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Produced by Chuck Stevenson, Ruth Chenetz and Lauren Clark
In October, Los Angeles jurors will determine whether to sentence the serial killer known as "Hollywood Ripper" to death. Michael Gargiulo, 43, was convicted in August of a series of brutal attacks targeting young women. One of his victims was preparing to go to an appointment with Ashton Kutcher during his assassination.
It's a sensational case that has rivaled Hollywood. Maureen Maher, a "48 hours" correspondent, has been following in Gargiulo's footsteps for more than ten years and helped open the box. It plunges deep into the mind of this serial killer – and shows how it came out so long.
Four young women: three murdered, one left to tell the story. Tricia Pacaccio, Ashley Ellerin, Maria Bruno and Michelle Murphy never saw it coming.
The trial of a serial killer accused made headlines in Los Angeles. He is known as "Hollywood Ripper".
Attorney Dan Akemon [in court]: The methodical and systematic massacre of women … that's what this affair is about.
It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a sensational sensation. trial for murder. On the witness list: the actor Ashton Kutcher, who was scheduled to meet one of the victims on the night of his assassination.
But did the so-called Hollywood Ripper kill other people? This was the question with which the investigators were more than 1,800 miles away.
For Maureen Maher, a "48 Hours" correspondent, this story begins near her home, just outside Chicago.
TRICIA PACACCIO | CHICAGO, 1993
Diane Pacaccio: We were told that one must understand that some murders are not solved … And I was like, there is no chance that someone will come to my door, in front of my door and do this and get it right.
The murder of Tricia Pacaccio is a case on which "48 Hours" has been working since the summer of 2008. It took years to earn the trust of her parents. Maybe by telling Tricia's story, we could help catch her killer.
Rick Pacaccio | Tricia's father: For years, Cook County has told us that this might not be solved.
Diane Pacaccio | Tricia's mother: The case of our daughter should not … never remain unresolved … it would be a travesty.
August 14, 1993, shortly after sunrise.
Rick Pacaccio: I was going in my van and when I saw that it was her, I ran there and – and I saw what had happened to her.
Rick Pacaccio had just come out of the garage, when he saw from the corner of his eye his 18-year-old daughter Tricia, lying on the landing, stabbed to death.
Rick Pacaccio: … I tried to revive her. … it's the worst feeling of your life, when you can not do anything to someone you love.
Doug Pacaccio | Tricia's brother: I just remember waking up to that bloody scream from my dad … and that was "Doug call 911 … Doug call 911! … I do not really want to describe the details from what I saw. [Maureen Maher: That’s OK] I have nightmares all the time.
The police arrived and Rick had to make a difficult call to his wife Diane.
Diane Pacaccio: He called me to work and said, "You have to go home, Tricia is hurt."
Agent Ray Salihovich has seen parking.
Officer Ray Salihovich: I heard a lady scream … and the mother had just come out of her vehicle … and she was running towards Trish. I have basically addressed it. I did not want her to see Trish like that and that I remember her daughter like that.
Diane Pacaccio: Who would do that to him? There is no one who knows her who could do this to her … my daughter has never done anything to put herself in danger. … you – she was the kind of girl you knew where she was, what she was doing, and you never had to worry about her.
CBS News / Pacaccio Family
Tricia was also the type of girl who made the most of high school. She took calculations, was in the debate team and played clarinet in the group. At the time of his assassination, he had only a few days left before moving on to the next chapter of his young and exciting first-year life at Purdue University.
Diane Pacaccio: She had a good attitude about everything … and she knew what she wanted from life.
Maureen Maher: Were you close with her?
Diane Pacaccio: Yeah [cries].
Karen Jones: Tricia was – an amazing girl. … was probably one of the most energetic and happy people I've ever seen.
Karen Jones, a close friend of Tricia, spent a lot of time at the House Pacaccio.
Karen JonesHer mother was very caring and treated us all as her children.
Tricia's youngest brothers, Doug, 17, and Tommy, 13, often had more friends.
Diane Pacaccio: I fed the whole neighborhood. … everyone ate there.
Karen Jones: They were just a very warm family.
On the night of August 13th, Karen, Tricia and most of the kids from their upper class came out – a last cheer for the summer.
Karen Jones: That night, a whole group of us gathered for a treasure hunt … for one of the last summer evenings before we all go to l & # 39; university. … We … ended the restaurant and people started getting in their car to go home.
The police think it's about 1 am when Tricia goes to the side door of the house, the keys in hand, that the killer grabbed her left arm, twisting and breaking it, before stab her 12 times.
Doug Pacaccio: I remember … my chest sank. The minute I realized she was gone. And I could not do anything to help him.
The detectives interrogated dozens of people. Some parents were too afraid to let their children talk. Nobody seemed to know anything – there were no tracks, no arrests.
Rick Pacaccio: To be honest, I think we have been separated for a very, very long time. … people are talking about closing. My experience is that there is no closure. This void is still there.
Rick Pacaccio did not know how to continue living in the same house where he had found the slaughtered body of his beautiful daughter. The family moved for four years. Eventually, they decided that it was time to go home. Shortly after, they had an unexpected visitor: former footballer Michael Gargiulo, one of Doug Pacaccio's closest childhood friends.
Maureen Maher: Michael, you know him since the age of how old?
Diane Pacaccio: Since probably he was in second year. … because he lived in the next street.
Diane PacaccioMichael was introduced to the door and he said, "I – I have to talk to Rick," and I said, "Well, he's at work, Michael," and he replied : "Can I wait?" and I say, "Yes." … He sat down and waited for over an hour until he came back from work – sitting at my kitchen table.
Rick Pacaccio: I remember walking in the garage door … and I looked at it – he had that expression on his face as he was going to tell me something.
But before Michael Gargiulo has a chance to say anything …
Rick Pacaccio: The garage door opens, his father and one of his sisters come in and say, "We have to leave, Michael." And they took it and took it out and the door closed. … and I said to Diane, "Damn it, it's … it was rather weird. … but the look on his face, Maureen.
Maureen Maher: At that point, Rick, did you think this kid knew anything, or maybe he had something to do with it?
Diane Pacaccio: Yes.
Maureen Maher: You believe it was the moment – maybe had something to do with his death?
Rick Pacaccio: Oh, there was no doubt about it … no doubt about it.
The Pacaccio informed the authorities, but it was too late. Michael Gargiulo was gone.
HOLLYWOOD DREAMS
Shortly after leaving Chicago, Michael Gargiulo was introduced to Los Angeles. Like many other dreamers, he wanted to be an actor or a model.
Brown Temple | Director: He was interested in the actor profession and … it was a good little project for him, I guess, biting himself a bit.
Director Temple Brown was still in film school at USC when he called Gargiulo a boxer.
Brown Temple: What struck me at home was that he had had a boxing experience.
Brown Temple [watching movie on monitor]: "I think it was perfect for this part … He looked at it and he did it very well.
Maureen Maher: He was cut like a boxer … he certainly had the physique of a boxer.
Anthony DiLorenzo: He has good punches, I – do you know what I mean?
Temer Leary: Yes, he does … he does.
Anthony DiLorenzo and Temer Leary worked with Michael Gargiulo in the late 1990s, around the same time he was shooting the movie scene. They were all bouncers together in a Hollywood nightclub called Rainbow Bar and Grill.
Maureen Maher: What did he tell you that he was doing here?
Temer Leary: Train to become a professional fighter …
Anthony DiLorenzo: Yeah … Play and … model.
Maureen Maher: Not everyone? [laughs]
Leary and DiLorenzo: Right. Yep
Temer Leary: He does the Hollywood thing.
