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now a special two-part edition of 48 [Music] Hours four young women three murdered one left to tell the
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story The Hollywood Ripper he's been called a Serial sexual thrill killer Hollywood
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2001 a 22-year-old believed to be actor Ashton Coo's girlfriend is stabbed to death they were going to be hanging out
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the injuries that she suffered were horrific elonte California 2005 a 32-year-old woman is stabbed in
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her home there was slashing and cutting there were multiple stab ones not just a
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couple Santa Monica 2008 a young woman is woken up by a man attacking her with a knife she was
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stabbed multiple times in her chest and shoulder and and right arm she fought she stood up and she fought they were
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all young they were all attractive they were all [Music] female the media started calling him the
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Hollywood Ripper but had he killed others that that was the question investigators more than 1,800 miles away
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outside Chicago had been wrestling with it would take a 48 Hours investigation to find the
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answer where was window was this window outside Chicago 1993 the murder happened here in the
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middle of the night someone jumped out of the bushes and stabbed 18-year-old Trisha Picacho to death
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my daughter Trisha was murdered when she was 18 years old I was the one who found
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[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
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little tennis shoes sticking up by the side door and when I saw it was her I dropped the coffee cup
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[Music] who would do this to her why would anybody do this she was a nice girl I
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died right there and there we were told that we have to understand that some murders go
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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
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with it he's cold he's devious he's a predator and we've got ourselves a serial killer
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[Music] [Music] [Music] they never saw it coming Trisha Ashley Maria Michelle the trial of an accused serial
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killer has dominated the headlines here in Los Angeles he is known as the Hollywood
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Ripper may it please the court the methodical and systematic Slaughter of women that's what this case is about it
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is not overstating it to say this is a sensational murder trial Aston Aston on the witness list Ashton Kutcher he was
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scheduled to go on a date with one of the victims the night she was murdered Ashton Kutcher talked about what would
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have been his first date with one of the murder victims for me this Story begins near my
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home just outside Chicago one question has haunted this quiet Glen View Community who killed
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Trisha picachio and why the murder of Trisha Picacho is a case we've been working on since the
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summer of 208 it took years to gain her parents' trust that maybe somehow by tell telling
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Trisha's story we could help catch her [Music] killer it wasn't long after sunrise in
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the morning of August 14th 1993 I was going out to my van and when I saw it was her I ran over
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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
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his 18-year-old daughter Trisha SPL out on the landing stabbed to death I tried to revive
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her that is what we's feeling in your life when you can't do nothing to somebody you
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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
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brother Doug I don't really want to describe the details of of what I saw that's okay I have nightmares about it
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all the time the police arrived and Rick had to make a difficult call to his wife
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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
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exited her vehicle and she was running towards Trish officer Ray salich saw her pull up
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and I basically tackled her and I didn't want her to see Trish like this and remember her daughter like that who
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would do this to her there is nobody that knew her that would do this to her my daughter never did anything to put
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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
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worry about her Trisha was also the type of girl who made the most of high school she took
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calculus was on the debate team and played clarinet in the band at the time of her Murder She was just a few days
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away from moving on to the next chapter in her Young and exciting life as a freshman at Purdue
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University she had a great attitude about everything and she knew what she wanted out of life were you close with
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her Trisha was an amazing girl was probably one of the most energetic and happy people I've ever seen Trisha's
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close friend Karen Jones spent a lot of time at the Picacho house her mom was very caring and treat us all like her
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children Trisha's younger brothers 17-year-old Doug and 13-year-old Tommy often had their friends over I fed the
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whole neighborhood everybody ate there they were just a very warm family on the night of August 13th Karen
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Trisha and most of the kids from their senior class went out one last Harrah for the summer that night a whole group
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of us got together for a scavenger hunt party one of the final parties of the summer before we all went off to college
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we ended things at the restaurant and people started getting in their cars to go
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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
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killer grabbed her left arm twisting and breaking it and then stabbing her 12 times I remember my chest just
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sink the minute I realized that she was gone and there was nothing I could do to
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help her detectives interviewed dozens of people some parents were too afraid to
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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
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out for a long long time people talk about closure my experience is there is no closure that void is always
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there Rick picachio also had no idea how to go on living in the same house where
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he had found the butchered body of his beautiful daughter the family moved out for 4 years eventually they decided it
