Michael Gargiulo: Murders, Death Sentence, and Extradition

Michael Gargiulo, the Southern California serial killer known in the press as the Hollywood Ripper and the Boy Next Door Killer, was sentenced to death in California in 2021 for murdering two women and attempting to kill a third between 2001 and 2008. In September 2024 he was extradited to Cook County, Illinois, to face a separate first-degree murder charge in the 1993 stabbing of 18-year-old Tricia Pacaccio, a case that had gone unsolved for nearly two decades.¹²

Who Michael Gargiulo Is

Gargiulo was born February 15, 1976, in Chicago and grew up on Wedel Lane in unincorporated Glenview, Illinois, five houses from the Pacaccio family. He attended Glenbrook South High School, a year behind Tricia Pacaccio, and was a friend of her brother, Doug.³ He later moved to California and worked as an air conditioning repairman.

Prosecutors described a consistent pattern across his attacks. Gargiulo lived near each of his victims, studied their homes and routines, and struck at night with a knife. Deputy District Attorney Dan Akemon called the assaults “inextricably linked.”⁴ Prosecutor Garrett Dameron told jurors the killings involved dozens of deep stab wounds, no robbery, no sexual assault, and no recovered murder weapon.⁵

Ashley Ellerin, Hollywood, 2001

Ashley Ellerin, a 22-year-old fashion-design student, was killed in her Hollywood Hills home on February 21, 2001. She was stabbed 47 times, and her throat was slashed so severely that she was nearly decapitated.⁶ Gargiulo lived a few blocks away and had inserted himself into her social circle after meeting her while helping a friend change a tire on her street. Her friends said he appeared “laser focused” on her.⁷

Ellerin had plans that night with actor Ashton Kutcher, who was to take her to a Grammy Awards after-party. Kutcher testified at trial that he last spoke to her around 8:24 p.m., arrived at her home between 10:30 and 10:45 p.m., got no answer, and looked through a window where he noticed what he thought were red wine stains on the carpet. Assuming she had gone out, he left. What he had seen was her blood. Her roommate found her body the next morning.⁸

Maria Bruno, El Monte, 2005

Maria Bruno, a 32-year-old mother of four, was killed in her El Monte, California, apartment on December 1, 2005, ten days after moving in. Gargiulo lived in the same complex, in a unit with a clear view into hers. Prosecutors alleged he entered through a kitchen window and stabbed her repeatedly while she was in bed.⁹ Her body had been mutilated, her breasts removed, and a nipple placed over her mouth.¹⁰

Investigators found a blue cotton surgical bootie near the scene that contained Bruno’s blood. A matching bootie of the same make and model was later recovered from the attic of Gargiulo’s apartment in the same complex, and it became a central piece of evidence linking him to the killing.¹

Michelle Murphy, Santa Monica, 2008

On April 28, 2008, Gargiulo attacked 26-year-old Michelle Murphy in her Santa Monica apartment. He entered through a window she had left open, straddled her while she slept, and stabbed her about six times in the chest, shoulder, and arm with a serrated knife.¹¹ Murphy fought back. She grabbed the knife blade with her hands and kicked him off the bed. As he fled, he said, “I’m sorry.”¹²

Her survival ended his run.

How He Was Caught

Gargiulo lived two doors from Murphy, across an alley. During the struggle he cut himself and left a trail of blood running from her apartment past his own. His DNA was already in the system: Cook County detectives had collected a sample in 2002 as part of the ongoing Pacaccio investigation. The blood at the Murphy scene matched that profile within 25 days, and he was arrested within 24 hours of the confirmation.⁷

When officers took him into custody, he asked, “Which agency is this?” — a question investigators read as a sign he knew multiple jurisdictions suspected him.⁷ He was held on $1.1 million bail for attempted murder and burglary,¹³ and on September 4, 2008, was indicted for the Ellerin and Bruno murders.

The California Trial and Verdict

Gargiulo’s trial began in May 2019. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Ellerin and Bruno and one count of attempted murder for the attack on Murphy, along with special-circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder while lying in wait.¹

Prosecutors were also permitted to present evidence of the 1993 Pacaccio murder to demonstrate a pattern of behavior. Recorded jailhouse conversations captured Gargiulo referencing serial killers Ted Bundy and Ed Gein, discussing plans to break out of handcuffs, and floating “blackouts” as a possible excuse.⁶

Defense attorneys Daniel Nardoni and Dale Rubin argued Gargiulo was innocent of the Ellerin and Bruno murders and pointed to alternative suspects. For the Murphy attack, they conceded he was the attacker but argued he had been in a dissociative “fugue state.” A defense psychologist, Vianne Castellano, diagnosed him with dissociative identity disorder.¹⁴

In August 2019, the jury convicted him on all counts and found the special-circumstance allegations true. In a separate sanity phase, jurors determined he was legally sane at the time of all three crimes.¹²

The Death Sentence

On October 18, 2019, the jury unanimously recommended the death penalty.¹²¹¹⁵

The sentence is unlikely to be carried out soon. Governor Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions in March 2019, ordered the closure of the state’s execution chamber at San Quentin, and withdrew California’s lethal injection protocols. The state has not executed anyone since 2006.¹⁶ In January 2022, Newsom announced a plan to dismantle death row entirely and transfer condemned inmates to other maximum-security facilities.¹⁷ The moratorium halts executions while the governor holds office; it does not disturb Gargiulo’s conviction or sentence.

