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

[SuziQ]

When i read both “dismembered” and “fetal position” I took it as MOO steps were taken to make the body fit in the bag & maybe there was some dismemberment as part of that EG feet

The perp looks to be carrying something.....ick.

 

[epiphany]

The perp looks to be carrying something.....ick.

Yes, I think so too. That's why he's pulling the duffel bag with only one hand. Perhaps, the murder weapon and his own bloody clothing. There may have been men's clothing stored in the basement that he changed into.

 

[tmurphy1130]

<modsnip>Could be completely off course, but if this is all conjecture, it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility. Most things I've gathered from this point to this being an inside/domestic thing and not very well thought out. An angle worth exploring, but that's just my 2 cents.
I can also confirm that that block/path to the park is peppered with security cameras (private, municipal, and commercial). So unless this person covered their face the entire way, they're almost bound to have caught them in the act. If the NYPD has a positive id, they're probably not going to disseminate that information until the DA has time to build up the strongest case possible, and that takes a lot of subpoenas for phone records/ social media/banking records etc, interviews, and fact checking in a case like this. Even more so if it ends up the person is a minor.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Maybe it is a kid, but it's just not her kid. It looks like the oldest son has a girlfriend, or at least he did around Halloween. Could be completely off course, but if this is all conjecture, it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility. Most things I've gathered from this point to this being an inside/domestic thing and not very well thought out. An angle worth exploring, but that's just my 2 cents.
I can also confirm that that block/path to the park is peppered with security cameras (private, municipal, and commercial). So unless this person covered their face the entire way, they're almost bound to have caught them in the act. If the NYPD has a positive id, they're probably not going to disseminate that information until the DA has time to build up the strongest case possible, and that takes a lot of subpoenas for phone records/ social media/banking records etc, interviews, and fact checking in a case like this. Even more so if it ends up the person is a minor.

Welcome to WebSleuths!

 

[Strawberryjellyfishb]

Maybe the text message was a signal to the husband that the "job" was done. And also served as an alibi and a threat to show to police.

 

[Marg from Oz]

What a shambles the reporting is. The lady is dead. Found in the hockey bag. CCTV shows a smallish person pulling the bag. Blood trail from house. Son in house. Husband and son away.
That is all I can believe at the moment. If that hockey bag was stood upright the person pulling it is not much taller than the handle on the bag. MOO

 

[peel]

where is this info about this "man" that she went to a show with the guy that killed her?.....how do they know that its this "man"....they can not possibly know....unless he was caught on the web cam as he came into the house...which would mean the cops know who he is already and should have him in custody....

but I think the cops are releasing select info/disinfo.....to throw off the true killer....there was a tv report about this murder a couple of days ago and they interviewed a neighbor and one neighbor had a young man behind her, looking a bit sheepish......it very well could be a young neighbor hood guy...

by all accounts the family was a good family and the woman was nice and pleasant.....

to expand on the possibility of the 13 yro doing this, if they saw him leaving with the duffle bag he must have come back...so he MUST be on that same web cam...

 

[tmurphy1130]

The whole situation is absolutely terrible from any way you look at it. While I'm usually inclined to agree with the standard "the husband did it" theory, there are too many things that point away from that direction for me in this case.
1) this is new york. While people put whatever life they want on social media, i can say with a decent level of certainty these people were quite comfortable. Someone who could afford to live in the area they do, travel frequently, and send their kids to private school would not play fast and loose if they wanted to hire a hit man. Whatever the reason why you would want to have your spouse murdered (infidelity, money, custody battle, general insanity, etc) I'm sure they would at least be able to afford someone with a car and a ski mask.
2) while it seems pretty traumatic that the 13 year old was removed in handcuffs, there was obvious cause for suspicion right off the bat and until pd could verify who he was, he needed to be detained on that alone. They needed to clear the house to make sure no one else was in there, too. There was a whole scene with police who attempted to gain entry by banging on the door/ringing the bell before they took the door. It's a Saturday morning in a quiet neighborhood and unless you have on some serious noise cancelling headphones or are hearing impaired, you will hear them. The neighbors did. The police were also gaining entry to make sure that he wasnt hurt on the other end of the trail of blood that literally lead them to the house. Which leads me to my next point.
3) the doors were locked. The police will try every door before forcing entry. They also have said they have no reason to believe the son left. What that leads me to conclude is that the suspect who left with the bag either already had their own key or knew of another way of entering and took the victims keys to lock the door. This person also did not return. So while it doesnt rule out the son (as awful is that is) as an accomplice/accessory or even the perpetrator, it does bring up some doubt.
I'm leaning towards 2 theories: it was a kid. Possibly the son who then called a friend to help him, possibly someone else altogether. The other is that maybe she had a stalker or ex who knew her home well enough that they could gain entry but was too unhinged to be able to cover their own tracks in a "logical" manner. It's also rare for a stranger to kill someone in such an off the charts brutal way, so whoever it was more than likely knew her well to be able to do that. The whole very lifetime movie thriller text message thing seems very forced/desperate, but I'm doubting the husband had a hand in this. It wouldve been neater.

