Hunt for the killer
The police have described the case as “a real mystery” and are now on the hunt for the killer. A suspect was reportedly caught by surveillance cameras dragging the bag down the street hours before he was found. No person has been identified so far, but it appears agents are looking for a man who may have known the victim.
The discovery, the knowledge, the find
Gaal’s body was found just after 8 a.m. Saturday on Metropolitan Avenue near a park by a man walking his dogs. “It was shocking,” said Glenn Van Nostrand, explaining that he saw the bag left behind, opened it and discovered the body. Shortly thereafter he called the police. A trail of blood would then lead agents near the victim’s home, a huge Tudorstyle mansion on Juno Street.
The investigations
Neighbors saw the police pick up the 13yearold son who was at home, who was interrogated and then released. The other 17yearold son was with his father, the victim’s husband Howard Klein, on a trip to Portland, Oregon to attend some universities. As initial investigations revealed, the 51yearold was out of the house on Friday evening and returned to the Forest Hills villa around 11 p.m. A friend of the woman, who asked for anonymity, said she was staying with a mutual friend. Then he specified that Gaal is originally from Hungary, where his mother and sister still live, he loved theatre, ballet, traveling and concerts.
The motive and the threats
Police are investigating to determine the motive behind the brutal murder. Meanwhile, the New York Post reported that the killer sent a threatening message to the woman’s husband: “Your whole family will be next.” “Thank God my son is safe,” Klein said, noting, “It raises concerns about our safety, our lives are in danger.”
The words of the neighbors
Neighborhood residents are shocked by the dramatic accident. “I will miss him. I’m shocked and we can’t believe what happened,” one of them said. “It’s a tragedy,” added another, describing the woman as a mother who loved her children dearly, always smiling and sociable.