Maureen Maher: Does he do the Hollywood thing?
Anthony DiLorenzo: Yes, he is sure.
Maureen Maher: Did he have a girlfriend at the time you were hanging out together?
Anthony DiLorenzo: Oh yes. He has always had friends.
Temer LearyHe always had girls after him. It was a handsome guy well net. You know, the waitresses were always after him.
But Gargiulo left the nightclub and started working for a heating and air conditioning company.
Maureen MaherWho was the first among you to meet Michael Gargiulo?
Chris Duran: I was.
Chris Duran, Jennifer Desisto and Justin Peterson spoke of "48 hours" in 2010. They were the kind of good friends most young people would be attracted to.
LAPD
Maureen Maher: In fact, the connection between this large group of friends was, in a way, the party and the good time. Very free lifestyle?
Jennifer Desisto: Yeah
Justin Peterson: Right.
Maureen Maher: You were young.
Jennifer Desisto: We were young.
Their introduction to Michael Gargiulo began with a puncture.
Chris Duran: I change my flat tire and this guy comes out on the street … and he was handsome … and he stopped and suggested me to help change the tire.
At the same time, 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin walked out of the house she rented on the street. Michael Gargiulo noticed.
Chris Duran: And Ashley was there with me, and … He was handsome and she was beautiful. … and I thought, "No, it's good, I know how to change a tire." So, he stayed there talking with Ashley. And they talked and flirted. … They exchanged numbers, and that was our first meeting.
Maureen Maher: Have you had a feeling about him, one way or the other?
Chris Duran: I mean, he was just, you know, a handsome guy walking down the street offering help.
Ashley Ellerin, the young woman that Michael Gargiulo immediately noticed, was a part-time student.
Justin Peterson: She was amazing … I mean, she just had that charisma … she could go into a room and take complete control of the room.
Chris Duran: She was just beautiful and – and fun and spontaneous.
Justin Peterson: She had a lot of friends.
Jennifer DesistoAshley was an attractive 22-year-old girl living in Hollywood Hills.
Maureen Maher: And she liked to have fun?
Chris Duran: Absolutely –
Justin Peterson: She liked to have fun –
Chris Duran: – we all did.
Justin Peterson: -We had a lot of fun.
The guy they only knew as "Mike" was trying to hang out with Ashley.
Justin Peterson: He called the house a lot after their break-in.
He called and started to show himself uninvited. Friends say that one night he came into the house at a party, sat down and focused on Ashley's laser. But Ashley was not interested. At the time, many men were interested in it.
Jennifer Desisto: Hollywood is Hollywood. … Interact with celebrities … it's like that. I mean that they live here.
A celebrity in particular had started calling Ashley. This was a televised actor from "That's 70s Show," Ashton Kutcher.
Justin PetersonWe had spent time with him a few times.
Maureen MaherLet's go back to the night Ashley was going out with Ashton Kutcher.
Chris Duran: I know that they were going out.
The next morning, Ashley's roommate, Jennifer, went home.
Jennifer DesistoI entered the house and … Ashley was lying on the other side of the two steps … covered in blood.
NEWS REPORT: The body of Ashley Lauren Ellerin, aged 22, was found by her roommate early Thursday morning …
Jennifer Desisto … and it is at that time that I understood that "no", you know? "That's not the case" … "Who could have done that?"
ASHLEY ELLERIN | HOLLYWOOD, 2001
When Jennifer Desisto arrived home that morning in 2001, she entered a horrific and terrifying scene.
Jennifer Desisto: At that time – it was right – as if a feeling of trauma had just crossed me. I thought maybe the person was still there and that I was somehow exhausted, hysterical. I dropped that phone and eventually went to the car … and called from my cell phone, 911.
CS News / LAPD
Ashley Ellerin was attacked just after taking a shower. His body was stabbed 47 times, just outside the bathroom.
Maureen MaherHave you ever seen anything like this in your life?
Jennifer Desisto: I – I absolutely did not do it, and … it still traumatizes me to this day.
The police arrived quickly and started asking questions.
Jennifer Desisto: Who could – who could have done that?
Maureen Maher: This must be one of the first questions the police asked you, was it … did it have any enemies?
Jennifer Desisto: Yes. Did she have …? That's true.
Maureen Maher: It sounds like a trivial question. But you might think that, based on what you saw, only a person hating another person would do that.
Jennifer Desisto: Right. Absolutely. Yeah. And, in addition, it was an obvious fact from the outset that she was obviously a person with whom she was familiar, or knew how to let them in. Because, as we said, the house was, in a way, double gated.
Maureen Maher: Do you think Ashley let him in?
Justin Peterson: Oh yes.
Jennifer Desisto: Yes.
Det. Tom small: OK, that is … Pinehurst Road, and it's the former residence of Ashley Ellerin.
Hollywood homicide Detective Tom Small says there was little to do.
Maureen Maher: … no splash of blood on the outside, no clothes, no other – no material that would lead you to a particular individual?
Det. Tom small: No … Teams of detectives have searched the inside and the outside. We walked the streets. We solicited every building, every door was hit.
Maureen Maher: Were you a little confused at first?
Det. Tom small: Absolutely. You know, we were just looking for any type of direction or clue that could lead to a suspect. So we had to start with the victim and worked in the back to find his associations.
They absolutely wanted to talk to the person that she was supposed to have an appointment with that night – the actor Ashton Kutcher.
Maureen MaherAnd what role did he play in this case as a witness?
Det. Tom small: He is part of a group of friends from Ashley. He is one of many … and he was one of his friends.
Kutcher and Ellerin had planned to go to dinner, but he was late and was delaying his arrival. Kutcher told the detectives that at 8:24 he had spoken to Ashley, who had told her that she had just come out of the shower.
Kutcher did not really arrive at his door until around 10:45 pm. At that time, he was confused because the lights were on, but no one answered. By the time he was about to leave, he peeked out the window and noticed what he thought was red wine spilling on the floor. It turns out that it was not wine. It was blood.
Det. Tom small: It was just a very bad scene. … a lot of anger. A lot of rage. Someone had isolated Ashley Ellerin for – killing her and was very, very angry when he had done it.
Maureen Maher: Could anyone think of someone who wanted to hurt Ashley?
Det. Tom small: Not really … Almost for one person, Ashley was considered, you know, like the life of the party. … she had a lot of friends from different backgrounds. … school friends, roommates … celebrities.
Kutcher was not the only man the police wanted to talk to. Mark Durbin, a not so famous actor, was also the real estate manager of Ellerin. Durbin and Ashley had a secret relationship. And, Ashley and he had been intimate earlier in the evening. But, like Kutcher, he had fully cooperated with the investigators and the two men had been excluded as possible suspects.
While the police had no concrete track, Ashley's friends could not help but think that the guy who seemed obsessed with Ashley was involved.
Maureen Maher: In your initial conversation with the police, did you tell them about Michael Gargiulo?
Chris Duran: Yes. I did not know his name, but the heating and air conditioning manager
Maureen Maher: And did they pay attention to that?
Chris Duran: I know that they have taken note. I do not think that they took it very seriously. Or that a lot of a threat.
Det. Tom small: He was not in their circle of friends. … they were scared by him …
Maureen Maher: So, when you hear that … does it affect you?
Det. Tom small: Well, I mean, it takes a little more than that to focus on someone as a suspect in a case like this.
Gargiulo was not really on Detective Small's radar. Ashley had a great social circle, there were hundreds of people to talk to and he was just the terrifying type of air conditioner. It would take months for the police to learn his last name and put it on their list.
Det. Tom small: This weighed heavily, personally for me in this particular case. because everyone has the case, and this one was mine. My frustration was why I could not get the evidence needed to solve Ashley's murder.
