Snapped: Women Who Murder - Notorious: Hollywood Ripper

Episode Date: February 21, 2021

A killer escapes his past and finds a new hunting ground in a city of dreamers. In 2019, after a decades long hunt across four police departments, Michael Gargiulo, now known as The Hollywood Ripper, faces trial for brutally murdering young women.Season 27, Episode 26Originally aired: April 19, 2020See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi, I'm Lindsay Graham, the host of Wonder East Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. It's one of the most shocking murder cases in Hollywood history. She was a beautiful, vivacious young girl. Everyone who knew her said she was incredibly open and friendly.

A young woman who came here to pursue her dreams is stabbed to death in her own home. There's no DNA evidence at the scene, no evidence of forced entry. Police have few clues to follow until a 10-year-old cold case from Chicago puts a suspect in their sights. Look, I think they came out of the woodwork.

He's moving around in a way that is going to make him very hard to find those before social media. It was a lot easier to just sort of disappear. Then a third young woman is murdered in an equally violent act, but a fourth victim hits back. He actually cuts himself with the knife as she's fighting him off. And arrest quickly follows as four police departments piece together a pattern of crimes. All of the victims are women. They're all somewhat young. They're all physically fit. This guy, he lives practically next door.

A predator who stalked and targeted young women faces the death penalty. But a star witness turns his trial into a media frenzy. Ashton Kutcher was the last person that spoke to her. Will a tidal wave of attention overwhelm the heartbreaking loss of life? Children, you need to meet their mother. The answer to that question comes when a monster who'd been living in the shadows finally steps into the spotlight.

Those common characteristics of these crimes, point two, one man, this was someone who felt no remorse. The guy like this is a real possibility. There may be other victims. Los Angeles, California. Every day of every year, young people from across the country arrive here, hoping to make their dreams come true. Some year into become movie stars. Others want to make it big in the music industry, or the world of high fashion.

But not everyone who comes here shares those types of hopes and dreams. Among the stars, the glitz and the glamour, there are those who come to escape their past, a sinister past. And in a city where outsiders rarely draw suspicion, they can easily blend in unnoticed. Back in 2001, one young woman's dreams

would end in a vicious knife attack. Her connection to a Hollywood celebrity would turn her tragic death into a tabloid sensation. There's more to this story than the spectacle of a TV star's cameo role in the night of a young woman's murder. In truth, it's a decades-long tale of a high-stakes, cat-and-mouse game between law enforcement and a calculated killer, a man who targeted not one, but four young women for his gruesome acts, a serial killer who would come to be known as the Hollywood Ripper.

February 21, 2001. It's Grammy Awards night in Hollywood. And 22-year-old fashion student Ashley Elloran is getting ready for a date with one of Hollywood's most promising young stars. But it's a night that we'll see Ashley's bright future ripped away in a brutal act of violence. brutal act of violence.

Around 9 a.m. the following morning, Jennifer DeSisto opens the front door of the house she shares with Ashley and finds her lying in a pool of blood. She immediately dials 9-1-1. It was about 9-15 when we got the call. And when I got into that crime scene, and I saw the condition that she was left in, it was probably one of the more gruesome crime scenes that I've seen.

The curling iron was sitting on the toilet. The bathtub was still damp. Her hair still looked as if it had not been dried yet. She had her hair dryer on the counter, so she was getting ready. She was stabbed in front, back, neck, back of the head. She had defensive wounds on her hands, on her arms. She was stabbed over 47 times. And her throat was cut. She was pretty much decapitated.

Detected small radios for LAPD forensic units to begin processing the crime scene. Then, he takes the painful step of notifying Ashley's family. I'm thinking how can they live with this? They lost their daughter. Their only daughter. Ashley was 22 years old. She was a beautiful, vivacious young girl. In September of 2000, Ashley Elyrin chose to leave her hometown of Los Altos, a small town outside San Francisco, and make the move to LA to make it in the fashion industry.

With her bright and welcoming personality, it didn't take her long to fit in. She came to Hollywood and right away she embraced the Hollywood culture. She was incredibly open and friendly. No one had anything bad to say about her. Everybody's surrounded her. She was the friendliest, most open people in the world. She was enrolled and going to school at the L.A. Fashion Institute downtown. The Fashion Institute is a serious place where people do go on to serious things.

So the opportunity is sort of abound for people in her position. In just a few short months, Ashley had begun to make her dreams a reality. But those dreams had now been destroyed. It was an absolutely ferocious attack. She was clearly utterly overpowered. It suggests a level of hatred or resentment. A level of intent was something that they were desperate to do. What forensic evidence did you find pointing to anyone and unknown at the scene?

We had blood all over the place. We had blood from floor level up to four or five feet on the walls, the doors, the carpeting was saturated. We had bloody chuprints that were heading out toward the front door. But despite all the blood, other than the chuprint, the killer left behind no hair, fingerprints, or DNA evidence that could tie them to the scene.

So how did you approach this investigation? Well, you started at the body, and you work out. So we able to eliminate robbery because we saw that there was a big wide of cash up to $300 nearby. She still had her jewelry on, able to rule out sexual assault.

And looking at that scene, there was no evidence of a forced entry at all. Maybe she knew him. So now we talk to her friends and associates. Around the time police start questioning Ashley's inner circle, they get a call from one of Hollywood's hottest young actors, Ashton Kutcher, who called police the moment he got wind of Ashley's murder. That evening, we sent one of our detectives, Tom Shevelich,

one over an interviewed Ashton. Ashley met him a couple of times. They didn't really have a thing at that time. He was fresh off of a relationship, and she was a nice girl and he liked her and he wanted to get the nor a little better. It was the night of the Grammys. They had casual plans to hang out, say, you know, around eight o'clock. He calls her a couple of times. She doesn't pick up. He calls her a couple of times. She doesn't pick up.

