The Hollywood Ripper (Parts 1 & 2) | Full Episodes | Forensic Files

now a special two-part edition of 48 [Music] Hours four young women three murdered one left to tell the
story The Hollywood Ripper he's been called a Serial sexual thrill killer Hollywood
2001 a 22-year-old believed to be actor Ashton Coo's girlfriend is stabbed to death they were going to be hanging out
the injuries that she suffered were horrific elonte California 2005 a 32-year-old woman is stabbed in
her home there was slashing and cutting there were multiple stab ones not just a
couple Santa Monica 2008 a young woman is woken up by a man attacking her with a knife she was
stabbed multiple times in her chest and shoulder and and right arm she fought she stood up and she fought they were
all young they were all attractive they were all [Music] female the media started calling him the
Hollywood Ripper but had he killed others that that was the question investigators more than 1,800 miles away
outside Chicago had been wrestling with it would take a 48 Hours investigation to find the
answer where was window was this window outside Chicago 1993 the murder happened here in the
middle of the night someone jumped out of the bushes and stabbed 18-year-old Trisha Picacho to death
my daughter Trisha was murdered when she was 18 years old I was the one who found
[Music] her I woke up and I had a cup of coffee and I was going out to my van and I just happened to see two
little tennis shoes sticking up by the side door and when I saw it was her I dropped the coffee cup
[Music] who would do this to her why would anybody do this she was a nice girl I
died right there and there we were told that we have to understand that some murders go
unsolved and I was like there is no way somebody is going to come to my door outside my door and do this and get away
with it he's cold he's devious he's a predator and we've got ourselves a serial killer
[Music] [Music] [Music] they never saw it coming Trisha Ashley Maria Michelle the trial of an accused serial
killer has dominated the headlines here in Los Angeles he is known as the Hollywood
Ripper may it please the court the methodical and systematic Slaughter of women that's what this case is about it
is not overstating it to say this is a sensational murder trial Aston Aston on the witness list Ashton Kutcher he was
scheduled to go on a date with one of the victims the night she was murdered Ashton Kutcher talked about what would
have been his first date with one of the murder victims for me this Story begins near my
home just outside Chicago one question has haunted this quiet Glen View Community who killed
Trisha picachio and why the murder of Trisha Picacho is a case we've been working on since the
summer of 208 it took years to gain her parents' trust that maybe somehow by tell telling
Trisha's story we could help catch her [Music] killer it wasn't long after sunrise in
the morning of August 14th 1993 I was going out to my van and when I saw it was her I ran over
there and saw what happened to her Rick Picacho had just walked out the garage when out of the corner of his eye he saw
his 18-year-old daughter Trisha SPL out on the landing stabbed to death I tried to revive
her that is what we's feeling in your life when you can't do nothing to somebody you
love I remember just waking up to this Blood curling scream of my father and it was Doug call 911 Doug call 911 Trisha's
brother Doug I don't really want to describe the details of of what I saw that's okay I have nightmares about it
all the time the police arrived and Rick had to make a difficult call to his wife
Diane he called me at work and said you have to come home Trisha's hurt I heard a lady screaming and the mother had just
exited her vehicle and she was running towards Trish officer Ray salich saw her pull up
and I basically tackled her and I didn't want her to see Trish like this and remember her daughter like that who
would do this to her there is nobody that knew her that would do this to her my daughter never did anything to put
herself In Harm's Way you she was the type of girl that you knew where she was what she was doing and you never had to
worry about her Trisha was also the type of girl who made the most of high school she took
calculus was on the debate team and played clarinet in the band at the time of her Murder She was just a few days
away from moving on to the next chapter in her Young and exciting life as a freshman at Purdue
University she had a great attitude about everything and she knew what she wanted out of life were you close with
her Trisha was an amazing girl was probably one of the most energetic and happy people I've ever seen Trisha's
close friend Karen Jones spent a lot of time at the Picacho house her mom was very caring and treat us all like her
children Trisha's younger brothers 17-year-old Doug and 13-year-old Tommy often had their friends over I fed the
whole neighborhood everybody ate there they were just a very warm family on the night of August 13th Karen
Trisha and most of the kids from their senior class went out one last Harrah for the summer that night a whole group
of us got together for a scavenger hunt party one of the final parties of the summer before we all went off to college
we ended things at the restaurant and people started getting in their cars to go
home police believe it was around 1:00 a.m. as tishel walked toward the side door of the house keys in hand that the
killer grabbed her left arm twisting and breaking it and then stabbing her 12 times I remember my chest just
sink the minute I realized that she was gone and there was nothing I could do to
help her detectives interviewed dozens of people some parents were too afraid to
even let their kids talk no one seemed to know anything there were no leads no arrests to be honest I think we was Zed
out for a long long time people talk about closure my experience is there is no closure that void is always
there Rick picachio also had no idea how to go on living in the same house where
he had found the butchered body of his beautiful daughter the family moved out for 4 years eventually they decided it
was time to come back home shortly after they had an unexpected visitor former High School football
player Michael gulo one of Doug Pico's closest childhood friends Michael you've known since he was how old since
probably he was in second grade because he lived on the next street Michael showed up at the door and
he says I need I need to talk to Rick and I said well he's at work Michael and he said well can I wait for him I said
yes he sat and waited for over an hour for him to come home from work sat at my kitchen table I remember walking in the
garage door and I looked at him he he had this look on his face like he was going to say something to me but before
Michael gulo had a chance to say anything the garage door opens his father and one of his sisters come in
and say we have to leave Michael and they picked him up and whis them out and the door closed and I told I says golly
that that was kind of odd but the look on his face Marine at that point Rick did you think this kid knows something
or maybe he even had something to do with it yes you believe that was the moment that you
started to think Michael G had something to about the picachos told authorities but it was too
late Michael gulo had disappeared [Music] soon after he left Chicago Mike gulo turned up in Los
Angeles like a lot of other dreamers he wanted to be an actor or a [Music] model Anthony D Lorenzo and teer ly
worked with Mike gulo in the late '90s they were all bouncers together at a Hollywood nightclub called the Rainbow
Bar in Grill what did he tell you he was doing out here acting modeling isn't everybody
