GUILTY CA/IL - MICHAEL GARGIULO: The Hollywood Ripper

[Daphne1972]

Re the picture of unknown woman, what IS that blue thing left upper corner? Art? An arrow? And that street light, way to the right, is that hanging? Typical for an area?

 

[YESorNO]

'Hollywood Ripper' Suspect Allegedly Waited for 'Perfect Opportunity' to Kill Women: Prosecutors

June 06, 2019

"All four women were young, good-looking and had a zest for life....

...what these women also had in common was they all lived near Michael Gargiulo,” prosecutor Dan Akemon said during opening statements in the trial of alleged “Hollywood Ripper” serial killer Michael Gargiulo.

“He targeted them for murder and … attacked all of them with a knife,” Akemon told the jury.

He “watched and waited” for “ the perfect opportunity” to kill in “blitz-style knife attacks and then escape detection,” Akemon said...."

'Hollywood Ripper' Suspect Allegedly Waited for 'Perfect Opportunity' to Kill Women: Prosecutors

 

[YESorNO]

‘Hollywood Ripper’s’ Criminal History In Glenview
Suspect In 1993 Murder Here Was Also Arrested For Burglary

June 19, 2019

"Alleged serial killer and former Glenview resident Michael Gargiulo, whose murder trial recently made national headlines, has a criminal history in the village dating back to the 1990s.

Glenview Police Dept. records obtained by the Journal & Topics through a Freedom of Information Act request show that Gargiulo was arrested in Glenview in 1996 and 1997....

Also known as the “Hollywood Ripper”, Gargiulo is currently on trial in Los Angeles for the 2001 murder of 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin, the 2005 murder of 32-year-old Maria Bruno and the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy in 2008. When actor Ashton Kutcher testified in the trial last month, he said he had unknowingly witnessed the scene of Ellerin’s murder through a window of her home shortly after she was killed.

In 2011, former Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced that Gargiulo had been charged in the 1993 murder of 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio, a resident of unincorporated Glenview. Though he was not charged with the crime in 1993, Alvarez said DNA evidence and witnesses who claimed Gargiulo confessed to the murder led to him being charged while he was already imprisoned in California.

Gargiulo’s Illinois trial is expected to begin after his trial in California — where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty — has concluded...."

https://www.journal-topics.com/articles/hollywood-rippers-criminal-history-in-glenview/

(Tricia Pacaccio)

 

[YESorNO]

'Hollywood Ripper' murder trial judge and jury visit the home where Michael Gargiulo 'stabbed Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend to death 47 times'

21 June 2019

"The judge and jury presiding over the trial of the ‘Hollywood Ripper’ visited several sights where three women were murdered and another attempted

The group’s grisly day out included a guided tour outside the home of where Ashton Kutcher’s ex-girlfriend Ashley Ellerin was stabbed 47 times

They were also taken to where Maria Bruno was killed in 2005 and taken to the Santa Monica apartment complex of Michelle Murphy, the only survivor

All of victims lived in close proximity to where Gargiulo lived at the time, earning the defendant the nickname the ‘boy next door killer’

Gargiulo’s first alleged victim, 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio, lived just 550 feet from him in Glenview, Illinois, when she too was butchered to death

The trial has now entered its seventh day, with testimony to continue Monday ..."

'Hollywood Ripper' murder trial judge and jury visit where Ashton Kutcher's girlfriend was killed | Daily Mail Online

 

[YESorNO]

Surviving victim of ‘Hollywood Ripper‘ tells how she ‘awoke naked to find him stabbing her‘

July 12, 2019

"Michelle Murphy, 37, claims Michael Gargiulo stabbed her ‘seven or eight times‘ during an attack at her Santa Monica apartment in April 2008

The lone surviving victim of the ‘Hollywood Ripper‘ struggled to fight back tears in court today as she told of how she woke up naked in bed to find a hooded attacker straddling her and repeatedly stabbing her with a serrated knife.

Michelle Murphy, 37, claims Michael Gargiulo stabbed her ‘seven or eight times‘ as she ‘grabbed the knife with both hands to try to stop him‘ during the 2008 attack, she told a Los Angeles courtroom....

During Murphy‘s more than two hours of dramatic testimony, the jury was shown graphic photographs of the deep and bloody gashes inflicted to her right arm, chest and hands – wounds she still bears the scars of today....

