NY - Orsolya Gaal, 51, body found in duffel bag, Queens, Apr 2022 #2 *Arrest*

[Normancita]

Potential suspects (plural)! NBC4 NYC

Queens Duffel Bag Murder: Orsolya Gaal Knew Attacker, Multiple Possible Suspects Eyed, Sources Say – NBC New York

 

[Arkay]

It was Passover so I don’t understand the husband and son going to visit colleges instead of staying home with family. It was also Easter, so would colleges have staff to show them around? I assume they didn’t fly there to only look at buildings!

a few people have brought that up, is that a big family holiday? My family never did anything special and most people I know don’t really do much either. It isn’t surprising to me at all that the family wasn’t together for it I guess.

In my family, we've always gotten all the family together and had a Passover Seder both nights. Most of the people I know do the same, even if they're not ultra-religious. Even if they don't do the whole Seder, or not both nights, and just have a big dinner. We have done this through all the generations of my family, and only Covid has kept many of us apart these last three Passovers.

However, besides not every family doing the same, it's true that since the kids had no school this week, and college deadlines are near, pragmatism might have dictated that the father and eldest son had to be away this holiday.

<modsnip - no link from approved source/sleuthing family that isn't POI>

Just my feeling and certainly I can be very mistaken.

Waiting, waiting, waiting for an arrest.

 

[KrisCo16]

I’m curious about the strategy with the $3,500 reward. I feel like the police have pretty good intel on who may have done this, and nothing else suggests they need the public’s help, so why post the reward at all? Is there an angle here, or is it just SOP?

 

[JosieMae]

From the article above...

Police found her body in a duffel bag at 8.11am on Saturday less than half a mile from the property. They followed a trail of blood back to the house. No suspects have been named and the NYPD is refusing to answer questions about the ongoing investigation into her death.

But sources cited by the Post on Tuesday said detectives were focusing on a man who Gaal had an affair with recently.

The romance is said to have ended but it's unclear who broke it off. The man, according to the Post, has knowledge of the family home and would not have needed to break in.

So we have The DailyMail citing an unnamed source who talked to the NYPost. So many reputable sources, it must be true! Does this sound like the telephone game we played when we were kids? No wonder we can't get any verifiable information. That info may well be true, but I will take it at face value for now. JMO

Yes - it does sound like the old telephone game. Every one of these sources is questionable, so I'll wait for LE's official statement. All else is speculation and hearsay.

 

[PingTheRouter]

I’m curious about the strategy with the $3,500 reward. I feel like the police have pretty good intel on who may have done this, and nothing else suggests they need the public’s help, so why post the reward at all? Is there an angle here, or is it just SOP?

seems odd to offer such a tiny reward, you'd think if they were desperate for information it would start at 10k.. 50k.. 100k?

 

[wary]

I imagine that 1240 am is the time of death assigned by the coroner. Most likely determined by things like core body temperature, pooling of blood and rigor mortis or lack there of.

I think it’d be very unwise of LE to state a time of death so precisely, based on those things. They’d be likely to discourage important information by being too precise, inaccurately precise.

I think that the theory of a Fitbit type device showing when her heart stopped is more plausible.

MOO

 

[SteveP]

If I was being attacked by someone I let into my home knowing that my child was upstairs and possibly in danger… would I scream?

Unless she was specifically threatened not to scream before it started, I'm not sure she would have time to make a conscious decision whether or not to scream if she was being attacked with a knife. JMO

 

[Cutie]

2) the quote from the husband in the media (to the effect of “we all fear for our safety”) didn’t sit right with me. Unless the quote was condensed, no sadness for the sudden loss of your wife/childrens mother? I found that odd. My family would be devastated (at least I like to think).

this one feels oddly close to home given the circumstances.

***

Normally this wouldn’t make me too suspicious, because people say and do weird things when they are shocked/grieving, but I can think of a specific murder case where the spouse whose family (allegedly) hired the hit-people was very quick to say she “feared for [her]?own safety and the safety of [her] sons.” (Which was total BS.)

Are we allowed to refer to other cases here? Anyway.

I personally don’t think that this one was a hit, but that is an interesting parallel.

 

[KrisCo16]

seems odd to offer such a tiny reward, you'd think if they were desperate for information it would start at 10k.. 50k.. 100k?

Exactly!

 

[gcplayer19]

I will admit to maybe first reactive scream but then motherly instincts take over… JMO

 

[Awakening]

If this was a hired hit, then they've hired an inexperienced teenager IMO.

Possibly 2 people involved. One seen removing the body, the other staying behind to clean up.

 

[peel]

there are no big time colleges in Portland....Portland State, University of Portland, Reed college and several smaller colleges just outside of town....U of Portland is a Catholic college so I doubt they would be open and definately closed for the Easter Weekend unless the father and son came earlier in the

Exactly!