Back in Cook County, just outside Chicago, the murder of Tricia Paccacio was unresolved for almost 10 years. His mother Diane was a relentless and implacable investigator.
Diane Pacaccio: At least once or twice a week.
Maureen Maher: And did you have the impression that something had been done at that time?
Diane Pacaccio: No, but I did not stop thinking, maybe I just kept talking to them and telling them everything that came to their mind. It was just-
Rick Pacaccio: And that helped some of them.
Diane Pacaccio: … it's … it's … it probably helped me emotionally because it was like I could talk to them. They knew what had happened.
Rick Pacaccio: I have the tenacity to continue … until that happens.
Maureen Maher: Are not you going to give up?
Rick Pacaccio: I will not give up, no. My daughter is going to have the representation that she deserves.
Detective Lou Sala of the Cook County Sheriff was assigned to the case in 1999.
Det. Lou Sala: We benefited from the technology … when we took over the business.
In 2002, new DNA technology enabled investigators to re-examine evidence gathered at the scene of the crime.
Det. Lou Sala: We were hoping to establish a type of DNA profile – to give us an idea of a possible offender.
Maureen Maher: So … what is the first test result you get, the first new information from this series of DNA tests?
Det. Lou Sala: Well, the most important thing is when we … took the nails of the unknown male contributor.
Male DNA found on Tricia's nails. Now, they had to match.
Det. Lou Sala: At that time, we started a … DNA campaign … of everyone … Including the Pacaccio family … friends of hers who were accompanying her to the road rally that night. … we even tested the dog.
Maureen Maher: You even tested the dog?
Det. Lou SalaYeah.
The detectives wanted to have samples of everyone they talked to during the day and Michael Gargiulo was on their list. The detectives learned that Gargiulo was now living in Los Angeles, so they went to the LAPD for help.
Det. Tom small: I did not know that they even came … We had just identified who Gargiulo was and were conducting our investigation.
To this day, Detective Small had begun to take a closer look at Michael Gargiulo.
Det. Tom small: Suddenly we have a phone call … Cook County is in town. … He said, "Well, who are you looking for?" And they called Michael Gargiulo.
Maureen Maher: You said, "Hey, that's it's my guy."
Det. Tom small: They introduced themselves. … I waved a picture. I said, "Are you looking for that?" And they said, "Yeah, how do you know him?" I said, "Right now he is a potential suspect in an investigation into a murder. What do you have?"
Detective Small agreed to help Cook County find Gargiulo and take a sample of DNA.
MARIA BRUNO | EL MONTE, CALIF., 2005
In 2002, nearly 10 years after the murder of Tricia Pacaccio, the LAPD caught up with Michael Gargiulo.
Det. Tom small: We got the sample of Mr. Gargiulo's DNA. And me-
Maureen Maher: And he cooperated with that?
Det. Tom small: Not really, but it was done.
The DNA sample was sent to the Police Policing Laboratory of the State of Illinois. The results were staggering – a match. It was Michael Gargiulo's DNA on Tricia's nails. Case closed? Not exactly.
Maureen Maher: Did you think that it was enough to go ahead?
Det. Lou Sala | Cook County, Illinois: Well, I thought that was it. But – I'm not lawyers. … That was explained to me … and the explanation made sense at the time, namely that they – they just wanted some kind of corroborating evidence.
Maureen Maher: They needed something more than the DNA?
Det. Lou Sala: Something more than that.
Because, they said, Michael Gargiulo's DNA could have ended up on Tricia in a way that would have nothing to do with the murder.
Det. Lou Sala: At the time, he was a friend of the family. You know, and you – it should be wondering if this happened by casual contact.
Maureen Maher: And was there occasional contact during the hours before or before this one: she was murdered?
Det. Lou Sala: There was the day before.
On the eve of his murder, Gargiulo was driving with another friend, Scott Olson, when they saw Tricia.
Scott Olson: … We passed the house of Pacaccio, who do we see at the corner of the street to get away from us? There is Tricia. … Mike drives, and he slips, slows, skids. Stand right behind her … and we saw that she was crying. So, she's like, "Hey, give me a ride." Like, "Whoa, OK, of course, come in." So she gets in the car. She said to take her – to bring me to the so-and-so house … so we just – we just drove her. … we filed it, and that was all.
When "48 hours" spoke to Jack Blakey of the Cook County Attorney's Office in 2011, he confirmed that because of this tour, and because Gargiulo had spent time at the family home, he could not to be sure that Gargiulo's DNA on Tricia was from the attack.
Jack Blakey: The evidence is just not there. I wish we could end his family tomorrow.
So, as nothing else attached to the death of Tricia Pacaccio or Ashley Ellerin, Gargiulo was only one guy who had the misfortune to know two different women who had been murdered in the same way. Gargiulo left Hollywood and continued to do what he always did, never staying in one place for too long.
Maureen Maher: How is it that no one is watching this guy?
Det. Lou Sala: I do not know if they tried, but … I thought I understood that he was rather unobtrusive. I think he was on the radar.
In the following years, Gargiulo had several girlfriends and even became a father. In 2005, he moved to the suburbs of El Monte, 20 kilometers east of Hollywood. Then, just before Christmas that same year, in this same neighborhood, there was a murder. The victim was another attractive young woman.
Det. Mark Lillienfeld: We are talking about a 32-pound woman aged 90 pounds … who is helpless, asleep in her bed at home, where she should feel the safest in the world … This attack is the nightmare of all the women.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Homicide Detective, Mark Lillienfeld.
Det. Mark Lillienfeld [at El Monte crime scene]: This is the building where the murder took place. Behind me is apartment no. 20 where Maria Bruno lived. … She had 2 year old twins … and then I think a 4 year old and a 5 year old.
CBS News / LASD
In the months leading up to her death, Maria and her husband had several violent fights, including one in which her husband hit her in the face. She left him and found an apartment in a closed complex.
Det. Mark Lillienfeld: She had chosen this building precisely because it was very secure. … You had to have an access code or a key to pass the door. It was therefore a fairly secure building.
But someone has passed this security.
Det. Mark Lillienfeld: The suspect entered … by the kitchen … It appears from the evidence that he got a weapon in the kitchen.
Maureen Maher: A knife?
Det. Mark Lillienfeld: Correct. … His body was somewhat mutilated. And you, you know, that's it's crap you see in the movies. In real life, it is very rare. It does not happen.
There was very little evidence left, except for a blue cotton slipper discovered in the courtyard in front of Maria Bruno's apartment.
Det. Mark Lillienfeld [at El Monte crime scene]: We're pretty much in the same place where this blue cotton boot was.
Maureen Maher: Right here?
Det. Mark Lillienfeld: Yes, right here. Right here. And it was a little out of place. … In fact, there was a drop of blood on the sole of the boot. … and the DNA tests proved that it was Maria's blood.
The police immediately took a hard look at Bruno's separated husband. There was the story of a turbulent relationship and Maria's blood drops were found in her car. But Maria's husband told the police that earlier in the evening, Maria and he had decided to revive their relationship. Ils sont allés au restaurant, où le responsable a confirmé que Maria s'était coupé un doigt et saignait au moment de partir. Et comme Pacaccio, puis Ellerin, et maintenant Bruno, un autre meurtre pervers a fini par devenir une affaire froide.
Quant à Michael Gargiulo, sa vie romantique était à nouveau dans la tourmente. Il a quitté sa petite amie et son nouveau bébé dans la banlieue L.A. et s'est dirigé vers la plage – Santa Monica. Et une fois de plus, où Gargiulo s'est rendu, une attaque a finalement suivi.