right y he was doing the Hollywood thing he's doing the Hollywood thing yeah he sure is did he have a girlfriend at the
time when you were all hanging out he always had girlfriend he always had girls after he was a good- looking
cleancut guy you know the waitress were always after him but garula moved on from the
nightclub and began working for a heating and cooling company who was the first one among you to meet Michael
garula I was Chris an Jennifer desisto and Justin Peterson spoke to us in 2010 they were the kind of good friends
most young people would be attracted to really the connection between this big group of friends was kind of partying
and having a great time very free-spirited lifestyle right you were young were young their introduction to
mik or julo started with a flat tire I'm changing my flat tire and this guy comes walking down the street now he
was good-looking and he stopped and offered to help me change attire at the same time 22-year-old Ashley ellerin
came out of the house she was renting on the street Mike gulo noticed and Ashley
was standing there with me and he was good-looking and she's beautiful I was like no it's okay I don't I know how to
change a tire so he stood there talking to Ashley and they were you know talking
and flirting they exchange numbers and that was our first meeting did you have any feeling about him one way or the
other I mean he was just you know good-looking guy walking down the street offering to help Ashley ellerin the
young woman Mike G julo had immediately noticed was a part-time fashion student she was amazing I mean she just had this
Charisma to her that she could go into a room and walk into the room and just take complete control over the room and
she was just beautiful and and fun and spontaneous she had a lot of friends Ashley was a 20 2-year-old you know
attractive girl living in the Hollywood HS and she liked to have fun absolutely she liked to have fun we had a lot of
fun the guy they only knew is Mike kept trying to spend time with Ashley he called the house a lot after
they running called and had begun just showing up uninvited scene that we were hanging the
friends say one night he walked into the house during a party sat down and was laser focused on Ashley but Ashley was
not interested back then lots of men were interested in her Hollywood is Hollywood interacting with celebrities
that is how it is I mean they live here one celebrity in particular had started calling Ashley it was then upand
cominging TV actor from that 70 show Ashton Kutcher why is everything doing that we had hung out with him a couple
of times let's go back to the night that Ashley was supposed to go out with Ashton Kutcher I knew they were going to
be hanging out the next morning Ashley's roommate Jen came home I entered the house and Ashley was
laying across the two stairs covered in blood the body of 22-year-old Ashley Lauren ellerin was found by her roommate
early Thursday morning and that's when I realized that no this is not you know this is not happening who could have
done [Music] this when Jennifer desisto got home that morning in 2001 she walked into a
gruesome and terrifying scene at that point was just a like a sense of trauma just came over me I thought maybe the
person was still there and I kind of ran out hysterically I dropped that phone and end up getting to the car and
calling from my cell phone 911 Ashley had been attacked just after taking a shower stabbed 47 times her
body was lying just outside the bathroom had you ever seen anything like that before for your life I I absolutely
had not and it still traumatizes me to this day police arrived quickly and started
asking questions who could who could have done this it must have been one of the first
questions that police asked you though was was anybody angry with her did she have any enemies it sounds like such a
TR question but you would think that based on what you saw only someone who hated another person absolutely yeah and
also it was a given from the GetGo that it was obviously someone she was either familiar with or knew to let them in
because as we had said the the house was kind of double gated you believe that Ashley let him in
oh yes okay this is Nur Road and this is Ashley Erin's uh former residence Hollywood homicide detective Tom small
says there was little to go on no blood splatter outside no pieces of clothing no other no material that would lead you
to one particular individual no we had teams of uh detectives searching the interior and the
exterior uh we walked the streets we canvased every building door knocked every house were you kind of baffled
initially very much so you know we were just looking for any type of uh direction or clues that would uh to lead
to a suspect so we had to start with the victim and work backwards find out her associations they definitely wanted to
talk to the person she was supposed to be on a date with that night how you doing congratulations actor Ashton
Kutcher and what role has he played in this as a as a witness in any way he is a person in a group of Ashley's friends
he's one of many and he was a friend of hers Kutcher and Ashley had plans to go to dinner but he was running late and
kept pushing back his arrival Kutcher told detectives that at 8:24 p.m. he spoke with Ashley who told him she' just
gotten out of the shower Ashton Kutcher didn't actually arrive at Ashley's front door until
around 10:45 p.m. at which point he says he was confused because the lights were
on but no one answered just as he was about to leave he glanced through a window and noticed what he thought was
red wine spilled on the floor turns out it wasn't wine it was blood uh it just was a very bad scene a
lot of anger a lot of rage somebody had isolated Ashley ellerin to to kill her and was very very
angry when he did it could anyone think of someone who wanted to hurt Ashley not
really almost to a person Ashley was considered to be you know like uh the life of the
party she had a lot of friends from different walks of life friends from school her
roommates celebrity type folks Kutcher wasn't the only man police were interested in talking to this is
Mark Durban a not so famous actor who was also Ashley's property manager Durban and Ashley were secretly having a
relationship and he and Ashley had been intimate earlier that evening but like Kutcher he had fully cooperated with
investigators and both men were ruled out as possible suspects while police had no concrete
leads Ashley's friends couldn't shake the feeling that the guy who seemed fixated on Ashley was
involved in your initial conversation with police did you mention Michael gulo to them uh yes the I didn't know his
name but the heating and air conditioning gu and did they pay any attention to that I know they took note
I don't I don't think they took it very seriously or that much of a threat if he
was not in their circle of friends and they were creeped out by him so when you hear that does it strike a chord with
you well I mean it it takes a little bit more than that to to get focused on somebody as a suspect in a in a case
like this garula wasn't really on detective Small's radar Ashley had a large Social Circle there were hundreds
of people to talk to and he was just the creepy air conditioner guy it would take
months for police to learn his last name and put him on their list uh it weighed
really heavy uh on me personally because uh everybody has the case and this one was mine my
frustration was why can't I get the evidence I need to solve Ashley's [Music] murder back in Cook County just outside
Chicago Trisha Pico's murder was unsolved for nearly 10 years her mother Diane was relentless hounding