He called at 8.24 p.m. We saw that on his cell phone, and we got call records that verify that. He was supposed to come by and pick her up, but he was running late. That's the reason for the conversation. Well, he got there. It was about 10.45.

Ashley's car was outside, so everything looked normal walking up. So he knocked on the door. He got no response. He tried to call. Nothing happened. He looked through the side window, and you could see the harbour which floor.

So he sees things on the floor that he described as looking like wine. Maybe somebody sp spilled something. That was his thought. And he doesn't think a whole lot of the fact that he's not there. So he just thinks that he has screwed up and he's going to have to apologize later,

and he leaves for the night. Kutcher's cell phone records confirm his alibi, and he's quickly eliminated as a suspect. But in speaking to Ashley's friends, detectives discover that Ashton Kutcher was not the only romantic interest in Ashley's life. The apartment manager, a fellow by the name of Mark Durbin, had a brief liaison with her.

And he was over there that night of her death. He freely admitted it. What detectives learn about Ashley's apartment manager, Mark Durbin, immediately makes him a suspect. He was one of the few people who might have access to Ashley's home. He was one of the last people to see Ashley, but also he had a girlfriend as well.

He was trying, essentially, hide Ashley from his girlfriend. We searched his entire apartment. We found his shoes. We looked in his hampers. We examined his cars, and it was fairly soon after she was discovered. So we didn't find a thing that would indicate any connection to the killing. So we ruled him out.

After an extensive review, Mark Durbin has taken off the suspect list. And with few clues to follow, detectives must begin their investigation from a blank slate. Hunting a killer who committed an act of unspeakable violence disappeared without trace, and who's still on the loose. Somebody wanted her dead, getting up close and personal, hovering over somebody, plunging a knife into their stomach

and chest. I can describe that as just pure evil. Coming up, as the case goes cold, another one heats up, would terrifying similarities to the murder of Ashley Elloran. She'd been stabbed almost 20 times. Her throat had been viciously cut. These were women that he would place on a pedestal. His desire made him powerless.

He was going to get that power back in the most horrific way. 22-year-old Ashley Elleron came to LA with dreams of pursuing a career in fashion. But on the night of February 21, 2001, she stabbed to death, inside her own home, by a man who will come to be known as the Hollywood Ripper. Given the level of violence and the lack of forced entry, investigators still believe Ashley's killer may have known her personally.

They begin pressing her friends for information about her wider network of acquaintances. I couldn't find anybody in her sphere that would have had the capability, the mentality, and no evidence of any animosity or jealousies. Interestingly, a couple of witnesses that were close to her talked about a furnace guy, a heating and air guy that came out of the woodwork. One day, Ashley, her friend Chris,

they're changing a tire, and out of the dog park, comes this guy, male white, described it looking sort of Italian. And he offers to help, but he doesn't change a tire. He doesn't lift a hand, but he's engaging Ashley completely ignoring Chris. And in the conversation, he says, he's Mikey's a furnace guy, he's a heating and air guy.

Soon after that, he starts showing up more, unannounced. This went on for weeks. He was always asking for Ashley. He was making asking for Ashley. He was making phone calls to the house. At a few of her parties, he started showing up. He wasn't invited. Nobody knew him, but he showed up. Mike, the heating and air guy, Mike, the furnace man.

Where does he live? I don't know. Nobody knows anything about the guy. Against before social media, this is the first name world. It was a lot easier to just sort of drift through somebody's life in this very loose way where it's also very easy to disappear. And you don't leave any kind of a footprint. Are you trying to find him? What are you doing about it? I'm attempting to identify who he is,

but I'm still trying to identify other people in the area, because Hollywood would be in so transient. We have a lot of drug activity. We have a lot of parolees. We have registered sex offenders in the area. I'm not ruling anybody out. I didn't want to get tunnel vision. It's the worst thing you can do with a case like this.

But the more detective small and his team canvass the area, I didn't want to get tunnel vision. It's the worst thing you can do with a case like this. But the more detective small and his team canvass the area, the more alarming details they learn about Mike, the mysterious furnace guy. Before actually his murder, her roommate, a Justin was walking home from a party late one night. He needed to seize that vehicle, engines running, or somebody in it, and the person in it, he's watching us.

He thinks that's Mike. Mike's in that truck. He couldn't sleep all night, he said. So Justin looks up 6'30 in the morning and he sees that pickup slowly driving by and a few minutes later, the knock at the door. Mike was standing on the porch. He walks in.

He's not invited, and he walks in. He tells Justin where's Ashley. I got to see Ashley. So Justin said, you got to get out of here, and he basically escorts him out, and he's freaked by this. Months pass with no new leads. And Ashley's family is growing desperate for answers.

I would talk to them every single week, and I was honest with them. I told them I said, right now, I got nothing. But we're working some leads, and I'm staying on it. How sure were you that you would solve this? Oh, and sure at all. But I just had the feeling that this guy is going to make a mistake. And ultimately, that's what happened.

It's during one of these conversations with Ashley's father that detectives uncover another detail about Mike the furnace guy relayed to him by a department manager, Mark Durbin. After the murder, Mike was gone. He had been seen. Now, I was sudden he's back months later. And Mark Durbin saw him. He says, hey, Mike, how you doing? Mike had a different look.

He had frosted tips on his hair. His hair was spiked and he grew a goatee. And he says, Mike, I'm not Mike. I'm Tony. But he's dry. Wait a second. Mark Durbin is sure that was... He's absolutely positive. No, that's the guy I met over at but he's driving. Wait a second, Mark Dermott is sure that was... He's absolutely positive that, no, that's... That's the guy I met over at that bungalow.

Several times. He was there at parties, but he said his name's Tony. Yeah, and he was bragging it up about how he got hit by some big contracting dump trucker and he's suing them for millions. So then what I did is I just took a shot in the dark, and I picked out a quadrant, and I ran every single traffic collision that occurred in that quadrant over a period of time.