MICHELLE MURPHY | SANTA MONICA, 2008
Le 28 avril 2008, à Santa Monica, un autre cambriolage, un autre assaut brutal. Mais cette attaque changerait tout.
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Mon sergent m'a appelé vers 12 h 30 le matin et m'a demandé de sortir… et de répondre à la scène d'une attaque à l'arme blanche ou d'une tentative de meurtre.
Richard Lewis, sergent de police de l'époque à Santa Monica.
Sgt. Richard Lewis [outside of apartment window]: Il a eu accès à cette fenêtre ouverte de quelques centimètres.
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Et une fois à l'intérieur, il ouvre la porte d'entrée et la met en scène comme une issue de secours. Rentre dans la chambre… où elle dort, et… ce qui la réveille, c'est un couteau qui lui est plongé.
Maureen Maher: Il vient de la poignarder?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Droite. … Elle a été poignardée à plusieurs reprises – à la poitrine, à l'épaule et – et au bras droit. Et… a eu plusieurs blessures aux mains à la main alors qu'elle s'emparait de ce couteau alors qu'il se laissait tomber sur elle.
La victime était Michelle Murphy, âgée de 26 ans..
Maureen Maher: Que peux-tu nous dire d'elle?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Juste une jeune femme incroyable. … Et – juste quelqu'un qui est très résistant et qui a décidé de se battre.
CBS News / Santa Monica P.D.
Tandis que Murphy, qui faisait 5'1 ", se battait pour sa vie, la lame glissait et l’auteur de l’attaque se faisait couper quelque part dans la lutte.
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Et à un moment donné, il y a eu une accalmie dans l'action… et elle a été capable de se mettre debout sous le pied… et de le mettre à la porte.
L’attaquant s’éloigne du lit et sort de la pièce. Saignant abondamment de ses multiples coups de couteau, Murphy court après l'homme cagoulé dans le couloir jusqu'à la porte d'entrée..
Maureen Maher: Lui a-t-il déjà dit quelque chose?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: "Je suis désolé."
Maureen Maher: Il a dit: "Je suis désolé"?
Sgt. Richard Lewis [nodding to affirm]: "Je suis désolé."
Puis il est sorti. Murphy a immédiatement appelé son petit ami qui a appelé le 911:
AMIE À 911: Elle m'a dit qu'elle s'était réveillée et que quelqu'un était sur elle et elle les a chassés et ils sont sortis en courant …
911 OPERATOR: OK. Nous sommes en chemin.
Ensuite, la police appelle Michelle Murphy:
POLICE: OK Quel est votre nom?
MICHELLE MURPHY: Michelle…
C'est très difficile d'entendre ses réponses:
POLICE: Le service des incendies est déjà en route et nous sommes en route… À quoi ressemble cette personne?
MICHELLE MURPHY: Il portait un pantalon et ressemblait à un sweat-shirt à manches longues… Tout était noir…
POLICE: Vous souvenez-vous de la taille de ce gars? Quelle était sa taille?
MICHELLE MURPHY: Il était tout au plus, je sais pas, comme 5 '11 "ou quelque chose comme ça.
Maureen Maher [outside of Murphy’s apartment]: Alors, il sort par cette porte et il y a du sang – sur les marches juste devant la porte d'entrée?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Nous avons du sang sur les marches.
Maureen Maher: D'ACCORD.
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Et puis du sang sur les marches concrètes qui mènent au bas de cette allée et dans l'allée.
Maureen Maher [standing in the alley]: Alors, quelle importance, dans votre enquête et quand vous êtes arrivé cette nuit-là, pensiez-vous que le sang allait être?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Énorme. Huge.
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Environ 25 jours après avoir soumis mes échantillons au laboratoire du crime, un… criminaliste m'a informé que… nous avons en fait un hit, un hit ADN.
Maureen Maher: Et à qui correspond-il?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Michael Gargiulo.
Maureen Maher: En conclusion?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Oui.
Ils ont pu faire le match parce que, souvenez-vous, l'ADN de Gargiulo avait été recueilli pour des tests ADN dans le cas Pacaccio et était déjà au dossier. Et devinez où Gargiulo habitait au moment de l'attaque?
Sgt. Richard Lewis [standing in the alley]: Ce serait le deuxième bâtiment en bas. Et la – première fenêtre serait juste au-dessus de cette poubelle noire que vous voyez sur le côté gauche.
Maureen Maher: He could see right into her bedroom?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: If she were to have the blinds open, that'd be correct.
Maureen Maher: That's pretty scary.
Sgt. Richard Lewis: Yes, absolutely.
Within 24 hours of making that DNA match, Gargiulo was arrested for the assault of Michelle Murphy.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept.
Sgt. Richard Lewis: He was taken into custody.
Maureen Maher: And what was his response?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: His response … was "which agency is this?"
Maureen Maher: What did that say to you?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: That tells me a lot. It tells me that he wasn't sure which crime he was getting charged for.
Maureen Maher: That means there's more than one out there?
Sgt. Richard Lewis: To me that's what that meant. Yes.
Sergeant Lewis was reminded of a conversation he'd once had with Det. Lillienfeld about a similar murder that had happened three years earlier in El Monte, just outside of Los Angeles.
Det. Mark Lillienfeld: I got a call from Sgt. Richard Lewis from the Santa Monica Police Department. … he had a case that was very similar … luckily his victim survived… and he had identified a suspect.
And, it turns out, Gargiulo once lived close enough to Maria Bruno to also watch her. She reported to friends run-ins with the "strange guy across the way."
Maureen Maher: This was her apartment. Where was Gargiulo's located?
Det. Mark Lillienfeld: If you turn around and look, it's right over your shoulder. It's apartment 34.
Maureen Maher: So that is — up just behind that tree? Correct?
Det. Mark Lillienfeld: Correct. Just to right of that tree … so you've got a clear view, obviously from his apartment.
Now, the pieces of the puzzle were finally starting to come together. Determined investigators had discovered more evidence. Remember that blue bootie found near Maria Bruno's front door? In Gargiulo's old apartment just across the way …
Det. Mark Lillienfeld: And sure enough, in the attic of the apartment, we wound up finding a matching bootie, a blue cotton bootie, just like the same one we found at the crime scene … the same manufacture, same make, same model of bootie.
And, in the 2001 murder of Ashley Ellerin, Gargiulo lived only a couple of blocks away from her, too. And, he was frequently seen hanging out with his dog at this park directly across the street from Ashley's home.
Within a month, Michael Gargiulo was also charged with the murders of Ashley Ellerin and Maria Bruno.
In Chicago, when Tricia Pacaccio's family heard that Michael Gargiulo had been arrested in L.A., they were certain he would soon be charged with Tricia's murder; but nothing happened.
Then, in 2011, "48 Hours" ran our first show, "The Boy Next Door," on the so-called Hollywood Ripper and the unsolved murder of Tricia Pacaccio. Almost immediately after the show aired, a witness reached out to correspondent Maureen Maher.
Temer Leary: I watched the show. … and it was a mug shot of Mike.
Temer Leary was one of Michael Gargiulo's bouncer buddies from Hollywood.
Maureen Maher: And did you reach out to Anthony?
Temer Leary: I did. I did. I sent him a text. … "Did you know Mike's a — a serial killer?"
Turns out both Leary and Anthony DiLorenzo had led checkered lives of their own — in and out of jail. But both men were now fathers and seeing Tricia Pacaccio's father on "48 Hours" moved them.
CBS News
Temer Leary: I get emotional because I — I love my children. And, when — when I look at him and I see that video and see to this day, I get a pain in my chest that any man would have to miss and love their child like that.