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was time to come back home shortly after they had an unexpected visitor former High School football
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player Michael gulo one of Doug Pico's closest childhood friends Michael you've known since he was how old since
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probably he was in second grade because he lived on the next street Michael showed up at the door and
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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
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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
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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
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Michael gulo had a chance to say anything the garage door opens his father and one of his sisters come in
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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
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that that was kind of odd but the look on his face Marine at that point Rick did you think this kid knows something
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or maybe he even had something to do with it yes you believe that was the moment that you
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started to think Michael G had something to about the picachos told authorities but it was too
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late Michael gulo had disappeared [Music] soon after he left Chicago Mike gulo turned up in Los
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Angeles like a lot of other dreamers he wanted to be an actor or a [Music] model Anthony D Lorenzo and teer ly
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worked with Mike gulo in the late '90s they were all bouncers together at a Hollywood nightclub called the Rainbow
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Bar in Grill what did he tell you he was doing out here acting modeling isn't everybody
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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
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time when you were all hanging out he always had girlfriend he always had girls after he was a good- looking
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cleancut guy you know the waitress were always after him but garula moved on from the
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nightclub and began working for a heating and cooling company who was the first one among you to meet Michael
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garula I was Chris an Jennifer desisto and Justin Peterson spoke to us in 2010 they were the kind of good friends
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most young people would be attracted to really the connection between this big group of friends was kind of partying
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and having a great time very free-spirited lifestyle right you were young were young their introduction to
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mik or julo started with a flat tire I'm changing my flat tire and this guy comes walking down the street now he
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was good-looking and he stopped and offered to help me change attire at the same time 22-year-old Ashley ellerin
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came out of the house she was renting on the street Mike gulo noticed and Ashley
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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
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change a tire so he stood there talking to Ashley and they were you know talking
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and flirting they exchange numbers and that was our first meeting did you have any feeling about him one way or the
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other I mean he was just you know good-looking guy walking down the street offering to help Ashley ellerin the
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young woman Mike G julo had immediately noticed was a part-time fashion student she was amazing I mean she just had this
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Charisma to her that she could go into a room and walk into the room and just take complete control over the room and
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she was just beautiful and and fun and spontaneous she had a lot of friends Ashley was a 20 2-year-old you know
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attractive girl living in the Hollywood HS and she liked to have fun absolutely she liked to have fun we had a lot of
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fun the guy they only knew is Mike kept trying to spend time with Ashley he called the house a lot after
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they running called and had begun just showing up uninvited scene that we were hanging the
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friends say one night he walked into the house during a party sat down and was laser focused on Ashley but Ashley was
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not interested back then lots of men were interested in her Hollywood is Hollywood interacting with celebrities
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that is how it is I mean they live here one celebrity in particular had started calling Ashley it was then upand
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cominging TV actor from that 70 show Ashton Kutcher why is everything doing that we had hung out with him a couple
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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
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be hanging out the next morning Ashley's roommate Jen came home I entered the house and Ashley was
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laying across the two stairs covered in blood the body of 22-year-old Ashley Lauren ellerin was found by her roommate
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early Thursday morning and that's when I realized that no this is not you know this is not happening who could have
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done [Music] this when Jennifer desisto got home that morning in 2001 she walked into a
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gruesome and terrifying scene at that point was just a like a sense of trauma just came over me I thought maybe the
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person was still there and I kind of ran out hysterically I dropped that phone and end up getting to the car and
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calling from my cell phone 911 Ashley had been attacked just after taking a shower stabbed 47 times her
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body was lying just outside the bathroom had you ever seen anything like that before for your life I I absolutely
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had not and it still traumatizes me to this day police arrived quickly and started
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asking questions who could who could have done this it must have been one of the first
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questions that police asked you though was was anybody angry with her did she have any enemies it sounds like such a
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TR question but you would think that based on what you saw only someone who hated another person absolutely yeah and
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also it was a given from the GetGo that it was obviously someone she was either familiar with or knew to let them in
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because as we had said the the house was kind of double gated you believe that Ashley let him in
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oh yes okay this is Nur Road and this is Ashley Erin's uh former residence Hollywood homicide detective Tom small
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says there was little to go on no blood splatter outside no pieces of clothing no other no material that would lead you
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to one particular individual no we had teams of uh detectives searching the interior and the
