True Crime Podcast 2025 - Police Interrogations, 911 Calls and True Police Stories Podcast
Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo (Hollywood Ripper) Documentary - Ashton Kutcher Girlfriend
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Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo (Hollywood Ripper) Documentary - Ashton Kutcher Girlfriend
Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Hollywood Ripper Documentary
Michael Thomas Gargiulo (born February 15, 1976)[1] is a convicted American serial killer[3] and rapist. He moved to Southern California in the 1990s and gained the nickname The Hollywood Ripper. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death on July 16, 2021
Description of crimes
Gargiulo is a native of Glenview, Illinois, where he may have stabbed his neighbor, 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio, to death on her backdoor step. Her body was found by her father the next morning on August 14, 1993.[5][6] Gargiulo moved to Los Angeles in 1998, allegedly to escape the scrutiny of police in Illinois,[7] and committed two murders and an attempted murder in Southern California between 2001 and 2008.
On February 21, 2001, he stabbed 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin 47 times to death in her home in Hollywood. Ellerin's injuries included a neck wound that nearly severed her head, and deep punctures to the chest, stomach, and back. Some of her wounds were up to six inches deep.[8] According to detective Tom Small, one stab wound "actually penetrated the skull and took out a chunk of skull like a puzzle piece."[8] On the night she was murdered, Ellerin had planned a date including dinner and drinks with actor Ashton Kutcher.[9]
On December 1, 2005, Gargiulo stabbed 32-year-old Maria Bruno, his neighbor, to death at her home in El Monte, California.[10] She was stabbed 17 times.[8]
Gargiulo attempted to murder another neighbor, 26-year-old Michelle Murphy, in her home in Santa Monica on April 28, 2008.[11] She fought off the attack, and blood matching Gargiulo's DNA was found at the scene.[12]
Arrest and prosecution
Gargiulo was arrested by the Santa Monica Police Department on June 6, 2008. On July 7, 2011, the Cook County State's Attorney charged Gargiulo with the first-degree murder of Tricia Pacaccio.[13] Although Gargiulo was charged in the two California murders as well as the Pacaccio murder in Illinois, police did not link him to any other murders.[5] Gargiulo allegedly told authorities in the Los Angeles County Jail that just because 10 women were killed — and his DNA was present — does not mean he murdered anyone, leading investigators to believe that there are more victims.[5]
Media in Los Angeles dubbed Gargiulo the "Hollywood Ripper" as well as the "Chiller Killer."[13][14] Gargiulo was held at Los Angeles County Jail while awaiting a capital murder trial.[15] A pre-trial hearing was held on June 9, 2017, in Los Angeles Superior Court with his trial scheduled to begin in October 2017.[16] After delays, his trial began on May 2, 2019.[9][17] In May 2019, actor Ashton Kutcher testified about the crimes
Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Hollywood Ripper Documentary Ashton Kutcher Girlfriend
True Crime Podcast 2025 Police Interrogations, 911 Calls True Police Stories Podcast
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-podcast-2025-police-interrogations-911-calls-and-true-police-stories-podcast--5693470/support.
Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Hollywood Ripper Documentary
Michael Thomas Gargiulo (born February 15, 1976)[1] is a convicted American serial killer[3] and rapist. He moved to Southern California in the 1990s and gained the nickname The Hollywood Ripper. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death on July 16, 2021
Description of crimes
Gargiulo is a native of Glenview, Illinois, where he may have stabbed his neighbor, 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio, to death on her backdoor step. Her body was found by her father the next morning on August 14, 1993.[5][6] Gargiulo moved to Los Angeles in 1998, allegedly to escape the scrutiny of police in Illinois,[7] and committed two murders and an attempted murder in Southern California between 2001 and 2008.
On February 21, 2001, he stabbed 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin 47 times to death in her home in Hollywood. Ellerin's injuries included a neck wound that nearly severed her head, and deep punctures to the chest, stomach, and back. Some of her wounds were up to six inches deep.[8] According to detective Tom Small, one stab wound "actually penetrated the skull and took out a chunk of skull like a puzzle piece."[8] On the night she was murdered, Ellerin had planned a date including dinner and drinks with actor Ashton Kutcher.[9]
On December 1, 2005, Gargiulo stabbed 32-year-old Maria Bruno, his neighbor, to death at her home in El Monte, California.[10] She was stabbed 17 times.[8]
Gargiulo attempted to murder another neighbor, 26-year-old Michelle Murphy, in her home in Santa Monica on April 28, 2008.[11] She fought off the attack, and blood matching Gargiulo's DNA was found at the scene.[12]
Arrest and prosecution
Gargiulo was arrested by the Santa Monica Police Department on June 6, 2008. On July 7, 2011, the Cook County State's Attorney charged Gargiulo with the first-degree murder of Tricia Pacaccio.[13] Although Gargiulo was charged in the two California murders as well as the Pacaccio murder in Illinois, police did not link him to any other murders.[5] Gargiulo allegedly told authorities in the Los Angeles County Jail that just because 10 women were killed — and his DNA was present — does not mean he murdered anyone, leading investigators to believe that there are more victims.[5]
Media in Los Angeles dubbed Gargiulo the "Hollywood Ripper" as well as the "Chiller Killer."[13][14] Gargiulo was held at Los Angeles County Jail while awaiting a capital murder trial.[15] A pre-trial hearing was held on June 9, 2017, in Los Angeles Superior Court with his trial scheduled to begin in October 2017.[16] After delays, his trial began on May 2, 2019.[9][17] In May 2019, actor Ashton Kutcher testified about the crimes
Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Hollywood Ripper Documentary Ashton Kutcher Girlfriend
True Crime Podcast 2025 Police Interrogations, 911 Calls True Police Stories Podcast
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-podcast-2025-police-interrogations-911-calls-and-true-police-stories-podcast--5693470/support.