And I got a hit. I got a guy walking his dog in 1999 at the corner of Orchid and Franklin. And his dog went out in traffic, got clipped by a car. Dog was fine, bounced right up, and it turns out the dog walker was Michael Garjudo. This young girl, she was gonna pull over, and he panicked her. She felt like she was under a tax of she split,

so he made a report to the CHP. That's how I came up with his true name, like she was under attack, so she split. So he made a report to the CHP. That's how I came up with his true name, date of birth, a DMV photo. He lived a block and a half from Ashley's house. So now I take that information, and I put together a photo array, and I go to all my witnesses again. And I'm putting the photo array in front of them

and that's the guy. That's my the furnace man. Who are you showing the photos to? Mark Durbin, Justin Peterson, Chris Duran, a host of Ashley's girlfriends, all the people that were at her parties. And we actually have a photograph taken of Ashley and her immediate close friends,

and in the back is a picture of Mike Garjulo. He's at the party. He's in the photo. He's in the photo. Detective Small has identified a potential suspect in Ashley's murder. A man who lived just 400 feet away, a man who would watch her house at night.

There's just one small problem. Couldn't find him, then no worry was. Mike was nowhere to be found. Then, in the fall of 2002, a remarkable coincidence turned the investigation on its head. Homicide detectives from Cook County, Illinois come to Los Angeles and search up a person of interest in a cold case they recently reopened.

The 1993 murder of 18-year-old Trisha Paccaccio. The case was a little over seven years old. Myself, my partner, we're actually talking to two other detectives and the next cubicle over was Tommy Small, Detective with LAPD. What kind of case you got? I got a murder. What do you have? It's a murder. Young girl, August the 1993, she was stabbed at her doorstep.

I said, stab? Yeah, repeatedly. at her doorstep. I said, stab? Yeah, repeatedly. We were down to two people that were considered persons of interest in the case. I said, who are they looking for? Maybe we do some prep work. And I said, Mike, or Jolo?

And Tommy, it's like, what did you just say? Michael, Garjolo. My jaw's on the floor. He says, you can't make it up. In the year that follows Ashley Elyren's brutal murder, police investigate a series of strange encounters reported by Ashley's friends that lead them to a prime suspect. Known as Mike the Furnace Guy, he's identified by LAPD Detective Tom Small as 26-year-old Michael Garjulo. In the fall of 2002, small learns from Crop County Detective

Lucialla that Garjulo might be tied to a similarly gruesome crime in the Chicago suburbs. The 1993 murder of 18-year-old Trisha Picaccio. Just like Ashley, Trisha was a bright young woman with a life full of potential. Tricia's friends described her as being very vivacious, smart, caring, and also very friendly. She had a lot of friends around her, and she had everything to look forward to. And this was a great time in a young girl's life.

She was going to go out to college. Any parent would have been ecstatic to have a daughter like Trisha Magascio. She was a member of the debate team. Didn't smoke, didn't drink. She was somewhat an angel. On the night of August 14th, 1993, Trisha and her friends spent the evening enjoying one of their last days together

before heading off to college. It was one of these nights days together before heading off to college. It was one of these nights that we all may have experienced at one time as teenagers, that exciting night, that day when we were getting together with friends that we've known all our lives. Before we go on our separate ways and go into the future. According to friends, Trisha decided

to head home around midnight, dropping off a couple of people on the way. Then, as she was about to enter her own home, she was viciously attacked. Tricia was stabbed 12 times in the chest, back, abdomen, and arm. Whoever committed this murder was very, very strong. The first in the rapture so hard by around that it caused a spiral fracture, actually broke the bomb, while stabbing it with the other hand. That's a pretty strong person. And stabbing is very up close in personal. Usually when you see something like that

it's somebody that knows the victim, or it's man at the victim. Despite the brutal nature of the attack on Trisha, her parents don't discover her body until the following morning. It was a very, very hot, humid August night, and the Bacastia family at that time had window air conditioners.

They had them all on. And they're throwing noisy. They had a dog. Even a dog didn't hurt. Because of all the noise of those air conditions. And this happened on her step where she was. Where she walked each day where her neighbor saw her, walking in and out, going up as a little girl.

The killer left behind nothing in the way of physical evidence. However, both Trisha's injuries and the location of her murder offer some insight into who killed her. What did that see tell you? Whoever was there must have felt somewhat comfortable in being in that neighborhood.

Because the chances of somebody seeing you were tremendous. There was a pool party going on across the street. All kinds of cars parked out there and everything. There was a porch and there was a light. There was like a naked, 100-watt bulb. Glenview was one of those tight-knit areas where the kids played together.

The neighbors knew each other. This was an incident that had a profound impact on that neighborhood. Despite the bold nature of the murder and the outcry from the community, cops lacked the evidence to lead them to an arrest and the case goes cold. However, seven years after Trisha's death and just a few months before Ashley Elyren's murder NLA, Detective Salah's commanding officer takes a personal interest in the case and assigns it to him and his partner Nick Tatusa, hoping a fresh look can break it open. I said, I will die trying to solve this case, as there won't be any return, because we

were determined to solve this case. Back in 1993, when Trisha was killed, DNA testing was in its infancy and rarely used in Illinois. But the technology has grown rapidly. And Salah convinces the Illinois State Crime Lab to reprocess the forensic material originally gathered from Trisha's body using the advanced DNA technology now available.

We got pretty lucky and came up with the DNA from Trisha's fingernail clippings and unknown male. What are you looking for in fingernails? When you're struggling and you're fighting for your life, there's a good possibility you'll get skin cell DNA underneath the fingernails or on top of the fingernails. Armed with the unidentified DNA profile taken from Trisha's fingernails, Salah and his partner re-questioned everyone the police initially interviewed, collecting DNA swabs for people they believed

might have been in contact with Trisha the night she was murdered. We must have buckled swabs, probably 18 to 20 people. Teachers, people who were Trisha the night that she was murdered, the family members. But there was one individual, Salah, and his partner were having trouble tracking down. We were down to the Mike Garjula. Did he know the Pacacios?