 

[TexLil]

Via Twitter from @KatieCorradoTV

Investigators have been at Orsolya Gaal’s Forest Hills home 24/7 since her murder. The house remains taped off and a Crime Scene Unit van is currently parked outside. @PIX11News https://t.co/fPVLDBaVDp

 

[Mango-tango]

On the question of ‘why not dispose of the body by car’ … that would mean contaminating the car.
Very strange to move the body

 

[indicolite22]

If the perp made it known to the family that they killed her, why did they take her body out of the house?

 

[taylorss]

Reporting yesterday was the 13-yo son had been taken in for questioning from the scene then released to his father’s custody. I wonder how that’s going….

 

[tmurphy1130]

Because a kid or someone who was completely unhinged and did something out of rage would panic. People do some crazy nonsensical stuff when faced with these kind of situations. You do something impulsively then you realize what youve done and you try to do damage control but youre not thinking clearly. This may not have have been premeditated.
Ive worked in emergency services 11 years and have seen the aftermath and the highly questionable choices people make after doing something impulsive. Its not always the sanest option.

 

[tmurphy1130]

Reporting yesterday was the 13-yo son had been taken in for questioning from the scene then released to his father’s custody. I wonder how that’s going….

They technically cant detain a kid for questioning without a gardian unless they are caught actively committing a crime. In a situation like that they wouldve taken anyone else they found in the house in to get a story too. He just happened to be the only one home. And its not like he came down and answered the door when 30 cop cars were outside, so i'd say it seemed a bit suspicious. Maybe he was scared but even still. Its weird.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Maybe the son heard something happening and was too scared to open the door.
Maybe his mother told him to hide ?

 

[taylorss]

They technically cant detain a kid for questioning without a gardian unless they are caught actively committing a crime. In a situation like that they wouldve taken anyone else they found in the house in to get a story too. He just happened to be the only one home. And its not like he came down and answered the door when 30 cop cars were outside, so i'd say it seemed a bit suspicious. Maybe he was scared but even still. Its weird.

Good points, thanks. I hadn’t known there was a big LE scene to get into the house. It does seem odd that was necessary with the kid at home.

Mostly I was wondering / speculating how things are going in the now-reunited family of the father HK & two sons. Media yesterday described HK in the immediate aftermath expressing relief & gratitude the 13-yo (LK, I think?) was unhurt.

i wonder where they’re all staying while the house is an active CS, what sort of discussions are happening. And if HK is still an active POI, or if LE is now hoping HK can help solve it, and where HK stands on any such thinking…. JMO

 

[tmurphy1130]

Maybe the son heard something happening and was too scared to open the door.
Maybe his mother told him to hide ?

Totally feasable. But I think if she had told him to hide, she probably would have told him to go in a closet and call for help. When they finally made contact with him, he probably wouldve said my mom needs help, no?

 

[tmurphy1130]

Good points, thanks. I hadn’t known there was a big LE scene to get into the house. It does seem odd that was necessary with the kid at home.

Mostly I was wondering / speculating how things are going in the now-reunited family of the father HK & two sons. Media yesterday described HK in the immediate aftermath expressing relief & gratitude the 13-yo (LK, I think?) was unhurt.

i wonder where they’re all staying while the house is an active CS, what sort of discussions are happening. And if HK is still an active POI, or if LE is now hoping HK can help solve it, and where HK stands on any such thinking…. JMO

I think the massive response was because of how they found her and tracked it back. They almost certainly had no idea what they couldve been walking into in that house.
As for where they're staying, they would usually put them up somewhere safe, especially if there is a possibility this was a targeted attack with a death threat towards the rest of the family.

 

[taylorss]

Maybe the son heard something happening and was too scared to open the door.
Maybe his mother told him to hide ?

The mother OG was last spotted outside in her backyard before midnight (seems kinda odd moo, was she lured out there? but depends on her personal habits), the figure dragging the hockey bag was captured around 4:30a & it looks like LE had to force entry around 8:30a …

are you thinking OG told 13-yo to hide when the killer arrived, sometime between midnight-4a & he was still hiding at 8-9a? Could be, I guess, esp if he retreated into an attic or something.

But my impression MOO was he hadn’t known anything had happened … per earlier reporting, which has been a mess so who knows, he told LE his mother lived in the home but he didn’t know where she presently was.

 

[leopink74]

If the text message came from her phone to HK, how did the perp access her phone - don’t most phones have a security code ? Unless it was facial or finger print recognition and they used her body….

It is all very odd - I truly think it is unlikely that she let someone into the house while her 13 year old son was upstairs - the house does not look like an enormous mansion where the perp could be certain the son would not hear anything…. And how did the perp find the bag ? I imagine they did not bring it with them - so how did they get it ?

I am 100% agreeing that if it was the son, he would be on camera returning to the house after dumping the bag…. I cannot see the son dismembering the body though - that is just beyond horrific….