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exterior uh we walked the streets we canvased every building door knocked every house were you kind of baffled
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initially very much so you know we were just looking for any type of uh direction or clues that would uh to lead
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to a suspect so we had to start with the victim and work backwards find out her associations they definitely wanted to
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talk to the person she was supposed to be on a date with that night how you doing congratulations actor Ashton
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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
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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
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kept pushing back his arrival Kutcher told detectives that at 8:24 p.m. he spoke with Ashley who told him she' just
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gotten out of the shower Ashton Kutcher didn't actually arrive at Ashley's front door until
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around 10:45 p.m. at which point he says he was confused because the lights were
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on but no one answered just as he was about to leave he glanced through a window and noticed what he thought was
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red wine spilled on the floor turns out it wasn't wine it was blood uh it just was a very bad scene a
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lot of anger a lot of rage somebody had isolated Ashley ellerin to to kill her and was very very
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angry when he did it could anyone think of someone who wanted to hurt Ashley not
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really almost to a person Ashley was considered to be you know like uh the life of the
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party she had a lot of friends from different walks of life friends from school her
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roommates celebrity type folks Kutcher wasn't the only man police were interested in talking to this is
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Mark Durban a not so famous actor who was also Ashley's property manager Durban and Ashley were secretly having a
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relationship and he and Ashley had been intimate earlier that evening but like Kutcher he had fully cooperated with
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investigators and both men were ruled out as possible suspects while police had no concrete
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leads Ashley's friends couldn't shake the feeling that the guy who seemed fixated on Ashley was
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involved in your initial conversation with police did you mention Michael gulo to them uh yes the I didn't know his
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name but the heating and air conditioning gu and did they pay any attention to that I know they took note
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I don't I don't think they took it very seriously or that much of a threat if he
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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
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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
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like this garula wasn't really on detective Small's radar Ashley had a large Social Circle there were hundreds
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of people to talk to and he was just the creepy air conditioner guy it would take
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months for police to learn his last name and put him on their list uh it weighed
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really heavy uh on me personally because uh everybody has the case and this one was mine my
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frustration was why can't I get the evidence I need to solve Ashley's [Music] murder back in Cook County just outside
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Chicago Trisha Pico's murder was unsolved for nearly 10 years her mother Diane was relentless hounding
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investigators at least once or twice and did you feel like anything was being done in that time no but I kept thinking
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maybe I just keep going and talking to them and keep telling them every little thing that came to I mean it was
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just it helped me probably emotionally because it was almost like I could talk to them they under they knew what had
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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
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up no my daughter is going to get the representation that she deserves Cook County Sheriff's detective
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L solo was assigned to the case in 1999 we had the benefit of Technology when we took the case
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over by 2002 new DNA technology allowed investigators to take a fresh look at the evidence collected from the crime
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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
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first big test result you get back the First new piece of information from this round of DNA testing well the biggest
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thing is when we got the unknown male contributor from fingernails male DNA found on Trisha's
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fingernails now they had to match it at that point we began the DNA campaign of everybody including the picachio family
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her friends of hers that were with her at the road rally that night we even tested the dog you even tested the dog
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yeah detectives wanted samples from anyone they had talked to back in the day and Michael garulu was on their list
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detectives heard garulu was now living in Los Angeles so they went to the LAPD for help I had no knowledge they were
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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
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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
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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
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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
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have detective small agreed to help Cook County find garula and collect a DNA sample
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[Music] [Music] in 2002 almost 10 years after Trisha Pico's murder the LAPD caught up with
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Michael garula we obtained Mr gul's DNA sample and I and he was cooperative with that
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not really but it it got done the DNA sample was sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab the
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results were stunning a match it was Michael gul's DNA on Trisha's fingernails Case Closed not exactly did
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you think it was enough to move forward well I thought it was but uh I'm not the
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attorneys Cook County detective L Salah it was explained to me and and and the explanation made sense at the time that
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they they just wanted some type of cooperating evidence they needed something more than the something more
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than that because they said Michael gul's DNA might have gotten on Trisha in a way that had nothing to do with the
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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
