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In July 2021, after multiple delayed trials over the past decade, Michael Gargiulo, dubbed The Hollywood Ripper, was sentenced to death for stalking and then viciously stabbing his unsuspecting victims to death. Gargiulo has often been described as a "serial, psychosexual, thrill killer." He previously worked as a bouncer and air-conditioning repairman.
Gargiulo was found guilty in August 2019 of killing 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin more than two decades ago, which was followed by 32-year-old Maria Bruno's murder in 2005. Both women were viciously stabbed multiple times in their Los Angeles area homes. Earlier in 2008, he was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy, who was stabbed multiple times in her Santa Monica home.
According to reports, Michael Gargiulo is currently serving time on death row at the San Quentin State Prison.
People Magazine Investigates chronicles the crimes of Gargiulo in an episode named after his infamous moniker The Hollywood Ripper. The official synopsis of the episode states:
"A woman is murdered the same night she's supposed to go out with rising star Ashton Kutcher, and police believe the clues point to a serial killer; as the number of victims climbs, one brave woman manages to survive."
The upcoming episode will air on ID this Monday, May 1, at 8:00 pm ET.
Michael Gargiulo was handed the death penalty for the stabbing deaths of two Los Angeles women and an attempted murder
Convicted serial killer Michael Gargiulo, aka The Hollywood Ripper, was given a death sentence in July 2021. Los Angeles Superior Court judge Larry Fidler handed down a sentence to the 45-year-old former bouncer and air-conditioning repairman. He is currently serving time on death row in California's San Quentin State Prison.
The death penalty was delivered after a Los Angeles jury convicted Gargiulo in August 2019 of murdering Maria Bruno and Ashley Ellerin. Both women were brutally stabbed several times in their homes in the Los Angeles region. He was also previously convicted of the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy in 2008 after she was repeatedly stabbed in her Santa Monica home.
Additionally, Michael Gargiulo was charged with murder in Illinois for the 1993 stabbing death of 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio outside her Glenview home. Reports state that Gargiulo, who was 17 years old at the time, was a friend of Pacaccio's brother and lived next door to her house.
DNA evidence was used to connect Michael Gargiulo, who "watched and waited" for his victims, to all three crimes
During Michael Gargiulo's Los Angeles trial, prosecutors alleged that all the women were young, good-looking, and had a zest for life—and all lived near the serial killer. He allegedly "watched and waited" for "the perfect opportunity" to kill in "blitz-style knife attacks and then escape detection."
According to reports, Gargiulo was 24 years old when he first met Ashley Ellerin, a fashion design student at the Los Angeles Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. She was about to leave for a date with actor Ashton Kutcher at the time, when outside her home, he asked her if she needed help fixing a flat tire. She was found in her Hollywood home with 47 stab wounds in February 2001.
Gargiulo relocated to a gated apartment complex in El Monte after Ellerin's murder, where he fatally stabbed Maria Bruno, a neighbor, on December 1, 2005. Then, on April 28, 2008, he stabbed Michelle Murphy in the arm while she was sleeping. Murphy managed to defend herself from the attacker, who then cut himself during the struggle and fled the crime scene.
According to the prosecution, Michael Gargiulo's DNA was found on Murphy's bedsheet. The DNA also linked him to a sample discovered under Pacaccio's fingernails. On June 6, 2008, the Santa Monica Police Department arrested Gargiulo and charged him with the attempted murder of Murphy. He was later charged with the stabbing deaths of Ellerin and Bruno.
ID's People Magazine Investigates will further delve into the serial killer's crimes this Monday.
