The accused murderer of Ashley Ellerin, Michael Gargiulo, is on trial. Ashton Kutcher could be called to testify

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According to court documents, Gargiulo, 43, was charged with the murder of Ashley Ellerin and Maria Bruno, in addition to the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy in 2008. He faces a maximum life sentence without possibility. parole.

In his opening statement Thursday, Attorney General Dan Akemon described the murderer who charmed his victims as a neighbor and handyman before forcibly entering their homes and stabbing them to death, reported KABC, a subsidiary from CNN.

"Her hobby was finding the perfect opportunity to attack women with a knife in and around their homes," he told the jury.

Gargiulo is accused of murdering Ashley Ellerin on the night of February 21, 2001, according to court documents. That evening, according to prosecutors, Ellerin missed an appointment with Kutcher, who invited her to a post-dinner party for the Grammy Awards.

When she did not show up, Kutcher went to Ellerin's house and examined the inside.

"Mr. Kutcher looked out the window and saw what he thought was wine spilled on the floor," Akemon told the jury, according to KABC. "We now believe that the evidence will show that it was actually blood and that Ashley had already been murdered." She had been stabbed 47 times.

Prosecutors posted these images of alleged victims of Michael Gargiulo in their opening statement on Thursday.

But defense attorney, Daniel Nardoni, said that prosecutors had no concrete evidence to link Gargiulo to the murder of Ellerin.

"I can assure you that at the end of the presentation of this evidence, you will not find any physical evidence attributed to Mrs. Ellerin's death," Nardoni said, by KABC.

CNN solicited Nardoni's advice but did not get an answer.

Gargiulo was also linked to the murder of Maria Bruno, whose ex-husband discovered her mutilated body in 2005, KABC said.

Prosecutors alleged that Gargiulo's first victim was Tricia Pacaccio, 18, who was killed in Chicago in 1993 while Gargiulo was just 17 years old.

But it was not until 2008 that Gargiulo accidentally cut himself off when he attacked Michelle Murphy, KABC reported, allowing investigators to link his DNA to other murders.

Murphy is expected to testify Monday, according to Greg Risling, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Attorney's Office.

"All the victims were young and outgoing women," Akemon said. "All the attacks took place at night, all the victims were wounded several times, all were stabbed with knives, each of the victims was attacked at her home or near it, as well as nearby from Mr. Gargiulo. "

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