investigators at least once or twice and did you feel like anything was being done in that time no but I kept thinking
maybe I just keep going and talking to them and keep telling them every little thing that came to I mean it was
just it helped me probably emotionally because it was almost like I could talk to them they under they knew what had
happened mhm I have the tenacity to keep going until it does happen you're not going to give up I'm not going to give
up no my daughter is going to get the representation that she deserves Cook County Sheriff's detective
L solo was assigned to the case in 1999 we had the benefit of Technology when we took the case
over by 2002 new DNA technology allowed investigators to take a fresh look at the evidence collected from the crime
scene we we were hoping to establish some type of DNA profile give us an idea of a possible offender or so what's the
first big test result you get back the First new piece of information from this round of DNA testing well the biggest
thing is when we got the unknown male contributor from fingernails male DNA found on Trisha's
fingernails now they had to match it at that point we began the DNA campaign of everybody including the picachio family
her friends of hers that were with her at the road rally that night we even tested the dog you even tested the dog
yeah detectives wanted samples from anyone they had talked to back in the day and Michael garulu was on their list
detectives heard garulu was now living in Los Angeles so they went to the LAPD for help I had no knowledge they were
even coming by now detective small had begun to take a closer look at Michael garula and uh all of a sudden we get a
phone call Cook County's in town he says well who who is it you're looking for and they named Michael garula he said
hey that's that's my guy they showed up I held up a photo I said is this who you're looking for and they said yeah
how do you know him I said well right now he's a potential suspect in a in a murder investigation what do you guys
have detective small agreed to help Cook County find garula and collect a DNA sample
[Music] [Music] in 2002 almost 10 years after Trisha Pico's murder the LAPD caught up with
Michael garula we obtained Mr gul's DNA sample and I and he was cooperative with that
not really but it it got done the DNA sample was sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab the
results were stunning a match it was Michael gul's DNA on Trisha's fingernails Case Closed not exactly did
you think it was enough to move forward well I thought it was but uh I'm not the
attorneys Cook County detective L Salah it was explained to me and and and the explanation made sense at the time that
they they just wanted some type of cooperating evidence they needed something more than the something more
than that because they said Michael gul's DNA might have gotten on Trisha in a way that had nothing to do with the
murder at at the time he was a friend of the family you know and one would have to wonder could it have gotten there by
casual contact and had there been casual contact in the hours before or the day before they that she was murdered there
was the day before the day before her murder garula was driving with another friend Scott Olsen when they saw Trisha
we drove past Picasso's house and who do we see round in the corner walking away
from us there's Trisha Mike's driving he kind of swerves over slows down swerves
over gets right behind her and we saw she was crying so she's like hey give me a ride like whoa okay sure get in so she
gets in the car um said take her to so and so's take me to so ando's house so we just we just drove her we dropped her
off and and that was it when we spoke to Jack Blakey from the Cook County State's
Attorney's Office in 2011 he confirmed that because of that ride and because gulo had spent time at the family home
he cannot be sure if gul's DNA on Trisha was from the attack the evidence just hasn't been there I wish we could bring
closure to her family tomorrow so with nothing else tying him to Trisha's or Ashley's death garula was
only a guy who had the bad luck of knowing two different women who had been murdered in exactly the same
way gulo left Hollywood and continued doing what he always did never staying in one place for too long how come
nobody keeps tabs on this guy I don't know if they if they tried my understanding was he kept kind of a low
profile I think he knew he was on the radar over the next few years gulo had several girlfriends and even became a
father in 2005 he settled in Suburban El Monte 20 m east of Hollywood then just before Christmas
that same year in that same neighborhood there was a murder the victim was another attractive young woman we're
talking about a 90 lb 32-year-old woman who's defenseless asleep in her bed in her home where if there's any one place
in the world she should feel most secure that attack is every woman's nightmare Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
homicide detective Mark lilyfield uh this is a building where the murder happened behind me in department number
20 is where Maria Bruno lived she had uh 2-year-old Twins and then I believe a four-year-old and a 5-year-old in the
months before her death Maria and her husband had several violent fights including one where her husband punched
her in the face she left him and found an apartment in this gated complex and she had picked that building
specifically because it was very secure you had to either have a passcode or a a
key to get through the front door so it was a pretty secure building but someone got past that
security the suspect entered through the kitchen it appears from the evidence that he obtained a weapon there in the
kitchen a knife correct her body was somewhat mutilated and you just you know that's that's crap
you see in the movies in real life that that is very rare it just doesn't happen there was very little evidence
Left Behind except for one blue cotton booty found in the courtyard outside Bruno's apartment just about where we're
standing is where that blue cotton booty was at right here yeah right here right
here and it was kind of out of place actually on the sole of the booty was a drop of blood and DNA testing proved
that in fact it was Maria's blood police immediately took a hard look at runo's estranged husband there
was the history of a turbulent relationship and drops of Maria's blood were found in his car but Maria's
husband told police that earlier that evening he and Maria had decided to rekindle their relationship they went to
a restaurant where the manager confirmed Maria had cut her finger and was bleeding as they
left and like picachio then ellerin and now Bruno another vicious murder eventually turned into a cold case as
for Michael gulo his romantic life was once again in turmoil he left his girlfriend and new baby in Suburban LA
and headed to the beach Santa Monica and once again where julo went an attack eventually
followed a young woman is woken up by a man attacking her with a [Music] knife Santa Monica April 28th
2008 another Breakin another brutal assault but this attack would change everything
S I got the call about 12:30 in the morning from my sergeant and uh asked me to come out and uh respond to a scene of
a stabbing or attempted murder then Santa Monica Police Sergeant Richard Lewis um he gained access into this
window which was open a few inches and once he got inside there he then opens the front door kind of stages it as an
escape route um proceeds into the bedroom where she's sleeping and and uh what awakes her is a knife being plunged
into her he just flat out stabbed her right she was stabbed multiple times uh in her