Maureen Maher: So, you're watching it and we're telling the story, and you have –
Temer Leary: I already know.
Maureen Maher: You already know. You have pieces of the puzzle that we don't even know exist …
Temer Leary: Yeah. … I said, "I have — I have to let somebody know what I know …"
Here's what Leary and DiLorenzo knew: they said back in 2000 when they were working together, Michael Gargiulo told them he had murdered a girl in Chicago.
Anthony DiLorenzo: We were cruising down Sunset … he asked us, w— he's, like, "You guys ever kill anybody?" And … He's, like, "I have." And we're — we're, like, "Shut the — you know, shut up."
Temer Leary [laughs]: Here we go again.
Anthony DiLorenzo: He said he buried this — he goes — he goes, "Yeah, I buried a bitch." … He goes "I left the bitch on the steps for dead."
"48 Hours" put them in touch with Chicago authorities and soon Michael Gargiulo was indicted for the murder of Tricia Pacaccio — 18 years after her death.
ANITA ALVAREZ | THEN-COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY [to reporters on July 7, 2011]: … this new evidence that has just come forward after the "48 Hour" (sic) episode, really coupled with the DNA, we feel at this point that we have sufficient evidence.
But the Pacaccio's search for justice was just beginning. There was a long road ahead full of unexpected twists and turns.
MICHAEL GARGIULO [recorded jail conversation]: "My truth is being 100 percent innocent, being wrongfully charged … all I can do is be calm and fight for my innocence."
THE HOLLYWOOD RIPPER ON TRIAL
Mary Fulginiti | Former federal prosecutor and "48 Hours" consultant: This is not a typical murder case. This is the systematic slaughtering of beautiful women by a serial killer.
Four young women — only one survivor.
Mary Fulginiti: The Hollywood Ripper is one of the most horrible cases I've ever seen.
Mary Fulginiti: This is a man who spied on them, who stalked them, and then brutally stabbed them to death … And that's defendant Michael Gargiulo.
Maureen Maher: What was your reaction when you got a phone call that a witness had come forward to "48 Hours"?
Det. Lou Sala: I was shocked. I —
Maureen Maher: Would you imagine that a television show would be able to help you solve a crime?
Det. Lou Sala: No … but it's never happened to me.
Mary Fulginiti: Frankly, it's— almost a miracle that these cases were linked together
Mary Fulginiti: You say to yourself, "Who could do this?" … You think, "Oh, my God. It's a monster."
In a town known for keeping secrets, the murder trial of Michael Gargiulo, nicknamed the Hollywood Ripper, could reveal a hidden life.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: Tricia Pacaccio, Ashley Ellerin, Michelle Murphy, and Maria Bruno were all young, attractive, and outgoing.
On May 2, 2019, the case against Michael Gargiulo begins. Prosecutors say that he murdered three women and attempted to murder a fourth.
Mary Fulginiti: He staked them out.
Mary Fulginiti: He stalked them. And then he stabbed them brutally.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon says Michael Gargiulo is a serial killer — attacking four women, just for the thrill of it, from 1993 through his arrest in 2008.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: What you will hear is that Michael Gargiulo, for almost 15 years, was watching, always watching. And his hobby was plotting the perfect opportunity to attack women with a knife in and around their homes.
During those years, Gargiulo played high school football, boxed, was a wannabe actor and a repairman.
It has taken Gargiulo longer to go to trial than any other inmate in the history of the L.A. County Jail — nearly 11 years. There have been nearly 100 hearings, he's fired attorneys and even tried to represent himself. But now, with a new high-powered, court-appointed legal team, the wait is over. The prosecution starts with its strongest case and most powerful witness.
Pool/Getty Images
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: Michelle Murphy — in 2008 was stabbed in her bed in her Santa Monica apartment right across the alley from Gargiulo's apartment.
After showing photos from her brutal attack, Michelle Murphy, the only woman who survived this alleged serial killer, is called to the stand.
There were no cameras allowed in court during Murphy's testimony, but "48 Hours" wanted to share some of what was said. Her exact chilling words: "I grabbed at the knife. I wrapped my hands around the blade…." And at some point, the 5'1" Murphy gets her legs up against her chest and shoves the attacker off the bed. She describes how he runs out of the room down the hallway. She goes after him and Murphy says the attacker told her "I am sorry."
Michelle Murphy never saw his face, but noticed he was left-handed. In the struggle, the attacker was also cut, leaving his blood — his DNA — all over her bedroom.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: Gargiulo's blood and DNA were found on Michelle's bedspread and sheet and in the blood trail across the alley.
After Murphy testified, the prosecution turned to the other victims to prove Gargiulo's pattern of stalking and stabbing. Three years before Murphy's attack, Maria Bruno, a mother of four young children, was stabbed 17 times.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: Maria Bruno was stabbed to death in her El Monte residence.
Maria Bruno's body was discovered by her estranged husband Irving, who called 911:
IRVING BRUNO TO 911: There was a pool of blood.
IRVING BRUNO TO 911 [crying]: I'm looking at her right now. She's dead. … She just barely moved here about less than — less than a week ago.
Gargiulo lived right across the way.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: Gargiulo entered Maria's apartment through a window, put on blue surgical booties, and mutilated Maria with a knife as she slept.
The prosecution argues that the pattern and direction of the blood drops show that the killer was left-handed, just like Murphy's attacker, and just like Michael Gargiulo. And this time, the killer left something behind: a blue bootie with critical evidence.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: Detectives located a blue surgical bootie right outside of Maria's front door. … Forensic analysis … showed that there were drops of Maria's blood on the bootie and Gargiulo's DNA was around the elastic band.
Four years before Maria Bruno, there was Ashley Ellerin, a 22-year-old fashion student in Hollywood.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: Gargiulo, who lived within a short distance from Ashley's house and frequented the dog park across from her house, injected himself into Ashley's life.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: On February 21, 2001, within weeks of Gargiulo fixating on Ashley … surveilling her home at odd hours … Ashley Ellerin was found stabbed to death in the hallway just outside her bathroom. Ashley had been stabbed over 47 times.
As the state lays out its explanation of how Ellerin was murdered, an important witness is about to have Hollywood's eyes upon him.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: This is Mr. Kutcher. He's Ashley's friend.
Ashton Kutcher is used to being a star, but not a star witness.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: Mr. Kutcher is part of the chronology of this case that is offered to show you that there was a … very narrow window of opportunity for somebody to get into the house and murder Ashley.
Maureen Maher: Why is Kutcher called as a witness?
Mary Fulginiti | Former federal prosecutor: He's incredibly important to the timeline here, and when the murder possibly occurred. … and he may have been the last person to actually speak to her before she was killed.
Kutcher is asked about his planned date with Ashley Ellerin on February 21, 2001, the evening she was murdered.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: At 8:24 p.m., Ashley talked to Mr. Kutcher on the phone and they confirmed a plan to go out that night,
Ashton Kutcher was running late, so he called Ashley again at 10:15 p.m. to let her know he was on the way. But Ashley didn't pick up. He then drove to her home, knocked on the door but still, got no answer.
Frederick M. Brown/Pool Photo via AP
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: He will testify that at 10:45 p.m., he arrived at the residence … and saw what he thought was spilled wine on the floor. We believe now the evidence will show that was actually blood. And Ashley had already been murdered.
A diagram of Ellerin's home is shown in the courtroom.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: That's her bathroom, where we believe— she had just exited the shower and was getting ready to go out with Mr. Kutcher when she was attacked from behind. And then there was a struggle … in the … area right outside the bathroom where she was stabbed 47 times.
