Air Conditioning Repair Man Kills Ashton Kutcher’s Girlfriend
September 5th, 2008
An air conditioning repairman pleaded not guilty Thursday to the stabbing deaths of two women, including a former girlfriend of actor Ashton Kutcher.
Michael Thomas Gargiulo, 32, faces two counts of murder and two counts of burglary in connection with the killings of 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin, Kutcher’s former girlfriend, and 32-year-old Maria Bruno in Monterey Park, prosecutors said.
“He is adamant he was not involved,” said Gargiulo’s attorney, Anthony Salerno.
No decision has been made on whether to seek the death penalty, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.
Ellerin was found dead in February 2001 in her Hollywood Hills home. Bruno was fatally stabbed in her apartment in December 2005.
Gargiulo pleaded not guilty to the charges when he appeared in court Thursday as part of a separate case in which he is charged with attempted murder and burglary in an April 28 knife attack on a Santa Monica woman.
Gargiulo was arrested in July and is being held in lieu of $1.1 million bail in connection with the attack on the Santa Monica woman who awoke to an intruder wielding a knife. Through his lawyer, Gargiulo also has denied involvement in that attack.
In all three cases, Gargiulo lived near the victims, and the women were stabbed in their homes, police said.
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