Los Angeles jury recommends death penalty for the 'Hollywood Ripper'
CNN VideoLOS ANGELES (CNN) - A jury has recommended the death penalty for Michael Gargiulo, known as the "Hollywood Ripper," the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Friday. The jury, made up of six men and six women, deliberated for "several hours" before reaching the death sentence recommendation, the office said in a release. A second murder victim, Mario Bruno, a neighbor of Gargiulo's, was killed and mutilated in December 2005. Gargiulo's sentencing is scheduled for February 28, the DA's office said. He has also been charged in a 1993 slaying in the Chicago area, the DA's office said.
Jury recommends death penalty for "The Hollywood Ripper"
A Los Angeles jury recommended the death penalty Friday for a man dubbed "The Hollywood Ripper" after he was found guilty of two murders and attempted murder. Gargiulo showed no reaction as the court clerk read the death sentence at the brief hearing. Defense attorneys and a psychologist said in court that Gargiulo has dissociative personality disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder. The Hollywood Ripper on TrialProsecutors, who did not talk to reporters after the hearing, called Gargiulo "The Boy Next Door Killer" because he lived near all the victims. Ellerin's mother and other victims' family members also testified during the penalty phase.
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Gargiulo sat in court in a lavender dress shirt and slacks with eight sheriff's deputies standing behind him. While some media outlets referred to him as "The Hollywood Ripper," prosecutors dubbed him the "Boy Next Door Killer." "Those similarities point to one man, one killer: Michael Gargiulo," Deputy District Attorney Garrett Dameron said during closing arguments. The defense relied heavily on the lack of forensic or eyewitness evidence putting Gargiulo at the scenes of the killings. "I remember the next day, after I heard about what happened, I went to the detectives and said, 'My fingerprints are on the door,'" Kutcher testified.
chicagotribune.comDefense: Kutcher testimony supports doubt in murder trial
Kutcher was a few seasons into "That '70s Show" and had just starred in the film "Dude, Where's My Car?" The two last spoke at 8:24 p.m., when Kutcher testified that he told Ellerin he was running late and Ellerin told him she had just gotten out of the shower. Nardoni told jurors that Ellerin's apartment manager, an aspiring actor, testified that he was having a sexual relationship with her, and was in the house when Kutcher called. Nardoni told jurors the call could have made him angry and violent. Nardoni told jurors he did not need to prove that someone else killed Ellerin, only to establish that another possible suspect could cast reasonable doubt on Gargiulo's guilt.
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