Oh, he knew the Pacacias. Mike knew Trisha's brother done it very well. They both played on the football team together. They were very good friends. And he lived close. He lived the blockway. So we heard, well, we have to look at Mike. As a teenager attending Glambrook South High School,

Garjula was known as a star athlete. But he soon racked up a series of arrests, including a battery incident in 1996, and for breaking into a vehicle. Mike was a very hot-tempered, violent kid when he was growing up. He was very strong. He worked out a lot.

I heard a few kids that he went to high school with. Kids that he got in fights with and beat up. He was just a violent type person. When he went to question Garjulo, Salah learned that he had moved to Hollywood. However, in 2002, he located Garjulo through his brother, who also lived in Hollywood at the time.

I actually was able to talk to my guy, Salfon, and he said he would be making himself available for the DNA as well. Because I explained to him, I just want to eliminate you. Sala then flew to Los Angeles to meet with Garjulo, but Garjulo was a no-show, which his house Sala ended up in the LAPD's Hollywood station, speaking with Detective Tom Small. I said, is this the guy you're looking for? And I show him a photo, a DMV photo. Yeah, can you guys help us?

I said, yeah, we'll help you with that. As the two detectives swap information on their respective cases, it's not only the same suspect that raises a red flag, but the striking similarities between the two murders. Late at night attack, a blitz-style attack, overwhelming control, multiple stabbings in vital areas, the chest and breast area, the sides, the back, the neck. Both victim to young, both very attractive, very petite girls.

Nothing was taken from these girls. There was no sexual assault on either one. This guy, in both of these cases, he lives practically next door. The more salad and small compare notes, the more it looks like their prime suspect is a man who left a dark past in Chicago. Found a second victim in Hollywood, and could now easily strike again.

The hardest true crime story to report on is your own. I'm Tiffany Reese, host of the podcast, something was wrong. For 15 seasons, I've always aimed to validate and amplify the voices of those who have survived abuse and crime. But for season 16, I'm opening up for the first time about my own experiences as an abuse survivor and a murder co-victim. With the help of trusted friends, we'll unpack my journey to becoming a victim advocate by examining my past. From the emotional and physical abuse I endured at the hands of my parents and the bullying I received from my class mates to the murder of my brother and the securities fraud my father was convicted of. I'm covering it all and even learning more about myself through

this process. This is obviously a very personal journey for me, but I believe that this will play a part in my healing helping me to process the trauma that I endured. Follow something was wrong wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. It's the fall of 2002. Detective Tom Small of the LAPD meets Detective Lucela from Chicago in a chance encounter. It turns out both are hunting down the same murder suspect, Michael Garjulo. The commonality between these crimes was the brazenness in the physicality of the attack. These were knife attacks that were perpetrated

at very close proximity, as though he could look right into the face of the victims. Those commonality speak volumes. Worried they might have a serial killer on their hands, detective Small works with an LAPD tactical unit to track down Garjulo, and within a week, they have an address. We had information that, in the apartment, on Clark Drive, just blocked from Beverly Hills.

I sent the four detectives out from our squad. They walked up on them. Mike Garjulo is a strong guy. He's six, two. He's probably 190 pounds at the time. So what does he do instead of being cooperative? He bolts and runs and tries to bust through these guys, then they got into a knockdown on the street

and then to take him down. You fought with the LA police officer, and two of them had it where I went to the hospital for treatment. With Garjulo subdued, detectives enter his apartment. We hit that pad, nothing in it. No bedding, there was only a little kitchen table, with a chair, and in the back bedroom,

it's full of these ghoulish dolls. These are all like the Texas chainsaw massacre, or Dr. Giggles, and he had him on his wall. Instead of a picture, he put those up. Police take Arjulo to a hospital to obtain samples of his DNA. But even before the test, their suspect starts asking some eyebrow-raising questions. He made some spontaneous remarks to the detectives,

unsolicited. And he would ask him, like, how long does DNA stay on a body? If you had a case that was over 10 years old, and there's maybe some blood on keys, could you get DNA off of that? Of course, our detectives just listened. Roted it all down. Despite our Jullos' curious behavior, detective Small doesn't have a warrant to arrest him.

All he can do is collect his DNA. And since there's no DNA found at Ashley's crime scene, Small sends the samples to Detective Lucela in Chicago. Tommy said I should to me, and I submitted it to the state where I've been... Bingo. In September 2003, Michael Garjula's DNA is matched to the cells found on Trisha Bacaccio's fingernails.

They got a hit. I think the ratio at the time was $197 million. Did you feel confident at that point that you had the right guy? I did. I thought, you know, this is great. But despite the DNA match, the state's attorney in Crop County decides not to file charges due to a statement from one of Garjulo's friends, who was interviewed during the 1993 investigation, that puts Trisha and Garjulo together

just two days before her murder. Trisha was walking down the streets in the afternoon. And Garjulo is with a friend, but a name is Scott Olson. So they invited her into the vehicle and take a ride. So she gets in the back seat.

Garjulo is up in the front. They went up to the corner, maybe two blocks, and she got out. The state's attorney believes Scott Olson's statement could provide an alternate explanation as to why Guard Jules DNA was found on Trisha Bacaccio's fingernails, but detective Salon's small aren't buying it.

I asked God Olson at any time that she touched either one of you guys. Shake hands, give a hug. No, she wouldn't do that. She wasn't really in our circle of friends. She must have hugged and kissed 20 people goodbye. The night she went out to their party, and my question is, where's their DNA? The only other DNA I located on her was Mike.

