DNA links man to slaying of Ashton Kutcher’s ex girlfriend

An air conditioning repairman has been linked to the stabbing deaths of three women, including a former girlfriend of actor Ashton Kutcher, who died more then 7 years ago.
A man, Michael Gargiulo, 32, of Santa Monica was already in custody since July for a separate knife attack during a burglary and now could face murder charges as soon as next week, police said Friday.
Gargiulo was being held in lieu of $1.1 million bail on attempted murder and burglary charges stemming from the April 28 stabbing of a Santa Monica woman in her home. Detectives matched a DNA sample taken from blood at the crime scene to Gargiulo. Police say further database cross-referencing found that Gargiulio’s DNA matched genetic evidence in the three killings.
One of the cases involves Kutcher’s former girlfriend, 22-year-old Ashley Ellerin, who was found dead in February 2001 in her Hollywood Hills home.
Kutcher, who is now married to actress Demi Moore, told police he went to pick up the fashion student-model for a post-Grammy Awards party, but she did not answer the door. He checked a back window and spotted what he thought were red wine stains on the carpet and then left. Her body was discovered the next day by a friend.
Police said they have a DNA match that links Gargiulo to another fatal stabbing of a Monterey Park woman in 2005. They also suspect Gargiulo in the 1993 killing of a high school girl in the Chicago suburb of Glenview, where Gargiulo lived at the time. Tricia Pacaccio, a senior at Glenbrook South High School, was found stabbed to death on her front doorstep, clutching her door key.
Gargiulo’s attorney, Anthony Salerno, tells the AP that, Gargiulo denies involvement in any of the attacks and “thinks the police are out to get him.”
Salerno acknowledged his client will possibly be charged with murder for the three slayings. He said that Gargiulo lived near the victims at the time of the attacks and a garment of his was found in one of the victims’ homes. But, he said, that does not make Gargiulo guilty. No but DNA evidence probably does!