Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - Ashton Kutcher's Date Was Murdered - The Michael Gargiulo Story

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

Michael Gargiulo, the so-called Hollywood Ripper, was a predator who operated in plain sight, drifting through Los Angeles with the easy confidence of a man no one suspected. His violence began in 1993, when he murdered 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio in Illinois at just sixteen, then followed him west years later. In Hollywood, he befriended and fixated on 22-year-old fashion student Ashley Ellerin, stabbing her to death in 2001 the night she had a date planned with Ashton Kutcher. Four years after that, he murdered Santa Monica resident Maria Bruno with the same frenzied knife attack style.

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And Michael, he's around 17 years old when this story starts and he's living in Illinois. And Michael, he's a creepy-ass guy. Like, he's violent and he tends to get obsessed with women that he finds attractive. One day, in 1993, he decides that he's going to act on these violent tendencies and murder, just some, random pretty girl. And his first target is going to be this girl, his friend's sister. And I don't know if he plans all this out or if it's like a spur of the moment thing. But one night, he gets a knife and he goes to his friend's house, which they're like neighbors, so they live pretty close. And he hides in the bushes outside the back doorstep. Sometime later, his friend's sister comes home from a night out. And suddenly,

bam, he jumps out of the bushes and he starts stabbing her. And he stabs her, and he stabs her 12 times and this unalives her. Then he leaves. Later, police are called and they show up and they start investigating. But they can't seem to find any solid leads or any evidence against anyone. So the case goes cold and Michael never gets caught. And about five years go by and it's now 1998. And Michael decides to leave Illinois and move all the way to Los Angeles, California. And there he tries to be an actor and a model, but eventually he gets a job as an AC repair man. And a few more years go by, and it's now 2001, and Michael's like 24 years old now, and he decides to strike again. He unfortunately finds another woman who he takes an unhealthy interest in, her name is Ashley,

and Ashley's 22, she lives like a block from Michael. And one day, her car gets a flat tire. I assume that she's parked at home. Michael, he sees this and he approaches her and he offers to fix it for her. And of course, she's nice to him because, you know, she's a nice person. But from that moment on, he becomes obsessed with her. And he starts kind of stalking her. Like he'll park outside her place at weird hours and just wait, or he'll often just show up to her apartment unannounced. And one night, I guess his obsession becomes too much for him and he decides that he's going to murder her. Here's the

thing about this night though. On this night, Ashley actually has a date scheduled, a date with an up-and-coming actor named Ashton Coutcher. Now, it's only 2001 at this point, but Ashton, he's fairly well-known during this time. Like that 70s show, it's in his fourth season, and it's doing well-doin-well. So Ashley is actually dating a well-known actor. Although they haven't been dating very long, like maybe a few weeks, and I don't think they're serious or anything. But But anyways, on this night, Ashton is supposed to take her to a Grammy's after party. So she's at home getting ready. And while she's getting ready, Michael shows up to her apartment.

Maybe she let him in. Maybe he let himself in. We're not really sure. But either way, he's there. And boom, he pulls out a knife. And he starts stabbing her. And he stabs her 47 times. And she, unfortunately, doesn't make it.

And so Michael flees the scene. About an hour later, Ashton shows up, because, you know, he's ready to take her out. So he goes up to her door and he knocks. But even though all her lights appear to be on, she doesn't answer. So he tries the door handle, but it's locked. So he looks in through the window. And the place looks a little messy, but they are apparently remodeling the apartment. So Ashton doesn't think much of it. Then through the window, he can see a red substance on the floor near the entrance to her bedroom. And it's blood, but he assumes that it's probably just spilled wine.

And at this point, Ashton is thinking, man, she ghosted me. Because he showed up a little late to their date, so he's thinking that she got mad and just like went out with someone else. So he leaves. The next day, Ashley's roommate finds her body. And so police come out and they start investigating this whole thing. And of course, they question Ashton, but they rule him out as a suspect pretty quickly.

However, some of the people in Ashley's circle start telling police about this guy who they had seen around recently, a guy who would sometimes just randomly show up to her place uninvited, a guy named Michael. So police look into Michael, and he's a creepy dude, but they don't really have any evidence to link him to the crime. So again, the case goes cold. And four more years pass. So we're now in 2005, and so far, he's got to be. He's gotten away with two murders, so he's probably feeling pretty invincible at this point. And it's around this time that he meets this woman, Maria.

And Maria's 32, and she's Michael's neighbor. They actually live in the same apartment complex. And pretty quickly, Michael becomes infatuated with Maria. And like the women before her, he starts stalking her as well. And eventually, one night, he decides that she is going to be his next victim. So he waits. And once he believes that she's asleep, he puts on shoe covers over his shoes. Like the little disposable ones, like the kind that contractors and repair people wear sometimes,

so they don't get their dirty shoes on your carpet. So I guess he puts these on because he doesn't want to leave footprints at the crime scene. So then he goes up to her apartment and he opens her kitchen window and he breaks in. And there, in the kitchen, he grabs a butcher knife. And then he sneaks into her bedroom where she's asleep. And boom, he stabs her. over and over again, 17 times until she's passed away. Then he flees the scene.

Later, police show up and they investigate the murder. And they search the area and they actually find Michael's shoe covers not too far from Maria's apartment. It looks like he just took them off. And they take these shoe covers and they test them for DNA and they find some. And some of that DNA is Maria's. But some of it is also someone else's. Police just aren't sure who yet. So again, this case goes cold, just like it always does.

And I'm pretty sure police are frustrated by this point. I mean, who the hell even knows if they're going to catch this guy? Until. Three more years go by, and it's now 2008, and Michael decides to strike again. And that is when he somehow meets this woman, Michelle. Michelle, she's another neighbor of his, although I believe he, he lives in a different apartment complex this time, but he meets Michelle and he becomes obsessed with her and he starts stalking her. And he lives pretty close to her, so it's not hard for him to do.

And so his creepy ass is always kind of waiting outside her apartment, ready to say hi to her, like, hey, where am I hug at? Like he's that kind of guy. One night, he decides it's time to strike again. So again, he waits until it's late and she falls asleep and then he breaks into her apartment. Then he sneaks into her bedroom and he pulls out a knife. And bam, he starts stabbing her over and over again. And Michelle, of course, wakes up and she panics. And in her panic state, pow, she kicks him off of her.

And when she does, Michael accidentally cuts his arm, which starts bleeding. And Michael, I guess he can't believe that she's fighting back. And he actually runs away saying, I'm sorry! And he leaves her apartment as fast as he can. And when he does, he leaves a trail of blood, from where he accidentally cut himself. So Michelle calls the police, and they come out and they investigate. And they take that blood that he left, and they put it in their database, and boom, the DNA

is a match for Michael. And so, bam, the police go and they arrest him. Here's his mugshot. And soon, they're able to match his DNA to the DNA on the shoe covers, which links him to Maria's murder. Also, they're able to eventually connect him to the two previous murder. as well. And so ultimately he goes to trial and he's found guilty and he gets sentenced to death.