Nevertheless, the state's attorney refuses to move forward Where's their DNA? Do you know the other DNA I located on her was Mike? Nevertheless, the state's attorney refuses to move forward and file a murder charge. I totally understood our state's attorney's explanation. They would not want to charge him prematurely and try him and lose the case without having quabrity witnesses and never had the opportunity to try them again. The precautions were very vocal. I'm not on blame them because if they were my daughter, I would have wanted to present the United States if I had to. After 10 years waiting on a cold case, Cook County's decision not to prosecute Garjulo is a

devastating blow for Trisha's family. And back in Hollywood, Detective Tom Small still can't tie Garjulo to Ashley's murder and must keep building his case while his prime suspect, a possible serial killer, goes free. The decision not to prosecute him essentially lets him roam the streets free in LA. It just puts fear in your heart. -♪ -♪ -♪

-♪ September 2003, Hollywood, California. Michael Garjulo is the prime suspect in the brutal murder of 22-year-old Ashley Eleorant. Garjulo's DNA has also been found under the fingernails of Trisha Picaccio, who was murdered 10 years earlier in the Chicago suburb where she and Garjulo both attended high school.

Yet the state's attorneys there decide not to charge Garjulo, and with no direct evidence linking him to Ashley Eleorant's murder, Mike Garjulo continues to live in Los Angeles, a free man. Over the next several years, he'll live in several different parts of the LA area. He works as a bouncer for a while, and he works as an air conditioning repairman,

moving around in a way that is going to make him very hard-defined, hard-to-track. LAPD detectives continue to investigate Ashley's murder. Then, on December 1st, 2005, in the town of El Monte, 25 miles east of Hollywood, local police receive a 911 call reporting the murder of a 32-year-old woman named Maria Bruno. Because it's outside the LAPD's jurisdiction, the case is taken on by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

Maria was born and raised in Central America. She immigrated to the United States at a very young age. She had been married for about seven or eight years. She had twins that were around two or three years old, and she had like a three-year-old and a five-year-old. Maria had just moved to a new apartment and she was excited to start a new chapter in her life. Her and her husband had kind of decided mutually

that the marriage was likely going to dissolve, so she separated from him about a week and a half earlier. She actually was going to open her own business that was kind of her goal becoming self-sufficient everything. She certainly had the American dream in mind. Detective Mark Lilliefeld is one of the first to respond to the scene.

Can you describe what you saw? Her apartment was very clean. It was newly painted, newly carpeted. There were still tags on a bunch of the household items. The dishes, microwave oven, all that stuff was brand new. Maria was nude on a bed. She'd been stabbed. I believe almost 20 times.

And her throat had been viciously cut. And the body had been posed. Did you find Annie Forensics tying an unknown person to the sea? We did not. There were no fingerprints. There were no hairs. There were no fibers. There was no DNA that was person to the sea. We did not. There were no fingerprints. There were no hairs. There were no fibers. There was no DNA that was foreign to the apartment

that we could find at all. What they do find is a little booty of the kind that you would use to put over your shoes if you were a repair person. One of those is found outside of her apartment. There was a drop of blood on the soul of the booty. We identified that blood as also being Maria's. You can somewhat read a crime scene

and infer certain things in order to walk into the apartment building itself. You either had to have a code or you had to have a remote device. So we knew we were looking for somebody who is familiar with and comfortable in their environment. Police learned that the 911 caller who found Maria's body is in fact her estranged husband Irving Bruno.

And while Maria had been dating other men since their separation, the two of them had been out together the night she was murdered. Detectives questioned Irving Bruno at the El Monte Police Station for over 15 hours, as he relates every detail of Maria's last night. Maria Bruno had a night with her husband Irving a night together alone without the children where they are doing a little bit of reliving their married life. They go out and have quite

a few drinks. They go back to her apartment in El Monte. There they had relations and because they were newly separated, they go back to her apartment and all money. There they had relations, and because they were newly separated, a nanny was watching the children, so her husband went back about two o'clock in the morning, and he kind of relieved the nanny of her duties. Irving Bruno sleeps for a few hours at his home. And since Maria doesn't drive,

he then returns to her apartment to take her to work. She didn't answer her cell phone, and she wasn't responding to his knocks on the door. He thought perhaps she was still sleeping or maybe even in the shower. He didn't have a key to the apartment. So when he noticed the screen was missing and that the window was slightly ajar,

he decided to let himself in through that. He sees an empty knife package on the floor, which strikes him as kind of unusual. He walks through the kitchen, and he turns into Maria's bedroom. And finds that she has been stabbed to death in her bed. I think somewhat he goes into shock a little bit. He actually touches a portion of her.

He then gets on a cell phone and he calls 911. A distraught Irving Bruno seems to be telling the truth and detectives rule him out as a suspect. So once you've ruled Irving Bruno out, where do you go with your investigation? Cops have been solving murders for a couple hundred years in this country and we did what we did a couple hundred years ago and started knocking on doors, talking to people.

People in the apartment building, those that knew Marie liked her, they thought she was very polite, very attractive girl, and she seemed to be very friendly to everybody. However, one of Maria's friends tells detectives about a disturbing encounter Maria had just a couple of days before her murder. After she had moved into the building

within a matter of a week or so, she had her hands full, she was carrying something in her apartment from the parking lot. And when she turned around and she got inside her apartment, there was a man standing there. And she kind of yelled at the guy, like, who are you? What are you doing here?

