A man known as the “Hollywood Ripper” was sentenced to death on Friday for killing and maiming two California women, one of whom died a few hours before dating Ashton Kutcher.
Judge Larry P. Fidler of the Los Angeles Superior Court sentenced 45-year-old Michael Thomas Gargiulo to Michael Thomas Gargiulo. The prosecutor also called him the “boy killer next door” because he lives in The victim was followed nearby and then attacked in their home. Associated Press Report.
“Mr. Gargiulo’s death and destruction followed him wherever he went,” Judge Fidler said at the hearing on Friday, with the victim’s family also present.
The verdict was postponed due to procedural issues and the pandemic. In 2019, the jury found Gargiulo guilty and recommended that he be executed because he killed 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin and 32-year-old Maria Bruno and attempted to murder the then 26 Years old Michelle Murphy (Michelle Murphy).
When he testified at Gargiulo’s trial, Kutcher stated that he was late to pick up Ellerin, a fashion design student, from her Hollywood home on February 22, 2001. When she didn’t answer her door, he looked inside and saw his blood stains and initially thought it was spilled wine.
Ellerin was found dead the next day with 47 stab wounds on his body.
On December 1, 2005, after Ellerin, Gargiulo killed Bruno, the mother of four children, at her home in El Monte, east of Los Angeles. Her breast was removed and the implants were removed.
In 2008, he attacked Murphy in her Santa Monica apartment. She repulsed Gargiulo who fled the scene but left blood stains. This led to his arrest and was linked to the deaths of Ellerin and Bruno. Murphy was a key witness in Gargiulo’s trial.
Gargiulo is a former air conditioner and heater repairman, bodyguard and aspiring actor. The prosecutor said that he could pretend to be a friendly neighbor or handyman to enter the women’s home. CNN Report.
Gargiulo denied participating in the killing before the sentence was pronounced and accused his lawyer of not allowing him to testify during the trial.
“I will enter the death row incorrectly and unfairly,” Gaggioro said. “I do want to testify, but my basic choice is blocked.”
Although he was sentenced to death, it remains to be seen whether it will be executed. California has not executed anyone since 2006, and Governor Gavin Newsom (Gavin Newsom) has ceased executions during his tenure.
Gargiulo is now expected to be extradited to Illinois because he killed Tricia Pacaccio in his hometown in Illinois in 1993.
Photo: Getty Images | Genaro Molina/AFP