Assistant district attorney Garrett Dameron played the jury a recording of Murphy‘s 911 call in which she cries and sobs as she tells the police about her terrifying encounter with a would-be killer who had entered her apartment by cutting the screening on an open window in her living room.

The jury was also shown pictures of her blood-spattered sheets and comforter, a trail of blood along the apartment hallway, bloodstains on her front door and a bloody hand-print on the floor where Murphy had put her hand down to steady herself ‘when I felt like I was going to pass out,‘ after the attack....

Gargiulo has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and an attempted-murder charge stemming from attacks in the Los Angeles area between 2001 and 2008.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. He will be tried separately for Pacaccio‘s murder in Illinois in 1993. "

Surviving victim of ‘Hollywood Ripper‘ tells how she ‘awoke naked to find him stabbing her‘ – Easton Caller

 

[YESorNO]

Emotional Testimony as ‘Hollywood Ripper’ Trial Winds Down

July 30, 2019

"LOS ANGELES (CN) – Yadira Reyes’ aunt called her sometime in 2015 to say police shared photos of her on the news and were looking for her. The photos showed Yadira’s face pressed against the face of a man she dated for about six months a decade earlier.

She was 26 when they met. The news called him a suspected serial killer, charged with the murders of three women and the violent attack of a fourth. Police thought the woman in the photo – Reyes – was one of his victims.

In many ways she was. Earlier this month Reyes testified the last time she saw Michael Gargiulo, he forced her into the back of his work van and raped her while they were on a date.

...Reyes’ testimony is part of a long list of witnesses called to the stand during the three-month capital murder trial of Gargiulo in Los Angeles....

Other witnesses in the trial have included medical experts, investigators, actor Ashton Kutcher – who had a date with one of the victims – and Gargiulo’s childhood friends, including the younger brother of the woman who prosecutors say was Gargiulo’s first victim....

Neuropsychologist Deborah Budding testified for the defense, revealing that Gargiulo was in special education for most of primary school due to behavioral issues. She read from an intelligence report on Gargiulo’s capabilities as a child that said he tended to be angry and engaged in power struggles with adults.

Another defense witness, psychologist Vianne Castellano, diagnosed Gargiulo with dissociative identity disorder after multiple interviews with him at the Los Angeles County men’s jail. The diagnosis did not sit well with Gargiulo.
“He did not believe he had a mental illness,” testified Castellano. “He was upset that I was pursuing this. He said I was a liar. He was adamant about that.”

Throughout the trial, jurors have listened to prosecutors argue Gargiulo fatally stabbed Ashley Ellerin, 22, nearly 50 times as she stepped out of her bathroom in 2001 and that he murdered and mutiliated Maria Bruno, 32, in her El Monte apartment in 2005. The final victim, Michelle Murphy, woke up in bed with a man on top of her, bringing a knife down into her chest. She was able to kick him off....

Closing arguments are expected to begin Aug. 6. After the Los Angeles jury reaches a verdict, Garigulo will be tried in Illinois for the murder of Tricia Pacaccio."

Emotional Testimony as 'Hollywood Ripper' Trial Winds Down

 

[Gardenista]

Emotional Testimony as ‘Hollywood Ripper’ Trial Winds Down

July 30, 2019

"LOS ANGELES (CN) – Yadira Reyes’ aunt called her sometime in 2015 to say police shared photos of her on the news and were looking for her. The photos showed Yadira’s face pressed against the face of a man she dated for about six months a decade earlier.

She was 26 when they met. The news called him a suspected serial killer, charged with the murders of three women and the violent attack of a fourth. Police thought the woman in the photo – Reyes – was one of his victims.

In many ways she was. Earlier this month Reyes testified the last time she saw Michael Gargiulo, he forced her into the back of his work van and raped her while they were on a date.

...Reyes’ testimony is part of a long list of witnesses called to the stand during the three-month capital murder trial of Gargiulo in Los Angeles....

Other witnesses in the trial have included medical experts, investigators, actor Ashton Kutcher – who had a date with one of the victims – and Gargiulo’s childhood friends, including the younger brother of the woman who prosecutors say was Gargiulo’s first victim....

Neuropsychologist Deborah Budding testified for the defense, revealing that Gargiulo was in special education for most of primary school due to behavioral issues. She read from an intelligence report on Gargiulo’s capabilities as a child that said he tended to be angry and engaged in power struggles with adults.

