April 18, 2022 By Michael Dorgan
Police are still trying to piece together how a woman was fatally stabbed and stuffed in a bag that was left on the side of a road in Forest Hills Saturday morning.
The body of Orsolya Gaal, 51, was found by police crammed into a large duffel bag and discarded on Metropolitan Avenue near the Jackie Robinson Parkway overpass at around 8:10 a.m., according to police. Cops came across the gruesome discovery after a resident called 911 having found the bag while taking his dogs on a walk.
As of Monday afternoon, no arrests have been made in the case while the suspect remains at large.
Gaal, who was married with two teenage boys, was brutally stabbed nearly 60 times inside her home on Juno Street late Friday night or early Saturday, according to multiple reports. Her body was then jammed into a bag and dumped on a sidewalk less than half a mile away.
Puncture wounds were found on Gaal’s carotid artery and trachea, the news reports say, citing sources with knowledge of her autopsy. She also had knife wounds on her fingers and on the palms of her hands. It did not immediately appear that Gaal suffered any sexual trauma, according to the reports.
Police said there was a blood trail that led from her 72-24 Juno St. house to where the bag was found. CCTV footage captured a mysterious figure lugging the bag with Gaal’s body down a street at around 4:30 a.m., according to police.
When investigators got to the house on Saturday, Gaal’s 13-year-old son was inside. He was taken into custody and interviewed but later released, police said.
Police do not believe the boy had left the house overnight, the New York Post reported, during which time his mother was killed and her body moved. Her son said he did not know where his mother was when quizzed by cops, the publication reported.
The slain mom, who is originally from Hungary, had been out socializing and returned home before midnight. At some point while out, she met up with a man whom she was familiar with, PIX11 reported. The man is believed to have played a role in her murder, according to the news outlet.
Gaal, who was a stay-at-home mother, was married to Howard Klein and the couple had two sons—the older of which is 17. Klein and the 17-year-old were in Portland on a college hunt at the time of the murder, according to PIX11.
Gaal’s husband allegedly received a chilling text message from the killer via his wife’s phone that read: “Your whole family is next.” It is unclear what time the text message was sent.
The suspect allegedly accused Gaal of sending him to jail years ago and threatened to kill the entire family if he called the police.
Klein has reportedly flown back from Portland and told the New York Post Saturday that his family is in danger.
“[My son] Leo is safe. Thank God [my son] is safe,” he said of his younger child, before adding that his family’s “lives are at stake.”
Klein did not answer when asked about his younger son being questioned by police, the publication reported.
“There are concerns about our safety,” Klein said. “Our lives are at risk.”
He did not elaborate on the alleged threats.