- Duration:
- 1h 11m
- Broadcast on:
- 02 Jan 2025
- Audio Format:
- other
Okay, let's take a poll. How weird does it feel to be called someone's fiancé, right? The first time you hear it, you do like a double take. Your heart kind of flutters, and before you know it, you go from "let's just enjoy this moment" to "we're planning a fall wedding." That's where Zola comes in. Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place and have fun along the way. From free planning tools like a budget tracker, super necessary, and website, to a venue and vendor discovery tool that matches you with your dream team, everything on Zola is designed to make your wedding journey as easy as possible. And with invites that can be completely customized and a wedding registry packed with gifts you actually want. Zola takes you from "save our day" to "thank so much" without breaking a sweat. From getting engaged to getting married, Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place. Go to planning@zola.com, that's Z-O-L-A dot com, happy wedding! 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That's 20% off your first order at american-giant.com. Code Classic24. Last Spring, we reported on the 1993 murder of a young woman named Trisha Picanchio. Now because of that broadcast, we can report there has finally been a breakthrough for a family that has been waiting nearly two decades for justice. The murder happened here in the middle of the night. Someone jumped out of the bushes and stabbed 18-year-old Trisha Picanchio to death. I was the one who found her. I woke up and I had a cup of coffee, and I was going out to my van, and I just happened to see two little tennis shoes sticking up at the side door. When I saw it was her, I dropped the coffee cup. I remember just waking up to this blood curling screen, my father. Just the second I heard it, I knew something was very bad. I was the first responder to the scene back in 1993. I walked to the south side of the home, and that's where I saw the victim lying on the ground near the garage. She had a lot of blood on her shirt or her blouse. At that time, I was guessing she was stabbing me when it was times. My daughter, Trisha, was murdered when she was 18 years old. Trisha was an amazing girl, who was the most energetic and happy people I've ever seen. She loved everybody and everything. She trusted everybody. She had a great attitude about everything, and she knew what she wanted out of life. Everybody was beside themselves, like, "Who? And why would anybody do something like this?" The Cook County Sheriff did their investigation. They had approximately 15 suspects they were looking at. Okay, let's take a poll. How weird does it feel to be called someone's fiancé, right? The first time you hear it, you do like a double take. Your heart kind of flutters, and before you know it, you go from, "Let's just enjoy this moment," to, "We're planning a fall wedding." That's where Zola comes in. Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place and have fun along the way. From free planning tools, like a budget tracker, super necessary, and website, to a venue and vendor discovery tool that matches you with your dream team, everything on Zola is designed to make your wedding journey as easy as possible. And with invites that can be completely customized and a wedding registry packed with gifts you actually want. Zola takes you from, "Save our date," to, "Thanks so much," without breaking a sweat. From getting engaged to getting married, Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place. Start planning at Zola.com. That's Z-O-L-A.com. Happy wedding. Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores, automate allowance, and keep an eye on your kids spending with real-time notifications. Kids learn to earn, save, and spend wisely, and parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money with guardrails in place. Try Greenlight Risk-Free Today at Greenlight.com/audio. This message comes from Greenlight. Need to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely, and invest with your guardrails in place. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores, automate allowance, and keep an eye on your kids spending with real-time notifications. Join millions of parents and kids building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. It started Risk-Free at Greenlight.com/audio. Looking at early on, a friend of the victims' two brothers was our immediate suspect. Mike Arjula is a very powerful young man, and he flat refused to cooperate with the police. The state's attorney's office, they wanted more than we had at that time. Mike Arjula went to California to get out of the scrutiny that had been focused on him here in Illinois. Hollywood Hills, 2001, a 22-year-old believed to be actor Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend, is stabbed to death. They were going to be hanging out and going to a Grammy party. The injuries that she suffered were horrific, probably one of the worst I've seen. 2005, a 32-year-old woman is stabbed in her home. There was slashing and cutting, there were multiple stab wounds, not just a couple. Santa Monica, April 2008, a young woman is woken up by a man attacking her with a knife. She was stabbed multiple times in her chest and shoulder and right arm. Tricia had greatly resembled the other victims here in California. They were all young, they were all tracked, they were all female. I feel what we know today, between Illinois and California, Michael Garjula may be a serial killer. This program contains graphic material, including offensive language. Viewer discretion is advised. Hollywood, 2001, eight years and thousands of miles from the scene of Tricia Picaccio's murder. Its bright lights have always attracted the young and the beautiful. And 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin was no exception. For this small-town girl from Northern California, life in Hollywood was a whirlwind of work, friends and fun. She was amazing, amazing. She liked to have fun. She liked to have fun, we had a lot of fun. At the center of Ashley's world was a core group of close friends, Justin Peterson, Jennifer Desisto and Chris Duran. She was just beautiful and fun and spontaneous. Really the connection between this big group of friends was kind of partying and having a great time, very free-spirited lifestyle. Right. You were young and young. Ashley spent her days as a student at the Los Angeles Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. And what were her goals and dreams at that point in her life? I think it was basically, you know, to get into the fashion, the street. But out at night with her friends, Ashley found herself catching the attention of some of Hollywood's rising young stars, including a 23-year-old Ashton Kutcher. We had hung out with them a couple. Okay. Let's take a poll. How weird does it feel to be called someone's fiancé, right? The first time you hear it, you do like a double take. Your heart kind of flutters, and before you know it, you go from let's just enjoy this moment to we're planning a fall wedding. That's where Zola comes in. Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place and have fun along the way. From free-planning tools like a budget tracker, super necessary, and website, to a venue and vendor discovery tool that matches you with your dream team, everything on Zola is designed to make your wedding journey as easy as possible. And with invites that can be completely customized and a wedding registry packed with gifts you actually want. Zola takes you from save our date to thanks so much without breaking a sweat. From getting engaged to getting married, Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place. Start planning at Zola.com. That's Z-O-L-A dot com. Happy wedding. Times, they'd like, you know, maybe gone out in a couple of dates or whatever. Hollywood is Hollywood. Interacting with celebrities. That is how it is. I mean, they live here. So when Kutcher asked Ashley out for the night of February 21st, 2001, no one thought much of it. I knew they were going to be hanging out going to a Grammy party. It was Grammy night. Yeah, it was Grammy night. He was just, I thought, picking her up to take her. Yeah, he was just hard at picking her up to take her to a party. Kutcher arrived around 10.45 that night, but Ashley never answered her door. According to police interviews, before he left, Kutcher looked in the windows and saw what he thought was spilled wine on the floor. As it turned out, it wasn't wine at all. The body of 22-year-old Ashley Lauren Ellerin was found by her roommate early Thursday morning. The police say the stabbing happened Wednesday night. I remember it was yesterday. I entered the house. There were two steps to the left here, and Ashley was laying across the two stairs. Absolutely blue and covered in blood. A sense of trauma just came over me. I thought maybe the person was sold there, and I kind of ran out and I came to the car and calling for my cell phone 911. It so traumatizes me to this day. Ashley Ellerin was just everybody's daughter, living life and having fun. She winds up meeting somebody who is the wrong person and lost her life over it. Do you want to take a ride with me out to the scene? Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective Tom Small, working out of the Hollywood division, was one of the first on the scene that morning. This is 1911 Pinehurst Road, and this is Ashley Ellerin's former residence. And now, 10 years later, detective Small has no trouble remembering what he found inside that house. I observed quite a large amount of blood, and not too short, distance was Ashley's body. A lot of anger, a lot of rage. Everybody had isolated Ashley Ellerin, the killer and was very, very angry when he did it. It just was a very bad scene, probably one of the worst I've seen. But what surprised the seasoned investigator even more was what he didn't see, any evidence that would point to a killer. We were just looking for any type of direction or clues that would lead to a suspect. It was Ashley's friends that gave detectives that first and only clue, pointing them to a young man Ashley had met in the neighborhood months earlier. The information we have is that he introduced himself as a heating and air guy. Ultimately, got some additional information, I was able to come up with some photos and identify him as Michael Thomas Garjulo. We had heater problems. So he came in, we sat there, we looked at the heater, and he started telling us all the crazy stories that he was a professional boxer. In fact, Michael Garjulo did have a short career as an amateur boxer. But when he first arrived in Hollywood in 1998, like countless others, he had a different dream in mind. Your name? Mike Garjulo. This was in 1999, I was a film student at USC. Los Angeles filmmaker Temple Brown gave Garjulo a small role as a boxer in his graduate thesis film. I think he was perfect for that part, he looked it and he performed it very well. Garjulo fit the role of a boxer to a tee, but when the camera stopped, there was something odd about him. I think he was sort of withdrawn, maybe somewhat shy even, just kind of very quiet and I would say kind of kept to himself, didn't really talk a whole lot. And it was that same manner that began to give Ashley and her friends pause as well. Did he ever ask her out on the date? Not that I remember her ever saying. Never made a play for her or no. It doesn't seem like he was obsessed with her in a sexual way like I want to be. He was just obsessed with maybe a lifestyle or her being just fixated. There was one occasion when he was observed sitting in a vehicle and it was early in the morning. The engine was running and he was just looking in the direction of Ashley's house, just sitting there. Okay, let's take a poll. How weird does it feel to be called someone's fiancé, right? The first time you hear it, you do like a double take, your heart kind of flutters and before you know it, you go from let's just enjoy this moment to we're planning a fall wedding. That's where Zola comes in. Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place and have fun along the way. From free planning tools like a budget tracker, super necessary and website to a venue and vendor discovery tool that matches you with your dream team, everything on Zola is designed to make your wedding journey as easy as possible. And with invites that can be completely customized and a wedding registry packed with gifts you actually want. Zola takes you from save our day to thanks so much without breaking a sweat. From getting engaged to getting married, Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place. Start planning at zola.com. That's Z-O-L-A dot com. Happy wedding. I was walking and then found him sitting in his car at the end of the street with the motor running and I went in and I just remember to keep calling Ashley, "Where did you find this guy? This is very odd. Why is this guy in front of our house at 2-3 in the morning?" Justin confronted him the next day when Gargulo dropped by for a visit. I said, "What the hell were you doing in front of my house at 2-3 in the morning?" He started to go on about how the fact that he couldn't go home last night because the FBI was waiting for him at his home to collect DNA samples from Chicago. Some murdered his best friend's girlfriend was murdered or whatever. And I said, "Well, what do you have to hide?" He immediately put his leg up on the couch and started to pull out a knife that was strapped to his ankle. What are you thinking? This guy is telling me that he might be involved with the murder. At that point, I rushed him out of the house. Dude, get out of my house. I don't have anything to do with you. Lashley and her friends dismissed Gargulo's story as an unlikely fantasy. But what no one realized at the time, it was true. Besides being an aspiring actor, a boxer and a repairman, Michael Gargulo was also the prime suspect in the investigation of the murder of Trisha Picaccio. You believe Michael Gargulo killed her sister. Absolutely. I just remember just waking up to this blood curling scream of my father, and it was Doug calling 911, Doug calling 911. It happened over 18 years ago, but to this day, Doug Picaccio is still haunted by the moment he found out his sister Trisha had been savagely murdered. I don't really want to describe the details of what I saw. I have nightmares about it all the time. Years later, while investigating Ashley Ellerin's murder, California detectives were surprised to learn their number one suspect, Michael Gargulo was closely connected to another murder back in his hometown of Glenview, Illinois. I think that Trisha was the first. Like any high school girl, she was boy crazy, we all were. We talk about boys for hours. We had a wonderful time in high school. Karen Jones will never forget the last time she was with Trisha. It was an unusually cool and foggy August night, Friday the 13th, 1993. That night, a whole group of us got together for a scavenger hunt party, and we all had dinner at a restaurant for one of the final parties of the summer before we all went off to college. Trisha got home sometime after 1 a.m. With keys in hand, she went to the side of the house to let herself in. She never made it. The next morning, Trisha's father Rick was going out to his van. I tried to revive her. That is worse, really, in your life. When you can't do nothing, tell somebody you love. Trisha's mother Diane, was at work, and I just left work and jumped in the car and came home and I don't remember anything else. She had a lot of blood on her shirt or her blouse. Ray Selayovic was the first uniformed police officer on the scene. I was guessing she was stab numerous times. When I heard a lady screaming and I turned and looked because I was still in the front yard and the mother is running towards Trish, and I basically tackled her and I didn't want her to see Trish like this and remember her daughter like that. Homicide detectives from Cook County Sheriff's Department quickly took over the crime scene. The crime scene back then, I thought it could have been handled a lot better, taped off more. Do you think there were mistakes made that day? Yes. That handled the investigation? I think the crime scene should have been handled a lot better, more secured, yes. While investigators were trying to secure the scene, one young neighbor was paying close attention. 17-year-old Mike Garjulo, I call him, I'm like, "Hey, what's going on?" He's like, "I know it's crazy." He goes, "Yeah, I went over there." He goes, "You could miss all the sirens and everything, all the commotion." Scott Olson was childhood friends with Garjulo. What was my reaction to all this? It was equal to mine, just shock, complete and total shock. Seemed totally appropriate to you at the time. Absolutely. I met Mike through Doug Picasio. He grew up in their house. He ate at their dinner table. Just two days before her murder, Olson and Garjulo had given Trisha a ride to her boyfriend's house. We just drove her, she wasn't in the car very long, she got out and that was the last time I guess we saw her. And did they have any kind of relationship? The same as it was with me. You're just my little brother's friend. You're my little brother's friend. I don't have to talk to you. Yes. Scott Olson says there were two sides to Michael Garjulo. One side was an awkward, insecure teen. Okay, let's take a poll. How weird does it feel to be called someone's fiancé, right? The first time you hear it, you do like a double take. Your heart kind of flutters and before you know it, you go from, "Let's just enjoy this moment" to, "We're planning a fall wedding." That's where Zola comes in. Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place and have fun along the way. From free planning tools like a budget tracker, super necessary, and website, to a venue and vendor discovery tool that matches you with your dream team, everything on Zola is designed to make your wedding journey as easy as possible. And with invites that can be completely customized and a wedding registry packed with gifts you actually want. Zola takes you from save our day to thanks so much without breaking a sweat. From getting engaged to getting married, Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place. Start planning at Zola.com. That's Z-O-L-A dot com. Happy wedding. The other side of Mike was he had what I call a crazy switch where if he really wanted something and he was going to get it one way or another and he flipped a switch. All emotions gone. Yet nothing about Garjulo gave the Picaccio's cause for suspicion. I knew him to be very quiet, one of the guys that were in the back. He was never allowed a boisterous whatsoever. You never saw him display any aggressive or physical violent behavior. No, I can't say that. Was he friends with Tricia? No. No. No. Starting about a year after Tricia's death, Garjulo began drawing attention to himself with some strange behavior. It first started with a flower. He brought the in flowers. I'm like, why is Michael bringing us? It was live greenery at Easter time. He brought us a lily. He brought us a dinner certificate to a restaurant and then he even brought him a shirt. It's like, wait a minute. Nobody else was giving gifts down. And I said to him, why is Michael giving us all of this stuff and people? I'm telling them the detectives at the time, what was going on? It was enough for Cook County Sheriff's detectives, Jack Reed and Mark Baldwin to take a closer look at Michael Garjulo. One of the psychologists that was talking to us is he's trying to expiate his sin. He's trying to with tone for his crime, with the presence that he was giving to family. The detectives discovered Garjulo had a criminal record, having once been arrested for theft. Then, Doug Picaccio told him about a curious conversation he once had with Mike. And he looked at me and he said, if you knew who did this, would you kill them or could you kill them? I said, well, what do you think? Ask any father or any brother or anybody. I think you know the answer. The police called me later on Detective Jack Reed and said, do you realize that Michael Garjulo called us and told us that you threatened him? He knew how to play the system. Okay? He knew the heat was on. And it seems that Garjulo wasn't shy about pointing the finger at his friends. When we were finally able to compel Mike Garjulo to talk to us, he was aware that we had shown some interest in one of his good friends, Eric Agassim. She was a nice girl, I've ever known. Eric Agassim was another kid from the neighborhood and a close friend of Garjulo and Doug Picaccio. But not so close that Garjulo wouldn't give him up to the detectives. He attempted at that time to lay all the suspicion on his doorstep by telling us that the morning after the murder, Eric came to his home and asked him to come along so he could hide something, a gym bag. We asked Mike Garjulo what was inside the bag. I have no idea. Maybe, but the detective say Garjulo strongly implied he contained the murder weapon. A knife, did you get a feeling that he was intentionally steering you towards, Eric? He did. Garjulo's story worked. When Agassim refused to talk with police, Agassim then became their number one suspect. But police were unable to develop any real evidence against Agassim, Garjulo or any other suspect for that matter. Eventually, the Trisha Picaccio case went cold. Then, one afternoon, five years after Trisha's murder, Michael Garjulo showed up here on the Picaccio's doorstep. And what he did next convinced Trisha's parents that he had murdered their daughter. And Michael showed up at the door and he said, "I need to talk to Rick." And I said, "Well, he's at work, Michael," and he said, "Well, can I wait for him?" I said, "Yes." He sat and waited for an over an hour for him to come home from work sat at my kitchen table. I remember walking in the garage door and I looked at him, he had this look on his face like he was going to say something to me. The garage door opens, his father and one of his sisters come in and say, "We have to leave, Michael," and they pick them up and wish them out. You believe that was the moment that you started to thank Michael Garjulo? You may have had something to do with that. Rick Picaccio called the sheriff's detectives to tell them Garjulo was their man, but it was too late. Mike Garjulo went to California to get out of the scrutiny here in Illinois. Okay, let's take a poll. How weird does it feel to be called someone's fiancé, right? The first time you hear it, you do like a double take. Your heart kind of flutters and before you know it, you go from let's just enjoy this moment to we're planning a fall wedding. That's where Zola comes in. Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place and have fun along the way. From free planning tools like a budget tracker, super necessary, and website to a venue and vendor discovery tool that matches you with your dream team, everything on Zola is designed to make your wedding journey as easy as possible. And with invites that can be completely customized and a wedding registry packed with gifts you actually want. Zola takes you from save our date to thanks so much without breaking a sweat. From getting engaged to getting married, Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place. Start planning at Zola.com. That's Z-O-L-A dot com. Happy wedding! When Michael Gardullo left Chicago, he may have thought he was leaving the murder of Trisha Picaccio behind, but wherever Gardullo went, it seemed that another dead body was just around the corner. And where was Gardullo's apartment located? If you turn around, look, it's right over your right shoulder, it's apartment number 34. In 2005, 12 years after Trisha's death, and four years after the murder of Ashley Ellerin, Gardullo was living in the Los Angeles suburb of El Nante. By this time, the Ellerin case had gone cold. But in a frightening coincidence, another young woman was found dead in her apartment just steps away from where Gardullo lived. This is building where the murder happened behind me in apartment number 20's where Maria Bruno lived. So he kind of has a pretty clear shot of his looking through the window, right down to her plate. He has a very clear shot at her front door and both living in the kitchen window. Homicide detective Mark Lilyfield with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was assigned to investigate the murder of 32-year-old Maria Bruno. Can you tell me who Maria Bruno was? She was a mother and a wife and a daughter and a sister. She was all those things. She had come to this country from El Salvador as an adolescent. She met and married her husband when she was a young woman. She had two-year-old twins, and then I believe a four-year-old and a five-year-old. Recently separated from her husband, who kept custody of their children, Bruno was just getting her new life started. What do you suspect happened? A screen was removed from a ground floor kitchen window. It appears from the evidence that he obtained a weapon there in the kitchen and that he then entered into her bedroom where she was asleep. We're talking about a 90-pound, 32-year-old woman defenseless asleep in her bed in her home where, if there's any one place in the world, she should feel most secure. That attack is every woman's nightmare. In fact, it was a season detective's worst nightmare as well. It was unlike any other scene I had ever seen. The violence that was visited upon her, if that's the right way to say it, was phenomenal. After she was dead, her body was somewhat mutilated, and you just, you know, that's crap you see in the movies in real life that is very rare. It just doesn't happen. Like Ashley Ellerin, Maria Bruno seemed to have no enemies that would do her this kind of harm. In your opinion, it looked like she was killed just to be killed. Yes. It was a bit of a puzzle. I mean, we were able to eliminate burglary or robbery, and relatively quickly, we were able to eliminate sexual assault as being a motive. But unlike the Ellerin case, this time, the assailant left something behind. Outside of Miss Bruno's apartment was a blue cotton booty, like a shoe covering. Actually, on the soul of the booty was a drop of blood, and DNA testing proved that in fact it was Maria's blood on the drop of the booty. It was a clue, but it was also a dead end. No other evidence was discovered. How difficult did you think it was going to be to find this woman's killer? I knew we would have a challenge ahead of us. I knew it was going to be a difficult case. Detective Lily Field didn't know at the time, was for investigators to finally solve the murders of Maria Bruno and Ashley Ellerin. Another woman would have to come face to face with a killer. In 2008, in Santa Monica, California, one woman did just that and survived. I got the call at about 12-30 in the morning, and asked me to come out and respond to a scene of a stabbing where attempted murder had occurred. Santa Monica police Sergeant Richard Lewis was one of the first on the scene to question the victim, whose identity we have been asked to protect. What can you tell us about her? It was an incredible young lady, single at the time, and just someone who was very resilient and decided to fight. Sergeant Lewis' account of what investigators believe happened that night has a remarkably familiar ring to it. This is our belief that around 11-40 in the evening, he gained access into this window which was open a few inches. Once he got inside there, he then opens the front door, kind of stages it as an escape route, proceeds into the bedroom where she's sleeping and what awakes her is a knife being plunged into her. He just flat out stabbed her. She was stabbed multiple times in her chest and shoulder and right arm, suffered several wounds to both of her hands as she's grabbing this knife as it's being plunged down upon her, where those wounds were all required surgery. And at some point there's a lull in the action, so to speak, and she was able to get her feet up and kick him off of her, and that's where he then took off running and left the location. Did he say anything to her ever? I'm sorry. He said I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So he comes out the store and there's blood on the steps right outside the front door? He has some blood on the steps and then blood on the concrete steps here leading out down this walkway and into the alley. Investigators followed the blood out to the street where the trail ended, leading them to believe that the attacker was long gone. So how significant in your investigation and when you showed up that night, did you think that blood was going to be? Cute. Okay, let's take a poll. How weird does it feel to be called someone's fiancé. Right? The first time you hear it, you do like a double take. Your heart kind of flutters and before you know it, you go from let's just enjoy this moment to we're planning a fall wedding. That's where Zola comes in. Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place and have fun along the way. From free planning tools like a budget tracker, super necessary, and website to a venue and vendor discovery tool that matches you with your dream team, everything on Zola is designed to make your wedding journey as easy as possible. And with invites that can be completely customized and a wedding registry packed with gifts you actually want. Zola takes you from save our date to thanks so much without breaking a sweat. From getting engaged to getting married, Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place. Start planning at zola.com. That's Z-O-L-A dot com. Happy wedding. Cute. About 25 days after submitting my samples to the crime lab, I'm informed by a criminalist that we actually have a hit, a DNA hit, a profile that was determined. I did get a match. And who does it match? Michael Garjulo. Conclusively? Yes. And what did you think? I said I've got my guy. Twenty-four hours later, Michael Garjulo was arrested and charged with attempted murder. What stunned detectives was where they found he had been living, directly across the alley from the woman he had allegedly attacked. It'd be the second building down in the first window, it'd be just above that black trash can that you see on the left side. You could see right into her bedroom. If she were to have the blinds open, that'd be correct. That's pretty scary. Yes, absolutely. Garjulo's arrest was only the beginning. Sergeant Lewis's investigation would finally connect a remarkable collection of cold cases going back 15 years. Apparently, Michael Garjulo wasn't very surprised when Sergeant Richard Lewis arrested him for attempted murder on the night of June 6, 2008. His response once he was put into the police car to be taken to the station for booking was, which agency is this? What did that say to you? That tells me a lot. It tells me that he wasn't sure which crime he's getting charged for. It wasn't such an unreasonable question considering that Lewis had found Garjulo's DNA in the national DNA database. He had been filed there by Cook County authorities. My first thing is to call Chicago and find out why is he in the database. And what did they tell you? He says, because he's suspected of a murder. With that one phone call, the dominoes in the case against Garjulo began to fall. Lewis learned that back in 2002, Cook County detectives had asked the Los Angeles Police Department for help collecting a sample of Garjulo's DNA for the Tricia Picaccio murder. All of a sudden, we get a phone call. Cook County's in town, and they wanted some assistance on an investigation. Slowly by chance, the Chicago investigators had turned to LAPD detective Tom Small, who happened to be investigating Garjulo for the murder of Ashley Ellerin at the time. This is an extraordinary coincidence that they happened to call you at the exact same time you were looking at the same individual. Absolutely. It was just a, I don't know, stroke of luck. Cook took Small more than a year to find the elusive repairman and collect his DNA for the Picaccio case. Five years later, that very same sample would help Sergeant Lewis, Tiger Jullo, to the attack in Santa Monica. That also wasn't the end of it. No, that wasn't the end of it. Next, Lewis called Detective Mark Lillifield on a hunch that the attack in Santa Monica might be related to the murder of Maria Bruno. I'm all of a sudden looking at, wow, this is very, very similar. And so Lillifield returned to El Monte to search Garjulo's old apartment. And sure enough, in the attic of the apartment, we wound up finding a matching booty, a blue cotton booty just like the same one that we had found at the crime scene, the same manufacturer, the same make, the same model of booty. Finally, catching the break they needed, detectives Small and Lillifield were both convinced. They had found their killer. We were able to submit our cases to the district attorney here in Los Angeles, who felt there was sufficient evidence to go ahead and charge Mr. Garjulo. On September 4th, 2008, while already in jail for the attack in Santa Monica, Michael Garjulo was indicted on two additional charges, this time for the murders of Ashley Ellerin and Maria Bruno. We've got ourselves a serial killer. No question in your mind. Not in my mind, no. Even with Garjulo behind bars, California investigators were puzzled by one question. Why hadn't Cook County arrested Garjulo for the murder of Tricia Pacaccio years earlier? It's a no-brainer. If he were in custody for another matter, he wouldn't have been free to harm anybody. In fact, Cook County did have evidence that could have put Garjulo in custody. Back in 2003, the Illinois state crime lab matched the Garjulo DNA, collected in Los Angeles, to unidentified DNA found on Tricia Pacaccio's fingernails. He's obviously a person of interest. I can't express what my personal opinions are regarding his guilt or innocence. Jack Blakey is the head of cold case prosecutions for the Cook County state's attorney. Based on the fingernails, we have a profile of both the victim and Mike Garjulo. They're telling me they have DNA, it's Michael's. At the time, Tricia's brother was convinced that Cook County had found a smoking gun in his sister's case, but then inexplicably. They decide not to act on DNA evidence. The evidence just hasn't been there. I wish we could bring closure to her family tomorrow. Blakey says no arrest was made because the DNA by itself is not enough to prove Garjulo was present when Tricia was murdered. DNA can be left by either a defensive loan or it can be left by casual contact. He was a friend of the family at the time, or at least was present at the house on multiple occasions. And that appears to be the biggest obstacle in charging Michael Garjulo with the murder of Tricia Ficaccio. The state's attorney's office claims that because the crime lab only used a single swab to collect all the DNA from Tricia's fingernails, it is impossible to determine where that DNA came from on top of the fingernail or underneath it, and that they say is a critical distinction. There certainly is an evidentiary advantage to having a DNA match underneath the fingernails. If the DNA was found under Tricia's nails, it could be argued that it got there as she fought against her attacker. Would it have been better if the swabs had been done a different way? Certainly with the science that we have now, we could have taken advantage of that. So a simple but ultimately flawed laboratory procedure appears to have tied the prosecution's hands. We have DNA evidence and the experts cannot testify that it was anything other than casual. It might have been more sinister, but it might be casual as well. Which is exactly what Garjulo wants investigators to believe about Tricia Ficaccio. As he told us from jail, DNA does not prove that somebody committed a crime. DNA just pretty much says that the person was present or could have been present. As for the attacks on the women in California, it seems Garjulo has only one thing to say "I'm a hundred percent innocent." Michael Garjulo has spent more than three years in the Los Angeles County Jail awaiting trial. "This is a real nightmare that I'm living." From that time, he has had several meetings with a 48-hours producer to consider the possibility of an on-camera interview. All of those meetings were recorded by the jail. "I believe it has been a hundred percent innocent, being wrongfully charged." Garjulo would not discuss any of the charges against him, but it's clear from these recordings given to us by authorities that he is convinced jail is the last place he belongs. "It's like everything good about me, and the fair person that I have for everything." This program contains graphic material, including offensive language. Viewer discretion is advised. "It's not even up there, this is…" Okay, let's take a poll. How weird does it feel to be called someone's fiancé, right? The first time you hear it, you do like a double take. Your heart kind of flutters, and before you know it, you go from "let's just enjoy this moment" to "we're planning a fall wedding." That's where Zola comes in. Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place, and have fun along the way. From free planning tools like a budget tracker, super necessary, and website, to a venue and vendor discovery tool that matches you with your dream team, everything on Zola is designed to make your wedding journey as easy as possible. And with invites that can be completely customized, and a wedding registry packed with gifts you actually want. Zola takes you from "save our date" to "thank so much" without breaking a sweat. From getting engaged to getting married, Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place. Start planning at Zola.com. That's Z-O-L-A dot com. Happy wedding. "In 30 years of being a law enforcement, have you ever dealt with someone like this?" No, he's pretty remarkable. I've met some sick puppies, and some unique people, and some brilliant people. I've never met anybody quite like my Garjillo. While the investigators in California are sure they've got their man, there is still one troubling question that concerns them greatly. Do you think there are other victims out there? I think there's a very real chance. We've got evidence, some statements from Mr. Garjillo and from other people that indicate that ten might be the magic number. We know that Michael Garjillo traveled a little bit between Illinois and California. We would certainly love to hear from investigators or other witnesses, people that have knowledge that maybe knew him or ran in him at some point. In the meantime, with Garjillo finally behind bars, Los Angeles investigators will wait for justice to run its course. Now it's up to the jury. What are you hoping for, Troyl? Conviction. And sentencing? The whole nine yards, whatever the jury finds appropriate. The whole nine yards in this state is the death penalty. Yes, ma'am. But for the Picaccio's, that won't be nearly enough. If he's convicted of murder in California, even if he is sentenced to die, is that enough for you? Because at least he will have been found guilty and isn't back out on the street. Well, I'm happy that the DNA off of my sister is helping these other families. But at the same time, it's not good enough for that to stop there. It's not fair to her. This man needs to be held accountable for what he did. Since this story first aired last spring, there has been a remarkable development in the Tricia Picaccio murder investigation. So watching that episode of 48 Hours, a viewer who years earlier had worked with Michael Garjulo in a Los Angeles nightclub, remembered that Garjulo had once bragged to him and others that he had killed a young woman in Chicago. 48 Hours put that witness, along with another co-worker, in touch with authorities here in the city. And shortly thereafter, a Cook County grand jury finally indicted Michael Garjulo for Tricia's murder. Late yesterday, we filed a criminal complaint in court charging Michael Garjulo with first degree murder in the brutal slaying of Picaccio. It was an announcement the Picaccio family had been waiting 18 years to hear, certainly welcome news, and yet bittersweet. For me, the witnesses coming forward to 48 Hours after the show was the first step and then getting it to the police and having them validate the claim is when we really started to feel a sense of accomplishment. He will eventually be brought back here to Illinois. We are going to continue with this case, but it'll be a while before that happens. It doesn't take away the pain, but there is some sense of relief. Not closure yet, it's a start, and that's all it is, it's a start. Do you have hope at this point that he will see a day in court here? I wouldn't say hope. I would say I have the tenacity to keep going after him until it does happen. You're not going to give up. I'm not going to give up, no. My daughter is going to get the representation that she deserves. It will never be over for the victims, it will never be over for the victims' families. The only thing that's over is he's off the streets, and young women can sleep a little better at night. If Garjula receives the death penalty in California, is it still necessary to bring him to trial in Illinois? This is definitely a life and death struggle. This is a man's life he's on the line. They got their man. They did not do their job. Firefighters found six bodies. Oh my God, what happened here? Manipulate witnesses, fabricating evidence. Does this man get to live? Does this man get to die? Or Texas? We like to execute people. On television, online, on the go, and now on Python, CBS News. In the spring, we reported on the 1993 murder of a young woman named Trisha Picanchio. Now, because of that broadcast, we can report there has finally been a breakthrough for a family that has been waiting nearly two decades for justice. The murder happened here, in the middle of the night, someone jumped out of the bushes and stabbed 18-year-old Trisha Picanchio to death. I was the one who found her. I woke up and I had a cup of coffee, and I was going out to my van, and I just happened to see two little tennis shoes sticking up at the side door. When I saw it was her, I dropped a coffee cup. I remember just waking up to this blood curling scream, my father. Just the second I heard it, I knew something was very bad. I was the first responder to the scene back in 1993. I walked to the south side of the home, and that's where I saw the victim lying on the ground, near the garage. She had a lot of blood on her shirt or her blouse. At that time, I was guessing she was stabbing him at times. I died, you freaked it in here. My daughter Trisha was murdered when she was 18 years old. Trisha was an amazing girl, who was the most energetic and happy people I've ever seen. She loved everybody and everything. She trusted everybody. She had a great attitude about everything, and she knew what she wanted out of life. She was beside themselves, like, "Who?" And why would anybody do something like this? The Cook County Sheriff did their investigation. They had approximately 15 suspects they were looking at early on. A friend of the victim's two brothers was our immediate suspect. Mike Arjula's a very powerful young man, and he flat refused to cooperate with the police. The state's attorney's office, they wanted more than we had at that time. Mike Arjula went to California to get out of the scrutiny that had been focused on him here in Illinois. Hollywood Hills, 2001, a 22-year-old believed to be actor Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend is stabbed to death. They were going to be hanging out, going to a Grammy party. The injuries that she suffered were horrific, probably one of the worst I'd see. In 2005, a 32-year-old woman is stabbed in her home. There was slashing and cutting, there were multiple stab wounds, not just a couple. Santa Monica, April 2008, a young woman is woken up by a man attacking her with a knife. She was stabbed multiple times in her chest and shoulder and right arm. Tricia had greatly resembled the other victims here in California. They were all young, they were all attracted, they were all female. I feel with what we know today between Illinois and California, Mike Arjula may be a serial killer. Okay, let's take a poll. How weird does it feel to be called someone's fiancé? Right? Right? The first time you hear it, you do like a double take. Your heart kind of flutters and before you know it, you go from "let's just enjoy this moment" to "we're planning a fall wedding." That's where Zola comes in. Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place and have fun along the way. From free planning tools like a budget tracker, super necessary, and website, to a venue and vendor discovery tool that matches you with your dream team, everything on Zola is designed to make your wedding journey as easy as possible. And with invites that can be completely customized and a wedding registry packed with gifts you actually want. Zola takes you from "save our date" to "thank so much" without breaking a sweat. From getting engaged to getting married, Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place. Start planning at Zola.com. That's Z-O-L-A dot com. Happy wedding! The mystery continues in 90 seconds. Hollywood - 2001 Eight years and thousands of miles from the scene of Trisha Picaccio's murder. Its bright lights have always attracted the young and the beautiful. And 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin was no exception. For this small-town girl from Northern California, life in Hollywood was a whirlwind of work, friends, and fun. She was amazing. Amazing. She liked to have fun. Absolutely. We had a lot of fun. At the center of Ashley's world was a core group of close friends, Justin Peterson, Jennifer DeSisto, and Chris Duran. She was just beautiful and fun and spontaneous. Really the connection between this big group of friends was kind of partying and having a great time. Very free-spirited lifestyle. Right. You were young. You were young. Ashley spent her days as a student at the Los Angeles Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. And what were her goals and dreams at that point in her life? I think it was