‘Hollywood Ripper’ Michael Gargiulo Gets Death Penalty For Killing Ashton Kutcher’s Ex-Girlfriend

A jury recommended that “Hollywood Ripper ” Michael Gargiulo be given the death penalty after being found guilty of the murders of Ashton Kutcher’s former girlfriend and a mom of four.

A Los Angeles jury delivered their death penalty recommendation on Friday, October 18.

The prosecutor had asked for the death penalty, arguing that Gargiulo “has led a life of crime and violence that has left a swath of death, grief and destruction behind him.”

He will be sentenced by the judge in February 2020 following the jury's recommendation.

Gargiulo was found guilty of the 2005 murder of Maria Bruno, 32, and the 2001 murder of Ashley Ellerin, 22, who had a date with Kutcher the night she was slaughtered in her Hollywood home.

Evidence was presented showing Gargiulo stabbed Ellerin with a knife 47 times, so viciously that her head was nearly severed from her body.

Kutcher took the stand during the trial, testifying that when he went to her house to meet her, she didn’t answer the door, so he looked through the window and noticed what he thought were red wine stains on the carpet.

Thinking that she had left without him, he returned home. He didn’t learn of her death until the next day.

Gargiulo was also found guilty of attempting to kill Michelle Murphy in 2008. He is still awaiting trial in Illinois for the 1993 slaying of 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio, who was his friend’s sister.