Photo: Los Angeles County Sheriff and LAPDAll four women were young, good-looking and had a zest for life.Ashley Ellerin, 22, was a student at Los Angeles’ Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. She also studied at UCLA’s prestigious fine arts undergraduate program and hoped to one day start her own fashion line.“Everybody gravitated towards her,” her friend Reno Tripiano says. “She was beautiful. And she was artistic. It was so much fun to be around her and her energy.”Maria Bruno, a 32-year-old mother of four from El Salvador, was a clerk in a furniture store in El Monte, Calif. after she separated from her husband.Tricia Pacaccio, 18, was a Glenview South High School graduate in Illinois and had been accepted to Purdue University. The teen was “tiny, spunky” and a “girlie girl” who “got along great with everyone,” her friend Jennifer Spanjer would later testify.For more about the ‘Hollywood Ripper’ trial and Michael Gargiulo’s alleged murders, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.Michelle Murphy, 26, was athletic and worked out regularly. She would often jump rope and sprint in the alley behind her second-floor Santa Monica apartment.“And 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 killerMichael Gargiulo.“He targeted them for murder and … attacked all of them with a knife,” Akemon told the jury.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Click hereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.He “watched and waited” for “ the perfect opportunity” to kill in “blitz-style knife attacks and then escape detection,” Akemon said.Ashley Ellerin.Courtesy Los Altos H.S./ZUMApress.comGargiulo, a former air conditioning repairman and father of two, faces two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Ashley in 2001 and Maria in 2005. Bothwomen were viciously stabbed multiple timesin their Los Angeles area homes.He is also charged with the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy, who was attacked in her Santa Monica home in 2008.Gargiulo also faces a murder charge in Illinois in the death of Tricia, who was found stabbed to death outside her Glenview home in 1993.Prosecutors say Gargiulo, 17 at the time of Tricia’s murder, was a friend of her brother and lived around the corner from the Pacaccios.Tricia Pacaccio.After Tricia’s murder, Gargiulo then moved to Los Angeles and was a 24-year-old air conditioning repairman when he first met Ashley outside her home, asking her if she needed help fixing a flat tire.Ashley’s friends later told police that Gargiulo, who lived less than a block away from her, would show up to her house uninvited. Another friend said he saw Gargiulo parked outside her bungalow at odd hours, surveilling her home.She was found brutally stabbed 47 times in her Hollywood bungalow in Feb. of 2001.Maria Bruno.COURTESY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF AND LAPDAfter Ashley’s death, Gargiulo moved to a gated apartment complex in El Monte where he allegedly stabbed his neighbor Bruno on Dec. 1, 2005.Then, on April 28, 2008, Michelle Murphy woke up to a man stabbing her in the arm as she was sleeping. Michelle was able to kick off her attacker, who cut himself during the confrontation and fled.• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Clickhereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.Prosecutors allege that Gargiulo’s DNA was found on Michelle’s bedspread and sheet and linked him with the DNA found underneath Tricia’s fingernails.Prosecutors also allege that Gargiulo’s DNA was found on a blood-stained bootie outside Maria’s house.Those who mourn the losses of their friends wonder if a conviction will bring any form of closure.“Ashley will still be gone, and all the other victims will still be gone,” says Ashley’s childhood friendCarolyn Murnick, the author ofThe Hot One, about her relationship with Ashley.
Photo: Los Angeles County Sheriff and LAPD
All four women were young, good-looking and had a zest for life.Ashley Ellerin, 22, was a student at Los Angeles’ Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. She also studied at UCLA’s prestigious fine arts undergraduate program and hoped to one day start her own fashion line.“Everybody gravitated towards her,” her friend Reno Tripiano says. “She was beautiful. And she was artistic. It was so much fun to be around her and her energy.”Maria Bruno, a 32-year-old mother of four from El Salvador, was a clerk in a furniture store in El Monte, Calif. after she separated from her husband.Tricia Pacaccio, 18, was a Glenview South High School graduate in Illinois and had been accepted to Purdue University. The teen was “tiny, spunky” and a “girlie girl” who “got along great with everyone,” her friend Jennifer Spanjer would later testify.For more about the ‘Hollywood Ripper’ trial and Michael Gargiulo’s alleged murders, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.Michelle Murphy, 26, was athletic and worked out regularly. She would often jump rope and sprint in the alley behind her second-floor Santa Monica apartment.“And 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 killerMichael Gargiulo.“He targeted them for murder and … attacked all of them with a knife,” Akemon told the jury.