Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Michael Gargiulo, dubbed the Hollywood Ripper, is a convicted serial killer known for murders he committed in Los Angeles. According to People Magazine, Gargiulo, a former bouncer and air-conditioning repairman, stalked and viciously stabbed his victims. In 2019, a jury found him guilty of two murders: Ashley Ellerin in 2001 and Maria Bruno in 2005. Both victims had been stabbed to death in their homes. The jury also convicted him of Michelle Murphy’s 2008 attempted murder.
BBC reported that Gargiulo’s crimes drew significant media attention as his victim, Ashley Ellerin, was an acquaintance of actor Ashton Kutcher. Ellerin and Kutcher had plans to go on a date on the night of the murder in February 2001. The That ’70s Show actor later testified at Gargiulo’s murder trial. Michelle Murphy, the survivor, also testified as the state’s key witness.
In July 2021, Los Angeles Superior Court judge Larry Fidler sentenced Michael Gargiulo to death. Gargiulo faces another murder trial in Illinois for allegedly killing 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio in 1993. Pacaccio was found stabbed to death outside her home in Glenview. At the time, he was 17 and was a friend of the victim’s brother. Moreover, he lived around their house.
According to the California Department of Corrections, Gargiulo is serving time in the California Health Care Facility.
CBS 48 Hours and ID’s People Magazine Investigates have previously chronicled the case of the Hollywood Ripper. Other true crime shows, such as Oxygen’s Snapped, have also delved into the notorious case.
What did the Hollywood Ripper Michael Gargiulo do?
As previously mentioned, the Hollywood Ripper Michael Gargiulo received the death sentence for brutally murdering Ashley Ellerin and Maria Bruno in 2001 and 2005, respectively. Police only caught Gargiulo after he attacked a third potential victim, Michelle Murphy, in 2008. After the assault on Murphy, who fought back and survived, the killer left his blood on the crime scene. Using this evidence, law enforcement tracked him down, stated BBC. He also remains accused in the 1993 Illinois murder of Tricia Pacaccio.
New York Post stated that prosecutors alleged Gargiulo targeted “young, good-looking women that lived near him.” Prosecutor Dan Akemo said at his trial that the defendant “watched and waited” for “the perfect opportunity” to kill in “blitz-style knife attacks and then escape detection,” per People Magazine.
The outlet reported that Michael Gargiulo first met Ashley Ellerin outside her rented Hollywood home, where he offered to fix a flat tire. Ellerin’s friends claimed that Gargiulo used to show up at her house unannounced. He reportedly lived less than a block away from her. Another one of the victim’s friends reported seeing him parked outside her bungalow at odd hours.
According to Fox News, Ellerin was stabbed 47 times on the night of February 21, 2001. She had plans to go on a date with actor Ashton Kutcher that night. Her roommate found the crime scene the following morning after returning home. The 22-year-old’s body was outside the entrance to the bathroom.
Ashton Kutcher later testified at the Hollywood Ripper trial about the fateful night. He said he arrived at Ellerin’s house and knocked on the door. When nobody answered the door, the actor claimed he looked in her window and saw what he believed to be spilled wine on the floor. Kutcher also mentioned noticing her car in the driveway. At the time, he thought she was mad at him for being late and left.
How was Michael Gargiulo caught?
People Magazine stated that after murdering Ashley Ellerin, Michael Gargiulo moved into a gated apartment complex in El Monte. There, on December 1, 2005, he fatally stabbed his neighbor Maria Bruno, a mother-of-four. Nearly three years later, Gargiulo attacked Michelle Murphy in her Santa Monica home.
Murphy reportedly woke up to a man stabbing her in the arm on April 28, 2008. However, she was able to fight off her attacker, who then cut himself at some point. The man fled the scene but left behind his blood. Law enforcement officers eventually linked the DNA from the blood to Gargiulo.
Officers from the Santa Monica Police Department arrested Michael Gargiulo on June 6, 2008, and charged him with the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy. Charges from the murders of Ashley Ellerin and Maria Bruno were added later. After his DNA matched the sample found underneath Tricia Pacaccio’s fingernails, Illinois authorities charged him with Pacaccio’s murder in 2011.
After several delays, a Los Angeles jury convicted Gargiulo, whom the prosecution dubbed the Hollywood Ripper, of their murders in 2019. The jury also found him guilty of Murphy’s attempted murder. In 2021, he received the death sentence in California and is yet to stand trial for Pacaccio’s 1993 murder.
Michael Gargiulo was previously on death row at the San Quentin State Prison and is now in the California Health Care Facility.