chest and shoulder and and right arm and suffered several wounds to both of her hands as she's grabbing this knife as
it's being plunged down upon her the victim was 26-year-old Michelle Murphy what can you tell us about her oh
she an incredible young lady and uh just someone who's very resilient and uh decided to
fight as Murphy all of 5'1 was fighting for her life the blade is slipping back and forth and somewhere in the struggle
the attacker is also cut and at some point there's a A Lull in the action and uh she was able to get her feet up
underneath and kick him off of her the attacker stumbles off the bed and out of the room bleeding profusely
from her multiple stab wounds Murphy runs after the hooded man down the hallway to the front
door did he say anything to her ever uh I'm sorry he said I'm sorry I'm sorry then he ran
out Michelle immediately called her boyfriend who called 911 uh she told me that she woke up and there was someone
on top of her and she forced them off okay our then the police call Michelle okay what
is your name it's very hard to hear her answers the fire department is already on the
way and we're on our way what this person look [Music] like everything you how big this guy how he
was something so he comes out this door and there's blood on the steps right outside
the front door we have some blood on the steps okay and then Blood on the concrete steps here leading out down
this walkway and into the alley so how significant in your investigation and when you showed up that night did you
think that blood was going to be huge huge about 25 days after uh submitting my samples to the crime lab I'm informed
by a criminalist or we actually have a hit a DNA hit and who does it match Michael garula
conclusively [Music] yes they were able to make the match because remember gul's DNA had been
collected for DNA testing in the picachio case and was already in file and guess where garula lived at the time
of the attack it'd be the second building down in the uh first window it would be just above that black trash can
that you see on the left side he could see right into her bedroom if she were to have the blinds open
that'd be correct that's pretty scary yes absolutely within 24 hours of making that DNA
match garula was arrested for the assault of Michelle Murphy he was taken into custody and what was his response
his response was which agency is this what did that say to you that tells me a lot it tells me that uh he wasn't
sure which crime he's getting charged for but that there was more than one out there to me that's what that meant yes
Sergeant Lewis was reminded of a conversation he'd once had with Detective lilyfield about a similar
murder that had happened 3 years earlier in elonte just outside of Los Angeles I
got a call from Sergeant Rich Lewis from the Santa Monica Police Department he had a case that was very similar um
luckily his victim survived and he had identified a suspect and it turns out garula once lived close enough to Maria
Bruno to also watch her she reported to friends run-ins with the strange guy across the
way so this is her apartment and where was gar jula's apartment located um if you turn around and look it's right over
your right shoulder it's apartment number 34 so that is up just behind that tree correct correct just to the right
of that tree uh so you got a clear view obviously from his apartment now the pieces of the puzzle were finally
starting to come together determined investigators had discovered more evidence remember that blue booty found
near Maria Bruno's front door in gul's old apartment just across the way and sure enough in the Attic of the
apartment we want up finding a matching booty a blue cotton booty just like the same one that we had found at the crime
scene the same manufacturer the same make the same model of booty and in that 2001 murder of Ashley
ellerin garula lived only a couple of blocks away he was frequently seen hanging out with his dog at this park
directly across the street from Ashley's home we had information that he's you know frequented the dog park parked his
vehicle on occasion over there within a month Michael garula was also charged with the murders of Ashley
ellerin and Maria Bruno [Music] when Trisha Pico's family heard that Mike gulo had been arrested in La they
were certain he would soon be charged with Trisha's murder but nothing happened then in 2011 48 Hours ran our
first show about the so-called Hollywood Ripper and the unsolved murder of Trisha
Picacho almost immediately after the show aired a witness reached out to me I watched the show and it was a mug shot
of Mike teamer lery one of Michael gul's bouncer buddies from Hollywood and did you reach out to
Anthony I did I did I sent him a text yeah he uh did you know Mike's a serial killer turns out both teer and Anthony D
Lorenzo had led checkered lives of their own in and out of jail but both men were
now fathers and seeing Trisha's father on 48 Hours moved them I tried to revive her that is worst feeling in your life
when you can't do nothing to somebody you love I get emotional cuz I I love my children uh and when I when I look at
him and I see that video to this day I get a pain in my chest that any man would have to miss and love their child
like that so you're watching it and we're telling the story and you have know you already know you have pieces of
the puzzle that we don't even know exist yeah I said I had to I have to let somebody know what I know here's what
teer and Anthony knew they said back in 2000 when they were all working together
Michael gulo told them he had murdered a girl in Chicago we're cruising on Sunset you know he asked us but he's
like you guys ever kill anybody and he's like I have and we we're like shut up you know shut up here we go again you
know he said he buried this he go he was I buried a he goes I left the on the steps for dead we put them
in touch with Chicago authorities And Soon Michael gulo was indicted for the murder of Trisha Picacho 18 years after
her death then Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez this new evidence that uh has just come forward after the
48 Hour episode really coupled with the DNA we feel at this point that we have sufficient
evidence but the Picacho search for justice was just beginning there was a long road ahead full of unexpected
twists and turns well see my truth is being 100% innocent being wrongfully charged all I
could do is be Cal and fight for my innocence [Music] up next I hate you I hate you I hate you
the accused Hollywood Ripper faces trial this was somebody who was going to take
pleasure in plunging a knife into their victim over and over and over again celebrity Ashton Kutcher takes the stand
in a surprise both the prosecution and the defense make him their star witness Ashton Kutcher talked about what would
have have been his first date with one of the murder victims the case will not be easy for the da zero trace evidence
no eyewitnesses no fingerprints really they had nothing and the defense says there may be other Killers out there
they just have to establish some Reasonable Doubt in the minds of the jury and offer a bizarre story began a
circular slicing motion multiple personalities it was really a very strange spectacle and even possession if
you were caught red-handed doing something you can say I was there but I wasn't you don't want to think that a
regular person you know can actually commit this horrific of a crime and then just go live dayto day who does that the
case of the Hollywood Ripper is not over not by a long shot it's really really sick
this special two-part edition of 48 hours will continue [Music] this special two-part edition of 48