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casual contact and had there been casual contact in the hours before or the day before they that she was murdered there
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was the day before the day before her murder garula was driving with another friend Scott Olsen when they saw Trisha
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we drove past Picasso's house and who do we see round in the corner walking away
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from us there's Trisha Mike's driving he kind of swerves over slows down swerves
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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
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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
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off and and that was it when we spoke to Jack Blakey from the Cook County State's
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Attorney's Office in 2011 he confirmed that because of that ride and because gulo had spent time at the family home
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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
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closure to her family tomorrow so with nothing else tying him to Trisha's or Ashley's death garula was
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only a guy who had the bad luck of knowing two different women who had been murdered in exactly the same
00:27:06
way gulo left Hollywood and continued doing what he always did never staying in one place for too long how come
00:27:16
nobody keeps tabs on this guy I don't know if they if they tried my understanding was he kept kind of a low
00:27:23
profile I think he knew he was on the radar over the next few years gulo had several girlfriends and even became a
00:27:32
father in 2005 he settled in Suburban El Monte 20 m east of Hollywood then just before Christmas
00:27:43
that same year in that same neighborhood there was a murder the victim was another attractive young woman we're
00:27:52
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
00:28:00
in the world she should feel most secure that attack is every woman's nightmare Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
00:28:08
homicide detective Mark lilyfield uh this is a building where the murder happened behind me in department number
00:28:14
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
00:28:20
months before her death Maria and her husband had several violent fights including one where her husband punched
00:28:29
her in the face she left him and found an apartment in this gated complex and she had picked that building
00:28:35
specifically because it was very secure you had to either have a passcode or a a
00:28:40
key to get through the front door so it was a pretty secure building but someone got past that
00:28:48
security the suspect entered through the kitchen it appears from the evidence that he obtained a weapon there in the
00:28:58
kitchen a knife correct her body was somewhat mutilated and you just you know that's that's crap
00:29:05
you see in the movies in real life that that is very rare it just doesn't happen there was very little evidence
00:29:12
Left Behind except for one blue cotton booty found in the courtyard outside Bruno's apartment just about where we're
00:29:20
standing is where that blue cotton booty was at right here yeah right here right
00:29:24
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
00:29:32
that in fact it was Maria's blood police immediately took a hard look at runo's estranged husband there
00:29:40
was the history of a turbulent relationship and drops of Maria's blood were found in his car but Maria's
00:29:48
husband told police that earlier that evening he and Maria had decided to rekindle their relationship they went to
00:29:55
a restaurant where the manager confirmed Maria had cut her finger and was bleeding as they
00:30:02
left and like picachio then ellerin and now Bruno another vicious murder eventually turned into a cold case as
00:30:14
for Michael gulo his romantic life was once again in turmoil he left his girlfriend and new baby in Suburban LA
00:30:23
and headed to the beach Santa Monica and once again where julo went an attack eventually
00:30:33
followed a young woman is woken up by a man attacking her with a [Music] knife Santa Monica April 28th
00:30:54
2008 another Breakin another brutal assault but this attack would change everything
00:31:02
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
00:31:10
a stabbing or attempted murder then Santa Monica Police Sergeant Richard Lewis um he gained access into this
00:31:16
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
00:31:23
escape route um proceeds into the bedroom where she's sleeping and and uh what awakes her is a knife being plunged
00:31:30
into her he just flat out stabbed her right she was stabbed multiple times uh in her
00:31:39
chest and shoulder and and right arm and suffered several wounds to both of her hands as she's grabbing this knife as
00:31:46
it's being plunged down upon her the victim was 26-year-old Michelle Murphy what can you tell us about her oh
00:31:54
she an incredible young lady and uh just someone who's very resilient and uh decided to
00:31:59
fight as Murphy all of 5'1 was fighting for her life the blade is slipping back and forth and somewhere in the struggle
00:32:08
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
00:32:15
underneath and kick him off of her the attacker stumbles off the bed and out of the room bleeding profusely
00:32:24
from her multiple stab wounds Murphy runs after the hooded man down the hallway to the front
00:32:31
door did he say anything to her ever uh I'm sorry he said I'm sorry I'm sorry then he ran
00:32:42
out Michelle immediately called her boyfriend who called 911 uh she told me that she woke up and there was someone
00:32:49
on top of her and she forced them off okay our then the police call Michelle okay what
00:33:00
is your name it's very hard to hear her answers the fire department is already on the
00:33:08
way and we're on our way what this person look [Music] like everything you how big this guy how he
00:33:22
was something so he comes out this door and there's blood on the steps right outside
00:33:30
the front door we have some blood on the steps okay and then Blood on the concrete steps here leading out down
00:33:36
this walkway and into the alley so how significant in your investigation and when you showed up that night did you
00:33:41
think that blood was going to be huge huge about 25 days after uh submitting my samples to the crime lab I'm informed
00:33:50
by a criminalist or we actually have a hit a DNA hit and who does it match Michael garula
00:33:59
conclusively [Music] yes they were able to make the match because remember gul's DNA had been
00:34:08
collected for DNA testing in the picachio case and was already in file and guess where garula lived at the time
00:34:18
of the attack it'd be the second building down in the uh first window it would be just above that black trash can
00:34:23
that you see on the left side he could see right into her bedroom if she were to have the blinds open
00:34:30
that'd be correct that's pretty scary yes absolutely within 24 hours of making that DNA
00:34:39
match garula was arrested for the assault of Michelle Murphy he was taken into custody and what was his response
00:34:48
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
00:34:55
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
00:35:01
Sergeant Lewis was reminded of a conversation he'd once had with Detective lilyfield about a similar
00:35:08
murder that had happened 3 years earlier in elonte just outside of Los Angeles I
00:35:13
got a call from Sergeant Rich Lewis from the Santa Monica Police Department he had a case that was very similar um
00:35:20
luckily his victim survived and he had identified a suspect and it turns out garula once lived close enough to Maria
00:35:28
Bruno to also watch her she reported to friends run-ins with the strange guy across the
00:35:35
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
00:35:42
your right shoulder it's apartment number 34 so that is up just behind that tree correct correct just to the right
00:35:48
of that tree uh so you got a clear view obviously from his apartment now the pieces of the puzzle were finally
00:35:55
starting to come together determined investigators had discovered more evidence remember that blue booty found
00:36:03
near Maria Bruno's front door in gul's old apartment just across the way and sure enough in the Attic of the
00:36:11
