“Hollywood Ripper” Michael Gargiulo was sentenced to death in California Friday for the home-invasion murders of two women, including Ashton Kutcher’s then-gal pal.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler called 45-year-old Gargiulo’s crimes “vicious and frightening” as he handed down the sentence.
“Everywhere that Mr. Gargiulo went, death and destruction followed him,” Fidler said.
Gargiulo, a former bouncer, air-conditioner repairman and aspiring actor, was convicted in August 2019 of the 2001 murder of Ashley Ellerin, 22, and the 2005 murder of 32-year-old Maria Bruno.
He was also found guilty of attempted murder in a 2008 attack on a Santa Monica woman.
Ellerin, who was found in her Hollywood home with 47 stab wounds, had been due to go on a date with Kutcher, then an up-and-coming young actor.
Kutcher testified at Gargiulo’s murder trial that he was late to pick Ellerin up, but had been repeatedly calling her to let her know he was delayed.
When he ultimately arrived at her door in Hollywood Hills, she didn’t answer. Kutcher testified that he figured he’d been stood up — but in fact, she had been slain by Gargiulo.
Kutcher said he had looked through a window and seen what he thought was red wine spilled on the floor before leaving, assuming she had already gone out.
Prosecutors said Gargiulo targeted young, good-looking women that lived near him and dubbed him “The Boy Next Door Killer.” But he earned the nicknames “The Chiller Killer” and “The Hollywood Ripper” from media outlets.
Gargiulo is expected to be extradited to Illinois to stand trial for the 1993 slaying of 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio.
With Post wires
