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“Hollywood Ripper” Michael Gargiulo was sentenced to death in California on Friday for the home invasion murders of two women, including Ashton Kutcher’s girlfriend.
Los Angeles Superior Court judge Larry P. Fidler called the crimes of Gargiulo, 45, “vicious and frightening” as he passed sentence.
“Everywhere Mr. Gargiulo went, death and destruction followed him,” Fidler said.
Gargiulo, a former bouncer, air conditioner repairer and aspiring actor, was convicted in August 2019 of the 2001 murder of Ashley Ellerin, 22, and the 2005 murder of Maria Bruno, 32.
He was also convicted of attempted murder in an attack on a Santa Monica woman in 2008.
Ellerin, who was found in her Hollywood home with 47 stab wounds, was scheduled to have a date with Kutcher, then a promising young actor.
Kutcher testified during Gargiulo’s murder trial that he was late to pick up Ellerin, but called her repeatedly to let her know he was late.
When he finally arrived at her door in Hollywood Hills, she did not respond. Kutcher testified that he thought he was lifted – but in fact she was killed by Gargiulo.
Kutcher said he looked out a window and saw what he believed to be red wine spilled on the floor before leaving, assuming she was already out.
Prosecutors said Gargiulo was targeting attractive young women who lived near him and dubbed him “The Boy Next Door Killer”. But he earned the nicknames “The Chiller Killer” and “The Hollywood Ripper” from the media.
Gargiulo is set to be extradited to Illinois to stand trial for the 1993 murder of 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio.
With post wires
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