apartment we want up finding a matching booty a blue cotton booty just like the same one that we had found at the crime
00:36:19
scene the same manufacturer the same make the same model of booty and in that 2001 murder of Ashley
00:36:28
ellerin garula lived only a couple of blocks away he was frequently seen hanging out with his dog at this park
00:36:36
directly across the street from Ashley's home we had information that he's you know frequented the dog park parked his
00:36:44
vehicle on occasion over there within a month Michael garula was also charged with the murders of Ashley
00:36:54
ellerin and Maria Bruno [Music] when Trisha Pico's family heard that Mike gulo had been arrested in La they
00:37:06
were certain he would soon be charged with Trisha's murder but nothing happened then in 2011 48 Hours ran our
00:37:15
first show about the so-called Hollywood Ripper and the unsolved murder of Trisha
00:37:20
Picacho almost immediately after the show aired a witness reached out to me I watched the show and it was a mug shot
00:37:29
of Mike teamer lery one of Michael gul's bouncer buddies from Hollywood and did you reach out to
00:37:37
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
00:37:45
Lorenzo had led checkered lives of their own in and out of jail but both men were
00:37:51
now fathers and seeing Trisha's father on 48 Hours moved them I tried to revive her that is worst feeling in your life
00:38:06
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
00:38:16
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
00:38:23
like that so you're watching it and we're telling the story and you have know you already know you have pieces of
00:38:32
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
00:38:39
teer and Anthony knew they said back in 2000 when they were all working together
00:38:45
Michael gulo told them he had murdered a girl in Chicago we're cruising on Sunset you know he asked us but he's
00:38:54
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
00:39:00
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
00:39:07
in touch with Chicago authorities And Soon Michael gulo was indicted for the murder of Trisha Picacho 18 years after
00:39:17
her death then Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez this new evidence that uh has just come forward after the
00:39:25
48 Hour episode really coupled with the DNA we feel at this point that we have sufficient
00:39:34
evidence but the Picacho search for justice was just beginning there was a long road ahead full of unexpected
00:39:42
twists and turns well see my truth is being 100% innocent being wrongfully charged all I
00:39:49
could do is be Cal and fight for my innocence [Music] up next I hate you I hate you I hate you
00:40:04
the accused Hollywood Ripper faces trial this was somebody who was going to take
00:40:09
pleasure in plunging a knife into their victim over and over and over again celebrity Ashton Kutcher takes the stand
00:40:19
in a surprise both the prosecution and the defense make him their star witness Ashton Kutcher talked about what would
00:40:27
have have been his first date with one of the murder victims the case will not be easy for the da zero trace evidence
00:40:35
no eyewitnesses no fingerprints really they had nothing and the defense says there may be other Killers out there
00:40:43
they just have to establish some Reasonable Doubt in the minds of the jury and offer a bizarre story began a
00:40:49
circular slicing motion multiple personalities it was really a very strange spectacle and even possession if
00:41:01
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
00:41:07
regular person you know can actually commit this horrific of a crime and then just go live dayto day who does that the
00:41:16
case of the Hollywood Ripper is not over not by a long shot it's really really sick
00:41:27
this special two-part edition of 48 hours will continue [Music] this special two-part edition of 48
00:42:08
Hours [Music] continues he's accused of attacking at least four women he's been called a
00:42:19
Serial sexual thrill killer this is not a typical murder case this is a systematic slaughtering
00:42:28
of beautiful woman by a serial killer four young women only one Survivor the Hollywood Ripper is one of
00:42:39
the most horrible cases I've ever seen this is a man who spied on them who stalked them and then brutally stabbed
00:42:48
them to death and that's defendant Michael kulo Ashley ellerin 20 01 Ashley Elan was supposed to go on a
00:43:01
date with Ashton ker as and he rang the doorable and nobody answered he saw what he thought was
00:43:09
spilled wine all over the place unfortunately we later learned that that was her
00:43:14
blood Maria Bruno 2005 mother of four was brutally murdered inside her El Monte apartment she was stabbed to death
00:43:27
you think she was asleep when she was attacked I do Michelle Murphy 2008 this attack would change
00:43:39
[Music] everything how did Michelle Murphy somehow get away from this guy she fought we have some blood on the steps
00:43:49
okay and then Blood on the concrete steps here leading out down this walkway and into the alley so how significant
00:43:56
did you think that blood was going to be huge we actually have a hit a DNA hit and who does it match Michael
00:44:07
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
00:44:16
48 Hours helped to break wide open Trisha Picacho 1993 one question has haunted this quiet Glen
00:44:29
View Community who killed Trisha vacho and why who would do this why would anybody
00:44:37
do this what was your reaction when you got a phone call that a witness had come
00:44:44
forward to 48 hours I was shocked I would you have imagined that a television show would be able to help
00:44:51
you solve a crime no but it's never happened to me targeted young women in Illinois and the LA play area frankly
00:44:58
it's almost a miracle that these cases were linked together you say to yourself who could do this butchering attempted
00:45:06
murder of a for you think oh my God it's a monster vicious murders of three young
00:45:10
women murder and attemped murder [Music] [Music] in a town known for keeping secrets the murder trial of Michael gulo
00:46:03
nicknamed The Hollywood Ripper could reveal a hidden life Trisha picachio Ashley ellerin Michelle Murphy
00:46:13
and Maria Bruno were all young attractive and outgoing on May 2nd 2019 the case against Michael garulu began
00:46:27
prosecutors say he murdered three women and attempted to murder a fourth he stake them out Mary F Jan a former
00:46:36
Federal prosecutor and 48 Hours consultant he stalked them and then he stabbed them
00:46:44
brutally prosecutor Dan Aman says Michael gulo is a serial killer attacking Four Women just for the thrill
00:46:52
of it from 1993 through his arrest in 200 8 what you will hear is that Michael gulo for almost 15 years was watching
00:47:03
always watching and his hobby was plotting the perfect opportunity to attack women with a knife in and around
00:47:11
their homes during those years gulo played High School Football was a wannabe actor and a
00:47:21
repair man it has taken gulo longer to go to trial than any other inmate in the history of the LA County
00:47:31
Jail nearly 11 years this is how he looks now there have been nearly 100 hearings
00:47:41
he's fired attorneys and even tried to represent himself Mr Ruben and myself have the opportunity to ask questions
00:47:49
and cross-examine but now with the new high-powered court appointed legal team the wait is over the prosecution starts
00:47:57
with its strongest case and most powerful witness Michelle Murphy in 2008 was stabbed in her bed in her Santa Monica
00:48:10
apartment right across the alley from garula apartment after showing photos from her
00:48:16
brutal attack Michelle Murphy the only woman who survived this alleged serial killer is called to the
00:48:24
stand there were no cameras allowed in Court during Michelle's testimony but we wanted to share with you some of what
00:48:30
she said her exact chilling words I grabbed at the knife I wrapped my hands around the blade and at some point 5'1
00:48:39
Michelle Murphy gets her legs up against her chest and shoves the attacker off of
00:48:44
the bed she describes how he runs out of the room down the hallway she goes after
00:48:49
him and Michelle says the attacker told her I am sorry this is Miss Murphy in the hospital Michelle never saw his face
00:48:57
but noticed he was left-handed in the struggle the attacker was also cut leaving his blood his DNA all over her
00:49:06
bedroom gar jula's blood and DNA were found on Michelle's bedspread and sheet and In The Blood Trail across the alley
00:49:15