Another defense witness, psychologist Vianne Castellano, diagnosed Gargiulo with dissociative identity disorder after multiple interviews with him at the Los Angeles County men’s jail. The diagnosis did not sit well with Gargiulo.
“He did not believe he had a mental illness,” testified Castellano. “He was upset that I was pursuing this. He said I was a liar. He was adamant about that.”

Throughout the trial, jurors have listened to prosecutors argue Gargiulo fatally stabbed Ashley Ellerin, 22, nearly 50 times as she stepped out of her bathroom in 2001 and that he murdered and mutiliated Maria Bruno, 32, in her El Monte apartment in 2005. The final victim, Michelle Murphy, woke up in bed with a man on top of her, bringing a knife down into her chest. She was able to kick him off....

Closing arguments are expected to begin Aug. 6. After the Los Angeles jury reaches a verdict, Garigulo will be tried in Illinois for the murder of Tricia Pacaccio."

Emotional Testimony as 'Hollywood Ripper' Trial Winds Down

WOW, they found her. So glad they did and that she was able to testify.

 

[YESorNO]

LA Superior Court‏ @LASuperiorCourt Jul 31
#Media - Please see the attached advisory regarding the People v. Michael Gargiulo trial. Follow @LASuperiorCourt for updates related to this case.

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Craig Fiegener‏Verified account @CraigNews3LV 5h5 hours ago
Prosecution begins closing arguments in the the #murder case against Michael Gargiulo. The so-called “Hollywood Ripper” is accused of gruesome stabbing deaths of two women— 2001 and 2005, and the attempted murder of a woman in 2008. #LosAngeles

Craig Fiegener‏Verified account @CraigNews3LV 4h4 hours ago
“Each of these victims were ambushed, in blitz style attacks. Surprising. Sudden... and overpowering.” @LADAOffice prosecutor, in closing argument to jurors. They’ll decide if Michael Gargiulo is guilty of murdering two women— attempted murder of a third woman. #LosAngeles

Craig Fiegener‏Verified account @CraigNews3LV 4h4 hours ago
Michael Gargiulo is accused of murdering Tricia Pacaccio, in 1993, in Glenview, Illinois. Prosecutor reminds #LosAngeles jurors of #DNA evidence match— says pattern same as SoCal crimes. After this trial, Gargiulo faces murder trial in Illinois. #HollywoodRipper @KNX1070

(video clip: Craig Fiegener on Twitter )


Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 3h3 hours ago
#HollywoodRipper - Accused serial killer Michael Gargiulo sits at defense table ahead of closing arguments on Tuesday. Turn to @LawCrimeNetwork to see today's closings. Judge did not allow live streaming.

(video clip: Cathy Russon on Twitter )

 

[YESorNO]

Alleged Santa Monica Killer Case: Closing Arguments To Begin
After months of testimony including witness Ashton Kutcher, closings are slated in the case against alleged serial killer Michael Gargiulo.

Aug 6, 2019

"LOS ANGELES, CA — Jurors are set to begin hearing closing arguments Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of being a "boy-next-door killer" charged with killing two women less than five years apart, including a fashion design student who was set to go out that night with actor Ashton Kutcher....

The murder charges include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of lying in wait, along with allegations that he used a knife in the commission of the crimes. Gargiulo could face the death penalty if convicted..."

Alleged Santa Monica Killer Case: Closing Arguments To Begin

 

[YESorNO]

Prosecutor in ‘Hollywood Ripper’ Trial: Killings of 4 Women Were Clearly Work of Same Man (with clip)

AUGUST 6, 2019

"Four strikingly similar attacks on women were all planned and executed by a skilled serial killer who studied the lives and California homes of victims who lived near him before savagely stabbing them, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Garrett Dameron in his closing argument tried to establish that the killings of three women and the attempted killing of a fourth were all the unmistakable work of 43-year-old Michael Gargiulo.

Dameron said all the attacks were bold but stealthy, coming at night inside or just outside the women's homes by a man with knowledge of the residences and the surrounding neighborhood, knowledge of the life patterns of the victims, and knowledge of how to kill quickly and cover his tracks.

"Those similarities point to one man, one killer: Michael Gargiulo," Dameron said....

Gargiulo has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers will make their closing argument on Wednesday, when they will likely remind jurors of the dearth of forensic evidence directly tying Gargiulo to the two Southern California killings....