Hours [Music] continues he's accused of attacking at least four women he's been called a
Serial sexual thrill killer this is not a typical murder case this is a systematic slaughtering
of beautiful woman by a serial killer four young women only one Survivor the Hollywood Ripper is one of
the most horrible cases I've ever seen this is a man who spied on them who stalked them and then brutally stabbed
them to death and that's defendant Michael kulo Ashley ellerin 20 01 Ashley Elan was supposed to go on a
date with Ashton ker as and he rang the doorable and nobody answered he saw what he thought was
spilled wine all over the place unfortunately we later learned that that was her
blood Maria Bruno 2005 mother of four was brutally murdered inside her El Monte apartment she was stabbed to death
you think she was asleep when she was attacked I do Michelle Murphy 2008 this attack would change
[Music] everything how did Michelle Murphy somehow get away from this guy she fought we have some blood on the steps
okay and then Blood on the concrete steps here leading out down this walkway and into the alley so how significant
did you think that blood was going to be huge we actually have a hit a DNA hit and who does it match Michael
garula I'm Moren Maher since the fall of 2008 I've been covering a man known as the Hollywood Ripper it's a story that
48 Hours helped to break wide open Trisha Picacho 1993 one question has haunted this quiet Glen
View Community who killed Trisha vacho and why who would do this why would anybody
do this what was your reaction when you got a phone call that a witness had come
forward to 48 hours I was shocked I would you have imagined that a television show would be able to help
you solve a crime no but it's never happened to me targeted young women in Illinois and the LA play area frankly
it's almost a miracle that these cases were linked together you say to yourself who could do this butchering attempted
murder of a for you think oh my God it's a monster vicious murders of three young
women murder and attemped murder [Music] [Music] in a town known for keeping secrets the murder trial of Michael gulo
nicknamed The Hollywood Ripper could reveal a hidden life Trisha picachio Ashley ellerin Michelle Murphy
and Maria Bruno were all young attractive and outgoing on May 2nd 2019 the case against Michael garulu began
prosecutors say he murdered three women and attempted to murder a fourth he stake them out Mary F Jan a former
Federal prosecutor and 48 Hours consultant he stalked them and then he stabbed them
brutally prosecutor Dan Aman says Michael gulo is a serial killer attacking Four Women just for the thrill
of it from 1993 through his arrest in 200 8 what you will hear is that Michael gulo for almost 15 years was watching
always watching and his hobby was plotting the perfect opportunity to attack women with a knife in and around
their homes during those years gulo played High School Football was a wannabe actor and a
repair man it has taken gulo longer to go to trial than any other inmate in the history of the LA County
Jail nearly 11 years this is how he looks now there have been nearly 100 hearings
he's fired attorneys and even tried to represent himself Mr Ruben and myself have the opportunity to ask questions
and cross-examine but now with the new high-powered court appointed legal team the wait is over the prosecution starts
with its strongest case and most powerful witness Michelle Murphy in 2008 was stabbed in her bed in her Santa Monica
apartment right across the alley from garula apartment after showing photos from her
brutal attack Michelle Murphy the only woman who survived this alleged serial killer is called to the
stand there were no cameras allowed in Court during Michelle's testimony but we wanted to share with you some of what
she said her exact chilling words I grabbed at the knife I wrapped my hands around the blade and at some point 5'1
Michelle Murphy gets her legs up against her chest and shoves the attacker off of
the bed she describes how he runs out of the room down the hallway she goes after
him and Michelle says the attacker told her I am sorry this is Miss Murphy in the hospital Michelle never saw his face
but noticed he was left-handed in the struggle the attacker was also cut leaving his blood his DNA all over her
bedroom gar jula's blood and DNA were found on Michelle's bedspread and sheet and In The Blood Trail across the alley
after Michelle Murphy testified the prosecution turned to the other victims to prove gul's pattern of stalking and
stabbing 3 years before Michelle's attack Maria Bruno a mother of four young children
was stabbed 17 times Maria Bruno was stabbed to death in her El Monte residence a of blood Maria Bruno's body
was discovered by her estranged husband Irving who called 911 I'm looking at her right now he's
dead he just me moved here about less than less than a week ago garula lived right across the
way gar julo entered Maria's apartment through a window put on Blue surgical booties and mutilated Maria with a knife
as she slept the prosecution argues that the pattern and direction of the blood drops
show that the killer was left-handed just like Michelle attacker and just like Michael
gulo and this time the killer left something behind a blue booty with critical evidence detectives located a
blue surgical booty right outside of Maria's Front Door forensic analysis showed that there were drops of Maria's
Blood on the booty and gul's DNA was around the elastic band 4 years before Maria there was
Ashley ellerin a 22-year-old fashion student in Hollywood gulo who lived within a short distance from Ashley's
house and frequented the dog park across from her house injected himself into Ashley's
life on February 21st 2001 within weeks of garulu fixating on Ashley surveilling
her home at odd hours Ashley ellerin was found stabbed to death in the hallway just outside her bathroom Ashley had
been stabbed over 47 times as the state lays out its explanation of how Ashley was murdered
an important witness is about to have Hollywood's eyes upon him this is Mr Kutcher he's Ashley's
friend Ashton Kutcher is used to being a star but not a star witness Mr Kutcher is
part of the chronology of this case that is offered to show you that there was a
very narrow window of opportunity for somebody to get into the house and murder Ashley why is Kutcher called as a
witness he's incredibly important to the timeline here and when the murder possibly occurred and he may have been
the last person to actually speak to her before she was killed at trial only still cameras were allowed for his
testimony Kutcher is asked about his planned date with Ashley on February 21st 2001 the evening she was murdered
at 8:24 p.m. Ashley talked to Mr Kutcher on the phone and they confirmed a plan to go out that night Ashton Kutcher was
running late so we called Ashley again at 10:15 to let her know he was on the way but Ashley didn't pick up he then
drove to her home knocked on the door but still got no answer people testify that at 10:45 p.m. he
arrived at the residence and saw what he thought was spilled wine on the floor We
Believe now the evidence will show that was actually blood and Ashley had already been
murdered a diagram of Ashley's home is shown that's her bathroom where we believe she had just exited the shower
and was getting ready to go out with Mr Kutcher when she was attacked from behind and then there was a struggle in
the area outside the bathroom where she was stabbed 47 times Kutcher testified that after learning about Ashley's
murder he quote went to the police I was like my fingerprints are on this door like I was freaking out although never a
suspect Kutcher was concerned about what he left behind that's unlike Michael gulo who
