Queens resident Caroline Bonacci’s death in purse snatching declared a homicide; DA weighs new charges for jailed suspect
The death of a 60-year-old Queens resident Caroline Bonacci, who was fatally injured battling a mugger over her purse, was declared a homicide, police said Friday.
The finding by the city Medical Examiner’s office means that a man jailed on assault charges in Bonacci’s mugging could be indicted for murder.
Bonacci died Oct. 22, six months after the April 16 incident in which she was confronted by a mugger as she loaded groceries into her car outside the Key Food on 73rd Ave. near 215th St. in Oakland Gardens.
The suspect, Paul Wiesner, 56, ripped her purse from her grasp and knocked her to the ground, police said.
Bonaci, whom a friend later described as “feisty,” got up and tried to get her purse back as Wiesner got into a Nissan Sentra, police said.
But as she reached into the vehicle, Wiesner sped off and Bonaci fell to the ground again, and hit her head, police said.
She was rushed to North Shore University Hospital-Manhasset. Friends said she later bounced between the hospital and nursing home care, never fully recovering.
“She was hospitalized for a while,” said longtime friend Henry Brewer. “Whenever we visited her, she was asleep. So we would leave cards and messages and notes just to say that we were there ... we were thinking of her, and she remained in our prayers and thoughts.”
Wiesner was charged the day of the incident with robbery, assault, grand larceny and possession of stolen property. He is being held without bail.
The Medical Examiner declared Bonaci’s death a homicide on June 14.
It was not certain Friday that the suspect, who has six prior arrests, will face upgraded charges. The Queens District Attorney’s office said the case remains under investigation and Wiesner’s lawyer, Robert Schalk, asked that there “not be a rush to judgment.”
“We’ll continue our fight in court,” he said.
The victim was fondly remembered after she died.
“She was someone who mattered,” said Melissa Keras-Donaghy, a Westchester physical therapist who was friends with Bonacci for more than 30 years. “She had friends and people who cared about her.”
Bonacci graduated from Queens College, where she studied education. She went on to work for various companies as a claims adjuster with a specialty in workers’ compensation cases.
She retired in 2021 but was house manager for a regional theater group, Levittown’s Ivy Lane Players.