The Tricia Pacaccio Case

Tricia Pacaccio, 18, was found stabbed to death on the doorstep of her family’s Glenview, Illinois, home in the early morning of August 14, 1993. She had been out with friends for a scavenger hunt the night before. Her father, Rick Pacaccio, discovered her body the next morning. She had been stabbed roughly six to twelve times in the heart, lung, abdomen, arm, collarbone, and back, and her left arm was broken. Nothing had been stolen — her car, keys, and purse were left at the scene.¹⁸¹⁹

Sheriff’s detectives investigated in 1993 but lacked enough evidence to arrest anyone. In 1997, detectives offered to reduce a felony vehicular burglary charge against Gargiulo to a misdemeanor in exchange for information about the murder. He refused.¹⁸

In 2002, Cook County detectives collected a DNA sample from Gargiulo in Los Angeles. By 2003, testing confirmed his DNA matched material found under Tricia Pacaccio’s fingernails. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office declined to charge him, reasoning that the DNA could have been deposited through “casual contact” — Gargiulo and Tricia were acquaintances — and that the evidence was not enough to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.²⁰¹⁸

The case broke in 2011 after a CBS 48 Hours segment called “The Boy Next Door” aired. Two of Gargiulo’s former acquaintances, Temer Leary and Anthony DiLorenzo, came forward. They said that around the year 2000 Gargiulo had bragged about killing a girl in Chicago, saying he had “buried a bitch” and “left the bitch on the steps for dead.”⁷ On July 7, 2011, the Cook County State’s Attorney charged Gargiulo with Pacaccio’s murder — 18 years after her death.²¹

Extradition to Illinois

The Illinois prosecution had to wait for the California case to finish. On September 5, 2024, Gargiulo was extradited from California to Cook County to face the first-degree murder charge.² He appeared at the Skokie Courthouse on September 6, 2024, where Cook County Judge Anthony Calabrese ordered him detained, calling him a “real and present threat.”¹⁹ He remains in Cook County custody awaiting trial.

The Pacaccio family attended the hearing. Diane Pacaccio, after the 2019 California conviction, said of the delay in Illinois proceedings, “What we had to go through is insulting.” Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said the Sheriff’s Office had remained “committed to the Pacaccio family” throughout the decades-long pursuit of the case.²²¹⁹

Possible Additional Victims

California authorities have said they believe there may be additional victims beyond the four women Gargiulo has been charged with attacking.²² No additional charges have been reported.

1
NBC Los Angeles. Man Dubbed Hollywood Ripper Sentenced to Death
2
Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Convicted California Serial Killer Returned to Cook County
3
Journal and Topics. Hollywood Ripper’s Criminal History in Glenview
4
NBC Los Angeles. Hollywood Ripper Trial: Michael Gargiulo Murder Penalty
5
Chicago Sun-Times. Michael Gargiulo Trial: California Illinois Murders
6
Los Angeles Times. Michael Gargiulo Murder Trial Closing
7
CBS News. The Hollywood Ripper: How 48 Hours Helped Crack the Case
8
CNN. Ashton Kutcher Testifies in Hollywood Ripper Trial
9
Oxygen. Maria Bruno: Hollywood Ripper Michael Gargiulo
10
ABC 7. Serial Killer Trial: Disturbing Details Revealed
11
Los Angeles Times. Michael Gargiulo Murder Capital Murder Trial Testimony
12
Los Angeles Times. Michael Gargiulo Penalty Verdict
13
ABC 6. Michael Gargiulo Arrested
14
Courthouse News Service. Attorneys in Hollywood Ripper Case Blame Attack on Fugue State
15
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Condemned Inmate List
16
Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor Gavin Newsom Orders a Halt to the Death Penalty in California
17
Death Penalty Information Center. California Governor Gavin Newsom Orders Dismantling of California’s Death Row
18
Chicago Magazine. Did Alleged Hollywood Ripper Michael Gargiulo Kill Tricia Pacaccio
19
ABC 7 Chicago. Convicted Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Extradited to Illinois
20
Chicago Sun-Times. Boy Next Door Killer Extradited to Chicago
21
ABC 7. Gargiulo Charged With Pacaccio Murder
22
CBS News. Serial Killer Michael Gargiulo Extradited for Murder of Tricia Pacaccio