was always careful to cover his tracks [Music] [Music] the methodical and systematic Slaughter
of women that's what this case is about the prosecution painted a portrait of Michael gulo throughout his life he was
violent towards women interested in serial killer Ted Bundy and studied forensic science Mike was a strange guy
this is Miro Hoffman a man who now describes himself as gul's former best friend told Merkel he could get away
with committing crimes because he studied forensics he would go online whatever he could find about forensics
and he would learn from people's mistakes other criminals mistakes you know how to get away with a crime and he
told me if he ever got caught committing any crime he would just lie until he dies lie lie until you die Michael
garula felt confident arrogant dare I say invulnerable prosecutors said gulo also
studied a book that taught you how to kill with a knife The anarchus cookbook talks about knives the perfect guide to
committing some of these crimes crimes detailing how you go for the throat we believe the evidence will show as this
is what Mr garula is doing as for gul's motive prosecutors described a serial killer with a sexual bent this was
somebody who was going to take pleasure and plunging a knife into their victim over and over and over
again to better understand that we asked Chris Mandi to explain he's a forensic psychologist and expert on serial
killers he is also a consultant to 48 Hours most serial killers are motivated by power that's at the core of
everything the prosecution points out that gulo never raped his victims but he controlled them and say for Michael gulo
that control itself is a sexual thrill it's control over life and death so violence has become sexualized according
to prosecu ERS garula went after women he found attractive Michael garula noticed Michelle Murphy Michael garula
noticed Ashley ellerin Michael garula noticed Maria Bruno and he stalked them he watched and waited and collected
realtime Intelligence on the victims prosecutors say the spying was all part of his power game and his
pattern and you've got all this stalking this watching surveilling and fantasizing going on and the person is
doing this repeatedly to try to satisfy their urges at some point for some of these individuals it's not enough to
just think about it anymore and they have to move to the next step they have to actually kill in order to get the
same degree of [Music] stimulation to really make their points prosecutors took the jury out of court
to see where everything happened jurors saw that Michael gardula lived close to all of his victims close
enough to watch them to start with Gula lived right down the alley from Michelle
Murphy a few years earlier he lived within a few hundred fet of Ashley Allin and when he lived in El Monte his
apartment was just across the courtyard from Maria Bruno [Music] to strengthen their argument and really
show how gulo had a clear pattern they also told jurors about a murder over 1,800 miles away you will hear that
gara's Killing Spree started in Chicago in the summer of 1993 almost 26 years ago when Garo killed his first
victim his neighbor then 18-year-old Trisha picachio while gulo is not being tried for Trisha's murder here in La
prosecutors thought it was essential to tell the jury what happened all those years ago outside Chicago well it's
introduced here for a very limited purpose and to show that the facts and the pattern in the picachio case in
Illinois are similar to the California cases it was 1993 Trisha Pono was just 18 years old
coming home late one night in the Chicago suburbs gulo who was athletic and had trained in martial arts and
boxing grab Trisha who was very petite snapped her arm and stabbed her repeatedly in the left breast arm and
chest left her bleeding to death on the doorstep of the family home and fled I was the one who found her
Trisha's father Rick I woke up I had a cup of coffee and I was going out to my van and I just happened to see two
little tennis shoes sticking up by the side door and when I saw it was her I dropped the coffee cup
[Music] I died break in and there at the Time Michael Gula was a 17-year-old kid living around the corner
one of Trisha's brother's closest friends when the murder happened gulo wasn't even a suspect and the case went
cold for years by 2003 there was new DNA technology eventually gul's DNA was found on
Trisha's fingernails back then rutor in Chicago did not think that DNA alone was
enough to charge him and the case stayed dormant in 2011 48 Hours reported on the
case and a witness came forward to me I watch the show teamer ly and Anthony D Lorenzo had once worked with Michael
garula as bouncers in the late 90s at a Hollywood nightclub Club they say Michael gulo confessed to them one day
when they were driving telling them that he had killed a girl in Illinois at the
time it seemed too crazy to be true gulo had told them a lot of stories we're cruising down
Sunset he asked us but he's like you guys ever kill anybody and we're like he's like I have and we're like shut the
you know shut up here we go again he said he buried this he go he was I buried a he goes left the on
the steps for dead we put them in touch with Chicago authorities and shortly after garula was charged with the murder
of Trisha Picacho 18 years after her death now they are key Witnesses at gulo Los Angeles trial in
1997 garula told his friend teer ly quote I stabbed up the girl end quote also in 1997 Mr gulo told his friend
Anthony the Lorenzo I actually left the on the step for dead end quote they asked you to identify gar julo in
the room did you make eye contact with mine I did absolutely he did not want to look at me he knew every word that came
out of my mouth was true and there's just no doubt about it each of the picachio family members
were called to testify retelling the awful details of finding Trisha on the doorstep of their home they also
described their relation ship with her alleged killer what was it like for you to be in the room with
him uh it's it's in the room it's very very hard Trisha's brother Tommy it's difficult I mean it never something like
that never goes away the picachos can only hope that this trial will bring Justice for Ashley
Maria and Michelle but the defense has another take they point the finger in a different direction and away from
Michael [Music] gulo they just have to poke holes they've got to raise any doubt they're
going to throw everything at it the kitchen sink and they're going to hope that some of that will resonate and
it'll raise just a a seed a kernel of doubt in one those jurors and that's all they need something accused serial
killer Michael gulo knows I this being 100% innocent being wrongfully charged in recorded jail conversations with 48
hours between 2009 and 201 gulo maintained his innocence and a desire to fight the charges it's a
matter of waiting to knowing that there will be Victory because I know I'm innocent and uh it's just now putting it
down putting it down in the courtroom and just being patient in the courtroom his defense
attorney Daniel nardoni has a plan argue someone else besides his client could have killed these women he starts with
the Ashley ellerin case there's not one single witness called by the prosecution that saw Michael gulo go
into the house in the ellerin case despite all the efforts they put into scouring that that
crime scene they came up with zero zero DNA zero physical evidence linking him zero trace evidence no eyewitnesses no
fingerprints really they had nothing nardoni focuses on the prosecution's celebrity witness Ashton
