New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is in a shockingly tight race with Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, who has been hammering the Democrat for being soft on crime. It's an issue that resonates with residents, particularly in New York City, who are increasingly concerned about out-of-control crime. In making his case, Zeldin experienced an attempted assault during a campaign event while his Long Island home became part of a crime scene when two teens were shot outside his residence in a gang-related incident.
But Zeldin's message has been elevated by one horrific incident after the next.
This week, for instance, Mexican national David Bonola, who had been working as a handyman in New York City, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter in the first degree for the brutal slaying of Orsolya Gaal, a mother of two with whom he had been having an on-and-off affair for two years.
Bonola is accused of slashing the woman's throat and stabbing her more than 50 times at her upscale Queens home before dismembering her body and stuffing it into her son's hockey bag, which he wheeled to a nearby park. Her 13-year-old son was upstairs sleeping at the time of the attack while her husband and 17-year-old son were out of town. He later received a threatening text message from Bonola stating, "Your whole family is next."
Bonola, who has been in the U.S. illegally for more than two decades, admitted to the killing on Wednesday as part of his plea deal and now faces 25 years in prison in addition to five years probation, after which he will be subject to deportation.
The relative leniency of the sentence for the grisly crime is raising eyebrows.
JUST IN: David Bonola, handyman who butchered NYC mom Orsolya Gaal and stuffed her body into hockey bag, admits to killing https://t.co/6vBlRApmsV pic.twitter.com/eHpZpAYUHe
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 2, 2022
25 years is a joke & insult
— IndigoBleu♌️ (@indigobleu917) November 2, 2022
How is this justice?
— AmboySky (@SkyAmboy) November 2, 2022
She was stabbed 55x.
"When someone slashes another person's throat and stabs them more than 50 times - and then stuffs them into a duffel bag like yesterday's garbage - that indicates an abandoned and malignant heart," legal analyst Philip Holloway told Townhall. "This is the kind of malice that warrants nothing less than life in prison without parole. This was a cruel and heartless murder. This was more than manslaughter."
Meanwhile, Hochul, who has also signed legislation protecting illegal immigrants, has claimed Republican concerns about crime are a "conspiracy." But Holloway, a Townhall columnist, noted that this case "is a perfect illustration of why Americans feel crime is out of control and they are going to vote accordingly."