basically a note to get into the fashion, the street. But out at night with her friends, Ashley found herself catching the attention of some of Hollywood's rising young stars, including a 23-year-old Ashton Kutcher. We had hung out with them a couple of times. They'd like, you know, maybe gone out on a couple of dates or whatever. Hollywood is Hollywood. So when Kutcher asked Ashley out for the night of February 21st, 2001, no one thought much of it. I knew they were going to be hanging out going to Grammy party. It was Grammy night. It was Grammy night. He was just like that picking her up the taker. Yeah, he was just hard at picking her up and taking her to a party. Kutcher arrived around 1045 that night, but Ashley never answered her door. According to police interviews, before he left, Kutcher looked in the windows and saw what he thought was spilled wine on the floor. As it turned out, it wasn't wine at all. The body of 22-year-old Ashley Lauren Ellerin was found by her roommate early Thursday morning. Police say the stabbing happened Wednesday night. I remember it like it was yesterday. I entered the house. There were two steps to the left here, and Ashley was laying across the two stairs. Absolutely blue and covered in blood. A sense of trauma just came over me. I thought maybe the person was sold there, and I kind of ran out and came to the car and calling for my cell phone 911. It so traumatizes me to this day. Ashley Ellerin was just everybody's daughter, living life and having fun. She winds up meeting somebody who is the wrong person and lost her life over it. Do you want to take a ride with me out to the scene? Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective Tom Small, working out of the Hollywood Division, was one of the first on the scene that morning. This is 1911 Pinehurst Road, and this is Ashley Ellerin's former residence. Even now, ten years later, Detective Small has no trouble remembering what he found inside that house. I observed quite a large amount of blood, and not too short distance was Ashley's body. A lot of anger, a lot of rage. Somebody had isolated Ashley Ellerin to kill her and was very, very angry when he did it. It just was a very bad scene, probably one of the worst I've seen. But what surprised this seasoned investigator even more was what he didn't see, any evidence that would point to a killer. Now we were just looking for any type of direction or clues that would lead to a suspect. It was Ashley's friends that gave detectives that first and only clue, pointing them to a young man Ashley had met in the neighborhood months earlier. The information we have is that he introduced himself as a heating and air guy. Ultimately got some additional information, I was able to come up with some photos and identify him as Michael Thomas Gardullo. We had heater problems. So he came in, you know, he sat there, we looked at the heater, and he started telling us all the crazy stories that, you know, he was a professional boxer. In fact, Michael Gardullo did have a short career as an amateur boxer, but when he first arrived in Hollywood in 1998, like countless others, he had a different dream in mind. Your name? Mike Gardullo. This was in 1999, I was a film student at USC. Los Angeles filmmaker Temple Brown gave Gardullo a small role as a boxer in his graduate thesis film. I think he was perfect for that part. He looked it and he performed it very well. Gardullo fit the role of a boxer to a tee, but when the camera stopped, there was something odd about him. I think he was sort of withdrawn, maybe somewhat shy even, just kind of very quiet and I would say kind of kept to himself, didn't really talk a whole lot. And it was that same manner that began to give Ashley and her friends pause as well. Did he ever ask her out on the date? Not that I remember her ever saying. Never made a play for her or no. It doesn't seem like he was obsessed with her in a sexual way like I want you. He was just obsessed with maybe a lifestyle or her being just fixated. There was one occasion when he was observed sitting in a vehicle and it was early in the morning. The engine was running and he was just looking in the direction of Ashley's house, just sitting there. I was walking and then found him sitting in his car at the end of the street with the motor running and I went in and I just remember to keep calling Ashley, "Where did you find this guy? This is very odd. Why is this guy in front of our house at 2-3 in the morning?" Justin confronted him the next day when Garjulo dropped by for a visit. I said, "What the hell were you doing in front of my house at 2-3 in the morning?" He started to go on about how the fact that he couldn't go home last night because the FBI was waiting for him at his home to collect DNA samples from Chicago. Some murdered his best friend's girlfriend was murdered or whatever and I said, "Well what do you have to hide?" He immediately put his leg up on the couch and started to pull out a knife. That was like a strap to his ankle here. What are you thinking? This guy saw me that he might be involved with the murder. At that point I rushed him out of the house. Dude, get out of my house. I don't have anything to do with you. Ashley and her friends dismissed Garjulo's story as an unlikely fantasy. But what no one realized at the time, it was true. Besides being an aspiring actor, a boxer and a repairman, Michael Garjulo was also the prime suspect in the investigation of the murder of Tricia Picaccio. You believe Michael Garjulo killed her sister. Okay let's take a poll. How weird does it feel to be called someone's fiancé, right? The first time you hear it, you do like a double take. Your heart kind of flutters and before you know it, you go from "let's just enjoy this moment" to "we're planning a fall wedding." That's where Zola comes in. Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place and have fun along the way. From free planning tools like a budget tracker, super necessary, and website, to a venue and vendor discovery tool that matches you with your dream team, everything on Zola is designed to make your wedding journey as easy as possible. Even with invites that can be completely customized and a wedding registry packed with gifts you actually want. Zola takes you from "save our date" to "thank so much" without breaking a sweat. From getting engaged to getting married, Zola has everything you need to plan your wedding in one place. Start planning at Zola.com. That's Z-O-L-A dot com. Happy wedding. It happened over 18 years ago, but to this day, Doug Picaccio is still haunted by the moment he found out his sister Tricia had been savagely murdered. I don't really want to describe the details of what I saw. I have nightmares about it all the time. Just later while investigating Ashley Ellerin's murder, California detectives were surprised to learn their #1 suspect, Michael Garjulo, was closely connected to another murder, back in his hometown of Glenview, Illinois. I think that Tricia was the first. Like any high school girl, she was boy crazy, we all were. We talk about boys for hours. We had a wonderful time in high school. Karen Jones will never forget the last time she was with Tricia. It was an unusually cool and foggy August night, Friday the 13th, 1993. That night a whole group of us got together for a scavenger hunt party and we all had dinner at a restaurant for one of the final parties of the summer before we all went off to college. Tricia got home sometime after 1 a.m. With keys in hand, she went to the side of the house to let herself in. She never made it. The next morning Tricia's father Rick was going out to his van. I tried to revive her. That is worse really in your life when you can't do nothing until somebody loves you. Tricia's mother Diane was at work and I just left work and jumped in the car and came home and I don't remember anything else. She had a lot of blood on her shirt or her blouse. Grace Selayevich was the first uniformed police officer on the scene. I was guessing she was stabbed numerous times when I heard a lady screaming and I turned them look because I was still in the front yard and the mother is running towards Tricia. I basically tackled her and I didn't want her to see Tricia like this and remember her daughter like that. Homicide detectives from Cook County Sheriff's Department quickly took over the crime scene. The crime scene back then, I thought it could have been handled a lot better, taped off more. You think there were mistakes made that day? Yes. That handled the investigation? I think the crime scene should have been handled a lot better, more secured, yes. While investigators were trying to secure the scene, one young neighbor was paying close attention. 