A serial killer collared by Santa Monica Police in 2008 has been sentenced to death.
Michael Thomas Gargiulo — a one-time Santa Monica resident famously known as “The Hollywood Ripper” and “Boy Next Door Killer” — was found guilty in August 2019 of murdering two women and attempting to murder another.
His sentencing, delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was handed down Friday by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler.
“I’m going to death row wrongfully and unjustfully,” Gargiulo told the court.
But Fidler disagreed: “In this case, everywhere that Mr. Gargiulo went, death and destruction followed.”
Gargiulo, described by prosecutors as “a serial sexual-thrill killer” stabbed Hollywood resident Ashley Ellerin more than 40 times in 2001 as she was preparing for a date with actor Ashton Kutcher.
He also butchered Maria Bruno, 32 — slitting her throat and slicing off her breasts — as she slept in her El Monte apartment in 2005.
Gargiulo was eventually arrested in connection with the stabbing and attempted murder of 26 year-old Michelle Murphy in Santa Monica. At the time of the attack, in 2008, both Gargiulo and the victim were residing on the 1200 block of 12th Street.
“To this day, spending the night alone creates a world of fear in me,” Murphy said before the sentencing.
“How is it fair that one person’s actions can destroy the lives of so many?”
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