<modsnip>

 

[Waverider]

I’m curious about the strategy with the $3,500 reward. I feel like the police have pretty good intel on who may have done this, and nothing else suggests they need the public’s help, so why post the reward at all? Is there an angle here, or is it just SOP?

I would say that they want to incentivise people enough to report tiny pieces of information that they might not otherwise be bothered to report, but not enough to get a whole load of irrelevant info / hoax reports.

 

[Awakening]

If I was being attacked by someone I let into my home knowing that my child was upstairs and possibly in danger… would I scream?

I've seen on true crime shows where women under attack have elected not to scream for fear of their child coming out.

I've also seen where the attacker has threatened the woman to be quiet or the kids next.

And in one case (can't remember the name but it was in the US) a woman had her throat slit and couldn't scream or talk and was subsequently stabbed multiple times but survived.

 

[TGIRecovered]

I’m curious about the strategy with the $3,500 reward. I feel like the police have pretty good intel on who may have done this, and nothing else suggests they need the public’s help, so why post the reward at all? Is there an angle here, or is it just SOP?

Maybe it’s a mind game. Maybe they believe the killer is in the neighborhood and they want person to see

seems odd to offer such a tiny reward, you'd think if they were desperate for information it would start at 10k.. 50k.. 100k?

I agree Ping. $3500 won’t get you very far in the big city. The family seems to have plenty of money. Even families of modest means have pitched in to increase a reward in past cases.

I’m sure that the reward posters would have a psychological effect on the killer if he is still in the area. But I don’t think he is. I don’t know who it is but I think the police do and, they would have him by now if he wasn’t hiding out. Maybe.

 

[NatKingCola]

Does it overly complicate matters if DNA/biological evidence is a mixture of individuals and/or family members who are known to reside in a home? What if a perp poured bleach from a laundry room all over a scene? Would that nullify a quick meaningful analysis? I'm hoping perhaps an eagerly disposed of body, protected from the elements, could be a saving grace, unless finding that so prominently-placed was somehow intentional (seems like a stretch) and of course it would be expected to contain DNA from those with some form of access (teammates, perhaps used or borrowed gear, etc.). Mostly questions, rarely answers...always speculation.

 

[TGIRecovered]

If I was being attacked by someone I let into my home knowing that my child was upstairs and possibly in danger… would I scream?

There are pros and cons. When my girls were younger, my plan was to scream for them to get out of the house. They knew to run to the neighbors for help. I would have screamed like a crazy woman and fought like a rabid bobcat. (At least, that was the plan.)

I totally understand why some people would elect to be quiet, not wanting a child to be drawn closer to danger.

What would you do, gcplayer?

 

[Waverider]

Maybe it’s a mind game. Maybe they believe the killer is in the neighborhood and they want person to see


I agree Ping. $3500 won’t get you very far in the big city. The family seems to have plenty of money. Even families of modest means have pitched in to increase a reward in past cases.

I’m sure that the reward posters would have a psychological effect on the killer if he is still in the area. But I don’t think he is. I don’t know who it is but I think the police do and, they would have him by now if he wasn’t hiding out. Maybe.

Here’s an interesting article on why police post rewards for info: ‘You just don’t know who’s going to come forward’: why do police offer rewards? | Australian police and policing | The Guardian

“Dr Goldsworthy says people like to imagine others would always come forward, but that was “probably utopian”. “Some people aren’t that interested in what happens to other people until there’s a benefit for them,” he says.

Rewards can also be not just a carrot for witnesses, but part and parcel of the policing operation. A classic example, Dr Goldsworthy says, is offering a reward as detectives are tapping the phone of a prime suspect, watching carefully for an incriminating reaction.”

Food for thought..

 

[mooliz]

Maybe. I’ve wondered about that too. Would she board the dog? She seemed very attached like she’d get a dog friendly house in MI, but I have no idea.

Looking at the dog, I'd say he's too large to travel in cabin in a carrier (I travel with my rescue dog frequently--chose her partly because she weighs under 14 lbs and can travel in cabin). Doubt she'd travel with him in the baggage compartment--particularly for a short trip. I'm hoping he's boarding somewhere.

 

[gcplayer19]

There are pros and cons. When my girls were younger, my plan was to scream for them to get out of the house. They knew to run to the neighbors for help. I would have screamed like a crazy woman and fought like a rabid bobcat. (At least, that was the plan.)

I totally understand why some people would elect to be quiet, not wanting a child to be drawn closer to danger.

What would you do, gcplayer?

I only have one beautiful daughter and she would run to me if she heard me scream… you know my answer