Get out of my damn apartment. And it turned out that he was a resident of the building, and he actually lived across the courtyard from her. So we kind of seized that as, gee, that's interesting. We'd like to identify that man and find out who he is. Me and my partner are knocked on all the lady of those doors. We want to ultimately identify and contact

most of the people that lived in that building. But sadly, during the inquiry, we were never able quite to come up with an identification of who that person was. What Detective Millie felt doesn't know at the time is that the murder of Maria Bruno will be tied to the murders of Ashley Elloran and Trisha Picaccio,

and that the killer who would come to be known as the Hollywood Ripper will set his sights on another victim. Michelle Murphy finds him on top of her. And she fought back. God bless her. The man who attacked these four women is the same man. It's a story from the darkest corner of Hollywood, but tragically, it's real. In February 2001, 22-year-old aspiring fashion designer Ashley Elloran is stabbed to death in her Los Angeles home. Years of diligent police work eventually leads L.A.

detective to a prime suspect, one Michael Garjulo. Who, as it turns out, has also been tied to the 1993 murder of 18-year-old Trisha Picaccio in Cook County, Illinois. Despite DNA evidence, tying Garjulo to Trisha's murder, authorities in Illinois decide it's not enough to file charges, leaving Garjulo free to roam the streets of LA. Three years later, in 2005, and some 25 miles east of Hollywood in the town of El Monte, 32-year-old Maria Bruno is murdered in yet another vicious knife attack. Detectives from the LA Sheriff's Department

are unable to identify her killer, but two and a half years later, a shocking crime in another Los Angeles community will link her death to Ashley's and Trishas and give the people of LA a glimpse at a killer they've come to know as the Hollywood Ripper. Garjulo at this point was living at the Belaife. He was married, he had a child, he seemed like a normal guy who was friendly,

in approachable, and nobody suspected that he was actively stalking women. and nobody suspected that he was actively stalking women. April 28, 2008, is just past 11.30 p.m. in the beachfront community of Santa Monica. When police receive a frantic 911, calling them to an apartment on Euflitt Avenue. As first responders arrive on the scene, they find 26-year-old Michelle Murphy, who tells police she's just been attacked by a knife-wielding intruder. Michelle was in bed sound asleep. This was about 11, 11, 30 at night. It was a hot evening, so Michelle had her window slightly open.

Whoever got in there was able to use the fraud-air defense pull himself up to the second floor window. And with one hand grab onto that and use his knife to slice the screen and pull himself up and enter her apartment. He locks the door, so he's got a way out. And he goes into her bedroom and he straddles her. Michelle Murphy suddenly finds this guy on top of her, He's got a way out. And he goes into her bedroom and he straddled her.

Michelle Murphy suddenly finds this guy on top of her, stabbing at her. He wakes up to a plunge to her chest. She's very small, but she's very strong for her size. She fought back. You know, and got blessed her. And she's fighting, and he is just going at it. So her whole arm, her hands, her shoulder, top, her neck, and chest.

He actually cuts himself with a knife as she's fighting him off. She was able to fight this bastard off. She was able to get her feet under her and kick him in the groin area, and he fell off the bed. He stands up, he's still got the knife, and he looks at her and says, I'm sorry. And he runs out the door.

Unfortunately, Michelle never got a good look at her attacker's face. But the fact that she was able to successfully fight back, gives police critical evidence to identify her assailant. He left his blood on her comforter, on her carpeting, and basically a breadcrumb right down the steps across the alley. Prime scene investigators collect the blood evidence, and when detectives enter it into the national DNA database, they get a hit.

It matches a sample filed in Chicago three years earlier. I get a call from Karen Thompson, the detective at Santa Monica, and she made a notification to me based on what Cook County relayed to her. I was a named Michael Garjulo, striking. And I said, wow. Santa Monica police informed Detective Small

that Mike Garjulo's last known residents is an apartment located a mere 30 feet from Michelle Murphy's. It's near there on June 6, 2008 that detectives arrest micro-gargulow. He's charged with attempted murder and held on $1.1 million bail. But even after Gargulos arrests for the attack on Michelle Murphy, detectives need more evidence tying him

to the murders of Ashley Elloran and Maria Bruno. In Hollywood, Tom Small begins re-interviewing Ashley's friends. It came out, but a witness that I spoke with Monica Grandi was her name. And I wanted her to identify him, because she was very close with Ashley, and she was in with Ashley, uh, planning a big party, and it was the party that Garjula's photo

was captured in. She freaked when she saw his picture. She broke out in tears, and she went into a fetal position on the couch, and she just threw that thing down. And she says, I thought of something that I never told anybody before. She and Ashley, planning this party there by themselves,

the door is locked and closed, in walks Mike Garjulo with a key. So he stole a key from the house? That would be my speculation, and it explains whether there was no damage to the door. It's a critical piece of circumstantial evidence. At the same time, Garjulo's arrest in Santa Monica proves vital to detectives investigating

the murder of Maria Bruno in El Monte. The Santa Monica police detectives building a suspect's name and the suspect had a prior address in the city of Almonti. We were able to obtain DNA from him, and we were able to develop a DNA profile off of the blue cotton booty we'd found at the crime scene. It was obvious that Mr. Garjulo, or a male adult relative

very close to him, was the contributor to the DNA on the booty. In addition to the DNA evidence, the Almonte address provided by Santa Monica Police places Garjulo in an apartment close to Maria Bruno's at the time of her murder back in 2005. The apartment had been rented out to three or four different occupants. But when we got there, the apartment was empty.

It was spotless. And my partner and I climbed up into the attic, and sure enough, right at the edge of the attic, was a plastic bag. And inside of that bag was the blue cotton booty that matched exactly the booty we had found at the crime scene. June 2008, following a trail of blood, police in Santa Monica have arrested Michael Garg-Julo

for the attempted murder of 26-year-old Michelle Murphy. As detectives working the murders of Ashley Elloran and Maria Bruno compare notes, it becomes clear that in all of the attacks Garjulo's accused of, the MO is disturbingly similar. All of the victims are women. They're all attractive. They're all somewhat young.

They're all physically fit. The time of day was selected. The locations were selected. He knew ingress and egress. He could get in and out. All pre-plant. All the women were stabbed to death. The offender and all of the murders was left handed.

And the weapon is the same. It's always a knife. It's a large knife. Garjulo lived nearby each one of them. In some cases, a large knife. Garjulo lived nearby each one of them. In some cases, 100 feet. In some cases, 400 feet. In some cases, 70 feet, 30 feet.