Kutcher to everyone's surprise he says Kutcher is really the defense team's star witness because Kutcher's account
of that evening points to a very specific suspect and it's not Michael garula instead it's the manager of
Ashley's rented house this man aspiring actor Mark Durban I think there's suspicion that Mr Durban did this murder
Mark durman testified he was actually having an affair with Ashley and admits they were intimate that very evening
just hours before Ashton arrived the defense argues that at the time of her murder Durban was at Ashley's house
their proof Ashton Kutcher's cell phone records Ashton Kutcher calls her at 8:24
p.m. we know there's a phone record he calls her at 8:24 p.m. Miss Elin stated I just got out of
the shower Mark Durban testified that he was there when she was taking a shower and
while he was there he says Ashley got a phone call then he left nardoni insists it must have been Kutcher's call at
8:24 and that is critical because the neighbor testifies that around 8:25 or 8:30 he heard
something he's horrible screaming coming from Ashley's home he hears two screens from a woman
that puts Mark deran possibly right in the thick of it at the time of the murder Mark deran was the only person
known to have been with Ashley ellerin last person while she was still alive but Los Angeles detectives clear Durban
he was cooperative and they didn't believe he had a motive still nardoni may have succeeded in raising some doubt
with the jury the defense makes a very big deal about Mark turban they did a pretty good job I thought and with that
the defense was on to the other case where they saw an opportunity the killing of Maria Bruno same argument
thin evidence not one single person saw Mr gulo leaving the house but there was that blue booty with a drop of Maria's
blood on it and gul's DNA on the elastic band nardoni reminds the jury gulo who lived across the courtyard was a repair
man we all know that Michael used booties all the time he says the booty probably dropped out of gul's pocket as
he was returning from work and picked up a drop of Maria's blood that was already
on the sidewalk Maria's body had been mutilated and again nardoni offered up an alternate suspect he pointed the finger
at Maria's estranged husband Irving the person that did this what's it tell you I hate you I hate you I hate you whoever
did this made it personal nardoni paints a picture of a fractured marriage and details a
previous fight between the two Irving Bruno grabbed his wife out of the car threw her to the
ground and with a clo fist punched her in the face he's got a terrible history of physically abusing her that came out
she said she was scared of him in fact Maria Bruno had recently left him but Irving told the police that on the night
she was killed he and Maria had rekindled their relationship Irving Bruno was the last
person with Maria brono while she was still alive that night he told police they went out to a restaurant together
returned to her place were intimate and then he left a neighbor says she heard crying at around 1:30 in the morning and
who's down there at 1:30 in the morning you know who Irving Bruno and police did find drops of Maria's blood
in Irving's car they found it on Irving Bruno's baseball cap a droplet they found it on the passenger seat and they
found it on the uh Central console but a restaurant manager testified he had had seen Maria cut her
finger earlier that night police cleared Irving Bruno but the defense still tried
to persuade the jury the defense though is still going to try to raise doubt just because they were clear didn't mean
they didn't possibly do it the defense also drills down on the Trisha picachio case the 1993 murder
outside Chicago everyone agrees it was gul's DNA on Trisha's fingernails but how did it get there nardoni says it
could have come from casual contact gulo had been friends with Trisha's brother and Trisha had been in gul's Van the day
before she was killed I have a theory and that is this the Trisha seats sits in the back seat of the family van you
know she touches it her clothes pick it up uh potentially Mr gul's DNA to find out how likely that is we asked Nathan
lent a forensic expert at John J College of Criminal Justice so what we're talking about now is a secondary
transfer a day later I've never seen a secondary transfer that would last that long there's just not enough cells that
would survive and especially on your arm which is touching other things you're putting on and off your clothes uh that
rubs off the cells pretty quickly and he says casual contact is even more unlikely because at trial the scientist
who matched gul's DNA to Trisha's fingernails said it was actually a 5050 mixture of Trisha and gul's DNA and that
is significant casual contact will leave a few cells here and there a 50/50 mixture means in almost all cases that
there was a lot of DNA a lot of cells from both parties that would require contact that would require extensive
contact it looks to me that the defendant was scratched by those fingernails that's what it looks like to
me well there may have been some doubt about the power of that DNA evidence no one disagrees that the DNA in the case
of the woman who survived Michelle Murphy belongs to Michael gulo DNA is all over the place so they've got to
somehow figure out okay what am I going to do now to defend this particular charge the defense's argument surprises
everyone Michelle Murphy because of her strength and courage allowed investigators to work
backwards and piece this entire case together Michelle Murphy is the sole surviving victim and it is gul's DNA
that is found all over Michelle's apartment it's a problem defense attorneys Daniel nardoni and Dale Rubin
must address headon and we know that the evidence in this is stronger is much stronger Michelle
testified that she never saw her attacker's face but did notice he was left-handed and there were those words
Michelle heard her attacker utter as he ran out the door I am sorry Michelle Murphy is the only count in which the
prosecution has shown that Mr gulo was in her apartment and attacked her in a surprising move
Michael gul's attorneys do not deny that he attacked Michelle but insists that he
wasn't in his right mind when he did it she says that she's fighting off Mr gulo when all of a sudden he cuts
himself he stands up he like comes out of a fob says I'm sorry I'm sorry and runs out didn't know where he was
didn't know what he was doing and to prove it the defense calls only two witnesses at trial mental health experts
both of them have diagnosed Mr garula with a mental disease or disorder he can't premeditate he can't
deliberate he can't have malice of forethought the defense says when gulo attacked Michelle it was as if another
personality had taken over as if if he was possessed an experience of possession Michael gulo they claim
suffers from dissociative identity disorder dissociative identity disorder used to be called multiple personality
disorder there's a split whereby they may not have an awareness of when they're doing certain things this
becomes the go-to defense because you can say I was there but I wasn't they're just saying that they didn't have the
mental state to be able to commit hor crimes and how often is that true oh it's very infrequently I mean the only
times I've ever seen it actually be successful is when the person was truly like a schizophrenic had other voices in
his head the defense can only hope that they have managed to convince the jury after a three-month-long trial 79
Witnesses the presentation of some 350 exhibits and that field trip to the crime scenes
closing statements begin it was four female victims all young attractive and outgoing prosecutor
