (for the purposes of this post I am going to assume that the information we have is accurate, which it very well might not be):

Who was she waiting for while in the bar? Why did they not show up?

This part is strange to me. She went to a bar and waited there alone for around 40 minutes, presumably to meet up with someone. If was planning on meeting someone at a certain time and they weren't already there when I arrived, I would text/call them. I likely wouldn't stick around for 40 minutes without getting some assurance that they were in fact on their way (i.e., a text saying something along the lines of "oh, my train was delayed so I am going to be a few minutes late).

Maybe it is just a coincidence (and it very well might be), but I find it a bit weird that she was ghosted by the person she was supposed to meet up with right before she was murdered. This is just speculation, so take it with a grain of salt, but perhaps something (or someone) was going on in the house at the time and the meet-up at the bar was a ruse to keep her out of the house, and the person she was supposed to meet never planned on showing up? Maybe she walked in on something and was killed as a result?

Why did the killer move her to the basement only to take her upstairs again and take her body out of the house?

Allegedly she was killed on the first floor of the house, which makes me think she happened to walk in on something/someone when she returned home. But if there is already blood all over the first floor (as I'm assuming would be the case given the brutality of the attack), why move her to the basement? Why not just leave her body on the first floor?

Perhaps the killer moved the body to the basement with the intention of leaving it down there but then decided against it for whatever reason? The moving of the body to the basement coupled with the eventual removal of the body from the house makes no logical sense, which leads me to believe there is a level of immaturity to the killer. The threatening text being sent after the body was moved makes it seem like an afterthought, as if to make a disorganized, passionate murder appear cold and calculated.

 

[Bluedaisy100]

This is speculation, but what if the killer was in touch with OG and set up a meeting at a bar? When she's at the bar he goes to her home and lies in wait for her. He holds her at knifepoint and forces her to be quiet and open the door. After which he attacks her and drags her body to the basement. This scenario could explain how someone could get in without a key and why the attack took place inside the door. JOM

 

[EyeCandy]

It could be someone she sent to jail who is on a rampage, mentally unwell and plans on ending their own life when they are done.

Could be someone that she indirectly sent to jail. Someone she fired, romantically rejected, gave bad financial advice that led to this persons downward spiral and they blame her for it.

Or it's someone close enough to her that is not the person she sent to jail, but knows about it, and is trying to throw the police off.

what was her occupation ... I can't find anything on what she did for a living

 

[Mauig’ma]

S

what was her occupation ... I can't find anything on what she did for a living

h was a stay at home mom. Sorry can’t find the link so I’ll say imo

 

[MrsWatson]

I think it's a huge bit of poetic license to assume that since she was having a drink at a bar near her home, alone, she was assumed to be meeting someone. Maybe she just wanted a quiet drink in a nice cocktail lounge.