Kutcher testified that after learning about Ashley's murder, he "went to the police, I was like, my fingerprints are on this door. Like I was freaking out."
Although never a suspect, Kutcher was concerned about what he left behind. That's unlike Michael Gargiulo, who was always careful to cover his tracks.
WHAT MADE GARGIULO TICK?
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: The methodical and systematic slaughter of women … that's what this case is about.
The prosecution painted a portrait of Michael Gargiulo throughout his life. He was violent towards women, interested in serial killer Ted Bundy, and studied forensic science.
"Mike was a strange guy," says Mirko Hoffman, a man who now describes himself as Gargiulo's former best friend.
Prosecutor Garrett Dameron [in court]: … told Mirko he could get away with committing crimes because he studied forensics.
Mirko Hoffman: He would go online, whatever he could find about forensics.
Mirko Hoffman: He would learn from people's mistakes … other criminals' mistakes … you know how to get away with a crime … And he told me if he ever got caught committing any crime, he would just lie until he dies. Lie, lie, until you die.
Prosecutor Garrett Dameron [in court]: Michael Gargiulo felt confident, arrogant, dare I say invulnerable…
Prosecutors said Gargiulo also studied a book that taught you how to kill with a knife.
Prosecutor Garrett Dameron [in court]: "The Anarchist Cookbook" talks about knives … the perfect guide to committing some of these crimes. Detailing how you go for the throat.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: We believe the evidence will show that this is what Mr. Gargiulo was doing.
As for Gargiulo's motive, prosecutors described a serial killer with a sexual bent.
Prosecutor Garrett Dameron [in court]: This was somebody who was going to take pleasure in plunging a knife into their victim over and over and over again.
To better understand that, "48 Hours" asked Kris Mohandie to explain. He's a forensic psychologist and expert on serial killers. He is also a consultant to "48 Hours."
Kris Mohandie: Most serial killers are motivated by power … that's at the core of everything …
The prosecution points out that Gargiulo never raped his victims, but he controlled them, and say for Michael Gargiulo, that control itself is a sexual thrill.
Kris Mohandie: … It's control over life and death … So, violence has become sexualized.
According to prosecutors, Gargiulo went after women he found attractive.
Prosecutor Garrett Dameron [in court]: Michael Gargiulo noticed Michelle Murphy, Michael Gargiulo noticed Ashley Ellerin … Michael Gargiulo noticed Maria Bruno.
And he stalked them.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: He watched and waited and collected real-time intelligence on the victims.
Prosecutors say the spying was all part of his power game and his pattern.
Kris Mohandie: You've got all this stalking, this watching, surveilling, and fantasizing going on … and the person is doing this repeatedly to try to satisfy their urges. At some point for some of these individuals it's not enough just to think about it anymore, and they have to move to the next step. They actually have to kill in order to get the same degree of stimulation.
To really make their point, prosecutors took the jury out of court to see where everything happened.
Mary Fulginiti: Bringing the jury to the crime scene is incredibly impactful for them. This brings the case to life. … they actually get to see where … the victim lived, where the defendant lived, how close in proximity it was, see the crime scene.
Jurors saw that Michael Gargiulo lived close to all of his victims — close enough to watch them.
To start with, Gargiulo lived right down the alley from Michelle Murphy.
A few years earlier, he lived within a few hundred feet of Ashley Ellerin. And when he lived in El Monte, his apartment was just across the courtyard from Maria Bruno.
To strengthen their argument and really show how Gargiulo had a clear pattern, they also told jurors about a murder more than 1,800 miles away.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: You will hear that Gargiulo's killing spree started in Chicago in the summer of 1993, almost 26 years ago, when Gargiulo killed his first victim, his neighbor, then 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio.
While Gargiulo is not being tried for Tricia Pacaccio's murder in L.A., prosecutors thought it was essential to tell the jury what happened all those years ago outside Chicago.
Mary Fulginiti: Well, it's introduced here for a very limited purpose … to show that the facts and the pattern in the Pacaccio case in Illinois are similar to the California cases.
It was 1993. Tricia Pacaccio was just 18 years old, coming home late one night in the Chicago suburbs.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: Gargiulo, who was athletic and had trained in martial arts and boxing, grabbed Tricia, who was very petite, snapped her arm, and stabbed her repeatedly in the left breast, arm and chest … left her bleeding to death on the doorstep of the family home, and fled.
Rick Pacaccio | Tricia's father: 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 by the side door and when it saw it was her. I dropped the coffee cup.
Rick Pacaccio: I died right then and there.
At the time, Michael Gargiulo was a 17-year-old kid living around the corner. He was one of Tricia's brother's closest friends.
When the murder happened, Gargiulo wasn't even a suspect. And the case went cold for years. By 2003, there was new DNA technology.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: Eventually, Gargiulo's DNA was found on Tricia's fingernails.
Back then, prosecutors in Chicago did not think that DNA alone was enough to charge him, and the case stayed dormant.
In 2011, "48 Hours" reported on the case and a witness came forward to Maureen Maher.
Temer Leary: I watched the show.
Temer Leary and Anthony DiLorenzo had once worked with Michael Gargiulo as bouncers in the late '90s at a Hollywood nightclub. They say Michael Gargiulo confessed to them one day when they were driving. Telling them that he had killed a girl in Illinois. At the time it seemed too crazy to be true. Gargiulo had told them a lot of stories.
CBS News
Anthony DiLorenzo: He said he buried this — he goes — he goes, "Yeah, I buried a bitch." … He goes "I left the bitch on the steps for dead."
"48 Hours" put them in touch with Chicago authorities and shortly after, Gargiulo was charged with the murder of Tricia Pacaccio — 18 years after her death. Now they are key witnesses at Gargiulo's Los Angeles trial.
Prosecutor Dan Akemon [in court]: In 1997, Gargiulo told his friend, Temer Leary, quote — "I stabbed up the girl" – end quote. … Also, in 1997, Mr. Gargiulo told his friend Anthony DiLorenzo, "I actually left the bitch on the step for dead."
Maureen Maher: They asked you to identify Gargiulo in the room. Did you make eye contact with Mike?
Anthony DiLorenzo: I did, absolutely. He did not want to look at me. … He knew every word that came outta my mouth was true. And there was just no doubt about it.
Each of the Pacaccio family members were called to testify, retelling the awful details of finding Tricia on the doorstep of their home. They also described their relationship with her alleged killer.
Maureen Maher: What was it like for you to be in the room with him?
Tommy Pacaccio | Tricia's brother: Oh, it's — it's — in the room, it's very — very hard. … It's difficult. I mean, it never— something like that never goes away.
The Pacaccios can only hope that this trial will bring justice for Ashley Ellerin, Maria Bruno and Michelle Murphy, but the defense has another take. They point the finger in a different direction and away from Michael Gargiulo.
RAISING DOUBT
Mary Fulginiti They just have to poke holes. They've gotta raise any doubt. They're gonna throw everything at it, the kitchen sink, and they're gonna hope that some of that will resonate, and it'll raise just— a seed, a kernel of doubt in one of those jurors. And that's all they need.
That's something accused serial killer Michael Gargiulo knows:
MICHAEL GARGIULO [recorded jail conversation]: My truth is being 100 percent innocent, being wrongfully charged.
In recorded jail conversations with "48 Hours" between 2009 and 2011, Gargiulo maintained his innocence and a desire to fight the charges:
MICHAEL GARGIULO [recorded jail conversation]: … it's a matter of waiting and knowing that there will be victory, because I know I'm innocent, and — it's just now, putting it down. Putting it down in the courtroom, and just being patient.