He's looking in their windows. He's staring at them. And he's imagining what it would be for him to be a part of that existence. Then the fantasy turns from looking at this and imagining this type of life to rage, anger, and hate. These were women that he would place on a pedestal. They're all beautiful, beautiful young women

that he desired them. His desire made him powerless. He was going to get that power back in the most horrific way. I mean, if there was ever a poster child for pro-filing behavior analysis, it would be Mr. Garjulo. Between the identical MOs, his place of residence at the time of each crime

and the matching shoe cover found in the apartment he was living in at the time of Maria Bruno's murder, there's more than enough circumstantial evidence pointing to Michael Garjulo. On September 4, 2008, LA prosecutors charge him with the murders of Ashley Elloran and Maria Bruno, adding to the attempted murder charge for the attack on Michelle Murphy. News that a single individual has been linked to all three crimes hits the headlines. But media interest in the case heats up even more

when Hollywood A-lister, Ashton Kutcher, appears at a pretrial hearing and reveals what he saw the night Ashley Elloran was murdered. Ashton Kutcher's presence really kind of means everything. His name was usually mentioned very high in every story about the case. But a lot of news outlets went for him and then stayed because it was a compelling case that did sort of deserve the coverage. After kuchiers' testimony, the press bestows a nickname on Garjulo, the Hollywood Ripper.

A moniker detectives worry will give the alleged killer some kind of morbid satisfaction. For a perpetrator like Garju Lowe, there is sadly a level of gratification to be sort of dominating the headlines, to recognize that all eyes and all attention is on you. Essentially, he's in control, and he's reliving the experience through the media talking about him. The media's fascination with the case

does have an upside. When CBS is 48 hours, he has a report about Garjula's ties to the Tricia Paccaccio murder, a crime for which he still hasn't been charged. Somebody in upstate New York had seen the show when all craziness at the end, I know that guy who were working together in Hollywood to do her security for a late night bar in restaurant. I know that guy who were working together in Hollywood and they were a security firm.

Well, late night bar and restaurant. And he told me he killed a grown Chicago. Gajula's alleged admission of guilt coupled with advances in DNA technology, prompts Cook County prosecutors to take action. And on July 7, 2011, they charged Michael Gajula with the murder of Trisha Pacaccio, 18 years after her death. So how would you describe the Pacaccio's that day?

They were very happy, very happy, because our state's attorney fully intends to extradite Mike Beck from California in triumph here. First, Garjulo must stand trial in LA. But just as proceedings are about to get underway, Garjula begins a strategy to support the trial, one that could permanently derail the near decade-long quest for justice.

Coming up. The man who attacked these four women is the same man. The physical evidence is very thin. But when that jury went into their room, and it went day one, day two, day three, and now I'm starting to get a little worried. MUSIC May 14, 2012. After a decade-long investigation,

Michael Garjulo is on the cusp of standing trial for the murders of Ashley Elloran and Maria Bruno and the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. But before the trial can even begin, Garjulo pulls an unexpected stunt and fires not one, not two, but five defense attorneys who signed on over the years, and announces he will represent himself in court.

That move is so telling, because it so reflects the grandiosity that is present in the sense of, well, I didn't go to law school but I am prepared to be here in my own defense and required the district attorneys to have to directly correspond with him. It's a completely distorted sense of one's own power in the world. In a grotesque twist of fate, the move also potentially grants Garjulo access to photos of his alleged victims. We actually had to litigate what he was going to be

allowed to have in his cell regarding the documents, the materials, the reports, as well as bloody, graphic, crime scene photographs. To him, that's his pornography. More importantly, Garjulo has created a way to delay his trial almost indefinitely. Throughout that entire, almost decade of delays, the government repeatedly announced that they were prepared and ready to go to trial. Judge Fidler was assigned. He said, we're set to trial today and know our games. That's when he backed off, fredpours off representing himself and went with his new attorneys.

Finally, on May 2nd, 2019, Michael Garjulo's trial begins. The courtroom is packed with reporters eager for another glimpse of the Hollywood River. The party's present is yours and all dreams are present. Prosecutors opened by pointing out the many similarities between all of Garjulos alleged victims. All young, attractive, and outgoing.

Each victim stabbed multiple times, significant force resulting in deep penetration, wearing booties, not leaving fingerprints. Evidence disposal. The defense counters by citing the lack of physical evidence connecting Garjulo to either Ashley Eleorant or Maria Bruno. Let's look to see what physical evidence that connects Michael Garjulo with the Ashley Eleorant murderer. And the answer is none. There is none. There was no DNA found inside or at the crime scene.

Not one fingerprint came back identifiable to Mr. Michael Garjulo. It's a powerful argument, but the prosecution's star witness is equally compelling. Michelle Murphy, I mean, that girl suffered and lived at Calaboy. And now she had to confront this guy at the trial. It took a whole lot of the rise to convince her

that she's safe to testify. I mean, she had a near death experience because of this guy. And he get up there and point your finger at him, and that takes a great deal of courage, and she had it. Michelle's gut-wrenching testimony also gives the jury a chance to learn more about Garjulon from his reaction.

This was someone who went faced with a victim's anguish, there's no reaction to it. If anything, the most likely feeling that Garjulo was experiencing was contempt and inconvenience, that's very much a signature of the psychopathic defendant. Garjula's attorneys admit their client attacked Michelle Murphy, but in a surprise move, they argue that Garjula was in an altered state of consciousness at the time,

and therefore should not be held accountable for what happened. This is a mental health disorder that is listed in the DSM-5. As for Ashley and Maria, Garjulo's attorneys claim both women were murdered by jealous lovers. In Maria Bruno's case, they claim her ex-husband was responsible. Regarding Ashley Ellerin, the defense argues that her apartment manager and romantic partner Mark Durbin

killed her in a violent rage after learning of her upcoming date with Ashton Kutcher. This guy, Mark Durbin, says he was there when Ashy was showering, he was there when she got the phone call. I'm not going to be around the bush with you. I think there's suspicion that Mr. Durbin did this murder. As in the preliminary hearing, Kutcher is called to testify, and once again, the Hollywood press is there. His presence was so quiet, it really seems like he's just there to establish,

you know, some of the basic facts of the case. But the defense chose to make Mark Durbin their alternate suspect. He testified later in court in the two of them at sex, and the defense suggests that Mark Durbin was jealous of Ashton, to try to pin the killing on him. In the first week of August 2019, attorneys deliver their closing arguments. The man who attacked these four women is the same man.