Gargiulo is awaiting trial in Illinois for the killing of Tricia Pacaccio in 1993 when he was 17 and friends with Pacaccio's younger brother. Prosecutors were allowed to present evidence of the case in his California trial to help establish a pattern between the killings.

He's also charged with the murders of Ellerin and Maria Bruno, who was stabbed to death at age 32 at her home in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte in 2005, and the attempted murder of Murphy...."

Prosecutor in ‘Hollywood Ripper’ Trial: Killings of 4 Women Were Clearly Work of Same Man

 

[YESorNO]

GRIM GRIN ‘Hollywood Ripper’ who ‘stabbed Ashton Kutcher’s ex-girlfriend to death’ LAUGHS as court hears he ‘studied Ted Bundy’
7 Aug 2019

"...Michael Gargiulo - who allegedly slaughtered three women in a crime spree dating back to 1993 - was described by prosecutors as a calculated murderer.

In explosive closing remarks at his Los Angeles murder trial on Tuesday, Gargiulo - who faces the death penalty - was described as a sick disciple of the notorious serial killer.

He grinned as Deputy District Attorney Garrett Dameron said: "He researched other serial killers, like Bundy.
"He told people he knew how to leave no fingerprints.

"He knew how to avoid being seen exiting a crime scene covered in blood and with a bloody knife."...

SIMILARITY IN SAVAGERY

Prosecutors say that savage murder of Ms Ellerin was strikingly similar to three other attacks Gargiulo is accused of carrying out.

Mr Dameron said yesterday that the killings of three women and the attempted killing of a fourth who fought him off were all the unmistakable work of ruthless Gargiulo.

Among the alleged similarities put forward by prosecutors are that:

-All the attacks were at night

-They took place just outside the women's homes

-The attacker had knowledge of the residences and the surrounding neighbourhood

-The killer studied the life patterns of the victims

-He had knowledge of how to kill quickly and cover his tracks

-Each of the victims had deep stab wounds

-There was no evidence of a fight or struggle in each case

-Nothing was robbed and the women were not sexually assaulted

-No murder weapons were found

-All the victims were left in the spot where they were killed..."

Laughing 'Hollywood Ripper' who 'murdered Ashton Kutcher's ex studied Ted Bundy'

(Alleged serial killer Michael Gargiulo laughs in court yesterday as jurors hear a chilling closing statement Credit: REUTERS)

(Gargiulo looks on smugly as the closing statement is delivered in court yesterday Credit: AP:Associated Press)

 

[YESorNO]

Hollywood Ripper Trial Prosecution Closing Argument Part 1 08/06/19

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Hollywood Ripper Trial Prosecution Closing Argument Part 2 08/06/19

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Hollywood Ripper Trial Prosecution Closing Argument Part 3 080619

 

[YESorNO]

Angelica Spanos & Legal Analyst Gene Rossi Discuss Closing Arguments in the Hollywood Ripper Trial

Published on Aug 7, 2019

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Hollywood Ripper Trial Defense Closing Argument Part 1 08/07/19

 

[Isabelle98]

GRIM GRIN ‘Hollywood Ripper’ who ‘stabbed Ashton Kutcher’s ex-girlfriend to death’ LAUGHS as court hears he ‘studied Ted Bundy’
7 Aug 2019

"...Michael Gargiulo - who allegedly slaughtered three women in a crime spree dating back to 1993 - was described by prosecutors as a calculated murderer.

In explosive closing remarks at his Los Angeles murder trial on Tuesday, Gargiulo - who faces the death penalty - was described as a sick disciple of the notorious serial killer.

He grinned as Deputy District Attorney Garrett Dameron said: "He researched other serial killers, like Bundy.
"He told people he knew how to leave no fingerprints.

"He knew how to avoid being seen exiting a crime scene covered in blood and with a bloody knife."...

SIMILARITY IN SAVAGERY

Prosecutors say that savage murder of Ms Ellerin was strikingly similar to three other attacks Gargiulo is accused of carrying out.

Mr Dameron said yesterday that the killings of three women and the attempted killing of a fourth who fought him off were all the unmistakable work of ruthless Gargiulo.

Among the alleged similarities put forward by prosecutors are that:

-All the attacks were at night

-They took place just outside the women's homes

-The attacker had knowledge of the residences and the surrounding neighbourhood

-The killer studied the life patterns of the victims

-He had knowledge of how to kill quickly and cover his tracks

-Each of the victims had deep stab wounds

-There was no evidence of a fight or struggle in each case

-Nothing was robbed and the women were not sexually assaulted

-No murder weapons were found

-All the victims were left in the spot where they were killed..."