after Michelle Murphy testified the prosecution turned to the other victims to prove gul's pattern of stalking and
00:49:23
stabbing 3 years before Michelle's attack Maria Bruno a mother of four young children
00:49:33
was stabbed 17 times Maria Bruno was stabbed to death in her El Monte residence a of blood Maria Bruno's body
00:49:44
was discovered by her estranged husband Irving who called 911 I'm looking at her right now he's
00:49:51
dead he just me moved here about less than less than a week ago garula lived right across the
00:50:03
way gar julo entered Maria's apartment through a window put on Blue surgical booties and mutilated Maria with a knife
00:50:15
as she slept the prosecution argues that the pattern and direction of the blood drops
00:50:23
show that the killer was left-handed just like Michelle attacker and just like Michael
00:50:31
gulo and this time the killer left something behind a blue booty with critical evidence detectives located a
00:50:39
blue surgical booty right outside of Maria's Front Door forensic analysis showed that there were drops of Maria's
00:50:49
Blood on the booty and gul's DNA was around the elastic band 4 years before Maria there was
00:50:59
Ashley ellerin a 22-year-old fashion student in Hollywood gulo who lived within a short distance from Ashley's
00:51:07
house and frequented the dog park across from her house injected himself into Ashley's
00:51:16
life on February 21st 2001 within weeks of garulu fixating on Ashley surveilling
00:51:24
her home at odd hours Ashley ellerin was found stabbed to death in the hallway just outside her bathroom Ashley had
00:51:35
been stabbed over 47 times as the state lays out its explanation of how Ashley was murdered
00:51:44
an important witness is about to have Hollywood's eyes upon him this is Mr Kutcher he's Ashley's
00:51:52
friend Ashton Kutcher is used to being a star but not a star witness Mr Kutcher is
00:52:00
part of the chronology of this case that is offered to show you that there was a
00:52:03
very narrow window of opportunity for somebody to get into the house and murder Ashley why is Kutcher called as a
00:52:11
witness he's incredibly important to the timeline here and when the murder possibly occurred and he may have been
00:52:18
the last person to actually speak to her before she was killed at trial only still cameras were allowed for his
00:52:25
testimony Kutcher is asked about his planned date with Ashley on February 21st 2001 the evening she was murdered
00:52:35
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
00:52:43
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
00:52:51
drove to her home knocked on the door but still got no answer people testify that at 10:45 p.m. he
00:53:00
arrived at the residence and saw what he thought was spilled wine on the floor We
00:53:04
Believe now the evidence will show that was actually blood and Ashley had already been
00:53:10
murdered a diagram of Ashley's home is shown that's her bathroom where we believe she had just exited the shower
00:53:19
and was getting ready to go out with Mr Kutcher when she was attacked from behind and then there was a struggle in
00:53:25
the area outside the bathroom where she was stabbed 47 times Kutcher testified that after learning about Ashley's
00:53:33
murder he quote went to the police I was like my fingerprints are on this door like I was freaking out although never a
00:53:42
suspect Kutcher was concerned about what he left behind that's unlike Michael gulo who
00:53:50
was always careful to cover his tracks [Music] [Music] the methodical and systematic Slaughter
00:54:21
of women that's what this case is about the prosecution painted a portrait of Michael gulo throughout his life he was
00:54:32
violent towards women interested in serial killer Ted Bundy and studied forensic science Mike was a strange guy
00:54:41
this is Miro Hoffman a man who now describes himself as gul's former best friend told Merkel he could get away
00:54:48
with committing crimes because he studied forensics he would go online whatever he could find about forensics
00:54:54
and he would learn from people's mistakes other criminals mistakes you know how to get away with a crime and he
00:55:00
told me if he ever got caught committing any crime he would just lie until he dies lie lie until you die Michael
00:55:07
garula felt confident arrogant dare I say invulnerable prosecutors said gulo also
00:55:17
studied a book that taught you how to kill with a knife The anarchus cookbook talks about knives the perfect guide to
00:55:25
committing some of these crimes crimes detailing how you go for the throat we believe the evidence will show as this
00:55:31
is what Mr garula is doing as for gul's motive prosecutors described a serial killer with a sexual bent this was
00:55:40
somebody who was going to take pleasure and plunging a knife into their victim over and over and over
00:55:48
again to better understand that we asked Chris Mandi to explain he's a forensic psychologist and expert on serial
00:55:57
killers he is also a consultant to 48 Hours most serial killers are motivated by power that's at the core of
00:56:07
everything the prosecution points out that gulo never raped his victims but he controlled them and say for Michael gulo
00:56:16
that control itself is a sexual thrill it's control over life and death so violence has become sexualized according
00:56:25
to prosecu ERS garula went after women he found attractive Michael garula noticed Michelle Murphy Michael garula
00:56:33
noticed Ashley ellerin Michael garula noticed Maria Bruno and he stalked them he watched and waited and collected
00:56:43
realtime Intelligence on the victims prosecutors say the spying was all part of his power game and his
00:56:51
pattern and you've got all this stalking this watching surveilling and fantasizing going on and the person is
00:56:57
doing this repeatedly to try to satisfy their urges at some point for some of these individuals it's not enough to
00:57:05
just think about it anymore and they have to move to the next step they have to actually kill in order to get the
00:57:11
same degree of [Music] stimulation to really make their points prosecutors took the jury out of court
00:57:26
to see where everything happened jurors saw that Michael gardula lived close to all of his victims close
00:57:35
enough to watch them to start with Gula lived right down the alley from Michelle
00:57:42
Murphy a few years earlier he lived within a few hundred fet of Ashley Allin and when he lived in El Monte his
00:57:50
apartment was just across the courtyard from Maria Bruno [Music] to strengthen their argument and really
00:58:02
show how gulo had a clear pattern they also told jurors about a murder over 1,800 miles away you will hear that
00:58:12
gara's Killing Spree started in Chicago in the summer of 1993 almost 26 years ago when Garo killed his first
00:58:23
victim his neighbor then 18-year-old Trisha picachio while gulo is not being tried for Trisha's murder here in La
00:58:34
prosecutors thought it was essential to tell the jury what happened all those years ago outside Chicago well it's
00:58:42
introduced here for a very limited purpose and to show that the facts and the pattern in the picachio case in
00:58:48
Illinois are similar to the California cases it was 1993 Trisha Pono was just 18 years old
00:58:57
coming home late one night in the Chicago suburbs gulo who was athletic and had trained in martial arts and
00:59:06
boxing grab Trisha who was very petite snapped her arm and stabbed her repeatedly in the left breast arm and
00:59:16
chest left her bleeding to death on the doorstep of the family home and fled I was the one who found her
00:59:28
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
00:59:37
little tennis shoes sticking up by the side door and when I saw it was her I dropped the coffee cup
00:59:55
[Music] I died break in and there at the Time Michael Gula was a 17-year-old kid living around the corner
01:00:10
one of Trisha's brother's closest friends when the murder happened gulo wasn't even a suspect and the case went
01:00:18
cold for years by 2003 there was new DNA technology eventually gul's DNA was found on
01:00:31
Trisha's fingernails back then rutor in Chicago did not think that DNA alone was
01:00:37
enough to charge him and the case stayed dormant in 2011 48 Hours reported on the
01:00:45
case and a witness came forward to me I watch the show teamer ly and Anthony D Lorenzo had once worked with Michael
01:00:52
garula as bouncers in the late 90s at a Hollywood nightclub Club they say Michael gulo confessed to them one day
01:00:59
when they were driving telling them that he had killed a girl in Illinois at the