In the courtroom, his defense attorney Daniel Nardoni has a plan: argue someone else besides his client could have killed these women. He starts with the Ashley Ellerin case.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: There's not one single witness called by the prosecution … that saw Michael Gargiulo go into the house.
Mary Fulginiti: In the Ellerin case, despite all the efforts they put into scouring that — that crime scene, they came up with zero. Zero DNA, zero … physical evidence linking him, zero trace evidence, no eyewitnesses, no fingerprints. Really, they had nothing.
Nardoni focuses on the prosecution's celebrity witness Ashton Kutcher. To everyone's surprise, he says Kutcher is really the defense team's "star witness" because Kutcher's account of that evening points to a very specific suspect and it's not Michael Gargiulo. Instead, it's the manager of Ellerin's rented house — aspiring actor Mark Durbin.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: I think there's suspicion that Mr. Durbin did this murder.
Mark Durbin testified he was actually having an affair with Ashley and admits they were intimate that very evening — just hours before Kutcher arrived. The defense argues that at the time of her murder, Durbin was at Ashley's house. Their proof? Ashton Kutcher's cellphone records.
Mary Fulginiti: Ashton Kutcher calls her at 8:24 p.m. ,we know. There's a phone record.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: He calls her at 8:24 p.m. … Miss Ellerin stated "I just got out of the shower."
Mary Fulginiti: Mark Durbin testifies that he was there when she was taking a shower.
And while he was there, he says Ellerin got a phone call, then he left. Nardoni insists it must have been Kutcher's call at 8:24 p.m. And that is critical, because a neighbor testifies that around 8:25 or 8:30 p.m. he heard something.
Mary Fulginiti: He hears horrible screaming coming from Ashley's home.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: He hears two screams from a woman.
Mary Fulginiti: That puts Mark Durbin possibly right in the thick of it at the time of the murder.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: Mark Durbin was the only person known to have been with Ashley Ellerin — the last person while she was still alive.
But Los Angeles detectives cleared Durbin. He was cooperative and they didn't believe he had a motive. Still, Nardoni may have succeeded in raising some doubt with the jury.
Maureen Maher: The defense makes a very big deal about Mark Durbin.
Mary Fulginiti: They did a pretty good job, I thought.
And with that, the defense was on to the other case where they saw an opportunity: the killing of Maria Bruno — same argument, thin evidence.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: Not a one single person saw Mr. Gargiulo leaving the house.
But there was that blue bootie with a drop of Maria Bruno's blood on it and Gargiulo's DNA on the elastic band. Nardoni reminds the jury Gargiulo, who lived across the courtyard, was a repair man.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: We all know that Michael used booties all the time.
He says the bootie probably dropped out of Gargiulo's pocket as he was returning from work and picked up a drop of Maria's blood that was already on the sidewalk.
Maria Bruno's body had been mutilated, and again, Nardoni offered up an alternate suspect. He pointed the finger at Maria's estranged husband, Irving.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: The person that did this … what's it tell you? [making a stabbing motion] "I hate you, I hate you. I hate you!" Whoever did this made it personal.
Nardoni paints a picture of a fractured marriage and details a previous fight between the two.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: Irving Bruno grabbed his wife out of the car, threw her to the ground, and with a closed fist, punched her in the face.
Mary Fulginiti: He's got a terrible history of physically abusing her that came out. She said she was scared of him.
In fact, Maria Bruno had recently left him, but Irving told the police that on that night she was killed, he and Maria had rekindled their relationship.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: Irving Bruno was the last person with Maria Bruno while she was still alive.
That night, he told police they went out to a restaurant together, returned to her place, were intimate and then he left. A neighbor says she heard crying at around 1:30 a.m.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: And who's down there at 1:30 in the morning? You know who. Irving Bruno.
And police did find drops of Maria's blood in Irving's car.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: They found it on Irving Bruno's baseball cap, a droplet, they found it on the passenger seat, they found it on the center console.
But a restaurant manager testified he had seen Maria cut her finger earlier that night. Police cleared Irving Bruno. But the defense still tried to persuade the jury.
Mary Fulginiti: The defense, though, is still going to try to raise doubt … Just because they were cleared didn't mean they didn't possibly do it.
The defense also drills down on the Tricia Pacaccio case, the 1993 murder outside Chicago. Everyone agrees it was Gargiulo's DNA on Tricia's fingernails. But how did it get there? Nardoni says it could have come from casual contact. Gargiulo had been friends with Tricia's brother and Tricia had been in Gargiulo's van the day before she was killed.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: I have a theory … and it is this. That Tricia sits in the backseat of the family van, you know, she touches it, her clothes pick it up — potentially Mr. Gargiulo's DNA.
To find out how likely that is, "48 Hours" asked Nathan Lents, a forensic expert at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Maureen Maher: Let's talk about — it's a leather armrest in a car. I have my arm there. You come and put your arm on anytime afterwards. What's the likelihood that you are going to pick up some of my DNA on you, and keep it on for 24 hours, 36 hours?
Nathan Lents: So, what we're talking about now is a secondary transfer. … A day later? I've never seen a secondary transfer that would last that long. There's just not enough cells that would survive, and especially on your arm, which is touching other things, you're putting on and off your clothes. That rubs off the cells pretty quickly.
And he says casual contact is even more unlikely because, at trial, the scientist who matched Gargiulo's DNA to Tricia Pacaccio's fingernails said it was actually a 50/50 mixture of Tricia and Gargiulo's DNA. And that is significant.
Nathan Lents: Casual contact will leave a few cells here and there. … A 50/50 mixture means, in almost all cases, that there was a lot of DNA, a lot of cells from both parties.
Maureen Maher: That would require contact?
Nathan Lents: That would require extensive contact … It looks to me that the — defendant was scratched by those fingernails. That's what it looks like to me.
While there may have been some doubt about the power of that DNA evidence, no one disagrees that the DNA in the case of the woman who survived, Michelle Murphy, belongs to Michael Gargiulo.
Mary Fulginiti: His DNA is all over the place. So, they've gotta somehow figure out, "OK, what am I gonna do now to defend this particular charge?"
The defense's argument surprises everyone.
GARGIULO'S STATE OF MIND
Prosecutor Garrett Dameron [in court]: Michelle Murphy, because of her strength and courage allowed investigators to work backwards and piece this entire case together.
She is the sole surviving victim. And it is Gargiulo's DNA that is found all over Murphy's apartment. It's a problem defense attorneys Daniel Nardoni and Dale Rubin must address head on.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: And we know that the evidence in this — is stronger. It's much stronger.
Michelle Murphy testified that she never saw her attacker's face, but she did notice he was left-handed. And there were those words Michelle heard her attacker utter as he ran out the door: "I am sorry."
Dale Rubin [in court]: Michelle Murphy is the only count in which the prosecution has shown that Mr. Gargiulo was in her apartment and attacked her.
In a surprising move, Michael Gargiulo's attorneys do not deny that he attacked Murphy but insist that he wasn't in his right mind when he did it.
Dale Rubin [in court]: She says that she's fighting off Mr. Gargiulo, when all of a sudden he cuts himself … He stands up, he, like, comes out of a fog … says, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," and runs out. … he didn't know where he was… didn't know what he was doing.
And to prove it, the defense calls only two witnesses at trial: mental health experts.
Dale Rubin [in court]: Both of them have diagnosed Mr. Gargiulo with a mental disease or disorder. … He can't premeditate. He can't deliberate. He can't have malice of forethought.
The defense says when Gargiulo attacked Murphy, it was as if another personality had taken over as if he was possessed.
Dale Rubin [in court]: … an experience of "possession".
Michael Gargiulo, they claim, suffers from dissociative identity disorder.