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Click hereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.He “watched and waited” for “ the perfect opportunity” to kill in “blitz-style knife attacks and then escape detection,” Akemon said.Ashley Ellerin.Courtesy Los Altos H.S./ZUMApress.comGargiulo, a former air conditioning repairman and father of two, faces two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Ashley in 2001 and Maria in 2005. Bothwomen were viciously stabbed multiple timesin their Los Angeles area homes.He is also charged with the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy, who was attacked in her Santa Monica home in 2008.Gargiulo also faces a murder charge in Illinois in the death of Tricia, who was found stabbed to death outside her Glenview home in 1993.Prosecutors say Gargiulo, 17 at the time of Tricia’s murder, was a friend of her brother and lived around the corner from the Pacaccios.Tricia Pacaccio.After Tricia’s murder, Gargiulo then moved to Los Angeles and was a 24-year-old air conditioning repairman when he first met Ashley outside her home, asking her if she needed help fixing a flat tire.Ashley’s friends later told police that Gargiulo, who lived less than a block away from her, would show up to her house uninvited. Another friend said he saw Gargiulo parked outside her bungalow at odd hours, surveilling her home.She was found brutally stabbed 47 times in her Hollywood bungalow in Feb. of 2001.Maria Bruno.COURTESY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF AND LAPDAfter Ashley’s death, Gargiulo moved to a gated apartment complex in El Monte where he allegedly stabbed his neighbor Bruno on Dec. 1, 2005.Then, on April 28, 2008, Michelle Murphy woke up to a man stabbing her in the arm as she was sleeping. Michelle was able to kick off her attacker, who cut himself during the confrontation and fled.• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Clickhereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.Prosecutors allege that Gargiulo’s DNA was found on Michelle’s bedspread and sheet and linked him with the DNA found underneath Tricia’s fingernails.Prosecutors also allege that Gargiulo’s DNA was found on a blood-stained bootie outside Maria’s house.Those who mourn the losses of their friends wonder if a conviction will bring any form of closure.“Ashley will still be gone, and all the other victims will still be gone,” says Ashley’s childhood friendCarolyn Murnick, the author ofThe Hot One, about her relationship with Ashley.
All four women were young, good-looking and had a zest for life.
Ashley Ellerin, 22, was a student at Los Angeles’ Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. She also studied at UCLA’s prestigious fine arts undergraduate program and hoped to one day start her own fashion line.
“Everybody gravitated towards her,” her friend Reno Tripiano says. “She was beautiful. And she was artistic. It was so much fun to be around her and her energy.”
Maria Bruno, a 32-year-old mother of four from El Salvador, was a clerk in a furniture store in El Monte, Calif. after she separated from her husband.
Tricia Pacaccio, 18, was a Glenview South High School graduate in Illinois and had been accepted to Purdue University. The teen was “tiny, spunky” and a “girlie girl” who “got along great with everyone,” her friend Jennifer Spanjer would later testify.
For more about the ‘Hollywood Ripper’ trial and Michael Gargiulo’s alleged murders, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
Michelle Murphy, 26, was athletic and worked out regularly. She would often jump rope and sprint in the alley behind her second-floor Santa Monica apartment.
“And 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 killerMichael 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.
Ashley Ellerin.Courtesy Los Altos H.S./ZUMApress.com
Gargiulo, a former air conditioning repairman and father of two, faces two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Ashley in 2001 and Maria in 2005. Bothwomen were viciously stabbed multiple timesin their Los Angeles area homes.
He is also charged with the attempted murder of Michelle Murphy, who was attacked in her Santa Monica home in 2008.
Gargiulo also faces a murder charge in Illinois in the death of Tricia, who was found stabbed to death outside her Glenview home in 1993.
Prosecutors say Gargiulo, 17 at the time of Tricia’s murder, was a friend of her brother and lived around the corner from the Pacaccios.
Tricia Pacaccio.
After Tricia’s murder, Gargiulo then moved to Los Angeles and was a 24-year-old air conditioning repairman when he first met Ashley outside her home, asking her if she needed help fixing a flat tire.
Ashley’s friends later told police that Gargiulo, who lived less than a block away from her, would show up to her house uninvited. Another friend said he saw Gargiulo parked outside her bungalow at odd hours, surveilling her home.
She was found brutally stabbed 47 times in her Hollywood bungalow in Feb. of 2001.
Maria Bruno.COURTESY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF AND LAPD
After Ashley’s death, Gargiulo moved to a gated apartment complex in El Monte where he allegedly stabbed his neighbor Bruno on Dec. 1, 2005.
Then, on April 28, 2008, Michelle Murphy woke up to a man stabbing her in the arm as she was sleeping. Michelle was able to kick off her attacker, who cut himself during the confrontation and fled.
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Clickhereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
Prosecutors allege that Gargiulo’s DNA was found on Michelle’s bedspread and sheet and linked him with the DNA found underneath Tricia’s fingernails.
Prosecutors also allege that Gargiulo’s DNA was found on a blood-stained bootie outside Maria’s house.
Those who mourn the losses of their friends wonder if a conviction will bring any form of closure.
“Ashley will still be gone, and all the other victims will still be gone,” says Ashley’s childhood friendCarolyn Murnick, the author ofThe Hot One, about her relationship with Ashley.
source: people.com