01:01:05
time it seemed too crazy to be true gulo had told them a lot of stories we're cruising down
01:01:14
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
01:01:20
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
01:01:26
the steps for dead we put them in touch with Chicago authorities and shortly after garula was charged with the murder
01:01:33
of Trisha Picacho 18 years after her death now they are key Witnesses at gulo Los Angeles trial in
01:01:44
1997 garula told his friend teer ly quote I stabbed up the girl end quote also in 1997 Mr gulo told his friend
01:01:55
Anthony the Lorenzo I actually left the on the step for dead end quote they asked you to identify gar julo in
01:02:03
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
01:02:09
out of my mouth was true and there's just no doubt about it each of the picachio family members
01:02:17
were called to testify retelling the awful details of finding Trisha on the doorstep of their home they also
01:02:24
described their relation ship with her alleged killer what was it like for you to be in the room with
01:02:30
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
01:02:39
that never goes away the picachos can only hope that this trial will bring Justice for Ashley
01:02:47
Maria and Michelle but the defense has another take they point the finger in a different direction and away from
01:02:56
Michael [Music] gulo they just have to poke holes they've got to raise any doubt they're
01:03:16
going to throw everything at it the kitchen sink and they're going to hope that some of that will resonate and
01:03:21
it'll raise just a a seed a kernel of doubt in one those jurors and that's all they need something accused serial
01:03:29
killer Michael gulo knows I this being 100% innocent being wrongfully charged in recorded jail conversations with 48
01:03:39
hours between 2009 and 201 gulo maintained his innocence and a desire to fight the charges it's a
01:03:48
matter of waiting to knowing that there will be Victory because I know I'm innocent and uh it's just now putting it
01:03:54
down putting it down in the courtroom and just being patient in the courtroom his defense
01:04:02
attorney Daniel nardoni has a plan argue someone else besides his client could have killed these women he starts with
01:04:11
the Ashley ellerin case there's not one single witness called by the prosecution that saw Michael gulo go
01:04:23
into the house in the ellerin case despite all the efforts they put into scouring that that
01:04:32
crime scene they came up with zero zero DNA zero physical evidence linking him zero trace evidence no eyewitnesses no
01:04:42
fingerprints really they had nothing nardoni focuses on the prosecution's celebrity witness Ashton
01:04:50
Kutcher to everyone's surprise he says Kutcher is really the defense team's star witness because Kutcher's account
01:04:59
of that evening points to a very specific suspect and it's not Michael garula instead it's the manager of
01:05:07
Ashley's rented house this man aspiring actor Mark Durban I think there's suspicion that Mr Durban did this murder
01:05:19
Mark durman testified he was actually having an affair with Ashley and admits they were intimate that very evening
01:05:26
just hours before Ashton arrived the defense argues that at the time of her murder Durban was at Ashley's house
01:05:35
their proof Ashton Kutcher's cell phone records Ashton Kutcher calls her at 8:24
01:05:41
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
01:05:51
the shower Mark Durban testified that he was there when she was taking a shower and
01:05:59
while he was there he says Ashley got a phone call then he left nardoni insists it must have been Kutcher's call at
01:06:08
8:24 and that is critical because the neighbor testifies that around 8:25 or 8:30 he heard
01:06:17
something he's horrible screaming coming from Ashley's home he hears two screens from a woman
01:06:26
that puts Mark deran possibly right in the thick of it at the time of the murder Mark deran was the only person
01:06:35
known to have been with Ashley ellerin last person while she was still alive but Los Angeles detectives clear Durban
01:06:43
he was cooperative and they didn't believe he had a motive still nardoni may have succeeded in raising some doubt
01:06:52
with the jury the defense makes a very big deal about Mark turban they did a pretty good job I thought and with that
01:06:59
the defense was on to the other case where they saw an opportunity the killing of Maria Bruno same argument
01:07:07
thin evidence not one single person saw Mr gulo leaving the house but there was that blue booty with a drop of Maria's
01:07:18
blood on it and gul's DNA on the elastic band nardoni reminds the jury gulo who lived across the courtyard was a repair
01:07:28
man we all know that Michael used booties all the time he says the booty probably dropped out of gul's pocket as
01:07:35
he was returning from work and picked up a drop of Maria's blood that was already
01:07:40
on the sidewalk Maria's body had been mutilated and again nardoni offered up an alternate suspect he pointed the finger
01:07:50
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
01:08:00
did this made it personal nardoni paints a picture of a fractured marriage and details a
01:08:09
previous fight between the two Irving Bruno grabbed his wife out of the car threw her to the
01:08:17
ground and with a clo fist punched her in the face he's got a terrible history of physically abusing her that came out
01:08:25
she said she was scared of him in fact Maria Bruno had recently left him but Irving told the police that on the night
01:08:32
she was killed he and Maria had rekindled their relationship Irving Bruno was the last
01:08:41
person with Maria brono while she was still alive that night he told police they went out to a restaurant together
01:08:50
returned to her place were intimate and then he left a neighbor says she heard crying at around 1:30 in the morning and
01:08:58
who's down there at 1:30 in the morning you know who Irving Bruno and police did find drops of Maria's blood
01:09:10
in Irving's car they found it on Irving Bruno's baseball cap a droplet they found it on the passenger seat and they
01:09:19
found it on the uh Central console but a restaurant manager testified he had had seen Maria cut her
01:09:26
finger earlier that night police cleared Irving Bruno but the defense still tried
01:09:33
to persuade the jury the defense though is still going to try to raise doubt just because they were clear didn't mean
01:09:38
they didn't possibly do it the defense also drills down on the Trisha picachio case the 1993 murder
01:09:47
outside Chicago everyone agrees it was gul's DNA on Trisha's fingernails but how did it get there nardoni says it
01:09:58
could have come from casual contact gulo had been friends with Trisha's brother and Trisha had been in gul's Van the day
01:10:06
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
01:10:17
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
01:10:26
lent a forensic expert at John J College of Criminal Justice so what we're talking about now is a secondary
01:10:32
transfer a day later I've never seen a secondary transfer that would last that long there's just not enough cells that
01:10:38
would survive and especially on your arm which is touching other things you're putting on and off your clothes uh that
01:10:43
rubs off the cells pretty quickly and he says casual contact is even more unlikely because at trial the scientist
01:10:52
who matched gul's DNA to Trisha's fingernails said it was actually a 5050 mixture of Trisha and gul's DNA and that
01:11:04
is significant casual contact will leave a few cells here and there a 50/50 mixture means in almost all cases that
01:11:12
there was a lot of DNA a lot of cells from both parties that would require contact that would require extensive
01:11:19
contact it looks to me that the defendant was scratched by those fingernails that's what it looks like to
01:11:23
me well there may have been some doubt about the power of that DNA evidence no one disagrees that the DNA in the case
01:11:32
of the woman who survived Michelle Murphy belongs to Michael gulo DNA is all over the place so they've got to
01:11:40
somehow figure out okay what am I going to do now to defend this particular charge the defense's argument surprises
01:11:54
everyone Michelle Murphy because of her strength and courage allowed investigators to work
01:12:01
backwards and piece this entire case together Michelle Murphy is the sole surviving victim and it is gul's DNA
01:12:11
that is found all over Michelle's apartment it's a problem defense attorneys Daniel nardoni and Dale Rubin