17-year-old Mike Garjulo, I call him, I'm like, "Hey, what's going on?" He's like, "I know it's crazy." He goes, "Yeah, I went over there." Because you couldn't miss all the sirens and everything, all the commotion. Scott Olson was childhood friends with Garjulo. What was my reaction to all this? It was equal to mine. Just shock, complete and total shock. Seemed totally appropriate to you at the time. Absolutely. I met Mike through Doug Picasso. He grew up in their house. He ate at their dinner table. Just two days before her murder, Olson and Garjulo had given Tricia a ride to her boyfriend's house. She drove her. She wasn't in the car very long. She got out and that was the last time I guess we saw her. And did they have any kind of relationship? The same as it was with me. Just my little brother's friend. You're my little brother's friend. I don't have to talk to you. Yes. Scott Olson says there were two sides to Michael Garjulo. One side was an awkward, insecure teen. The other side of Mike was he had what I call a crazy switch, where if he really wanted something, and he was going to get it one way or another, and he flipped a switch. All emotions have gone. Yet nothing about Garjulo gave the Picaccio's cause for suspicion. I knew him to be very quiet. One of the guys that were in the back, he was never loud or boisterous whatsoever. You never saw him display any aggressive or physical, violent behavior. No, I can't say that. Was he friends with Tricia? No. No. No. But starting about a year after Tricia's death, Garjulo began drawing attention to himself with some strange behavior. It first started with a flower. He brought the in flowers. I'm like, "Why is Michael bringing us?" It was live greenery. At Easter time, he brought us a lily. He brought us a dinner certificate to a restaurant, and then he even brought him a shirt. It's like, "Wait a minute. Nobody else was giving gifts to him." I said to him, "Why is Michael giving us all of this stuff?" We were telling the detectives at the time what was going on. It was enough for Cook County Sheriff's detectives, Jack Reed, and Mark Baldwin to take a closer look at Michael Garjulo. One of the psychologists that was talking to us is he's trying to expiate his sin. He's trying to atone for his crime, with the presence that he was given to family. The detectives discovered Garjulo had a criminal record, having once been arrested for theft. Then, Doug Pecacchio told him about a curious conversation he once had with Mike. He looked at me, and he said, "If you knew who did this, would you kill them, or could you kill them?" I said, "Well, what do you think?" I asked any father or any brother or anybody, and I think you know the answer. The police called me later on Detective Jack Reed and said, "Do you realize that Michael Garjulo called us and told us that you threatened him?" He knew how to play the system. He knew the heat was on. And it seems that Garjulo wasn't shy about pointing the finger at his friends. When we were finally able to compel Mike Garjulo to talk to us, he was aware that we had shown some interest in one of his good friends, Eric Agassim. She was the nicest girl I've ever known. Eric Agassim was another kid from the neighborhood, and a close friend of Garjulo and Doug Pecacchio. But not so close that Garjulo wouldn't give him up to the detectives. He attempted at that time to lay all the suspicion on his doorstep by telling us that the morning after the murder, Eric came to his home and asked him to come along so he could hide something, a gym bag. This program contains graphic material, including offensive language. Viewer discretion is advised. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]
Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo (Hollywood Ripper) Documentary - Ashton Kutcher Girlfriend
Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Hollywood Ripper Documentary
Michael Thomas Gargiulo (born February 15, 1976)[1] is a convicted American serial killer[3] and rapist. He moved to Southern California in the 1990s and gained the nickname The Hollywood Ripper. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death on July 16, 2021
Description of crimes
Gargiulo is a native of Glenview, Illinois, where he may have stabbed his neighbor, 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio, to death on her backdoor step. Her body was found by her father the next morning on August 14, 1993.[5][6] Gargiulo moved to Los Angeles in 1998, allegedly to escape the scrutiny of police in Illinois,[7] and committed two murders and an attempted murder in Southern California between 2001 and 2008.
On February 21, 2001, he stabbed 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin 47 times to death in her home in Hollywood. Ellerin's injuries included a neck wound that nearly severed her head, and deep punctures to the chest, stomach, and back. Some of her wounds were up to six inches deep.[8] According to detective Tom Small, one stab wound "actually penetrated the skull and took out a chunk of skull like a puzzle piece."[8] On the night she was murdered, Ellerin had planned a date including dinner and drinks with actor Ashton Kutcher.[9]
On December 1, 2005, Gargiulo stabbed 32-year-old Maria Bruno, his neighbor, to death at her home in El Monte, California.[10] She was stabbed 17 times.[8]
Gargiulo attempted to murder another neighbor, 26-year-old Michelle Murphy, in her home in Santa Monica on April 28, 2008.[11] She fought off the attack, and blood matching Gargiulo's DNA was found at the scene.[12]
Arrest and prosecution
Gargiulo was arrested by the Santa Monica Police Department on June 6, 2008. On July 7, 2011, the Cook County State's Attorney charged Gargiulo with the first-degree murder of Tricia Pacaccio.[13] Although Gargiulo was charged in the two California murders as well as the Pacaccio murder in Illinois, police did not link him to any other murders.[5] Gargiulo allegedly told authorities in the Los Angeles County Jail that just because 10 women were killed — and his DNA was present — does not mean he murdered anyone, leading investigators to believe that there are more victims.[5]
Media in Los Angeles dubbed Gargiulo the "Hollywood Ripper" as well as the "Chiller Killer."[13][14] Gargiulo was held at Los Angeles County Jail while awaiting a capital murder trial.[15] A pre-trial hearing was held on June 9, 2017, in Los Angeles Superior Court with his trial scheduled to begin in October 2017.[16] After delays, his trial began on May 2, 2019.[9][17] In May 2019, actor Ashton Kutcher testified about the crimes
Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Hollywood Ripper Documentary Ashton Kutcher Girlfriend
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Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Hollywood Ripper Documentary
Michael Thomas Gargiulo (born February 15, 1976)[1] is a convicted American serial killer[3] and rapist. He moved to Southern California in the 1990s and gained the nickname The Hollywood Ripper. He was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death on July 16, 2021
Description of crimes
Gargiulo is a native of Glenview, Illinois, where he may have stabbed his neighbor, 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio, to death on her backdoor step. Her body was found by her father the next morning on August 14, 1993.[5][6] Gargiulo moved to Los Angeles in 1998, allegedly to escape the scrutiny of police in Illinois,[7] and committed two murders and an attempted murder in Southern California between 2001 and 2008.
On February 21, 2001, he stabbed 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin 47 times to death in her home in Hollywood. Ellerin's injuries included a neck wound that nearly severed her head, and deep punctures to the chest, stomach, and back. Some of her wounds were up to six inches deep.[8] According to detective Tom Small, one stab wound "actually penetrated the skull and took out a chunk of skull like a puzzle piece."[8] On the night she was murdered, Ellerin had planned a date including dinner and drinks with actor Ashton Kutcher.[9]
On December 1, 2005, Gargiulo stabbed 32-year-old Maria Bruno, his neighbor, to death at her home in El Monte, California.[10] She was stabbed 17 times.[8]
Gargiulo attempted to murder another neighbor, 26-year-old Michelle Murphy, in her home in Santa Monica on April 28, 2008.[11] She fought off the attack, and blood matching Gargiulo's DNA was found at the scene.[12]
Arrest and prosecution
Gargiulo was arrested by the Santa Monica Police Department on June 6, 2008. On July 7, 2011, the Cook County State's Attorney charged Gargiulo with the first-degree murder of Tricia Pacaccio.[13] Although Gargiulo was charged in the two California murders as well as the Pacaccio murder in Illinois, police did not link him to any other murders.[5] Gargiulo allegedly told authorities in the Los Angeles County Jail that just because 10 women were killed — and his DNA was present — does not mean he murdered anyone, leading investigators to believe that there are more victims.[5]
Media in Los Angeles dubbed Gargiulo the "Hollywood Ripper" as well as the "Chiller Killer."[13][14] Gargiulo was held at Los Angeles County Jail while awaiting a capital murder trial.[15] A pre-trial hearing was held on June 9, 2017, in Los Angeles Superior Court with his trial scheduled to begin in October 2017.[16] After delays, his trial began on May 2, 2019.[9][17] In May 2019, actor Ashton Kutcher testified about the crimes
Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Hollywood Ripper Documentary Ashton Kutcher Girlfriend
True Crime Podcast 2025 Police Interrogations, 911 Calls True Police Stories Podcast
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-podcast-2025-police-interrogations-911-calls-and-true-police-stories-podcast--5693470/support.