Mr. Aikman and I are asking that you return guilty verdicts a first-degree murder. I believe as it relates to Ashley Elloran, your verdict should be not guilty. As it relates to Maria Bruno, it should be not guilty. MUSIC Garjoulo's fate is now in the hands of the jury. Jury's making me nervous. I don't know what's to be there. I know you're not going to be there. I know you're not going to be there. I know you're not going to be there.

I know you're not going to be there. I know you're not going to be there. I know you're not going to be there. I know you're not going to be there. I know you're not going to be there. I know you're not going to be there. I know you're not going to be there. I know you're not going to be there.

I know you're not going to be there. I know you're not going to be there. Day one, day two, day three, and now I'm starting to get a little worried. MUSIC MUSIC Eleven years after Michael Garjulo is arrested for the murders of Ashley Elloran and Maria Bruno, and the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy, a jury of his peers is set to decide his fate. I wasn't sure what I was expected, how long it was going to take. It did start to feel like maybe there was a little bit of doubt creeping in, and maybe he wasn't going to be guilty.

After four days of deliberations, the jury finally returns on August 15, 2019. Corporal read the verdicts. We the jury in the Babantidal batch and find the defendant, Michael Garzulo, guilty of the crime of first-degree murder. Guilty of the crime of first-degree murder. The crime of first-degree murder. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury are these your verdicts. So say you won, so say you all.

Yes. They looked at everything and they came up with, uh, I believe, a right conclusion. And, uh, my hat's off to them. Guilty of two murders and one attempted murder. The Hollywood Ripper's reign of terror is finally over. At the penalty phase that follows the guilty verdict, the jury finally gets to hear from the victim's loved ones.

My children made me third mother me. Maybe they're mother. Now it's taken from them. We have a relationship with their mother to form that bond. Get their mother. about all that on the guitar. Well, she came home from kindergarten one day. I told you, so excited. And she ran in the kitchen and she said, Mommy, Mommy, I heard the most wonderful man today seeing I listened to him. and the song was so beautiful. Promise me, Mommy, promise me that you'll listen to that song, and then this little five-year-old

says to me, and listen to the lyrics. And I said, well, yes, I know, what is it, Ashley? And she said, oh, it's Mr. Louis Armstrong. And it's a wonderful world. Promise me you'll listen to the lyrics. And when I hear that song today, it breaks my heart that that was actually. The jury was pulled, and they all agreed. It was unanimous.

And that decision was? Death. If you look up death penalty and the dictionary, there should be a photograph of Mr. Garjulo. He is the quintessential candidate for death. And I am, in fact, not a big fan of the death penalty. Once Michael Garjulo is confined to California's death row, he'll be extradited to Cook County, Illinois,

where after 26 years, he'll finally be tried for the murder of his first alleged victim, Trisha Picaccio. I was in California with the Picacias. They were happy with the murder in the case, but it's still not their verdict. They still want to suggest us for their daughter. While Garjulo could stand trial for Trisha's murder as soon as this year, They're still not there for it. They still want to suggest us for their daughter. While Garjula could stand trial for Trisha's murder

as soon as this year, his death sentence in California will face a series of appeals that might even reach the US Supreme Court. And every step of the way, the media is sure to follow. I don't know if media coverage in this case was helpful or not. It brought other witnesses out and people perhaps we would not have otherwise identified. But as far as the negative side of the media, every time there's a video clip or a news

tease or something in the paper, you're putting a knife into the heart of the victim's family. God forbid, the media talk about that. So it's a two-edged sword. Beyond the spectacle of Garjulo's trial, if the media focus calls attention to his uniquely gruesome crimes, it could now bring more of them to light. A guy like this that's done it once, done it again, and now done it four times, there's a real possibility

there may be more. All these women were outgoing. They had promised in their lives. That's something that he wanted and he coveted. So the way to get that was to take the life from them, to take the promise. And now that becomes his to control, to have for the rest of his life.

God bless Michelle Murphy. Had he completed the act and murdered Michelle, Mr. Garjulo would have unequivocally, absolutely continued killing and wouldn't stop. Do you think he's done this more than the times he's been caught? I do. I believe Mr. Garjulo is responsible for other unidentified, uncharged murders. Why I'm here?

As of March 2020, Garjulo has still not officially been sentenced, and his lawyers have filed a motion for a new trial, claiming there was tainted testimony in that prosecutors withheld evidence from them. With the connection to an a-list celebrity, every new turn in the case puts it back in the headlines. But the true heart of this story is the tragedy of Garjula's victims. Their vibrant, outgoing personalities drew the admiration of all around them, but tragically also made them targets of a predator seeking his prey.

And a city where people come to follow their dreams became the hunting ground for a man hiding a dark past, a killer who stalked these young women and ripped their dreams away. for more information on the Hollywood Ripper, go to oxygen.com. Keith Morrison and Dateline NBC are bringing you a haunting new podcast called Mommy Doomsday. The disappearance of two of Lori Vallow's children in Rexburg, Idaho in September 2019 was one of the most bizarre cases the country had ever seen. It left behind a trail of death, devotion, and Doomsday beliefs that captivated the nation. Listen to Mommy Doomsday from Dateline NBC wherever you get your podcast. the nation. Listen to Mommy Doomsday from Dateline NBC, wherever you get your podcast.