01:12:20
must address headon and we know that the evidence in this is stronger is much stronger Michelle
01:12:29
testified that she never saw her attacker's face but did notice he was left-handed and there were those words
01:12:37
Michelle heard her attacker utter as he ran out the door I am sorry Michelle Murphy is the only count in which the
01:12:48
prosecution has shown that Mr gulo was in her apartment and attacked her in a surprising move
01:12:58
Michael gul's attorneys do not deny that he attacked Michelle but insists that he
01:13:04
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
01:13:15
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
01:13:25
didn't know what he was doing and to prove it the defense calls only two witnesses at trial mental health experts
01:13:34
both of them have diagnosed Mr garula with a mental disease or disorder he can't premeditate he can't
01:13:43
deliberate he can't have malice of forethought the defense says when gulo attacked Michelle it was as if another
01:13:52
personality had taken over as if if he was possessed an experience of possession Michael gulo they claim
01:14:01
suffers from dissociative identity disorder dissociative identity disorder used to be called multiple personality
01:14:08
disorder there's a split whereby they may not have an awareness of when they're doing certain things this
01:14:16
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
01:14:22
mental state to be able to commit hor crimes and how often is that true oh it's very infrequently I mean the only
01:14:29
times I've ever seen it actually be successful is when the person was truly like a schizophrenic had other voices in
01:14:37
his head the defense can only hope that they have managed to convince the jury after a three-month-long trial 79
01:14:47
Witnesses the presentation of some 350 exhibits and that field trip to the crime scenes
01:14:55
closing statements begin it was four female victims all young attractive and outgoing prosecutor
01:15:07
Garrett Damron again lays out the similarities among the victims and the attacks these attacks these murders took
01:15:16
a great deal of strength and athleticism each of these attacks were all extraordinarily coldblooded torturous
01:15:24
each of these victims were ambushed no evidence that there was any theft knife is the weapon of choice 20 similarities
01:15:30
between the attacks of the four women are described those common characteristics
01:15:37
of these crimes point to one man one killer Michael garula adding to their argument you know
01:15:48
about the DNA is the forensic evidence with gul's DNA found all over Michelle Murphy's apartment on Trisha Pico's
01:15:59
fingernails and that slight amount on that booty near Maria Bruno's home the prosecution is trying to lump these all
01:16:07
together why because they want to show that it was one attacker that the pattern the practice the you know
01:16:12
everything that was done was similar you have to judge each case separately on the other hand the defense is trying to
01:16:19
do just the opposite they want to separate these out they want to show that no no no one's in Illinois you yes
01:16:24
you may have have some in California but they're separated by years in time they're not just one attacker you can
01:16:29
find them not guilty in all these crimes or you can find him uh guilty of some crimes and not guilty of other crimes
01:16:38
the defenses needs to plant a seed of doubt in one of those jurors [Music] the three-month trial of Michael gulo
01:16:59
has captured the Public's attention alleged killer D the Hollywood Ripper claims he's innocent he's accused of
01:17:06
attacking at least four women for the families of the victims the wait for justice has seemed endless
01:17:15
finally the Finish seems to be in sight as the jury begins its deliberations on August 12th 2019 this was probably one
01:17:24
of the worst cases and I've worked in this area for a long time as a prosecutor and defense attorney and I've
01:17:30
never seen anything this horrific so for this jury to have to see all this evidence and day in and day out for 3
01:17:38
months think about this case and what happened to these victims is really challenging but in what might seem like
01:17:46
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
01:17:55
the above entitled action find the defendant Michael garulu guilty of the crime of attempted
01:18:01
murder guilty of attacking Michelle Murphy guilty of the crime of first degree murder guilty of murdering Maria
01:18:08
Bruno guilty of the crime of first degree murder and guilty of murdering Ashley ellerin Michael gulo sat without
01:18:17
emotion as he heard the verdicts inside the courtroom I immediately called the picachos with the
01:18:29
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
01:18:37
that they all got their Justice and that now it's Trisha's turn remember Trisha's case was included
01:18:45
in California only as supporting evidence of Michael gul's criminal pattern it is up to Illinois officials
01:18:53
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
01:18:59
continue to do because they need to prosecute him for what he did to my daughter are you confident that he will
01:19:07
be brought back to Chicago and he will stand trial talking with the California attorneys and our attorneys in Co County
01:19:16
I feel confident the picachos are cautiously optimistic as they say they have been
01:19:24
let down by the Cook County State's Attorney's office before the family has criticized that office for being slow to
01:19:32
charge gulo when there was that DNA match in 2003 when we spoke with Jack Blakey from
01:19:39
the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in 2011 he told us that DNA match alone wasn't enough to charge gulo if
01:19:48
there was a DNA match to Gar julo why hasn't he been arrested the DNA match is consistent
01:19:55
with casual contact we still cannot establish based on the DNA alone that he was present at the time of the killing
01:20:02
as opposed to a different time but it came out at the Los Angeles trial that an Illinois forensic
01:20:09
scientist submitted her findings to Cook County Prosecutors in 2003 that it was a
01:20:15
5050 mixture of Trisha and gul's DNA on Trisha's fingernails remember the expert
01:20:22
from John J College of Crim Justice told us that usually signifies extensive contact a 50/50 mixture means in almost
01:20:33
all cases that there was a lot of DNA a lot of cells from both parties that would require extensive contact in
01:20:40
almost all cases extensive contact so why not bring charges a lot of prosecutors are hesitant to bring a case
01:20:49
when there's not at least one other piece of evidence that helps complete the picture of how the DNA got there
01:20:54
does does it bother you that the charges weren't filed oh absolutely we had them
01:20:58
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
01:21:07
closure to the case that has haunted him through the latter part of his career and into retirement now that La is done
01:21:15
they fully intend to exite him back here and I I think it has to be done for the
01:21:19
picachio family their verdict is still coming but the trial in La did give the picachos a chance to meet the man who
01:21:29
changed the course of Trisha's case teer and Anthony who came forward with gulo statements evidence that pushed
01:21:38
authorities to finally charge garula with Trisha's murder so you have both met the picachos
01:21:49
now yes yeah what was that like I it was hard I see out of the corner of my eye I
01:21:55
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
01:22:03
feel for them so much yeah that you know they were just sent through the ringer the whole
01:22:09
[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
01:22:20
and deal with now and try to cope with for the rest of my life Trisha's remembrance book from her funeral
01:22:27
provides Bittersweet Memories and so there's family in here obviously and lots of friends I mean hundreds of
01:22:37
people it's filled with kind comments about their beloved daughter but also this back here what was that
01:22:47
name that that's Michael gar julo signed that it has been a 26 year long journey
01:22:54
from that book was signed by the man the picachos now believe killed their daughter garula is now a convicted
01:23:02
murderer of two other women women the picachos through Trisha helped to find Justice she helped these other girls she
01:23:12
was a very always like to help people and I just want Justice to get done because that's what my daughter deserves
01:23:20
[Music] [Music]