Laughing 'Hollywood Ripper' who 'murdered Ashton Kutcher's ex studied Ted Bundy'

(Alleged serial killer Michael Gargiulo laughs in court yesterday as jurors hear a chilling closing statement Credit: REUTERS)

(Gargiulo looks on smugly as the closing statement is delivered in court yesterday Credit: AP:Associated Press)

When I see somebody like this monster laughing and having fun during his trial I know death penalty is right... O__o

 

[YESorNO]

Latest: Defense says Kutcher testimony points to other man

Aug. 7, 2019

"LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on closing arguments in the Los Angeles trial of a man charged with the murder of two women and the attempted murder of a third woman (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

An attorney for a man charged with killing two women in Southern California says actor Ashton Kutcher was a "star witness" in the case whose testimony helps point to a different suspect.

Attorney Daniel Nardoni tried to convince a jury in closing arguments Wednesday that other men may have been responsible for the stabbing deaths Michael Gargiulo is charged with...."

Latest: Defense says Kutcher testimony points to other man

 

[YESorNO]

MikeGalanosHLN‏Verified account @MikeGalanosHLN 3h3 hours ago
The accused #HollywoodRipper broke into "sick" laughter during the prosecution's closing arguments in 'thrill kill' trial

(video clip: MikeGalanosHLN on Twitter )

 

[YESorNO]

Craig Fiegener‏Verified account @CraigNews3LV 3h3 hours ago
Yet another incredible claim from attorney defending Michael Gargiulo— alleged #HollywoodRipper. He suggests to jurors the 2005 murder of Maria Bruno, may have been at the hands of her husband. Prosecutors will have chance to present rebuttal closing argument. @KNX1070

(video clip: Craig Fiegener on Twitter )


Craig Fiegener‏Verified account @CraigNews3LV 10m10 minutes ago
Co-counsel declares Michael Gargiulo didn’t commit stabbing deaths of 2 women— says he wasn’t at either location when they were killed. With that #HollywoodRipper defense abruptly concluded closing arguments. Prosecution rebuttal tomorrow morning— #LosAngeles criminal court.

 

[DropthePuck]

When I see somebody like this monster laughing and having fun during his trial I know death penalty is right... O__o

Unfortunately, since he's in California he'll die of natural causes before he'll ever be executed. He's such a piece of garbage, hope the jury convicts his *.

 

[YESorNO]

Hollywood Ripper Trial Defense Closing Argument Part 2 08/07/19

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Hollywood Ripper Trial Defense Closing Argument Part 3

Aug 7, 2019

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Hollywood Ripper Trial Defense Closing Argument Part 4

Aug 7, 2019

 

[YESorNO]

Defense in ‘Hollywood Ripper’ Case Blames Attack on ‘Fugue State’

August 7, 2019

"LOS ANGELES (CN) – A man charged in the murders of several women was in a fugue state when he broke into a woman’s apartment and attacked her with a knife, his defense attorney told jurors in closing arguments Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the gruesome murders of two women in Los Angeles County several years apart were not at the hands of their neighbor Michael Gargiulo, defense attorney Daniel Nardoni said, but by jilted lovers.

But Nardoni did not offer a legal defense to the jury regarding the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy, who survived a vicious knife attack at her home in 2008.

“That’s the elephant in the courtroom, I guess,” said Nardoni.

Gargiulo’s second defense attorney, Dale Rubin, claimed his client was in a fugue state when he broke into Murphy’s Santa Monica apartment, straddled her sleeping body and plunged a knife into her chest. During a struggle, Gargiulo cut himself and Rubin said that brought Gargiulo out of a dissociative state. He then apologized to Murphy and ran, leaving behind a bloody trail.

A defense expert witness, psychologist Vianne Castellano, diagnosed Gargiulo with dissociative identity disorder before trial. The defense said this could explain why Gargiulo entered a fugue state with amnesia-like symptoms.
This mental disorder impaired Gargiulo’s ability to plan ahead, according to his attorneys.

“He has no clue how he got there. He has no understanding where he is. In his dissociative state, he’s a little kid fighting monsters back at home,” said Rubin....

The jury is expected to receive the case by Thursday afternoon."

Defense in ‘Hollywood Ripper’ Case Blames Attack on ‘Fugue State’