Kris Mohandie: Dissociative identity disorder used to be called multiple personality disorder. … there's a split … whereby they may not have an awareness of when they're doing certain things. … this becomes the go-to defense because you can say, "I was there, but I wasn't."
Mary Fulginiti: They're just saying that they didn't have the mental state to be able to commit … horrible crime.
Maureen Maher: And how often is that true?
Mary Fulginiti: Oh, it's very infrequently. I mean the only times I've seen it actually be successful is when the person was truly like a schizophrenic, had other voices in his head.
The defense can only hope that they have managed to convince the jury. After a three-month long trial, 79 witnesses, the presentation of some 350 exhibits, and that field trip to the crime scenes, closing statements begin.
Prosecutor Garrett Dameron again lays out the similarities among the victims…and the attacks.
Prosecutor Garrett Dameron [in court]: It was four female victims, all young, attractive, and outgoing … These attacks, these murders, took a great deal of strength and athleticism … Each of these attacks … were all extraordinarily cold-blooded, tortuous … Each of these victims were ambushed … no evidence that there was any theft … Knife is the weapon of choice.
Twenty similarities between the attacks of the four women are described.
Prosecutor Garrett Dameron [in court]: Those common characteristics of these crimes point to one man, one killer, Michael Gargiulo
Prosecutor Garrett Dameron [in court]: You know about the DNA.
Adding to their argument is the forensic evidence, with Gargiulo's DNA found all over Michelle Murphy's apartment, on Tricia Pacaccio's fingernails, and that slight amount on the bootie near Maria Bruno's home.
Mary Fulginiti: The prosecution is trying to lump these all together. Why? Because they want to show that it was one attacker. That the pattern, the practice, the, you know, everything that was done was similar.
Daniel Nardoni | Defense attorney [in court]: You have to judge each case separately.
Mary Fulginiti: On the other hand, the defense is trying to do just the opposite. They wanna separate these out. They wanna show that, "No, no, no. One's in Illinois. You know, yes, you may have some in California. But they're separated by years and time. They're not just one attacker.
Daniel Nardoni [in court]: You can find him not guilty on all these crimes. Or you can find him — guilty of some crimes and not guilty — of other crimes.
Mary Fulginiti: The defense just needs to plant a seed of doubt in one of those jurors.
FINDING JUSTICE
The three-month trial of Michael Gargiulo has captured the public's attention.
For the families of the victims, the wait for justice has seemed endless. Finally, the finish seems to be in sight, as the jury begins its deliberations on August 12, 2019.
Mary Fulginiti: This was — probably one of the worst cases. And I've worked in this area for a long time as a prosecutor and defense attorney. … And I've never seen anything this horrific. So, for this jury to have to see all this evidence … and day in and day out for three months to think about this case, and what happened to these victims, is really challenging.
But in what might seem like a short time, given such a long trial, after three-and-a-half days of deliberations, the verdicts are in:
COURT CLERK: We the jury in the above and titled action find the defendant, Michael Gargiulo, guilty of the crime of attempted murder…
Guilty of attacking Michelle Murphy.
COURT CLERK: Guilty of the crime of first-degree murder.
Guilty of murdering Maria Bruno.
COURT CLERK: … guilty of the crime of first-degree murder
And guilty of murdering Ashley Ellerin.
Michael Gargiulo sat without emotion, as he heard the verdicts.
Outside the courtroom, Maureen Maher immediately called the Paccacios with the news. "Hi. It's all done. It's all done here. And now it's your turn."
Maureen Maher [after the phone call]: She's sobbing, sobbing, sobbing. She's so grateful that they all got their justice and that now it's Tricia's turn.
Remember Tricia's case was included in California only as supporting evidence of Michael Gargiulo's criminal pattern. It is up to Illinois officials in Cook County to try the case there.
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Diane Pacaccio | Tricia's mother: We have to make sure that Cook County now does the job that they need to continue to do because they need to prosecute him for what he did to my daughter.
Maureen Maher: Are you confident … that he will be brought back to Chicago and he will stand trial?
Tommy Pacaccio | Tricia's brother: Talking with the California attorneys and our attorneys in Cook County, I feel confident.
The Pacaccios are cautiously optimistic. As they say, they have been let down by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office before. The family has criticized that office for being slow to charge Gargiulo when there was that DNA match in 2003. When "48 Hours" spoke with Jack Blakey from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in 2011, he told us that DNA match alone wasn't enough to charge Gargiulo.
Maureen Maher: If there was a DNA match to Gargiulo why hasn't he been arrested?
Jack Blakely: The DNA match is consistent with casual contact. … we still cannot establish based on the DNA alone that he was present at the time of the killing as opposed to a different time.
But it came out at the Los Angeles trial that an Illinois forensic scientist submitted her findings to Cook County prosecutors in 2003, that it was a 50/50 mixture of Tricia and Gargiulo's DNA on Tricia's fingernails. Remember, the expert from John Jay College of Criminal Justice told us that usually signifies extensive contact.
Nathan Lents | Forensic expert: A 50/50 mixture means, in almost all cases, that there was a lot of DNA, a lot of cells from both parties … that would require extensive contact.
In almost all cases, extensive contact. So why not bring charges?
Nathan Lents: A lot of prosecutors are hesitant to bring a case when there's not at least one other piece of evidence that helps complete the picture of how the DNA got there
Maureen Maher: Does it bother you that the charges weren't filed?
Det. Lou Sala | Cook County, Illinois: Oh, absolutely. … We — we had him in 2003.
Maureen Maher: You had him?
Det. Lou Sala: Yeah, but it didn't work out.
For Lou Sala, the lead detective on the Pacaccio case, the focus now is seeking closure to the case that has haunted him through the latter part of his career, and into retirement.
Det. Lou Sala: Now that L.A. is done, they fully intend to … extradite him back here … And I think It has to be done for the Pacaccio family. … Their verdict is still coming.
But the trial in L.A. did give the Pacaccios a chance to meet the men who changed the course of Tricia's case. Temer Leary and Anthony DiLorenzo, who came forward with Gargiulo statements. Evidence that pushed authorities to finally charge Gargiulo with Tricia's murder.
Maureen Maher: So, you have both met the Pacaccios now?
Anthony DiLorenzo: Oui.
Temer Leary: Yeah.
Maureen Maher: What was that like?
Temer Leary: I — it was hard. … I see outta the corner of my eye, I see them. And I spun around. And I, like, you know, "Rick?" And he instantly knew who I was. He hopped up and … gave me a hug.
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Anthony DiLorenzo: I feel for them so much. Th — you know, they were just sent — through the wringer the whole time.
Diane Pacaccio: It's always painful. … it will always be. I just tell people it's something that I have to live with now and deal with now. And try to cope with for the rest of my life.
Tricia's remembrance book from her funeral provides bittersweet memories.
Maureen Maher [looking at book]: And so there's family in here obviously, and lots of friends. I mean, hundreds of people.
It's filled with kind comments about their beloved daughter, but also this:
Maureen Maher: … back here, what is that name?
Diane Pacaccio: Michael Gargiulo signed that.
It has been a 26 year-long journey from when that book was signed by the man the Pacaccios now believe killed their daughter. Gargiulo is now a convicted murderer of two other women — women the Pacaccios, through Tricia, helped to find justice.
Diane Pacaccio: She helped these other girls. She was a very — always liked to help people. … And I just want justice to get done because that's what my daughter deserves.
The penalty phase of Michael Gargiulo's Los Angeles trial is scheduled to begin on October 7, 2019. He will be sentenced to either the death penalty or life in prison.
Cook County officials intend to try Gargiulo in Illinois for the murder of Tricia Pacaccio
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