Garrett Damron again lays out the similarities among the victims and the attacks these attacks these murders took
a great deal of strength and athleticism each of these attacks were all extraordinarily coldblooded torturous
each of these victims were ambushed no evidence that there was any theft knife is the weapon of choice 20 similarities
between the attacks of the four women are described those common characteristics
of these crimes point to one man one killer Michael garula adding to their argument you know
about the DNA is the forensic evidence with gul's DNA found all over Michelle Murphy's apartment on Trisha Pico's
fingernails and that slight amount on that booty near Maria Bruno's home the prosecution is trying to lump these all
together why because they want to show that it was one attacker that the pattern the practice the you know
everything that was done was similar you have to judge each case separately on the other hand the defense is trying to
do just the opposite they want to separate these out they want to show that no no no one's in Illinois you yes
you may have have some in California but they're separated by years in time they're not just one attacker you can
find them not guilty in all these crimes or you can find him uh guilty of some crimes and not guilty of other crimes
the defenses needs to plant a seed of doubt in one of those jurors [Music] the three-month trial of Michael gulo
has captured the Public's attention alleged killer D the Hollywood Ripper claims he's innocent he's accused of
attacking at least four women for the families of the victims the wait for justice has seemed endless
finally the Finish seems to be in sight as the jury begins its deliberations on August 12th 2019 this was probably one
of the worst cases and I've worked in this area for a long time as a prosecutor and defense attorney and I've
never seen anything this horrific so for this jury to have to see all this evidence and day in and day out for 3
months think about this case and what happened to these victims is really challenging but in what might seem like
a short time given such a long trial after 3 and a half days of deliberations the verdicts are in we we the jury in
the above entitled action find the defendant Michael garulu guilty of the crime of attempted
murder guilty of attacking Michelle Murphy guilty of the crime of first degree murder guilty of murdering Maria
Bruno guilty of the crime of first degree murder and guilty of murdering Ashley ellerin Michael gulo sat without
emotion as he heard the verdicts inside the courtroom I immediately called the picachos with the
news it's all done it's all done here and now it's your turn she's sobbing sobbing sobbing that she's so grateful
that they all got their Justice and that now it's Trisha's turn remember Trisha's case was included
in California only as supporting evidence of Michael gul's criminal pattern it is up to Illinois officials
in Cook County to try the case there we have to make sure that Cook County now does a the job that they need to
continue to do because they need to prosecute him for what he did to my daughter are you confident that he will
be brought back to Chicago and he will stand trial talking with the California attorneys and our attorneys in Co County
I feel confident the picachos are cautiously optimistic as they say they have been
let down by the Cook County State's Attorney's office before the family has criticized that office for being slow to
charge gulo when there was that DNA match in 2003 when we spoke with Jack Blakey from
the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in 2011 he told us that DNA match alone wasn't enough to charge gulo if
there was a DNA match to Gar julo why hasn't he been arrested the DNA match is consistent
with casual contact we still cannot establish based on the DNA alone that he was present at the time of the killing
as opposed to a different time but it came out at the Los Angeles trial that an Illinois forensic
scientist submitted her findings to Cook County Prosecutors in 2003 that it was a
5050 mixture of Trisha and gul's DNA on Trisha's fingernails remember the expert
from John J College of Crim Justice told us that usually signifies extensive contact a 50/50 mixture means in almost
all cases that there was a lot of DNA a lot of cells from both parties that would require extensive contact in
almost all cases extensive contact so why not bring charges a lot of prosecutors are hesitant to bring a case
when there's not at least one other piece of evidence that helps complete the picture of how the DNA got there
does does it bother you that the charges weren't filed oh absolutely we had them
in 2003 you had them it didn't work out for L solah the lead detective on the Picacho case the focus now is seeking
closure to the case that has haunted him through the latter part of his career and into retirement now that La is done
they fully intend to exite him back here and I I think it has to be done for the
picachio family their verdict is still coming but the trial in La did give the picachos a chance to meet the man who
changed the course of Trisha's case teer and Anthony who came forward with gulo statements evidence that pushed
authorities to finally charge garula with Trisha's murder so you have both met the picachos
now yes yeah what was that like I it was hard I see out of the corner of my eye I
see them and I spun around and I was like Rick and he instantly knew who I was he hopped up and gave me a hug I
feel for them so much yeah that you know they were just sent through the ringer the whole
[Music] time it's always painful yeah it will always be I just tell people it's something that I have to live with now
and deal with now and try to cope with for the rest of my life Trisha's remembrance book from her funeral
provides Bittersweet Memories and so there's family in here obviously and lots of friends I mean hundreds of
people it's filled with kind comments about their beloved daughter but also this back here what was that
name that that's Michael gar julo signed that it has been a 26 year long journey
from that book was signed by the man the picachos now believe killed their daughter garula is now a convicted
murderer of two other women women the picachos through Trisha helped to find Justice she helped these other girls she
was a very always like to help people and I just want Justice to get done because that's what my daughter deserves
[Music] [Music]

Four young women are attacked and only one survives. "48 Hours"' Maureen Maher has been on the trail of serial killer Michael Gargiulo for more than a decade. How "48 Hours" helped crack one of the cases.

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

Brief Summary

Michael Garula, the Hollywood Ripper, is accused of murdering three women and attempting to murder a fourth, with ties to an unsolved 1993 case.

Key points

DNA Evidence Leads to Suspect. DNA found on Trisha Picacho's fingernails leads to a potential suspect.
Ashley Ellerin's Gruesome Murder. The shocking murder of Ashley Ellerin, found covered in blood, raises questions.
The Ride to Safety. Trisha, in distress, asks for a ride, revealing her vulnerable state.
The DNA Hit. A crucial DNA match links Michael Gulo to the attack on Michelle Murphy.
A Chilling Confession. Michael Gulo's friends recall his disturbing admission about a murder in Chicago.
The Pattern of Violence. Investigators uncover a disturbing pattern in Gulo's attacks on women.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

My daughter never did anything to put herself in harm's way.

A father defends his daughter’s character after her murder.

7:06WatchSep 20, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.